Summary of the day so far
Here is a summary of the latest developments so far:
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Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on the sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity. “We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post’, but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is an economic revolution, and we will win,” he added. “Hang tough, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
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Trump’s 10% tariff on UK products came into force on Saturday, as global stock markets continued to fall in response to the imposition of import taxes. The FTSE 100 plummeted on Friday in its worst day of trading since the start of the pandemic, while markets on Wall Street also tumbled. Australia, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also among the countries first hit with the 10% tariff.
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The initial 10% “baseline” tariff took effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12.01am ET (0401 GMT). Many other countries will see their tariff rates increase above that next week – including the EU, which will be hit with a 20% rate. A 25% tariff imposed on all foreign cars imported into the US came into effect on Thursday.
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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed it will “pause” shipments to the US in April as it works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
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The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to spend the weekend speaking to foreign leaders about the tariffs, after calls with the prime ministers of Australia and Italy on Friday in which the leaders agreed that a trade war would be “extremely damaging”.
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Downing Street said that Starmer had “been clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest”. A spokesperson said officials will “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”.
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Ralph Goodale, the high commissioner for Canada in the UK, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday that “action taken by the US government is completely illogical”. He added: “It will damage the United States itself.”
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The Italian economy minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, warned on Saturday against the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on trade partners. Speaking at a business forum near Milan, Giorgetti said Italy was aiming for a “de-escalation” with the US. “We should avoid launching a policy of counter-tariffs that could be damaging for everyone and especially for us,” Giorgetti said.
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The stock market plunge has more to do with the emergence this year of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool than with Trump’s policies, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said in an interview released on Friday that signalled little concern about the ongoing nosedive. “For everyone who thinks these market declines are all based on the president’s economic policies, I can tell you that this market decline started with the Chinese AI announcement of DeepSeek,” Bessent told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
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Bangladesh’s interim leader called an emergency meeting on Saturday after textile leaders in the world’s second-largest garment manufacturing nation said US tariffs were a “massive blow” to the key industry. Trump on Wednesday slapped punishing new tariffs of 37 % on Bangladesh, increasing duties from the previous 16% on cotton and 32% on polyester products.
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The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss recently announced tariffs with Trump, three Israeli officials said on Saturday. As part of a sweeping new tariff policy announced by Trump, unspecified Israeli goods exports to the US face a 17% tariff.
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China has taken and will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, citing a Chinese government stance on opposing US tariffs. The US should “stop using tariffs as a weapon to suppress China’s economy and trade, and stop undermining the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people”, the ministry said.
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Nissan Motor is considering shifting some domestic production of US-bound vehicles to the US, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. As early as this summer, Nissan plans to reduce production at its Fukuoka factory in western Japan and shift some manufacturing of its Rogue SUV to the US to mitigate the impact of Trump’s tariffs, the business newspaper said, without citing the source of its information.
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The president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, met tech executives on Saturday to discuss how to respond to new US tariffs, promising to ensure Taiwan’s global competitiveness and safeguard its interests. Lai met the executives at his official residence to discuss the response to “the global economic and trade challenges brought about by the reciprocal tariff policy”, his spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement. She did not say which companies were present, only that there were several representatives from the information and communications technology, or ICT, industry.
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“Today, America is not only humiliating Iran, but also the world,” the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said on Saturday, in an apparent reference to recent policies adopted by Trump, including imposing tariffs on imported goods. Pezeshkian said his country was willing to engage in dialogue with the US as equals, without clarifying whether Tehran would participate in direct talks.
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China has said “the market has spoken” in rejecting Trump’s tariffs, and called on Washington for “equal-footed consultation” after global markets plunged in reaction to the trade levies that drew Chinese retaliation. Trump introduced additional 34% tariffs on Chinese goods as part of steep levies imposed on most US trade partners, bringing the total duties on China this year to 54%.
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Away from tariff news, left-leaning organisations in the US say that more than 500,000 people are expected to take to the streets to protest in Washington DC, Florida and elsewhere around the country on Saturday to oppose Donald Trump’s “authoritarian overreach and billionaire-backed agenda”. MoveOn, one of the organisations planning the day of protest they’re calling Hands Off along with dozens of labour, environmental and other progressive groups, said that more than 1,000 protests are planned across the US, including at state capitols.
