Category: World News

In a notice, US Customs and Border Patrol said that the goods would be excluded from Trump’s 10% global tariff on most countries and the much larger Chinese import tax.

It marks the first significant reprieve of any kind in Trump’s tariffs on China, with one trade analyst describing it as a “game-changer scenario”.

Late on Saturday, while travelling to Miami, Trump said he would give more details of the exemptions at the start of next week.

“We’ll be very specific,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “But we’re taking in a lot of money. As a country we’re taking in a lot of money.”

The move came after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China.

Exemptions – backdated to 5 April – also include other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.

“This is the dream scenario for tech investors,” Dan Ives, who is the global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, posted on X. “Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game-changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.”

Big tech firms such as Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend, he added.

The White House indicated the exemptions were made to ensure companies had more time to move production to the US.

“President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

“At the direction of the president, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”

Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida home, told reporters on Friday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China.

“And I think something positive is going to come out of that,” he said, touting his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

These electronic goods are still subject to the 20% tariff on China related to fentanyl, White House Deputy Chief of Staff on Policy Stephen Miller posted on X.

Some estimates suggested iPhone prices in the US could have as much as tripled if costs were passed on to consumers.

The US is a major market for iPhones, while Apple accounted for more than half of its smartphones sales last year, according to Counterpoint Research.

It says as much as 80% of Apple’s iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India.

Like its fellow smartphone giant Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chains to avoid an over-reliance on China in recent years.

India and Vietnam emerged as frontrunners for additional manufacturing hubs.

As the tariffs took effect, Apple reportedly looked to speed up and increase its production of India-produced devices in recent days.

Trump had planned for a host of steep tariffs on countries around the world to take effect this week.

But on Wednesday he announced he would implement a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs – except China, whose tariffs he raised to 145%.

Trump said the tariff increase for China was because of the country’s readiness to retaliate with its own 84% levy on US goods.

In a dramatic change of policy, Trump said all countries that had not retaliated against US tariffs would receive the reprieve – and only face a blanket tariff of 10% – until July.

The White House then said the move was a negotiating tactic to extract more favourable trade terms from other countries.

Trump has said his import taxes will address unfairness in the global trading system, as well as bring jobs and factories back to the US. BBC

“If the U.S. continues to increase tariffs on Chinese exports, China will not respond,” China’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement announcing the new levies, in a sign that Chinese authorities see no real upside to any further tit-for-tat measures beyond these.

“Given the current level of tariffs, U.S. goods exported to China are no longer market-viable,” the statement added by way of explanation.

Asian markets closed with a mixed picture just before the statement was released Friday, as investors struggled to interpret sometimes conflicting signals over the escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Japan’s Nikkei slumped nearly 3% on Friday, while South Korea’s Kospi fell by 0.5%.

But Taiwan’s composite index jumped nearly 3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.3% and key indices in China also rose slightly.

Early trading on European markets opened largely higher on Friday, but within minutes of the latest announcement from Beijing the major indices in London, Frankfurt and Paris began to move lower, into negative territory.

U.S. futures, which indicate the likely movement of stocks on exchanges including the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, also started to fall in the hours ahead of U.S. trading.

The mixed trading day followed losses on Wall Street on Thursday, as the initial optimism surrounding President Trump’s 90-day suspension of higher global tariffs faded.

The “ongoing trade policy volatility” has shaken investors’ and policymakers’ confidence and “will put downward pressure on global activity and investment in the near term, regardless of the outcomes,” analysts at the Australian bank ANZ wrote in a note to clients.

The White House clarified on Thursday that China now faces a tariff rate of 145% on its exports to the United States. That figure includes a preexisting 20% tax on goods and has stoked significant fears — now realized — that the U.S.-China trade spat could further deteriorate.

But some economic and political analysts say the numbers themselves are becoming almost irrelevant at this point.

“Tariffs at 150%, or 45%, or 125% is already probably maxed out. You can increase that to 300%, 1,000% but it’s not really meaningful. The result of having such high tariffs between China and the United States means … China-U.S. trade will come to an abrupt halt in a matter of weeks,” said Victor Gao, with the Beijing-based think tank the Center for China and Globalization.

