The South Korean won fell to its weakest level in 16 years on Tuesday amid pressure from the U.S.-China trade war. 

Tuesday’s Seoul closing spot rate stood at one-thousand-473-point-two won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down five-point-four won from Monday. 

The figure marked the weakest level since March 13, 2009, when the exchange rate stood at one-thousand-483-point-five won against the dollar.

The sharp drop followed U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports starting Wednesday, unless Beijing withdraws its 34 percent counter-tariff by Tuesday. 

China’s commerce ministry announced on Tuesday Beijing will “fight to the end” if Washington continues to escalate the trade war.