Key events
A summary of today’s developments
-
Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on the sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity. “We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post’, but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is an economic revolution, and we will win,” he added. “Hang tough, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
-
Trump’s 10% tariff on UK products came into force on Saturday, as global stock markets continued to fall in response to the imposition of import taxes. The FTSE 100 plummeted on Friday in its worst day of trading since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, while markets on Wall Street also tumbled. Australia, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are among the countries also hit with the 10% tariff.
-
The initial 10% “baseline” tariff took effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12.01am ET (0401 GMT). Many other countries will see their tariff rates increase above that next week – including the EU, which will be hit with a 20% rate. A 25% tariff imposed on all foreign cars imported into the US came into effect on Thursday.
-
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed it will “pause” shipments to the US in April as it works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
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Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron discussed their “concerns about the global economic and security impact, particularly in South East Asia” in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs, Starmer’s office said. In a post on X, Macron, said: “A trade war is in no one’s interest. We must stand united and resolute to protect our citizens and our businesses.”
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Elon Musk said he hoped in future to see complete freedom of trade between the US and Europe. He spoke via video-link at a congress in Florence of Italy’s right-wing League party, which is part of the ruling coalition, Reuters reports. “At the end of the day, I hope it’s agreed that both Europe and the United States should move, ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” said Musk.
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Ralph Goodale, the high commissioner for Canada in the UK, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday that the “action taken by the US government is completely illogical”. He added: “It will damage the United States itself.”
-
The Italian economy minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, warned on Saturday against the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on trade partners. Speaking at a business forum near Milan, Giorgetti said Italy was aiming for a “de-escalation” with the US. “We should avoid launching a policy of counter-tariffs that could be damaging for everyone, and especially for us,” Giorgetti said.
-
The stock market plunge has more to do with the emergence this year of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool than with Trump’s policies, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said in an interview released on Friday that signalled little concern about the ongoing nosedive. “For everyone who thinks these market declines are all based on the president’s economic policies, I can tell you that this market decline started with the Chinese AI announcement of DeepSeek,” Bessent told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
-
Bangladesh’s interim leader called an emergency meeting on Saturday after textile leaders in the world’s second-largest garment manufacturing nation said US tariffs were a “massive blow” to the key industry. Trump on Wednesday slapped punishing new tariffs of 37 % on Bangladesh, increasing duties from the previous 16% on cotton and 32% on polyester products.
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The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss recently announced tariffs with Trump, three Israeli officials said on Saturday. As part of a sweeping new tariff policy announced by Trump, unspecified Israeli goods exports to the US face a 17% tariff.
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China has taken and will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, its foreign ministry said on Saturday, citing a Chinese government stance on opposing US tariffs. The US should “stop using tariffs as a weapon to suppress China’s economy and trade, and stop undermining the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people”, the ministry said.
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Nissan Motor is considering shifting some domestic production of US-bound vehicles to the US, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. As early as this summer, Nissan plans to reduce production at its Fukuoka factory in western Japan and shift some manufacturing of its Rogue SUV to the US to mitigate the impact of Trump’s tariffs, the business newspaper said, without citing the source of its information.
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The president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, met tech executives on Saturday to discuss how to respond to new US tariffs, promising to ensure Taiwan’s global competitiveness and safeguard its interests. Lai met the executives at his official residence to discuss the response to “the global economic and trade challenges brought about by the reciprocal tariff policy”, his spokesperson, Karen Kuo, said in a statement. She did not say which companies were present, only that there were several representatives from the information and communications technologyindustry.
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“Today, America is not only humiliating Iran, but also the world,” the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said on Saturday, in an apparent reference to recent policies adopted by Trump, including imposing tariffs on imported goods. Pezeshkian said his country was willing to engage in dialogue with the US as equals, without clarifying whether Tehran would participate in direct talks.
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China has said “the market has spoken” in rejecting Trump’s tariffs, and called on Washington for “equal-footed consultation” after global markets plunged in reaction to the trade levies that drew Chinese retaliation. Trump introduced additional 34% tariffs on Chinese goods as part of steep levies imposed on most US trade partners, bringing the total duties on China this year to 54%.
Keir Starmer is preparing to rethink key elements of the government’s economic policy in an emergency response to Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, amid growing concern in Downing Street that the US president’s trade war could do lasting damage to the UK, writes Toby Helm and Phillip Inman.
The prime minister believes, say allies, that “old assumptions should be discarded” in the UK’s response, suggesting he and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, may be preparing to raise taxes again – despite having promised not to do so – or even possibly change their “iron clad” fiscal rules to allow more borrowing and fire up economic growth at home in the event of recession.
