Category Archives: Tariffs

Trump claimed ‘tariffs are easy’ – he’s learning the hard way that’s not the case

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Time and time again over the past four months, reality has failed to match Trump’s rhetoric

“Tariffs are easy,” Donald Trump claimed in March. For his administration, and the world, they have proven anything but. Now an obscure New York court has blocked his signature trade policy, setting up a battle that looks sure to end up in the supreme court.

The plan was simple. For decades, Trump has made the case for tariffs. Now, in his second term, he would dramatically hike them on the world; raise trillions of dollars for the federal government; cut taxes for Americans; and lure manufacturers to the country’s industrial heartlands, creating millions of jobs.

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Australia’s trade minister says Trump plan to double steel and aluminium tariffs to 50% ‘not the act of a friend’

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Don Farrell says US president’s latest tariffs announcement ‘an act of economic self-harm’ and he will continue to advocate for their removal

Australia’s trade minister, Don Farrell, has described Donald Trump’s trade tariffs as “unjustified and not the act of a friend”, after the US president announced he would double import duties on steel and aluminium to 50%.

Trump told a steelworkers rally in Pittsburgh that raising the tariff would “even further secure the steel industry in the United States. Nobody is going to get around that”.

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China has ‘totally violated’ its trade agreement with the US, says Trump

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President took to social media to denounce Beijing in the latest development in his ongoing tariff war

Donald Trump declared that China has “totally violated its agreement” against the US on trade just two weeks after the countries reached a deal, raising fears that the trade war will continue to rattle the global economy.

“I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday morning. “Everybody was happy! That is the good news!!! The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.”

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Volkswagen to make ‘massive’ investment in US in bid to avoid tariffs

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CEO of Europe’s largest industrial group says he has been in direct talks with Donald Trump’s administration

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest industrial group, has said it will make a “massive” investment in the US. The group, which includes Porsche, revealed it has been in direct talks with Donald Trump’s administration as it faces damaging tariffs.

Oliver Blume, who heads the group, said the talks were “constructive” and “fair”, in an interview that suggests the company, whose market capital is £44bn, is not willing to leave tariff negotiations to Brussels alone.

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First Thing: Federal court blocks Trump from imposing ‘illegal’ sweeping tariffs

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The ruling says Trump exceeded authority in imposing sweeping tariffs. Plus, Elon Musk confirms government exit

Good morning.

A federal trade court has ruled Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs regime illegal, a dramatic twist that could block the president’s controversial global trade policy.

What was the ruling? Tariffs typically need to be approved by Congress but Trump has so far bypassed that requirement by claiming that the country’s trade deficits amounted to a national emergency. The court’s ruling said Trump’s tariff orders “exceed any authority granted to the president … to regulate importation by means of tariffs”.

How are markets reacting? Global markets cheered the ruling, with the US dollar rallying along with indexes in France, Germany, Japan, and futures for the US S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq indexes rising.

What’s next? The Trump administration has already filed to appeal. White House officials attacked the court, calling it “unelected”.

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Trump indicates ‘positive’ progress in US-EU trade talks

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Wall Street up in early trading after US president commends bloc for calling to ‘quickly establish meeting dates’

Donald Trump has indicated there has been progress in US trade talks with the EU, helping send share prices rising on Wall Street, after he commended the bloc for calling to “quickly establish meeting dates”.

“I have just been informed that the EU has called to quickly establish meeting dates. This is a positive event, and I hope that they will,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, saying the EU would be “very happy and successful” if it agreed a deal.

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EU hopes for quick deal to resolve US trade war after Trump delays 50% tariffs

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European leaders call for ‘lowest possible’ border taxes after levies postponed from 1 June to 9 July

EU leaders have expressed hopes for a quick deal to resolve the trade war with the US after Donald Trump announced he was delaying his threatened 50% tariffs for the bloc until 9 July.

The US president said on Sunday he would pause the border tax due to be imposed on 1 June, which he had announced two days earlier, after what he called a “very nice call” with Ursula von der Leyen.

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EU president secures tariffs delay after talk with Trump

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Enactment of 50% tariffs postponed until July so both sides can ‘reach a good deal’ after pressure from European leaders

Donald Trump has announced that he will pause his threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union until 9 July, after a “very nice call” with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

The European Commission president announced in a social media post that she had spoken with Trump and secured the delay to give the two sides more time to negotiate.

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Any trade deal with US must be based on ‘respect not threats’, says EU commissioner

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Maroš Šefčovič’s remarks come after pace of talks prompted Trump to propose 50% tariff on goods from bloc

The European Union’s trade chief has struck a defiant tone after Donald Trump threatened to place a 50% tariff on all goods from the bloc, saying any potential trade deal between Brussels and Washington must be based on “respect not threats”.

The US president made his announcement after voicing frustration with the pace of progress on a trade agreement with the EU. The new rates would come into effect from 1 June.

