East China's Shanghai, Jiangsu evacuate residents from vulnerable areas amid typhoon

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Residents living in danger-prone areas in Shanghai and neighboring Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province in east China were evacuated in emergency Thursday, before Typhoon Pulasan made a second landfall in the region.  

The typhoon, which reached a maximum wind force of 23 meters per second near its center, hit Fengxian District of Shanghai at about 21:45 after its first landfall earlier the same day in neighboring Zhejiang Province, according to the municipal meteorological observatory of Shanghai.

Pulasan moved further to Jiangyin City in Jiangsu at 05:00 on Friday, with its intensity setting to gradually weaken, said the Zhejiang meteorological observatory.

Across Jiangyin City, personnel living or working in danger-prone regions like construction sites, dilapidated houses, and underground spaces had all been evacuated on Thursday night.

The city's water conservancy department had also been strengthening disaster prevention work, tracking closely the movement of Pulasan and monitoring its impacts.  

"We would lower the rivers' water levels beforehand, controlling them to about three meters deep. We patrol the levees once every six hours as the level-III emergency response plan requires so, in order to ensure the levees' safety," said Zhang Yaolong, deputy director of Dingbo Water Conservancy Center in Jiangyin.  

Starting from Thursday afternoon, Shanghai's Lingang Special Area evacuated a total of 60,000 personnel living in seven danger-prone areas including the make-shift buildings in the construction sites and the dilapidated houses on farmland.

The evauees were transported to safe shelters including five within the Lingang Special Area.

Pulasan has weakened from tropical storm to tropical depression at 08:00 Friday as it made way through Jiangyin, said China's National Meteorological Center (NMC).

The typhoon will move northward at a speed of 5 to 10 kilometers per hour before it turns northeastward, according to an NMC forecast.

East China's Shanghai, Jiangsu evacuate residents from vulnerable areas amid typhoon

The gold price fluctuated above 3,140 U.S. dollars per ounce on Thursday, after President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping new tariffs against most U.S. trading partners.

The price of gold has jumped nearly 18 percent this year, as traders piled into the safe haven asset amid a steep decline in stock market futures.

Amid widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" and higher rates on certain trading partners.

All imports would be subject to 10 percent additional tariffs, except as otherwise provided, the executive order said. This will take effect on April 5.

Trump will impose an "individualized reciprocal higher tariff" on the countries and regions with which the United States "has the largest trade deficits," according to a White House document. This will take effect on April 9.

Some goods will not be subject to the reciprocal tariff, including steel and aluminum, autos and auto parts already subject to Section 232 tariffs, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and lumber, the White House noted.

For Canada and Mexico, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) compliant goods will continue to see a 0 percent tariff, non-USMCA compliant goods will see a 25 percent tariff, and non-USMCA compliant energy and potash will see a 10 percent tariff, according to the White House.

In his speech at the White House Rose Garden, Trump presented a chart on "reciprocal tariffs." The chart shows that different countries and regions face different tariff rates.

For example, China will face a 34-percent tariff, the European Union 20 percent, Vietnam 46 percent, Japan 24 percent, India 26 percent, South Korea 25 percent, Thailand 36 percent, Switzerland 31 percent, Indonesia 32 percent, Malaysia 24 percent, and Cambodia 49 percent.

Gold price fluctuates after Trump tariffs announcement