Almost $5tn (£4tn) was wiped off the value of global stock markets after Trump launched his tariff offensive last Wednesday on the rest of the world, including a 10% base tariff on imports into the US from the UK.
On Friday, the FTSE 100 closed more than 7% lower than last Monday, after what was its worst week since the height of panic over the Covid pandemic in March 2020.
Underlining the potential impact on UK businesses of a global trade war, Britain’s luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said on Saturday that it would “pause” shipments to the US in April as it considered how to respond. “As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions, including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans,” said JLR.
This week, Starmer, who has refused to criticise Trump or his tariffs directly, will focus on how to frame an economic response to a global economic shock that protects working people, and their incomes and jobs – as well as the UK’s public services.
He believes that the last few days have ushered in a “new era”, that the “world has changed” and that a global trade war risks “undermining a proud, hard-working nation”.
In a post on X, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “In these times of upheaval, one certainty remains: in the face of the world’s great shocks, we must move forward together.
“Today, I spoke with British Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer, following my conversation two days ago with President @vonderleyen.
“As the global economy feels the impact of the tariffs imposed by the United States, we reaffirmed our determination to closely coordinate our positions in the ongoing discussions with President Donald Trump.
“A trade war is in no one’s interest. We must stand united and resolute to protect our citizens and our businesses.”
Elon Musk said on Saturday he hoped in future to see complete freedom of trade between the US and Europe.
Musk spoke via video-link at a congress in Florence of Italy’s right-wing League party, which is part of the ruling coalition, Reuters reports.
“At the end of the day, I hope it’s agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” Musk said.
Under Trump’s plans announced on Wednesday, Italy, which has a large trade surplus with the US, will be subject to a general tariff of 20% along with other EU countries.
Interviewed by League leader Matteo Salvini, Musk, who has repeatedly expressed support for right-wing parties across Europe, said he also hoped to see greater freedom of movement between Europe and the US.
“If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so in my view,” Musk said, adding that this “has certainly been my advice to the president”.
Phillip Inman
What is Trump’s master plan?
The US president wants to revive the manufacturing sector with a mix of protectionist policies, tax cuts and deregulation. Higher tariffs on foreign imports are supposed to encourage investment by US companies and overseas businesses that want to avoid the tariffs.
The cash generated by the tariffs will be the source of funds for tax cuts, unlike Trump’s first administration when tax cuts were funded, Liz Truss-style, by extra borrowing.
Rightwing groups that bankrolled Trump in 2024 want him to bring down debts, insisting the president work harder to balance the books. That’s also the rationale behind cutting government staff numbers.
Are more tariffs on the way?
There is much more to Trump’s tariff scheme. He has yet to apply tariffs to pharmaceuticals and rare-earth minerals. He also intends to end a “de-minimis” rule that allowed goods worth less than $800 (£620) into the US tariff free. The rule is widely considered to be something Chinese makers of household goods and clothes, such as Shein, exploit.
These extra tariffs are expected to be tailored so they hit China and affiliated countries the hardest.
Will there be a recession?
A prolonged downturn in the US is a possibility that is rapidly becoming more certain as countries react to US tariffs with countermeasures of their own. China’s rapid response, which was to impose a like-for-like 34% increase in import charges on US goods from 10 April, could be the start of a broader tit-for-tat that harms all major trading nations, including the UK.
Rachel Reeves cannot know the outcome for the UK because such sweeping protectionist policies have not been tried in the modern era. In the 1930s, most economic activity was generated by manufacturing and activities like mining, but today 75% of the UK economy is services, which are untouched directly by tariffs.
Still, there is the potential for economic growth to take a battering from the short-term shock and the uncertainty caused by the on-off tariff policy. Slower growth will undoubtedly force the government to review its tight spending rules.
What will happen to inflation?
If Keir Starmer rebuffs calls for retaliatory tariffs, inflation may fall. Oil and gas traders have already cut futures prices in the belief that there will be lower demand. Goods suppliers shut out of the US could look to redirect sales to the UK at a discounted rate. The government will be wary of allowing China and other badly hit countries in east Asia to dump goods, but it should, nonetheless, keep prices from rising.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss recently announced tariffs with the US president, Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
The impromptu in-person visit could mark the first by a foreign leader to meet with Trump and try to negotiate a deal to remove tariffs.