“I’m afraid at this particular moment, unless the United States demonstrates flexibility and promises to deal with China with decency and dignity, there is really no meaning for any dialogue or negotiation,” he said. “If the United States wants to turn China into an enemy, they will get an enemy.”

In the meantime, China has been seeking to shore up its ties with other regional economic players.

Finance and central bank officials from China, Japan and South Korea recently met to discuss the impact of U.S. tariffs, China’s central bank said in a statement on Friday.

Amid trade war with the U.S., Xi is to visit Southeast Asia

State media also reported that President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia next week, a possible sign the Chinese leader wants to strengthen ties with Asian trading partners as its relationship with the U.S. fractures.

Several of those Asian nations now face a precarious balancing act though, as they look to maintain relations with Beijing — without incurring the wrath of Washington.

All three countries were slapped with very high U.S. tariffs this month, and all subsequently said they wish to negotiate with the Trump administration — Vietnam even offered to slash tariffs on U.S. imports to its country to zero almost immediately.

But that offer seems not to have satisfied U.S. officials, who have accused the country of allowing Chinese products bound for the U.S. to be routed through Vietnam, thereby helping Chinese manufacturers avoid the steeper levies that currently target Beijing.

Vietnam was facing American tariffs of 46% before Trump’s temporary suspension was announced, and the U.S. had been Vietnam’s biggest export market.

In an effort to see the steeper rates reduced when the suspension ends, Vietnam is now preparing to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the U.S. through the country, according to Reuters. It will also tighten controls on sensitive exports to China.

In a dramatic change of policy, just hours after levies against roughly 60 of America’s trading partners kicked in, Trump said he was authorising a universal “lowered reciprocal tariff of 10%” as negotiations continued.

At the same time he increased tariffs on goods from China to 125%, accusing Beijing of a “lack of respect” after it retaliated by saying it would impose tariffs of 84% on US imports.

This comes a week after Trump announced import taxes on all goods entering the US, in the biggest upheaval of international trade in decades.

His plan set a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports – which remains in place – but also higher rates on partners the White House described as the “worst offenders” for what the president considers to be unfair trade practices.

This included the 27-member European Union, Vietnam, South Africa and many more – all of which were due to be on the receiving end of US tariffs ranging from 11% to more than 100%.

Major market turmoil followed Trump’s announcement last week, with sell-offs sparking trillions in losses across the world, many Americans fearing price rises and some analysts predicting increased odds of recession.

On Wednesday, before Trump said he would suspend the higher tariffs on goods from countries other than China, the US government saw interest rates on its debt spike to 4.5% – the highest level since February.

Hours later, when the change was announced, US shares rocketed with the S&P 500 soaring 7% in afternoon trading. It later closed the day’s trading up 9.5%, while the Dow Jones surged by 7.8%.

Announcing the latest iteration of his plan on Truth Social, Trump said he was authorising a 90-day pause on tariffs for the countries that had not retaliated against his levies.

The additional tariff on Beijing, he said, would be effective immediately. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realise that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” he wrote.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted the change of policy had not been influenced by the global falls, but senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said the decision showed Trump was “reeling and retreating”.

Speaking outside the White House, Trump later said the amendments to his tariffs policy had “had to be done” because people were “getting yippy”.

“I did a 90-day pause for the people that didn’t retaliate because I told them ‘if you retaliate, we’re going to double it’ – and that’s what I did with China,” he said, adding that he thought, “It’s all going to work out amazing.”

He also said he thought Chinese President Xi Jinping was “going to want to get to a deal”.

In the UK, which was not affected by the changes as it was already on the list of countries receiving the baseline 10% tariff, a No 10 spokeswoman said a “trade war is in nobody’s interests”.

A source also said the developments in Washington showed “cool and calm can pay off”.

The ongoing stand-off between China and the US – the world’s two biggest economies – began when Trump announced new tariffs last week.

China was hit with an additional 34% tariff, on top of a 20% levy the president had put in place earlier this year. However, Beijing was quick to retaliate with a 34% tariff on US imports to China.

In response, Trump threatened an additional 50%, bringing the total to 104% on Tuesday, if Beijing did not back down. China did not change course and said it would “fight to the end” if the US “insists on provoking a tariff war or trade war”.

