US seeks sanctions on Indonesia over import control
startups, having raised US$400 million. Its shares began trading on Wednesday but had fallen as much as 31 per cent by Friday. On Monday, they were trading at HK$10.9, down 22 per cent from their issue price.
“Stocks like Xiaomi, which aimed for a higher valuation, and Ascletis, which is seen a lead for biotechs in testing valuation, both failed to impress and that will make it harder for upcoming IPOs to take any aggressive approach in pricing,” said Steven Leung, a sales director at broker UOB Kay Hian.
Nasdaq-listed Beigene Ltd will become the second biotech to list under the new rules when it floats today after raising US$903 million.
Market participants said broader market weakness had not helped, with investors fretting over the potential impact of Sino-United States tit-for-tat import tariffs. The benchmark Hang Seng share price index has lost 3.5 per cent since the start of last month.
“Particularly strong risk appetite is required for IPOs in the current climate,” said Alex Wong, Ample Capital asset management director.
This year, 159 firms have applied to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange’s Main Board, putting this year on course to be the IPO market’s busiest year in at least a decade, showed data from bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.
However, no Hong Kong stock currently features in the year’s top 20 first-day IPO gains worldwide. GENEVA: The United States has asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to let it impose sanctions on Indonesia after winning a trade dispute that it said cost US business up to US$350 million (RM1.43 billion) last year, a US filing published by the WTO showed on Monday.
The US and New Zealand won WTO rulings last year against Indonesian import restrictions on food, plants and animal products, including apples, grapes, potatoes, onions, flowers, juice, dried fruit, cattle, chicken and beef. Indonesia also lost an appeal. The latest US filing said Indonesia had not complied with the ruling, so Washington was seeking annual sanctions to compensate for the damage done to US interests.
“Based on a preliminary analysis of available data for certain products, this level is provisionally estimated at up to approximately US$350 million for last year,” it said.
Indonesia was still studying the US move to seek sanctions, said Oke Nurwan, trade ministry’s director-general of foreign trade, adding that authorities believed Jakarta had complied with the WTO panel decision.
He said rules on Indonesian food imports had already been revised.
The process of seeking compensation often take years and Indonesia is likely to contest the size of any potential sanctions.
There was no immediate sign of a similar sanctions request from New Zealand, which said last year Indonesia’s restrictions were estimated to have cost its beef sector up to NZ$1 billion (RM2.74 billion).
Indonesia has been lobbying senior US officials to keep the Southeast Asian nation on a list of countries that receive special trade terms under the Generalised System of Preferences, a facility that gives reduced tariffs to about US$2 billion of Indonesian exports.