Beijing has told the US it will retaliate if Donald Trump fails to back down on his threat to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports as investors brace for another bout of trade war turmoil. China’s commerce ministry blamed Washington for raising trade tensions between the two countries after Trump announced on Friday that he would impose the additional tariffs on China’s exports to the US, along with new controls on critical software, by 1 November. “Wilful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with…
Tag: Trump tariffs
The IMF boss is right to say ‘buckle up’ – the global economy is facing multiple menaces
Little more than 48 hours passed last week between a warning from the IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, that “uncertainty is the new normal” and Donald Trump’s latest tariff onslaught – this time aimed at China. Markets plunged on Friday after Trump threatened to levy punitive additional tariffs of 100% on Chinese goods in retaliation for Beijing’s blocks on exports of rare earth minerals. The world’s finance ministers and central bankers will meet in Washington this week for the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank. In her curtain-raiser speech…
Trump threatens ‘massive’ China tariffs as Beijing restricts rare-earth exports
Donald Trump has threatened again to impose “massive” US tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of “very hostile” moves to restrict exports of rare earths needed for American industry. Wall Street fell sharply after the US president reignited public tensions with the Chinese government, and raised the prospect of another acrimonious trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Over the summer, relations had improved between Washington and Beijing, and Trump agreed to drastically reduce steep tariffs he imposed on China earlier this year, following negotiations between the two countries. “I…
US farmers caught in Trump-China trade war – who’ll buy the soybeans?
At the Purfeerst farm in southern Minnesota, the soybean harvest just wrapped up for the season. The silver grain bins are full of about 100,000 bushels of soybeans, which grab about $10 a piece. This year, though, the fate of the soybeans, and the people whose livelihoods depend on selling them, is up in the air: America’s soybean farmers are stuck in the middle of a trade war between the US and China, the biggest purchaser of soybean exports, used to feed China’s pigs. “We are gonna have to find…
Trump mega-donor privately mocked his claim to have upper hand with China
A top donor to Donald Trump and other Maga Republicans has privately mocked the US president’s longtime position that he has an upper hand in trade negotiations with China, in a sign that even some loyal supporters have been uneasy with the White House strategy. Liz Uihlein, the billionaire businesswoman who co-founded the office supply company Uline with her husband, Richard, sent an email to her staff earlier this year that contained a cartoon in which Trump can be seen playing cards with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. In the…
Mexico acting ‘under coercion to constrain’ China with 50% tariff on cars, says Beijing
China’s government has vowed to “firmly protect” its interests against Mexico’s plan to increase tariffs on Chinese cars to 50%, a move Beijing said was made “under coercion to constrain China”. On Wednesday Mexico said it intended to raise tariffs on car imports from China and other Asian countries from 20% to 50%, the maximum level allowed, in order to protect tens of thousands of manufacturing and industry jobs. However analysts suggested it was also designed to placate Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Mexico not to act as a…
One by one, leaders learn that grovelling to Trump leads to disaster. When will it dawn on Starmer? | Simon Tisdall
Sucking up to Donald Trump never works for long. Narendra Modi is the latest world leader to learn this lesson the hard way. Wooing his “true friend” in the White House, India’s authoritarian prime minister thought he’d conquered Trump’s inconstant heart. The two men hit peak pals in 2019, holding hands at a “Howdy Modi” rally in Texas. But it’s all gone pear-shaped thanks to Trump’s tariffs and dalliance with Pakistan. Like a jilted lover on the rebound, Modi shamelessly threw himself at Vladimir Putin in China last week. Don…
‘Vital to be friends’: Putin, Xi and Modi meet in message to western counterparts
They stood together like old friends, heads thrown back in jovial laughter, clutching one another’s hands affectionately. Except this was no ordinary gathering of three men, but a meeting of three of the most powerful non-western leaders: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi. The overt displays of intimacy were widely regarded by observers as a telling message of defiance aimed at their western counterparts, in particular Donald Trump, who just a few days earlier had slapped India with 50% import tariffs, among the harshest of the US president’s trade…
Trump tariffs: global parcel shipments to US lose exemption
The US tariff exemption for package shipments valued under $800 officially ended on Friday, raising costs and disrupting supply chain models for a range of businesses, with Trump administration officials saying the change would be permanent. There is now a six-month transition period under which postal service shippers can opt to pay a flat duty of $80-$200 per package depending on the country of origin, the officials added. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency began collecting normal duty rates on all global parcel imports, regardless of value, after…
India’s Modi to meet Xi and Putin on first China trip in seven years as US tariffs bite
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will land in China this weekend for his first visit in seven years – a trip that puts him in the company of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin just as India’s ties with Washington have soured. Modi’s visit to Tianjin for a regional security summit comes days after the US doubled tariffs on Indian exports to 50%, citing New Delhi’s refusal to stop buying Russian oil. The row has upended years of deepening cooperation between India and the US, built on…