RUBBER-Japan futures decline as tariff uncertainty weighs on sentiment

TOKYO, April 16 (Reuters) -

• Japanese rubber futures declined on Wednesday as uncertainty over tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and their potential impact on global economic growth and consumption weighed on sentiment.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for September delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: was down 6.5 yen, or 2.2%, at 292.9 yen ($2.1) per kg as of 0126 GMT.

• The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery SNRv1 fell 120 yuan, or 0.8%, to 14,810 yuan ($2,025) per metric ton.

• Decoupling is no longer just a political slogan. For the past decade, American administrations have tempered their references to China as an adversary by also talking up how the Asian country could be a potential partner. That optimism is largely gone.

• Trump has ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods to eye-watering levels, prompting Beijing to slap retaliatory duties on U.S. imports in an intensifying trade war between the world's two biggest economies that markets fear will lead to a global recession.

• China has ordered its airlines not to take further deliveries of Boeing BA.N jets in response to the U.S. decision to impose 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

• China's economy is expected to have slowed in the first quarter in the face of a prolonged property downturn, as policymakers brace for the impact of hefty U.S. tariffs that analysts say pose the biggest risk to the Asian powerhouse in decades.

• The yen JPY=EBS traded at 142.85 against dollar, compared with 143.07 in late Tuesday trade in Asia. USD/

• A stronger currency makes yen-denominated assets less affordable to overseas buyers. FRX/

• Japan's Nikkei .N225 was down 0.4%.

• The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for May delivery STFc1 last traded at 166.0 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.5%.

($1 = 7.3151 yuan)

($1 = 142.8600 yen)