11m ago
17.38 BST
Interim
summary
It’s
another day of fast-moving US political news and there is a lot more to come.
Our business blog is keeping up with market turmoil from tariffs news but
there’s plenty of politics around this too. And Israeli prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is due at the White House at the top of the hour. Stick with us to
catch all the news as it happens.
Here’s
where things stand:
The
European Union is “in early stages of discussions” with the US, complicated
“because the US view tariffs not as a tactical step, but as a corrective
measure,” EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said, adding that “while the EU
remains open to and strongly prefers negotiations, we will not weigh endlessly
until we see tangible progress”.
British
business tycoon Sir Richard Branson said that US tariffs are a “colossal
mistake” and America could “face ruin for years to come” if Donald Trump
doesn’t reverse his decision. He added that the widespread adverse reaction so
far was “predictable and preventable.”
Donald
Trump this morning abruptly threatened to raise his tariffs on China by an
additional 50% from 9 April if China doesn’t withdraw its (retaliatory) tariffs
of 34% by tomorrow. In a social media post the US president also said “all
talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be
terminated”.
The White
House has dismissed reports today that Donald Trump is going to pause the
implementation of his sweeping tariffs for 90 days as “fake news”. A frenzy
erupted when Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, was
asked on Fox News whether the Trump administration was considering a 90-day
pause and he gave quite a vague answer.
Britain
will fight to secure an economic partnership with the United States while also
working to lower trade barriers with key partners around the world in the wake
of Trump’s tariffs, prime minister Keir Starmer said today. “Nobody is
pretending that tariffs are good news,” Starmer said as he visited a Jaguar
Land Rover factory in Solihull, West Midlands.
At the
opening bell of the New York stock exchange stocks slid again. The S&P 500
shares index, the broad measure of US shares, was down 3.4% at the start of
trading – bear market territory. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.1% and
the tech-focused Nasdaq index was down 3.9%.
Peter
Navarro, widely seen as the architect of Trump’s tariff plans, earlier today
dismissed tech-billionaire Elon Musk’s push for “zero tariffs” between the US
and Europe, calling the Tesla CEO a “car assembler” reliant on parts from other
countries.
Japan’s
prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said today that he told Trump in a phone call
that his tariff policies are extremely disappointing and urged him to rethink.
Canada
has requested World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute consultations with the US
over Trump’s decision to impose a 25% duty on cars and car parts from Canada,
the WTO said today.
Donald
Trump said on social media today that the US Federal Reserve should cut
interest rates. But Kevin Hassett, director of the US national economic
council, yesterday denied that the tariffs were part of a strategy to pressure
the central bank and said there were would be no such “political coercion”.
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