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Trump threatens 25% tariff on Apple and Samsung phones not made in US

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Announcement wipes about $70bn off Apple shares amid pressure on company to build smartphones in US

Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in the United States, as he stepped up the pressure on Apple to build its signature product in the country.

The president wiped approximately $70bn (£52bn) off the company’s shares with a post on the Truth Social platform that said iPhones sold inside the US must be made within the country’s borders.

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Rising goods prices could delay UK interest rate cuts, says Bank policymaker

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Bank of England’s Catherine Mann wary of firms looking to rebuild profit margins after a squeeze

Businesses will need to show they are keeping a lid on prices before there can be further interest rate cuts, according to the Bank of England interest rate-setter Catherine Mann.

In a warning to retailers and consumer goods companies to resist pushing up prices by more than the increase in their costs, Mann said she was wary of firms looking to rebuild their profit margins after a squeeze in recent years.

“I need to see the loss of pricing power, I need to see that firms are starting to be much more moderate in setting their prices,” she said.

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China cautiously welcomes pause in US tariff war

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State media editorial says talks mark ‘step toward resolving differences’ but Xi again criticises US ‘bullying’

A 90-day pause in the US-China tariff war has been cautiously welcomed in China but tensions remain high, with Xi Jinping again accusing the US of “bullying”.

After two days of talks between officials in Geneva over the weekend, China and the US agreed to substantially lower for the next 90 days the high tariffs each had imposed on the other in a tit-for-tat trade war.

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‘Substantial progress’ at US-China trade talks, says Scott Bessent

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US treasury secretary’s remarks on second day of meetings come after Trump hails ‘total reset’ in America-China ties

The US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has reported “substantial progress” in talks with China’s top economic officials to avoid a damaging trade war, but offered no details of an agreement reached as two days of negotiations wrapped up in Geneva.

Bessent said that details would be announced on Monday and that Donald Trump was fully aware of the results of the “productive talks”.

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Trump claims ‘total reset’ in US-China trade relations after tariff talks in Geneva

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US president praises ‘very good’ discussions as top US and Chinese officials meet over trade war triggered by Trump’s tariff blitz

Donald Trump has hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations after the first day of talks between top American and Chinese officials in Geneva aimed at defusing a trade war sparked by his tariff rollout.

The US president praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”.

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Chinese and US officials meet in Geneva for ‘de-escalation’ trade talks

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World Trade Organization hails ‘constructive step’ as senior figures come together to discuss tariffs

Senior US and Chinese officials held talks early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China’s state-owned news agency and people close to the talks.

China’s vice-premier, He Lifeng, and the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, met after weeks of growing tensions as duties on imports between the world’s two largest economies have risen above 100%.

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Trump floats cutting Chinese tariffs from 145% to 80% before weekend talks

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Meeting aimed at de-escalating trade war after Chinese exports beat expectations despite slump in trade

Donald Trump has floated cutting tariffs on China from 145% to 80% before a weekend meeting as he looks to de-escalate the trade war.

Top US officials are expected to meet a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first significant talks between the two nations since Trump provoked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports.

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Trump hails trade deal with ‘oldest ally’ UK – but what about the details?

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President’s announcement receives favorable political reaction but experts warn much remains unresolved

There was plenty of congratulatory backslapping in the Oval Office as Donald Trump unveiled his “major” trade deal with the United Kingdom on Thursday, but many of the details of that agreement have been left to later discussions.

Trump’s rush to claim a win for his controversial tariffs policy left many grasping just what to call this: a deal, an agreement, a framework? Observers predict that the coming negotiations could take months.

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EU targets US aircraft and car exports in new list of potential tariffs

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Move would hit Boeing, as Brussels also starts consultation on possible litigation over Trump’s blanket 20% tariffs

The EU is considering imposing tariffs on US aircraft and car exports in a fresh attempt to persuade Donald Trump to drop his current and proposed tariffs against the EU.

If acted on they will hit Boeing hard but also include further categories of US exports including chemicals, electrical equipment including cameras, health-related products and some foods such as sweet potato and nuts.

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UK interest rates fall to 4.25% as Bank of England announces a quarter-point cut

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Move follows run of downbeat economic data and looks to cushion UK from Trump’s trade war fallout

Bank of England policymakers have cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% to cushion the UK economy against the impact of Donald Trump’s trade war.

The widely expected move from the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), its fourth cut since last August, should lead to cheaper mortgages for homeowners.

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Trump tariffs to hit small farms in Maga heartlands hardest, analysis predicts

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Major corporations are best placed to benefit from Trump polices at the expense of independent farmers

The winners and losers of Trump’s first tariff war strongly suggest that bankruptcies and farm consolidation could surge during his second term, with major corporations best placed to benefit from his polices at the expense of independent farmers.

New analysis by the non-profit research advocacy group Food and Water Watch (FWW), shared exclusively with the Guardian, shows that Trump’s first-term tariffs were particularly devastating for farmers in the Maga rural heartlands.

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