President Donald Trump’s trade war with China shows no signs of slowing, even after the White House exempted certain tech products from its heavy tariffs.
The U.S. has placed a 145 percent tariff on China, while Beijing has retaliated with a 125 percent tariff on American goods. While Trump later exempted smartphones, laptops, televisions, semiconductors and other electronics, there appears to be no end in sight.
That’s because Trump is waiting for Chinese leader Xi Jinping to call him personally, while Chinese officials are wary of putting Xi on a call that is unpredictable and potentially embarrassing, The New York Times reports.
Meanwhile, businesses that rely on Chinese products are in turmoil and many have had to halt shipments entirely under the heavy tariffs.
The toy industry is among those most impacted, with China accounting for 80 percent of all imports of toys and sporting goods, according to the Times. Now, owners warn simple toys like dolls could soon become luxuries.
However, tech companies like Tesla and Apple — which produces most of its iPhones in China — will continue to benefit thanks to Trump’s electronics exemption.
Key Points
- Howard Lutnick says tariffs on smartphones ‘coming soon’ after Apple gets China reprieve
- Trump admin insists 'America cannot rely on China' while exempting China from electronics tariffs
- Trump exempts phones, other electronics from China tariffs
- As tariffs put trade between China and the US in peril, Chinese businesses ponder the future
SNL’s Colin Jost and Michael Che mock Donald Trump’s tariffs U-turn in Weekend Update skit
17:12
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Ellie Muir
Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost kicked off the latest episode with a segment mocking Donald Trump’s U-turn on tariff policies.
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Howard Lutnick says tariffs on smartphones ‘coming soon’ after Apple gets China reprieve
16:30
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John Bowden
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other Trump administration officials continued to defend Donald Trump’s tariff regime Sunday as the nation braces for another week of volatility and the potential of further U-turns by the president - including on a recent electronics exemption.
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Trump tariffs on China could do 'irreversible' damage to U.S. businesses
16:00
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Katie Hawkinson
President Donald Trump’s trade war with China could do “irreversible” damage to U.S. businesses, according to a new report.
Stephen Lamar, CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, tells CNBC the tariffs are disrupting supply chains at levels not seen since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With prohibitively high tariff levels on U.S. imports from China, many companies have no choice but to cancel orders,” Lamar said.
“The constant switchbacking means new tariff costs are not accurately presented or predictable until the goods arrive at the port, and the high rates are generating bills that can’t be paid. That is not a risk or burden small business can sustain,” he added.
“An extension of the trade war pause to U.S. imports from China is needed now before the damage is irreversible.”
SNL mocks ‘messiah’ Trump over chaotic tariffs policy
15:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
Saturday Night Live once again skewered President Donald Trump over his tariffs policy and continued trade war with China, following on from last week’s “Liberation Day” cold open.
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Toy makers suffers under Trump's China tariffs
15:00
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Katie Hawkinson
Toymakers are bracing for rising prices and falling sales as President Donald Trump places 145 percent tariffs on China — and Beijing retaliates with its own 125 percent tariffs.
Nearly 80 percent of all toys sold in the U.S. are made in China — meaning what were once cheap toys could soon become luxuries, CNN reports.
Major toymakers like Mattel and Hasbro are also seeing their stocks sink, CNBC reports, as Trump’s trade war with Xi Jinping shows no signs of slowing.
As tariffs put trade between China and the US in peril, Chinese businesses ponder the future
14:24
,
Associated Press
When the first two rounds of 10% tariffs hit, Zou Guoqing, a Chinese exporter, groaned but didn't find the barriers insurmountable. He gave up some of his profits and offered his client, a snow-bike factory in Nebraska, price cuts ranging from 5% to 10%. It seemed to work: The factory agreed to a new order of molds and parts.
But when President Donald Trump announced an additional 34% universal tariff on Chinese goods on April 2, Zou, who’s been exporting to the U.S. for more than a decade, was incredulous.
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ICYMI: Trump exempts phones, computers and other electronics from his tariffs on Chinese goods
14:23
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Josh Marcus
Smartphones, computers, flash drives, semiconductors and solar cells will be exempt from the Trump administration’s wide-ranging tariffs on China and other nations, according to guidance from U.S Customs and Border Protection released late Friday night.