Netanyahu’s office has not confirmed the visit that would also include discussions on Turkey’s growing influence in neighbouring Syria, Iran, and Israel’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, one of the officials said.
The visit was first reported by Axios.
Among the protesters in London was Clarke Reinstein, 73, from Rhode Island, who told the PA news agency he was “disappointed in my fellow Americans” over the election of Donald Trump.
“I’ve been in London for two months and I like being over here because people think a little differently,” he said.
“They made a mistake over Brexit – but they didn’t fall over like the Americans have.”
A 37-year-old woman from Philadelphia was draped in the American flag that had been presented to her second world war veteran grandfather.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, told PA she was protesting because of the “absolute, mind-blowing insipidness” of Trump’s presidency.
“I don’t want to alienate the rest of the world,” she said.
“It’s not going to be useful for anyone in the long run. I felt powerless and I needed to come out and say something.
“I have friends in the United States who are marching in protest, and I wanted to march with them in solidarity.”
Brent Robertson, 56, from Albuquerque, criticised Trump’s tariffs.
Robertson said: “Stupid is not the word.
“He is shooting himself and all of us as Americans, just so he can make himself look like a tough guy.”
Some 1,200 demonstrations are planned across the US on Saturday in what organisers expect to be the largest single day of protest against president Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk since they launched a rapid-fire effort to overhaul government and expand presidential authority.
Thousands were streaming into downtown Washington DC as the protests got underway. Organisers told Reuters that more than 20,000 people were expected to attend the rally at the National Mall.
The protests in the US will give Trump opponents an opportunity to demonstrate their displeasure en masse in response to Trump’s raft of executive orders.
Some 150 activist groups have signed up to participate, according to the event’s website. Protests are planned in all 50 states, as well as Canada, Mexico and the UK.
Protesters were lining Connecticut Avenue in Washington DC, awaiting buses to take them downtown. They were carrying signs with slogans such as “No Kings in the USA” and “Deport Musk”.
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist from Princeton, New Jersey, was among hundreds who gathered early in front of the stage below the Washington Monument.
She said she drove down to attend the rally to protest Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
David Madden, a 75-year-old army veteran and retired trial lawyer, said he flew from Dayton, Ohio, to demonstrate against “the injustice that is dominating this country, the institutions that are being stolen from the American people, the confusion in the courts, the fact that we have a population that I believe is essentially racist”.
Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are roiling global financial markets, with stocks tumbling across the board from New York to London.
Wall Street suffered its worst week since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis five years ago as investors worldwide balked at the US president’s risky bid to overhaul the global economy with the vast tariffs.
Experts are all but unanimous that the impact on global growth of Wednesday’s extraordinary Rose Garden press conference will be negative – but just how bad remains highly uncertain.
Jane Clinton
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will pause shipments of its UK-made cars to the US for a month as it considers how to mitigate the cost of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The 25% tariff imposed by the US on imported cars and light trucks took effect on 3 April.
A JLR spokesperson said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands. As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are enacting our short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid to longer-term plans.”
JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, is one of Britain’s biggest producers, selling 400,000 Range Rover Sports, Defenders and other models annually.
Exports to the US account for almost a quarter of those sales and JLR is at the centre of Britain’s car industry, accounting for £1 in every £8 of the country’s exports.
The Sunday Times reported that JLR is thought to have a couple of months’ supply of cars already in the US, which will not be subject to the new tariffs. Shipping vehicles across the Atlantic takes about 21 days.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in central London as part of global demonstrations against Donald Trump’s administration.
Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon with banners that read “No to Maga hate” and “Dump Trump”.
The rally is one of hundreds of so-called “hands off” demonstrations around the world – including in cities across the US, Paris and Berlin.
The movement has been organised by more than 150 groups, including civil rights groups and trade unions.
A 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into America came into force on Thursday, and a wider “baseline” 10% tariff on goods imported from around the world kicked in on Saturday morning.
Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron discussed their “concerns about the global economic and security impact, particularly in South East Asia” in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs, Starmer’s office said.
The UK’s prime minister spoke to the French president on Saturday, the latest in a series of calls with world leaders following the announcement of the US levies.
Issuing a readout of the call, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister spoke with President Macron following this week’s announcement that the US will impose additional tariffs. They agreed that a trade war was in nobody’s interests but nothing should be off the table and that it was important to keep business updated on developments.
