US considering sale of seven major weapons systems to Taiwan
With the Trump administration intensifying pressure on China, Reuters reports, citing four unnamed sources, the US is considering selling as many as seven major weapons systems to Taiwan. The arms sales include mines, cruise missiles and drones.
In response to the reports, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the reported package was a “media assumption,” and that it handled weapons purchase talks and assessments in a low-key, confidential way, so could not offer public comment until there was a formal US notification of any sales to Congress, per Reuters.
Market implications
The US push for the arms sale to Taiwan is not going to go down too well with China, which could escalate the ongoing row between the two countries over Beijing’s most sensitive territorial issue.
Most major risk currencies are under pressure, courtesy of the Fed driven dollar strength. AUD/USD is down 0.35% despite the upbeat Aussie jobs report.
Author
Dhwani Mehta
FXStreet
Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.