The policy is a boon to U.S. tech companies such as Apple, which produces most of its iPhones in China.
“This is the dream scenario for tech investors,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, told CNBC. “Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game-changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.”
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AOC and Bernie Sanders blast Trump and Musk at largest anti-oligarchy rally yet
14:00
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Oliver O'Connell
A staggering 36,000 people protested Donald Trump’s administration in Los Angeles Saturday, at the largest rally to date of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour
In fiery remarks, the New Yorker laid into the president, accusing him of “manipulating the markets” for his billionaire friends with his “tariff shuffle” this week, in which Trump pulled a dramatic U-turn on the implementation of his trade war against U.S. commercial partners and allies.
Taking to the stage at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles, Sanders noted that the crowd went back half a mile, before saying that Musk had said most of the people attending these rallies were paid organizers. He asked the crowd: “Anybody here get paid to come today?”
The question was met with a resounding: “No!”
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Trump takes questions on short flight to UFC fight
13:30
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Oliver O'Connell
On his 23-minute flight from Palm Beach to Miami for the UFC fight this evening, President Donald Trump came back to the press cabin to speak with reporters for about three minutes on Iran talks, Russia talks, the Texas Senate primary, and tariff exemptions.
“So we're going to the fight. We have lots of fights going around the world, and I think we have a lot of good news coming soon about some of those fights, and we'll see how it goes. But it's been a, it's been an interesting weekend. I think we have some pretty good news coming on some of the conflicts.”
On the talks this weekend with Iran in Oman, the president said: “I think they’re going OK. Nothing matters until you get it done. So I don’t like talking about it.”
On talks with Russia about ending its war on Ukraine, Trump said: “I think Ukraine-Russia might be going OK. And you’re going to be finding out pretty soon. There’s a point at which you have to either put up or shut up. We’ll see what happens, but I think it’s going fine.”
Asked about tariff exemptions for electronics and the possibility of upcoming semiconductor tariffs, the president said: “I’ll give you that answer on Monday. We’ll be very specific. But we’re taking in a lot of money. As a country, we’re taking in a lot of money.”
And on the Texas Senate primary between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn, Trump said: “They’re both friends of mine. They’re both good men. And I don’t know. We don’t know who else is running, but these two— Ken, John —they’re both friends of mine. So I’ll make a determination at the right time.”
In a response to a separate question, the president noted that inflation is down and immigration numbers are down at the border.
Trump’s auto tariffs expected to cost industry over $100 billion, with millions fewer cars sold
13:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Despite the on-off nature of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on U.S. trading partners, among those that still stand is the 25 percent import tax on imported vehicles that went into effect on April 3.
Wall Street and automotive industry analysts foresee massive global implications for the industry if these tariffs remain in place, with vehicle sales plummeting by millions as prices for both new and used cars surge, according to reporting by NBC News.
Read on...
Lara Trump asks Lutnick if president is in driver's seat on trade deals
12:30
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Oliver O'Connell
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared on Lara Trump’s Fox News show this evening to assure Americans that President Donald Trump is in the driving seat on trade negotiations and tariffs.
Lara Trump: President Trump is in the driver seat, is he not?
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 13, 2025
Lutnick: He’s totally in the driver seat. pic.twitter.com/ZFEBBBHaUF
Lutnick went on to say that the president will personally participate in negotiations with the top 10 or 15 most important countries “because he can understand their economies the best...”
Lutnick: President Trump said he's going to participate in the top 10 or 15 countries and he is going to make the deals because he can understand their economies the best… pic.twitter.com/6xldP4rfN5
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 13, 2025
It’s ‘beyond wild’ nobody is questioning Trump’s mental fitness, says Jasmine Crockett
12:00
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Oliver O'Connell
It’s “beyond wild” that people are not questioning Donald Trump’s mental fitness amid his ongoing onslaught of tariffs against U.S. trading partners, Jasmine Crockett says.
During an appearance on MSNBC, the Texas Democratic Representative compared living through a second-term Trump administration, with its unprecedented emergency policymaking on immigration and the economy, to being in an “abusive relationship.”