Just hours after the 104% tariffs from the US kicked in earlier, Beijing announced it would raise its own tariffs on American goods from 34% to 84% from Thursday.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Wednesday the US “continues to impose tariffs on China in an abusive manner”.

He said China opposes such “bullying practices” and the US must show “an attitude of equality, mutual respect, and reciprocity” if it hopes to resolve issues through negotiation.

The deteriorating relationship between the two nations could see their goods trade fall as much as 80% – a $466bn (£363bn) drop, according to World Trade Organization forecasts.

“Our assessments, informed by the latest developments, highlight the substantial risks associated with further escalation,” Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the WTO, said.

Away from China, Trump’s latest plans have not affected other recently-announced tariffs already in play.

These include the 25% import taxes on cars and car parts coming into the US, which came into effect on 2 April, and a further 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, the European Union approved a first set of retaliatory tariffs against the US, due to take effect on 15 April. The bloc, on Trump’s “worst offender” trading partner list, had been due to receive customised tariffs of 20%.

But because the EU’s retaliatory tariffs had not yet gone into effect, the White House included it on the list of countries to be capped at 10%.

Meanwhile, the so-called baseline rate never applied to Canada and Mexico – key trading partners of the US – and a White House official has said neither is in line to receive the 10% baseline tariff now. BBC

China hit back at U.S. President Donald Trump singling out the world’s second-largest economy for tariffs of more than 100% by raising additional duties on American products to 84% on Wednesday, deepening the trade war between the two superpowers.

Beijing also imposed restrictions on 18 U.S. companies, mostly in defence-related industries, adding to the 60 or so American firms punished over Trump’s tariffs.

The move comes after Trump made good on his threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on China unless it withdrew its retaliatory levies on the United States, taking total new U.S. duties on Chinese goods this year to 104%.

Beijing announced in response it would also raise its levies on U.S. goods by 50%, adding to the 34% increase previously announced and due to be implemented on Thursday.

“The U.S. escalation of tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which seriously infringes of China’s legitimate rights and interests and seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system,” China’s finance ministry said in a statement.

Trump has imposed “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of economies he accuses of “ripping off” the U.S. by selling goods into the world’s largest consumer economy while maintaining trade barriers that inhibit U.S. firms’ market access.

But he has singled out China for the most punishing taxes, setting the stage for a standoff between the world’s top two economies.

Earlier on Wednesday, China released a white paper on U.S.-China commercial ties in which it called the trade gap between the world’s top two economies “inevitable”.

“China does not deliberately pursue a trade surplus,” said the report, which was released by the State Council Information Office shortly after the higher U.S. tariffs took effect.

“The trade imbalance in goods between China and the U.S. is both an inevitable result of structural issues in the U.S. economy and a consequence of the comparative advantages and international division of labour between the two countries,” the report added.

TRADE SURPLUS

China’s trade surplus with the U.S. widened to $295.4 billion last year from $279.1 billion in 2023, according to U.S. Census data. The goods trade gap peaked in 2018 at $418 billion, the same year Trump, in his first term as president, imposed tariffs on Chinese outbound shipments.

The first U.S.-China trade war concluded with Beijing agreeing to a “Phase 1” trade deal with Washington in 2020 in which it agreed to increase purchases of U.S. exports by $200 billion over a two-year period.

Beijing failed to meet its targets when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, but said in its white paper that it had “scrupulously fulfilled its obligations” by taking steps to boost its purchases of U.S. goods and accused Washington of having reneged on the deal.

“The US has systematically escalated economic and other forms of pressure against China, the report said. “Concurrently, the U.S. has promoted false narratives related to human rights, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang and the pandemic.”

China also talked up its efforts to boost its trade in services with the U.S., economic activity that the Trump administration has not factored into its “reciprocal” duties.

“The U.S. stands as the largest source of China’s deficit in service trade, with the deficit generally exhibiting an upward trend,” the white paper said.

WAR OF ATTRITION

China is bracing for an economic war of attrition as it tries to court other markets in Asia, Europe and the world. But other countries have much smaller markets than America and are also taking a hit from the tariffs.

During Trump’s first term, China frustrated U.S. financial and professional services firms by holding up licence applications and carrying out office raids.

But Beijing cannot dip into the same playbook this time as it is trying to attract fresh foreign investment to bolster its economic recovery.

