The US has announced it is cutting the tariff on small parcels sent from mainland China and Hong Kong to the US from 120% to 54%, hours after Washington and Beijing agreed a 90-day pause in their trade war. Donald Trump signed an executive order more than halving the levy, which was brought in at the start of this month to close the “de minimis” loophole allowing low-value goods to be sent to the US without paying any import fees. The exemption – taken from the Latin phrase for “of…
Tag: Trump administration
Brazil’s president seeks ‘indestructible’ links with China amid Trump trade war
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has heralded his desire to build “indestructible” relations with China, as the leaders of three of Latin America’s biggest economies flew to Beijing against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s trade war and the profound international uncertainty his presidency has generated. Lula touched down in China’s capital on Sunday for a four-day state visit, accompanied by 11 ministers, top politicians and a delegation of more than 150 business leaders. Hours later Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, arrived, making a beeline for the Great Wall…
US and China agree to lower tariffs in trade war de-escalation – video
The US and China have agreed to lower tariffs on each other’s goods substantially for 90 days following negotiations last weekend. Speaking in Geneva, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said ‘both sides will move their tariffs down by 115%’. It is a significant de-escalation in the trade war that blew up last month. Before the latest deal, the US had lifted its tariffs on China to 145% – including the 20% tariff added to tackle fentanyl imports into the US – with Beijing having retaliated with 125% tariffs on…
China and US agree 90-day pause to trade war initiated by Donald Trump
China and the US have agreed a 90-day pause to the deepening trade war that has threatened to upend the global economy, with reciprocal tariffs to be lowered by 115 percentage points. Speaking to the media after talks in Geneva, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said both sides had shown “great respect” in the negotiations. Bessent said: “The consensus from both delegations this weekend was neither side wants a decoupling.” The 90-day lowering of tariffs applies to the duties announced by Donald Trump on 2 April, which ultimately escalated…
White House claims China trade deal reached after ‘productive’ Geneva talks
The White House announced on Sunday that a trade deal with China has been struck after two days of talks in Geneva. The announcement, in a press release, comes after US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that there had been “substantial progress” in talks between his team and that of the Chinese vice-premier, He Lifeng, in Geneva on defusing the trade war between the world’s two largest economies sparked by Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs. In remarks that were posted on social media by the White House, Bessent said he…
Why is Trump ending the ‘de minimis’ tariff loophole on low-value imports?
At one minute past midnight on Friday, eastern time, a US tariff exemption that has fuelled the rise of companies such as Shein and Temu, and stocked the wardrobes of millions of Americans with cheap fast fashion and other household goods, closed. As part of Donald Trump’s flurry of tariffs on China, the US is closing a loophole that allowed low-value goods to be shipped into the US without paying any import fees. The “de minimis” loophole, known by the Latin phrase for “of little importance”, was “a big scam…
Apple to report quarterly earnings amid Trump trade policy chaos
Investors have their eyes on Apple as it prepares to report financial results of the second quarter of the fiscal year on Thursday. The tech giant has been working to calm nervous analysts after Donald Trump levied sweeping tariffs on countries around the world that are likely to complicate supply chains for consumer electronics. Since the beginning of the year, Apple’s stock has slumped 16%. In anticipation of its earnings report, the company’s stock notched up slightly on Wednesday. Analysts are predicting a positive quarter for Apple with an average…
US has approached China seeking talks on Trump tariffs, says state social media
The US has approached China seeking talks over Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state media has said, potentially signalling Beijing’s openness to negotiations. “The US has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue,” Yuyuan Tantian reported in a post published on its official Weibo social media account, citing anonymous sources. US officials, including the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, also expressed hope for progress in easing trade tensions. Hassett…
Hedging our bets: the existential questions facing Australia’s next government in unpredictable times
The world is a more dangerous place. Global conflicts have doubled over the past five years, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (Acled). In 2024 alone, one person in eight across the world was exposed to conflict: political violence increased by a quarter, by factors worse in countries that held elections. Australian political leaders of all stripes couch it in shared aphorism: the most “challenging strategic circumstances since WWII”. Violence, of course, never went away. It ebbed in some periods, but the myth of the triumph of liberal…
US treasury secretary says ‘there is a path’ with China over tariff negotiations
The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said “there is a path” to an agreement with China over tariffs after he had interactions with his Chinese counterparts last week in Washington. “I had interaction with my Chinese counterparts, but it was more on the traditional things like financial stability, global economic early warnings,” Bessent told ABC News’s This Week on Sunday, explaining that he spoke to the Chinese during International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington. “I don’t know if President Trump has spoken with President Xi,” he added. On Friday, President…