Josh Marcus has the story.
Trump took cognitive test in annual physical, he tells reporters, claiming full report coming Sunday
11:00
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Oliver O'Connell
President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday evening that as part of his annual physical, he took a cognitive test.
“I got every answer right,” he announced.
Stay tuned for that later today...
Trump tries to have it both ways on border emergency, expert argues
10:00
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Oliver O'Connell
A presidential order on Friday regarding troops at the U.S. border may seem like more of the same — thousands are at the boundary line already — but it actually marks a dramatic escalation in Trump’s use of emergency powers, according to Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
The order directs the military to take control of federal lands along the border, effectively turning these areas into military installations.
In doing so, the administration argues, soldiers can temporarily detain migrants who cross the border in these locations, using powers they’d use at any other military base to detain someone breaking in.
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Experts doubt Trump team’s plan to reach 90 trade deals in three months
09:00
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Oliver O'Connell
Katie Hawkinson reports from Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump and his team want to reach trade deals with 90 countries in as many days — and experts say there’s “no way” he can achieve that mark.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox Business the Trump administration will “run 90 deals in 90 days.” His proclamation comes after Trump issued blanket tariffs of at least 10 percent on nearly every country — then placed a 90-day pause on most of the tariffs Wednesday.
Navarro added Trump will be “the boss” and “chief negotiator” of these supposed deals: “Nothing is done without him looking very carefully at it.”
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer similarly said that a team of 200 people are “working around the clock” to get deals “to a point where the president can close” them.
But economists say it’s not going to happen with the Senate having only confirmed one other senior Treasury Department official and the administration already being stretched thin.
Read on...
COMMENT: Insider trading accusations against Trump should not be a laughing matter – but they are
08:00
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Oliver O'Connell
Chris Blackhurst writes:
In Donald Trump, America has a president who combines business with politics. So far, we’ve witnessed Trump and golf, Trump and social media, Trump and cyber, Trump and real estate, Trump and artefacts. This is an elected leader who shamelessly plugs the Trump family business interests while seeking to serve his country.
Now comes Trump and tariffs.
Read on...
In pictures: AOC and Bernie Sanders hold largest 'Fighting Oligarchy' rally to date
07:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Watch: 'A crisis of confidence in the competence of the administration'
06:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
University of Michigan Economics Professor Justin Wolfers offers his take on the Trump administration’s tariffs policy as markets end a turbulent week.
The first step in policy analysis is figuring out what's going wrong. And by my view, we're facing two crises: A tariff crisis, and a crisis of confidence built upon fears incompetence.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) April 11, 2025
Let me lay it out, wonk it out and math it out, and maybe get a bit testy along the way. pic.twitter.com/tXpyO0fqfV
SNL mocks ‘messiah’ Trump over chaotic tariffs policy
05:52
,
Oliver O'Connell
Saturday Night Live once again skewered President Donald Trump over his tariffs policy, following on from last week’s “Liberation Day” cold open.
James Austin Johnson returned to Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza as the president in an Easter-themed sketch that began with Jesus, played by Mikey Day, casting the moneylenders out of the temple on his arrival in Jerusalem.
The Biblical tableau froze as SNL’s Trump appeared.
Read on...
Watch: Trump appears to snub RFK Jr's wife, actor Cheryl Hines
05:47
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Oliver O'Connell
President Donald Trump appeared to ignore Cheryl Hines, the actor married to his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, at tonight’s UFC fight.
In the past, Hines has said she supports her husband, not the president, but has since been seen socializing at Mar-a-Lago.
Famous for her role in Curb Your Enthusiasm, the internet delivered and someone added the famous theme music to the moment.
Curb theme music - Trump showing no love for Cheryl Hines pic.twitter.com/IjORmq5CYy
— Sugar Smith (@SugarSmith123) April 13, 2025
The New York Post later reported that the two were seen together, with the president holding her hand as he spoke with Hines and Kennedy.