Still, Chinese policymakers are backing themselves to go toe-to-toe with the Trump administration a second time.

“If the U.S. insists on escalating trade restrictions, China has both the determination and the means to respond forcefully – and will do so,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement accompanying the white paper’s launch.

“There are no winners in a trade war. China does not want one, but the government will never allow the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese people to be harmed or taken away.”

Ordinary Chinese people have started to voice their concern.

“The situation has already reached a blatant financial and trade war on the global stage,” said Ling Wanhua, a 20-year-old Shanghai resident. “It’s already hard for college graduates to find jobs. If the overall environment gets worse, the employment situation for graduates will be even worse.”

Reuters reported China’s top leaders planned to convene a meeting as early as Wednesday to discuss measures to boost the economy and stabilise the capital markets.

“I think the 104% tariffs are kind of exaggerated,” said Wu Lina, a 68-year-old tourist holidaying in Shanghai. “This president, the way this country treats China, oh my God, it will definitely cause some harm.” Reuters

China vowed on Tuesday to “fight to the end” against U.S. tariffs as some citizens railed against President Donald Trump after he singled out Beijing for further levies, setting the stage for a standoff between the world’s two largest economies.

If Trump sticks to his plan for an additional 50% tariff on China unless it withdraws its retaliatory levies on the United States, total new U.S. duties on Chinese goods this year could rise to 104% by Wednesday.

With global supply chains in jeopardy, Beijing is under pressure to respond ahead of a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Spain’s prime minister and a tour of Southeast Asia.

But with Trump’s previous tariff increases already squeezing Chinese exporters’ margins to the point of suffocation, further hikes would only serve to underscore Washington’s appetite for brinkmanship and its desire to cut China out of the world’s biggest consumer market as a matter of principle, analysts say.

“The U.S. side’s threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the American side’s blackmailing nature,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

“If the United States insists on having its way, China will fight to the end.”

Trump said he would impose the additional 50% duty on U.S. imports from China on Wednesday if Beijing did not withdraw the 34% tariffs it imposed on U.S. products last week.

The Chinese levies had come in response to “reciprocal” duties of 34% announced by Trump, on top of tariffs of 20% imposed earlier this year, lifting to 76% the average U.S. tariff on Chinese goods.

“If the tariffs keep going up and up, it becomes a battle of wills and principles rather than economics,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist for China at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Since China already faces a tariff rate in excess of 60%, it doesn’t matter if it goes up by 50% or 500%,” he added.

China has stepped up efforts to shield its economy from global market turmoil following Trump’s announcement.

Several state holding companies have committed to increase share investment, a slew of listed companies unveiled buybacks, and the central bank pledged liquidity support for fund Central Huijin after it intervened to support sinking stocks.

But there is no escaping the fact that Trump’s affinity for tariffs risks derailing China’s largely export-led economic recovery that followed the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, unless exporters can pivot quickly to other markets.

China’s foreign ministry also called out the United States for a lack of sincerity regarding serious dialogue.

“If the United States truly wants to talk, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect, and mutual benefit,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press conference on Tuesday.

The Chinese people “do not provoke trouble, nor are we afraid of it”, Lin said, warning that China will continue to take firm and strong measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

TARGETING CHINA

Trump’s tariffs will be felt particularly keenly as they target the two main strategies Chinese exporters have used to blunt the impact of the trade war: shifting some production abroad and boosting sales to non-U.S. markets.

Ordinary people have also started to voice opposition, accusing the tariff-touting president of wanting to suppress the United States’ rival.

“The tariffs on China were set too high, too high, and ordinary Chinese people just can’t accept that,” said Qi Xiushun, a 58-year-old resident of the commercial hub of Shanghai.

“(The tariffs) are suppressing China’s economic development – these tariffs were mainly pushed by Trump, right?”

Dan Wang, a China expert at Eurasia Group, said Trump had effectively already wiped out Chinese exporters’ profits once U.S. import duties passed the 35% mark.

“After that, China shouldn’t export to the U.S. at all. It could be 1,000%, but since there is no trade, there is no harm.”

“Europe is and will be the most profitable market for China now,” she added.

Xi is expected to meet Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, with the agenda likely to cover finding a resolution to trade tension with Brussels over China’s electric vehicle exports, as well as Trump’s broader tariff onslaught.

