Starmer to hold talks with other global leaders to discuss response to Trump tariffs, says No 10 – UK politics live

UK prime minister to speak to international leaders this weekend to ‘maintain stability and strengthen our partnerships abroad’

Trump claims Starmer ‘very happy’ about tariffs

Downing Street has refused to confirm President Trump’s claim that Keir Starmer was “very happy” about the treatment the UK is getting under the new US global tariff regime. (See 9.32am.) Asked about the president’s words at the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said that the government had already set out its position yesterday and that it was “disappointed” by the US tariff policy.

Livia Tossici-Bolt has been sentenced at Poole magistrates’ court to a conditional discharge for two years for two charges of breaching a “buffer zone” outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, PA Media reports. See 11.22am.

Continue reading...

US added 228,000 jobs in March despite Trump’s deep cuts to federal workforce

Figure up from 117,000 jobs added in February, far higher than expected, as unemployment rose slightly to 4.2%

The US added 228,000 jobs in March, far more than expected, as the US economy shook off the blow from the Trump administration’s deep cuts to federal workers.

The figure was up from an adjusted 117,000 jobs added in February. Unemployment rose slightly to 4.2%.

Continue reading...

IMF warns of ‘significant risk’ to global economy from Trump tariffs as markets plunge

Fund boss Kristalina Georgieva says it is important that US and trading partners avoid escalating trade war

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Donald Trump’s implementation of swingeing tariffs poses a “significant risk” to the global economy, as stock markets were hit by a punishing worldwide sell-off by investors.

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, said it was important that the US and its trading partners avoided further escalating Trump’s trade war, while stock markets plunged on Friday as China retaliated against the tariffs.

Continue reading...

Asian markets drop further as IMF warns Trump tariffs ‘a significant risk’ to global economy – business live

Kristolina Georgieva warns against retaliation to US levies while US president insists ‘markets will boom’ after sweeping tariff announcement

In the Pacific, Fiji is the hardest hit by Trump’s tariffs. It has been levied with a 32% tariff, Vanuatu at 22% and Nauru at 30%.

Fiji prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka said the move was akin to a “trade blockade” that his country could not win.

Today was the worst stock market experience in five years. Usually when you have a terrible stock market experience, it’s because a bank fails, a pandemic, a hurricane or because some other country does something.

We don’t have these kinds of stock market responses in response to policies that the President of the United States is proud of. That is something that is entirely without precedent. It is extremely dangerous.

If any administration of which I was a part had launched an economic policy so totally ungrounded in serious analysis or so dangerous and damaging, I would have resigned in protest.

Continue reading...

Canada to counter ‘unjustified’ US tariffs with 25% taxes on US cars, says Carney

Canadian prime minister says country will impose taxes on US vehicles not compliant with continental free trade deal

Canada will retaliate against “unjustified, unwarranted” tariffs imposed by the United States with a 25% tax on US vehicles, says Mark Carney.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced wide-ranging tariffs on dozens of countries, but did not add new trade levies to Canada or Mexico. Despite the reprieve, however, the US has placed 25% taxes on Canadian steel, aluminum and vehicles.

Continue reading...

Trump tariffs see stocks dive and investors scramble to bonds, gold and yen

Nasdaq futures tumbled 3.3% and in after-hours trade as $760bn was wiped from the market value of ‘Magnificent Seven’ technology leaders

Stocks dived and investors scrambled to the safety of bonds, gold and the yen on Thursday as Donald Trump unveiled a bigger-than-expected wall of tariffs around the world’s largest economy, upending trade and supply chains.

The technology sector was pummelled as manufacturing hubs in China and Taiwan faced new tariffs above 30%. In total, China now faces an eye-watering 54% in tariffs on its exports to the US.

Continue reading...

War-torn and struggling countries among those facing steepest Trump reciprocal tariffs

Myanmar, which is reeling from a huge earthquake and civil war, faces 44% rate amid suspicions that the underlying target is China

Developing nations in South-east Asia, including war-torn and earthquake-hit Myanmar, and several African nations are among the trading partners facing the highest tariffs set by US President Donald Trump.

Upending decades of US trade policy and threatening to unleash a global trade war, Trump on Wednesday announced a raft of tariffs he said were designed to stop the US economy from being “cheated”.

Continue reading...

‘War’ and ‘pain’: what the papers say about Donald Trump’s trade tariffs

The US president has announced new taxes on imports to the US starting at a baseline of 10% – here is the front-page reaction in Britain

Donald Trump’s tariff “day of liberation” arrived with the US president imposing markups on imports while accusing other nations, including allies, of “looting, pillaging, raping and plundering” the US.

The UK got off relatively lightly with the basic 10%. Here is how major British newspapers see it.

Continue reading...

Republicans join Democrats in Senate vote to rescind Trump Canada tariffs

Resolution that would block tariffs passes 51-48 in Senate, in vote that shows Republican unease over president’s plans

Several Republican senators joined Democrats to pass a resolution that would block Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare rebuke of the president’s trade policy just hours after he announced plans for sweeping import taxes on some of the country’s largest trading partners.

In a 51-48 vote, four Republicans – Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and both Kentucky senators, the former majority leader Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul – defied Trump’s pressure campaign and supported the measure. Democrats used a procedural maneuver to force a vote on the resolution, which would terminate the national emergency on fentanyl Trump is using to justify tariffs on Canada.

Continue reading...

Canada Trump tariff exemption ‘like dodging a bullet into the path of a tank’, says business leader

Automotive industry and prime minister Mark Carney note that 25% tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and automobiles will still come into effect within hours

Canada’s exemption from Donald Trump’s global tariffs was “like dodging a bullet into the path of a tank”, say business leaders as other levies are poised to hit key industries that drive the country’s economy.

In a theatrical unveiling of tariffs on countries with “unfair” practices on Wednesday afternoon, Canada was noticeably absent, alongside trade ally Mexico.

Continue reading...

Trump goes full gameshow host to push his tariff plan – and nobody’s a winner

There were charts and scores, as if The Price Is Right had come to Washington. The big prize? A global trade war

It was Jeopardy!, or The Price Is Right, come to Washington.

On an unseasonably chilly day in the White House Rose Garden, Donald Trump stood with a giant chart listing which reciprocal tariffs he would impose on China, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other hapless contestants.

Continue reading...

Trump hits UK with 10% tariffs as he ignites global trade war

Britain gets off comparatively lightly but US president’s action could still cost billions in lost growth

Donald Trump has hit the UK with tariffs of 10% on exports to the US as he ignited a global trade war that could wipe billions off economic growth.

The US president accused other nations, including allies, of “looting, pillaging, raping and plundering” the US, as he announced tariffs on economic rivals including 20% on the EU and 34% on China as part of what he dubbed “liberation day”.

Continue reading...