Watch: SNL's Trump interrupts Jesus's cleansing of the temple
05:24
,
Oliver O'Connell
Trump interrupts Jesus’s cleansing of the temple to talk Easter pic.twitter.com/6kpY0xZQre
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) April 13, 2025
Trump says fate of ICE deportees at notorious prison up to El Salvador president
04:29
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Oliver O'Connell
The Trump administration stated on Saturday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident mistakenly deported to El Salvador, is “alive and secure” at a terrorism confinement center there.
A U.S. judge demanded updates on the Trump administration's efforts to “facilitate” his return, per a Supreme Court ruling.
Just hours later on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he was looking forward to meeting with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador on Monday at the White House.
Despite an earlier statement claiming he would bring Abrego Garcia back if instructed by the Supreme Court, Trump appeared to deflect, saying that those deported “are now in the sole custody of El Salvador ... their future is up to President B and his Government.”
Read on...
BlackRock CEO thinks we might already be in a recession
04:04
,
Oliver O'Connell
As the stock market turbulence prompts fears that the U.S. could soon be in a recession, an investment management firm executive believes we’re already there.
President Donald Trump’s back-and-forth approach to his tariff policy — announcing an across-the-board tax one week and then pausing it the next — has caused the markets to go wild.
In just a week’s span, the market has endured historic drops — after the president unveiled his new “Liberation Day” tariffs — and historic gains — after Trump announced a 90-day pause. But with some levies still in effect and others set to return in a few months, the gains haven’t curbed fears of uncertainty over the future of the U.S. economy.
“I think we’re very close, if not [already] in, a recession now,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warned on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Friday.
Kelly Rissman reports from New York.
ICYMI: Judge allows Trump administration to deport Columbia student
03:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
An immigration court judge has determined that Donald Trump’s administration can deport a Columbia University student activist for his involvement in pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus.
The administration’s claims that Mahmoud Khalil poses “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States is “facially reasonable,” according to assistant chief immigration judge Jamee Comans.
The arrest of Khalil — who is currently detained in a Louisiana facility more than 1,300 miles from New York, where his U.S. citizen wife is imminently expected to give birth — has sparked international outrage and fears that the Trump administration is moving to crush political dissidents, starting with campus demonstrations against Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza and U.S. support.
Alex Woodward reports.
Watch: Trump enters UFC 314 in Miami with family and Cabinet members
03:24
,
Oliver O'Connell
.@POTUS makes an electric entrance at UFC 314 in Miami pic.twitter.com/AgW46VypOI
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 13, 2025
President Donald Trump entered the arena with Kai Trump, Dana White, and Congressman Byron Donalds, among others.
Also seated near him in addition to those who flew down from Palm Beach, were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his wife, Cheryl Hines.
President Trump also shook hands with Joe Rogan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports (who has been critical of the administration in recent weeks).
Watch: Lara Trump asks Lutnick if president is in driver's seat on trade deals
03:14
,
Oliver O'Connell
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared on Lara Trump’s Fox News show this evening to assure Americans that President Donald Trump is in the driving seat on trade negotiations and tariffs.
Lara Trump: President Trump is in the driver seat, is he not?
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 13, 2025
Lutnick: He’s totally in the driver seat. pic.twitter.com/ZFEBBBHaUF
Lutnick went on to say that the president will personally participate in negotiations with the top 10 or 15 most important countries “because he can understand their economies the best...”
Yikes.
Lutnick: President Trump said he's going to participate in the top 10 or 15 countries and he is going to make the deals because he can understand their economies the best… pic.twitter.com/6xldP4rfN5
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 13, 2025
AOC and Bernie Sanders blast Trump and Musk at largest anti-oligarchy rally yet
03:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
A staggering 36,000 people protested Donald Trump’s administration in Los Angeles Saturday, at the largest rally to date of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour
In fiery remarks, the New Yorker laid into the president, accusing him of “manipulating the markets” for his billionaire friends with his “tariff shuffle” this week, in which Trump pulled a dramatic U-turn on the implementation of his trade war against U.S. commercial partners and allies.
Taking to the stage at Gloria Molina Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles, Sanders noted that the crowd went back half a mile, before saying that Musk had said most of the people attending these rallies were paid organizers. He asked the crowd: “Anybody here get paid to come today?”
The question was met with a resounding: “No!”
Continue reading...