The Chinese leader will then visit Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, three economies that gained from relocation by Chinese manufacturers to avoid U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first term, but which now face steep levies of their own.

“I think (Trump’s) targeting us, targeting China,” said Wu Xing, a 34-year-old sales person, also from Shanghai, adding that she expected the tariffs would have a big impact on her.

“As for the United States, I think it’s targeting the whole world.”

Trump on Wednesday announced that China would be hit with a 34-percent tariff, on top of the 20 percent he imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54 percent.

On Friday, China’s Ministry of Finance said the additional tariffs would be imposed from April 10. Beijing has previously imposed tariffs of 15 percent on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US in retaliation for Washington’s 10 percent levies on Chinese goods.

It also announced stiff export controls on key minerals and businesses, limiting what could be exchanged with the US.

“The purpose of the Chinese government’s implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfil international obligations such as non-proliferation,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

On Friday morning, Trump responded to the slate of retaliatory measures with a fiery social-media post written in all capital letters.

“CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!”, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Complaint with WTO

But China has pushed forward with countering Trump’s aggressive trade policies, saying it had opened a formal complaint against the new US tariffs with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday.

As part of its complaint, Beijing argued the measures violate WTO rules and requesting consultations.

“China has filed the WTO complaint with respect to the United States’ measures,” the Permanent Mission of China to the World Trade Organization said in a statement.

Beijing also imposed sweeping export controls to limit the exchange of goods and services with the US. Some pertained to the export of medium and heavy rare earths to the US, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, effective from April 4.

Others took aim at US businesses. China added 16 US entities to its export control list, which bans the export of dual-use items to affected firms.

Another 11 US firms were included on the “unreliable entities” list, which allows Beijing to take punitive action against foreign entities. The targeted firms includes Skydio Inc and BRINC Drones over arms sales to democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said the targeted companies seriously “undermined” China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests and would be banned from new investments, import and export activities in China.

Agriculture trade took a hit as well, as Chinese customs imposed an immediate suspension on imports of sorghums from grain exporter C&D (USA) Inc, as well as poultry and bonemeal from three US firms.

Then there were the threats of further regulatory action. Beijing announced it had launched an anti-dumping probe, looking into imports of certain medical CT tubes from the US and India.

It also said it would pursue a wider investigation into how the medical industry’s competitiveness was affected by imports of medical CT tubes.

How the economy is reacting

US stock futures fell sharply on Friday, signalling more losses on Wall Street, as the Trump administration’s sweeping levies knocked $2.4 trillion from US equities.

Shares of Big Tech stocks fell in premarket trading, with companies such as Apple and Nvidia having big exposure to China and Taiwan for manufacturing their products.

In Japan, a top US trading partner, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the tariffs had created a “national crisis”, as a plunge in banking shares on Friday set Tokyo’s stock market on course for its worst week in years. European shares were also headed for the biggest weekly loss in three years.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday disputed any economic crash, telling reporters that markets were reacting to the change and would adjust.

“Their economies are not crashing. Their markets are reacting to a dramatic change in the global order in terms of trade,” he said at a media conference in Brussels. “The markets will adjust.”

A British man in his 70s has died after being hit by a vehicle in Kenyan President William Ruto’s motorcade.

The victim was named by Kenyan police as 79-year-old Edgar Charles Frederick who died on Ngong Road in Nairobi on Thursday.

A police spokesperson said a pedestrian who was “a foreign national”, had died following an accident at Adams Arcade, which involved a government vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested and later released on bail.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said it was “supporting the family of a British man who died in Kenya and are in contact with the local authorities”, while a British High Commission spokesperson said it was liaising with officials.

Mr Ruto was heading for a public engagement on the fourth day of a tour of the city.

The driver involved in the incident did not stop after the accident for security reasons because the president’s car was close by, police told Kenyan newspaper The Star.

The failure to stop reportedly sparked anger from some Kenyans on social media, with questions raised about the speed the president’s motorcade was travelling.

Mr Frederick had been visiting Kenya to see his sister and nephew who are residents of the country, a police spokesman told the BBC.

His next-of-kin have been informed and a post-mortem examination was due to be held on Friday, the BBC reported. Sky News