“The prime minister and president also shared their concerns about the global economic and security impact, particularly in South East Asia.
“Following discussions between military planners in Ukraine this week, they discussed the good progress that has been made on the Coalition of the Willing.
“The prime minister and president agreed to stay in close contact over the coming weeks.”
Summary of the day so far
Here is a summary of the latest developments so far:
-
Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on the sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity. “We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post’, but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is an economic revolution, and we will win,” he added. “Hang tough, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
-
Trump’s 10% tariff on UK products came into force on Saturday, as global stock markets continued to fall in response to the imposition of import taxes. The FTSE 100 plummeted on Friday in its worst day of trading since the start of the pandemic, while markets on Wall Street also tumbled. Australia, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also among the countries first hit with the 10% tariff.
-
The initial 10% “baseline” tariff took effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12.01am ET (0401 GMT). Many other countries will see their tariff rates increase above that next week – including the EU, which will be hit with a 20% rate. A 25% tariff imposed on all foreign cars imported into the US came into effect on Thursday.
-
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has confirmed it will “pause” shipments to the US in April as it works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
-
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to spend the weekend speaking to foreign leaders about the tariffs, after calls with the prime ministers of Australia and Italy on Friday in which the leaders agreed that a trade war would be “extremely damaging”.
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Downing Street said that Starmer had “been clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest”. A spokesperson said officials will “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”.
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Ralph Goodale, the high commissioner for Canada in the UK, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday that “action taken by the US government is completely illogical”. He added: “It will damage the United States itself.”
-
The Italian economy minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, warned on Saturday against the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on trade partners. Speaking at a business forum near Milan, Giorgetti said Italy was aiming for a “de-escalation” with the US. “We should avoid launching a policy of counter-tariffs that could be damaging for everyone and especially for us,” Giorgetti said.
-
The stock market plunge has more to do with the emergence this year of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool than with Trump’s policies, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said in an interview released on Friday that signalled little concern about the ongoing nosedive. “For everyone who thinks these market declines are all based on the president’s economic policies, I can tell you that this market decline started with the Chinese AI announcement of DeepSeek,” Bessent told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
-
Bangladesh’s interim leader called an emergency meeting on Saturday after textile leaders in the world’s second-largest garment manufacturing nation said US tariffs were a “massive blow” to the key industry. Trump on Wednesday slapped punishing new tariffs of 37 % on Bangladesh, increasing duties from the previous 16% on cotton and 32% on polyester products.
-
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss recently announced tariffs with Trump, three Israeli officials said on Saturday. As part of a sweeping new tariff policy announced by Trump, unspecified Israeli goods exports to the US face a 17% tariff.
-
China has taken and will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, citing a Chinese government stance on opposing US tariffs. The US should “stop using tariffs as a weapon to suppress China’s economy and trade, and stop undermining the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people”, the ministry said.
-
Nissan Motor is considering shifting some domestic production of US-bound vehicles to the US, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. As early as this summer, Nissan plans to reduce production at its Fukuoka factory in western Japan and shift some manufacturing of its Rogue SUV to the US to mitigate the impact of Trump’s tariffs, the business newspaper said, without citing the source of its information.
-
The president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, met tech executives on Saturday to discuss how to respond to new US tariffs, promising to ensure Taiwan’s global competitiveness and safeguard its interests. Lai met the executives at his official residence to discuss the response to “the global economic and trade challenges brought about by the reciprocal tariff policy”, his spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement. She did not say which companies were present, only that there were several representatives from the information and communications technology, or ICT, industry.
-
“Today, America is not only humiliating Iran, but also the world,” the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said on Saturday, in an apparent reference to recent policies adopted by Trump, including imposing tariffs on imported goods. Pezeshkian said his country was willing to engage in dialogue with the US as equals, without clarifying whether Tehran would participate in direct talks.
-
China has said “the market has spoken” in rejecting Trump’s tariffs, and called on Washington for “equal-footed consultation” after global markets plunged in reaction to the trade levies that drew Chinese retaliation. Trump introduced additional 34% tariffs on Chinese goods as part of steep levies imposed on most US trade partners, bringing the total duties on China this year to 54%.
-
Away from tariff news, left-leaning organisations in the US say that more than 500,000 people are expected to take to the streets to protest in Washington DC, Florida and elsewhere around the country on Saturday to oppose Donald Trump’s “authoritarian overreach and billionaire-backed agenda”. MoveOn, one of the organisations planning the day of protest they’re calling Hands Off along with dozens of labour, environmental and other progressive groups, said that more than 1,000 protests are planned across the US, including at state capitols.
The stock market plunge has more to do with the emergence this year of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool than with Donald Trump’s policies, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said in an interview released on Friday that signaled little concern about the ongoing nosedive, reports Reuters.
“For everyone who thinks these market declines are all based on the president’s economic policies, I can tell you that this market decline started with the Chinese AI announcement of DeepSeek,” Bessent told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
“If I were to analyse in my old hat, and this is the only time I’m going to talk about it … what’s happening with the market I’d say it’s more a Mag 7 problem, not a Maga problem,” Bessent, who ran a hedge fund until being tapped as treasury secretary by Trump, said.
“Mag 7” refers to the shares of the “Magnificent 7” – a group of seven high-performing tech stocks that had helped drive the market higher before its recent selloff. Maga refers to Trump’s “Make America great again” political slogan.
US stocks have tumbled by about 10% in the two days after Trump announced a new global tariff regime that was more aggressive than analysts and investors had been anticipating.
It is a drop that market analysts and large investors themselves have laid at the feet of Trump’s aggressive push on tariffs, which most economists and the head of the Federal Reserve believe risk stoking inflation and damaging economic growth, reports Reuters.
Stocks did take a hit in late January when Chinese startup DeepSeek launched a free AI assistant that it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent services. It resulted in a record one-day loss of nearly $600bn in value from the shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia, one of the “Magnificent 7”. But the market soon found its footing again and by mid-February, the benchmark S&P 500 index had regained a record-high level.
Then stocks turned south again starting in late February after a widely followed survey of consumers showed households growing broadly pessimistic about the economy’s prospects and fearful that Trump’s push for tariffs would drive up inflation, reports Reuters.
A raft of other surveys of businesses and consumers since then have flagged similar concerns, and other data has shown the pace of activity has slowed over the course of the first quarter of 2025. The S&P has lost nearly 14% since 19 February, and nearly $10tn of US stock market value has been erased.
The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, has been dismissive of the drop as well.
Trump himself on Friday retweeted a social media post bearing the caption “Trump is Purposely CRASHING The Market” and featuring images of the president pointing at a large downward red arrow and of him signing executive orders at the White House.
Meanwhile, Bessent also told Carlson the administration retains a “strong dollar” policy and dismissed assertions by some analysts that the tariff drive was a deliberate effort to weaken the dollar to make US goods more competitive on global markets.
“No one should listen to anyone in the markets talk about the US dollar other than President Trump or myself,” Bessent said. “We are the only ones that speak for this administration, the United States government on dollar policy.”
“We have a strong-dollar policy and we are putting in all of the necessary ingredients to make sure the dollar is strong over the long run,” he said.
The dollar has shed nearly 6% of its value against major trading partners’ currencies since Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, reports Reuters.
‘Hang tough, it won’t be easy’: Trump defiant on tariffs
Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on the sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity.
The comments came as the US president’s widest-ranging tariffs took effect in a move that could trigger retaliation and escalating trade tensions that could upset the global economy.
“We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
“This is an economic revolution, and we will win,” he added. “Hang tough, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
A 10% “baseline” tariff came into place just after midnight, hitting most US imports except goods from Mexico and Canada as Trump invoked emergency economic powers to address perceived problems with the country’s trade deficits.
The trade gaps, said the White House, were driven by an “absence of reciprocity” in relationships and other policies like “exorbitant value-added taxes”.
Come 9 April, about 60 trading partners – including the European Union, Japan and China – are to face even higher rates tailored to each economy.
Already, Trump’s sharp 34%tariff on Chinese goods, to kick in next week, triggered Beijing’s announcement of its own 34% tariff on US products from 10 April.
Beijing also said it would sue the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and restrict the export of rare-earth elements used in high-end medical and electronics technology.
“China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close,” Trump said in his post. “They, and many other nations, have treated us unsustainably badly.”
But other major trading partners held back as they digested the unfolding international standoff amid fears of a recession.
On the topic of garments and Donald Trump’s tariffs, my colleague, the Guardian’s deputy fashion and lifestyle editor, Chloe Mac Donnell, has written about how from farmers to designers, the entire fashion supply chain will be hit. It is unclear what duties apply to a finished product, she writes in this piece:
