Asian stocks stuttered on Wednesday morning as a nervous world awaited details of US president Donald Trump's tariff plans, which investors fear could intensify the global trade war.
The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Trump will impose new tariffs, though it provided no details about the size and scope of trade barriers. The president has, for weeks, trumpeted 2 April as a "Liberation Day" that will see dramatic new duties that could upend the global trade system.
Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.3 per cent and South Korea's benchmark index was 0.57 pr cent lower. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 0.8 per cent. In mainland China, the CSI 300 Index declined 0.1 per cent.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose duties on US goods would take effect immediately after Trump announces them, while a 25 per cent tariff on auto imports will take effect on 3 April.
Mr Trump has already imposed tariffs on aluminium, steel, and autos, along with increased duties on all goods from China that have rattled markets amid fears that a full-blown trade war could trigger a sharp global economic slowdown.
Read More
Key points
- Asian stocks fall ahead of Trump's levies
- EU vows ‘strong plan’ to hit back at Trump’s tariffs
- UK must ‘prepare for the worst’ over Trump tariffs, warns foreign secretary
- Tariff trade war could deal $1.4trn blow to global economy
- Goldman Sachs downgrades UK economic growth forecast as Trump tariffs loom
China, Japan, South Korea mulling 'joint response to Trump tariffs'
04:37
China, Japan and South Korea have agreed to jointly respond to US tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday, an assertion that Seoul called “somewhat exaggerated”.
The state media comments came after the three countries held their first economic dialogue in five years on Sunday, seeking to facilitate regional trade as the Asian export powers brace against US president Donald Trump's tariffs.
Japan and South Korea are seeking to import semiconductor raw materials from China and China is interested in purchasing chip products from Japan and South Korea, the account, Yuyuan Tantian, said in a post on Weibo.
More here.
Asian stocks fall ahead of Trump's levies
04:12
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Asian stocks stuttered this morning while the safe-haven gold was stuck near record highs as a nervous world awaited details of US president Donald Trump's tariff plans, with investors fretting about the risks of an intensifying global trade war.
Investor focus in recent weeks has been firmly on the new round of reciprocal levies that the White House is due to announce this afternoon, which are expected to take effect immediately after Mr Trump announces them.
Mr Trump has already imposed tariffs on aluminium, steel, and autos, along with increased duties on all goods from China that have rattled markets amid fears that a full-blown trade war could trigger a sharp global economic slowdown.
Asian stocks fell in early trading, after a choppy US session. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.3 per cent and South Korea's benchmark index was 0.57 pr cent lower.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 0.8 per cent. In mailand China, the CSI 300 Index declined 0.1 per cent.
Goldman raises odds of US recession to 35% and predicts three interest rate cuts
04:00
,
Andy Gregory
Goldman Sachs raised the probability of a US recession to 35 per cent from 20 per cent and said it expects more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, as President Donald Trump's tariffs roil the global economy and upend financial markets.
The brokerage also lowered the world's largest economy's GDP growth forecast for 2025 to 1.5 per cent from 2.0 per cent and projected three interest rate cuts each from the US Fed and the European Central Bank from its previous expectation of two each.
Trump said on Sunday his reciprocal tariffs, to be announced this week, would include all countries and not a more limited number, rattling financial markets globally over fears of an economic slowdown.
In a separate note, Goldman also cut its year-end target for the S&P 500 index for a second time this month to 5,700 from 6,200, the lowest among Wall Street brokerages, followed by Barclays's target at 5,900.
Starmer facing 'impossible task' of potential retaliation to Trump tariffs, says expert
03:00
,
Andy Gregory
Sir Keir Starmer is facing an “impossible task” in deciding whether to retaliate to Trump’s looming tariffs, an expert has warned.
Simon Finkelstein, director of geopolitics at the Brunswick Group said “It would be foolish to do so, however, politically it might become untenable not to do so.”
“Fundamentally he's got an impossible task because the people who work for the President clearly don't know what he's going to do on Wednesday either,” he told Times Radio.
“But I think the thing [Starmer] has got to do is continue on the same strategy, which is attempt to negotiate some sort of future deal with the US, whether that looks like something sort of wider range or more limited on technology to mitigate the worst aspects of the tariffs.”
“The UK government has to at least try,” Mr Finkelstein added.
Full report: US State Department raises concerns over free speech in the UK
02:00
,
Andy Gregory
The US State Department has made a rare intervention in British politics, warning of its “concerns about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom”.
The department, responsible for US foreign policy, put a statement on X, formerly Twitter, highlighting fears about the prosecution of anti-abortion campaigner Livia Tossici-Bolt.
It said she faces criminal charges for offering conversation with patients seeking abortions within a legally prohibited “buffer zone” outside a clinic. “We are monitoring her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression,” the State Department's dedicated democracy, human rights and labour (DRL) account posted.
It added: “US-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, as Vice President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.”
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full report here:
Irish government warned against austerity in face of Trump tariff threat
01:00
,
Andy Gregory
The Irish Government must not repeat past mistakes in how it responds to US tariffs expected to be announced by Donald Trump, opposition politicians have warned.
On Tuesday, Labour and the Social Democrats cautioned against austerity and pulling back from investing in the public sector ahead of the threat of an economic shock from a major US tariff announcement.
Government figures have expressed deep concern over how exposed Ireland is to possible double-digit US tariffs on exports.
The ‘Dirty 15’ countries braced for harder hit from Trump’s tariffs as world prepares for ‘Liberation Day’
Wednesday 2 April 2025 00:01
,
Alexander Butler
Watch: Ronald Reagan warns of ‘demagogues declaring trade wars’ in 1988 speech
Tuesday 1 April 2025 23:59
,
Andy Gregory
Editorial: The financial markets no longer believe in Donald Trump’s ‘stable genius’
Tuesday 1 April 2025 23:00
,
Alexander Butler
For all their tendency to boom and bust, financial markets are usually adept at second-guessing governments and “pricing in” a range of plausible future scenarios.
Only when such loose assumptions are badly violated do they react violently. Such is the capricious nature of Donald Trump that this is now an occupational hazard.
Not even the most imaginative of market analysts could have foreseen the extraordinary twists and turns in the president’s tariff policies – plural, that is, because they hardly stay still long enough for the world’s customs officials to draw up the new schedules.
Read the full editorial here:
Mercedes denies it is considering withdrawing cheaper cars from US
Tuesday 1 April 2025 22:45
,
Alexander Butler
Mercedes-Benz denied a report by Bloomberg News on Tuesday which said the carmaker was considering withdrawing its cheapest models in the US ahead of an added 25 per cent tariff to be imposed on auto imports.
"This is without any merit. Mercedes-Benz continues to seek sales growth for its highly desirable vehicles," a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said in an emailed statement in response to the report.
Bloomberg said the carmaker was considering withdrawing more entry-level models from sale as part of broader tariff contingency plans.
Donald Trump's tariffs will be ‘effective immediately’
Tuesday 1 April 2025 22:30
,
Alexander Butler
US tariffs on global goods will be effective immediately from tomorrow, the White House said.
US president Donald Trump is expected to slap “reciprocal tariffs” on trading partners at different rates on Wednesday.
A 25 per cent tariff on all cars imported into the US will begin on Thursday, the White House said.
In March, Mr Trump imposed a blanket 25 per cent tariff on US steel imports.
“The tariff announcement will come tomorrow. They will be effective immediately,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
“It would be taking place today, if not for April Fool's Day, but tomorrow will be the day.”
Trump is 'perfecting tariffs' ahead of announcement, White House says
Tuesday 1 April 2025 22:15
,
Alexander Butler
US president Donald Trump is “perfecting” his global tariffs ahead of announcing them on Wednesday, the White House said.
“I don't want to get ahead of the head of the president, this is obviously a very big day. He is with his trade and tariff team right now,” Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“He is perfecting it to make sure this is a perfect deal for the American people and the American worker.”
Five years of Trump tariffs could knock out UK’s fiscal headroom, leading economist warns
Tuesday 1 April 2025 22:00
,
Alexander Butler
A member of the OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee said US tariffs at 20 or 25 per cent maintained on the UK for five years would “knock out all the headroom the government currently has”.
Giving evidence to the Treasury Committee on the spring statement, David Miles said: “If tariffs at 20, 25 per cent were put on the UK and maintained for five years, our assessment of what that does is that it will knock out all the headroom that the government currently has.
“Had we made that a central forecast, and had the government not changed policy at all knowing that we were going to take that as our central forecast, then the headroom would have pretty much all gone.
“Of course that would have been in some ways, a very extreme assumption. Because not only would that be as bad as people might expect in the very near term, but it would have been maintained for five years, which is beyond the next presidential election in the US.”
Mr Miles said a “very limited tariff war” that the UK stays out of could be “mildly positive” for the country.
He added: “There's a bit of trade that will get diverted to the UK, and some of the exports from China, for example, that would have gone to the US, they'll be looking for a home for them in the rest of the world.
“And stuff would be available in the UK a bit cheaper than otherwise would have been. So there is one, not central scenario at all, which is very, very mildly potentially positive to the UK. All the other ones which involve the UK facing tariffs are negative, and they’re negative to very different extents.”
UK should tariff Tesla ‘to hit people like Musk where it hurts’, says Lib Dem MP
Tuesday 1 April 2025 21:45
,
Alexander Butler
Sir Keir Starmer’s government should “stop cowering in the corner” and hoping the “bully” Donald Trump “won’t hurt us if we give him what he wants”, a Liberal Democrat MP has said.
Anna Sabine told BBC Politics Live: “I think we should stop cowering in the corner and hoping that if Donald Trump’s behaving like a bully he just won’t hurt us if we give him what he wants, which seems to be the current approach.
“I think we need to stand up to Trump. I think we should have prepared retaliatory tariffs. I think we should be looking at imposing tariffs on things like Tesla to hit people like Elon Musk where it hurts.
“And I think fundamentally we need to be pushing back hard, not coming up with a deal that potentially ... reduces digital services tax, so kind of caves into them – goodness knows what else might be in a deal with America.”
Ms Sabine added: “This is just the wrong way of dealing with a bully. You don’t deal with a bully by just giving everything they want, particularly when Trump’s historically very unreliable, and we could do one deal one day and he changes his mind the next.”
Badenoch says she has not asked US Republicans to spare UK from Trump tariffs
Tuesday 1 April 2025 21:30
,
Alexander Butler
Kemi Badenoch said she had not spoken to Republicans in the US to ask for the UK to be spared from tariffs.
The Conservative leader said she was “not cutting across” the government to speak to Republicans like JD Vance.
She urged against any retaliatory tariffs, saying they would raise costs for UK consumers.
“Making life more expensive for British consumers so that we can thumb our nose at Donald Trump is not the right way. We need to make sure that we keep the cost of living as low as possible for the British public,” she said.
Trump’s tariffs in numbers: The biggest losers amid escalating US trade war
Tuesday 1 April 2025 21:15
,
Alexander Butler
World leaders are bracing for an escalation in the US trade war with Donald Trump set to unveil a swathe of tariffs on imported goods.
The US president is set to announce a string of fresh tariffs on so-called “Liberation Day” in an effort to increase homegrown production and reduce trade imbalances.
The changes are set to range from levies on countries buying Venezuelan oil to reciprocal tariffs on countries with “unfair taxes” on US goods.
But some countries will be hit harder than others, with a handful already bearing the brunt of Trump’s trade war.
The Independent’s data correspondent Alicia Hagopian takes a closer look here:
Inflation boost and Trump tariffs see European bond yields fall
Tuesday 1 April 2025 21:00
,
Alexander Butler
The cost of European government borrowing has fallen slightly today as Euro zone bond yields dropped ahead of Donald Trump’s looming tariffs announcement and better-than-anticipated inflation data fuelled hopes of a European Central Bank interest rate cut later this month.
Germany’s 10-year bond yield – the benchmark for the euro zone bloc – fell 5 basis points to 2.679 per cent, but stayed off a month low of 2.659 per cent hit on Monday.
Italy’s 10-year yield meanwhile hit its lowest level since 5 March, slipping 8 bps to 3.785 per cent.
US tariffs contributed to hit in UK business and consumer confidence, OBR chief says
Tuesday 1 April 2025 20:45
,
Alexander Butler
The head of the UK’s budget watchdog has said that uncertainty over US tariffs were among the things that contributed to a hit in business and consumer confidence in Britain.
Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, was asked by the cross-party Treasury committee whether business and consumer confidence took a bigger hit after October’s budget than they had predicted in their forecast.
He said that confidence “didn't behave the way we expected it” to in the second half of 2024, and said it “fell over”.
“There were a mix of factors that contributed to it, some of which were global including just the uncertainty about what the new Trump administration was going to do to things like tariffs,” said Mr Hughes. “You've seen falls in business confidence around advanced economies not just in the UK.”
Other factors included increases in energy prices, which have had an impact on inflation, he said.
US State Department raises concerns over free speech in the UK in rare intervention
Tuesday 1 April 2025 20:30
,
Alexander Butler
The US State Department has made a rare intervention in British politics, warning of its “concerns about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom”.
The department, responsible for US foreign policy, put a statement on X highlighting fears about the prosecution of anti-abortion campaigner Livia Tossici-Bolt.
It said she faces criminal charges for offering conversationwith patients seeking abortions within a legally prohibited “buffer zone” outside a clinic. “We are monitoring her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression,” the State Department's dedicated democracy, human rights and labour (DRL) account posted.
It added: “US-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, as Vice President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.”
The Independent’s political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
EU vows ‘strong plan’ to hit back at Trump’s tariffs
Tuesday 1 April 2025 20:03
,
Alexander Butler
The European Union has a “strong plan” in place to retaliate against any US tariffs slapped on the bloc’s exports, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said.
Ms von der Leyen said the EU - the third largest economy in the world - would “protect our interests, our people, and our companies” but would prefer to negotiate with Washington.
US president Donald Trump is set to slap levies on imported goods from several trading partners around the world, including Britain, on Wednesday.
He believes high tariffs on foreign imported goods will protect US manufacturing and boost the American company, despite fears the move will fuel inflation.
A 25 per cent tariff on all cars imported into the US will begin on Thursday. In March, Mr Trump imposed a blanket 25 per cent tariff on US steel imports.
"We do not necessarily want to retaliate. But if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it,” Ms von der Leyen said. “We will protect our interests, our people, and our companies.”
The ‘Dirty 15’ countries braced for harder hit from Trump’s tariffs as world prepares for ‘Liberation Day’
Tuesday 1 April 2025 19:00
,
Alexander Butler
As the world economy braces for Donald Trump’s unveiling of a swathe of tariffs, some country leaders will be fearing the worst after Washington singled out a “dirty 15” list of nations.
Although not naming the countries, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the group of nations traded heavily with the US and had high tariffs on US goods, plus held non-tariff barriers such as domestic-content production rules.
Coining the term “dirty 15”, Bessent was referring to 15 per cent of countries that account for the bulk of US trading volume - a list of nations economists expect could be hit by Trump’s tariffs.
Read the full story here:
US hits out at 'fundamentally unfair' global trade system
Tuesday 1 April 2025 18:45
,
Alexander Butler
The United States has hit out at the “fundamentally unfair” global trade system.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said: “Our country has been one of the most open economies in the world, and we have the consumer base, hands down.”
She said it was “fundamentally unfair” that countries did not import US goods and it had “gutted our industries and hollowed out key workforces.”
Trump tariffs: How will the UK be affected – and when are they being announced?
Tuesday 1 April 2025 18:30
,
Alexander Butler
Donald Trump’s trade war will expand across the globe on Wednesday as his administration prepares to impose a wide set of tariffs on goods imported to the US from overseas.
Dubbed ‘Liberation Day’ by the US president, it seems likely all nations will be included in the sweeping measures – the UK included.
This is despite attempts by ministers to secure an exclusive ‘carve-out’ with the Trump administration, something Sir Keir Starmer has admitted has not been agreed upon.
Read the full story here:
Mercedes denies it is considering withdrawing cheaper cars from US
Tuesday 1 April 2025 18:15
,
Alexander Butler
Mercedes-Benz denied a report by Bloomberg News on Tuesday which said the carmaker was considering withdrawing its cheapest models in the US ahead of an added 25 per cent tariff to be imposed on auto imports.
"This is without any merit. Mercedes-Benz continues to seek sales growth for its highly desirable vehicles," a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said in an emailed statement in response to the report.
Bloomberg said the carmaker was considering withdrawing more entry-level models from sale as part of broader tariff contingency plans.
Donald Trump's tariffs will be ‘effective immediately’
Tuesday 1 April 2025 18:12
,
Alexander Butler
US tariffs on global goods will be effective immediately from tomorrow, the White House said.
US president Donald Trump is expected to slap “reciprocal tariffs” on trading partners at different rates on Wednesday.
A 25 per cent tariff on all cars imported into the US will begin on Thursday, the White House said.
In March, Mr Trump imposed a blanket 25 per cent tariff on US steel imports.
“The tariff announcement will come tomorrow. They will be effective immediately,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
“It would be taking place today, if not for April Fool's Day, but tomorrow will be the day.”
Trump is 'perfecting tariffs' ahead of announcement, White House says
Tuesday 1 April 2025 18:00
,
Alexander Butler
US president Donald Trump is “perfecting” his global tariffs ahead of announcing them on Wednesday, the White House said.
“I don't want to get ahead of the head of the president, this is obviously a very big day. He is with his trade and tariff team right now,” Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“He is perfecting it to make sure this is a perfect deal for the American people and the American worker.”
Wall Street bounces back as investors await Trump tariffs
Tuesday 1 April 2025 18:00
,
Alexander Butler
US stock indexes bounced off session lows on Tuesday, helped by gains in heavyweight technology stocks and Tesla, while investors awaited details on Trump’s tariffs set to be announced on Wednesday.
Financial markets had been volatile in recent weeks as investors assessed the economic fallout of the US president’s extensive tariff plans, which have sparked worries about a US economic slowdown and higher inflation.
The benchmark S&P 500 closed the first quarter 4.6 per cent lower, marking its most dismal three-month stretch since July 2022.
But after falling about 1 per cent earlier, the S&P 500 gained ground in the session, with beaten-down technology shares taking the lead.
Microsoft rose 1.6 per cent and Tesla jumped 5.9 per cent. Other big tech stocks, such as Amazon.com, Nvidia and Meta Platforms, rose about 1 per cent each.
Five years of Trump tariffs could knock out UK’s fiscal headroom, leading economist warns
Tuesday 1 April 2025 17:44
,
Andy Gregory
A member of the OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee said US tariffs at 20 or 25 per cent maintained on the UK for five years would “knock out all the headroom the government currently has”.
Giving evidence to the Treasury Committee on the spring statement, David Miles said: “If tariffs at 20, 25 per cent were put on the UK and maintained for five years, our assessment of what that does is that it will knock out all the headroom that the government currently has.
“Had we made that a central forecast, and had the government not changed policy at all knowing that we were going to take that as our central forecast, then the headroom would have pretty much all gone.
“Of course that would have been in some ways, a very extreme assumption. Because not only would that be as bad as people might expect in the very near term, but it would have been maintained for five years, which is beyond the next presidential election in the US.”
Mr Miles said a “very limited tariff war” that the UK stays out of could be “mildly positive” for the country.
He added: “There's a bit of trade that will get diverted to the UK, and some of the exports from China, for example, that would have gone to the US, they'll be looking for a home for them in the rest of the world.
“And stuff would be available in the UK a bit cheaper than otherwise would have been. So there is one, not central scenario at all, which is very, very mildly potentially positive to the UK. All the other ones which involve the UK facing tariffs are negative, and they’re negative to very different extents.”
Opinion | Yes, Starmer is angry about illegal migration – but he won’t put a stop to it
Tuesday 1 April 2025 17:28
,
Andy Gregory
Our chief political commentator John Rentoul writes:
The prime minister deserves full marks for courage. He is not afraid to face the most difficult problems head on.
He went to see Donald Trump – and when the US president insulted our ally Volodymyr Zelensky, he phoned Trump to try to mediate. He put up taxes. He cut the planned rate of increase in welfare spending. He is going to fix the NHS, decarbonise electricity and build 1.5 million homes.
And now, he is hosting an international summit meeting to talk about how to deal with illegal immigration. Representatives from more than 40 countries – and from tech giants including Meta and TikTok – met at Lancaster House on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the problem.
As Keir Starmer likes to boast, if he sees a problem, he does not “walk round it”. He knows that people feel strongly about the small boats and that the vast majority of the public think that immigration generally has been too high.
In the past, politicians have been accused of minimising the issue or of trying to change the subject, but Starmer seemed determined to identify with popular indignation. “I know many of you are angry about illegal migration,” he wrote in an article for the Daily Mail yesterday. “You’re right to be.”
Yet the summit had the unmistakable feel of a talking-shop convened in response to embarrassing headlines about the numbers arriving by small boat being higher in the first three months of this year than at this stage in any previous year.
Parents of SEND children fight private school VAT hike in court
Tuesday 1 April 2025 17:11
,
Andy Gregory
Parents have said they are working seven day weeks to pay for private schools that support their children’s special educational needs as they challenge the government’s tax on fees.
Families gathered at the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a High Court hearing on Tuesday to challenge the government’s decisions to impose 20 per cent VAT on private school costs.
Nearly 20 families and several faith schools were part of the effort to bring legal action against the Treasury, as they claimed the new VAT on fees is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law.
The Education Not Taxation campaign argues that Special educational needs and disability (SEND) children have been disproportionately affected by this tax hike.
One mother, Leanne Gunn, said she’ll be forced to work all her life in order to afford her son Charlie’s fees, adding: “there is no other option for him.”
My colleague Bryony Gooch reports:
‘Excellent’ if Starmer does not want to retaliate with tariffs on US, says Badenoch
Tuesday 1 April 2025 16:55
,
Andy Gregory
It is “excellent” if Sir Keir Starmer does not want to impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States, Kemi Badenoch has said.
Asked by Sky News about the prime minister’s approach, the Tory leader said: “On tariffs, if the prime minister does not want to put retaliatory tariffs on, I think that is excellent – that is the right thing to do.
“Where he does the right thing, we will agree. But where he does the wrong thing, we will disagree and provide constructive criticism. That is my job and that is what I am doing.”
Labour is making life harder and more expensive in UK, says Kemi Badenoch
Tuesday 1 April 2025 16:40
,
Andy Gregory
Asked how she can turn around the Tories’ reputation on the economy, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told Sky News: “Our reputation was not built in the last few years. It was built over many decades, I would say centuries.
“The Conservative Party is the party of business. You look at our shadow cabinet – many of us have started listed businesses, we’ve worked in the private sector. You cannot compare that with Labour, where most of them have never run a business and not even worked in the private sector.
“So we get it. And, at the end of the day, Rishi Sunak was the last prime minister and he left Keir Starmer an economy that was the fastest-growing in the G7. All of that is gone.
“We’re not saying that there weren’t difficult times under the Conservatives – the debt burden you are talking about has happened because of Covid. Everybody remembers a pandemic that, for nearly two years, locked us up at home. That needed to be paid for.
“But now, when the green shoots were coming through, Labour has done something that is really destructive, and we cannot run away from that.
“They need to face up to what they are doing. They’re making life harder for everyone else. They’re making life harder and more expensive – and that needs to be fixed.”
The ‘Dirty 15’ countries braced for harder hit from Trump’s tariffs
Tuesday 1 April 2025 16:26
,
Andy Gregory
As the world economy braces for Donald Trump’s unveiling of a swathe of tariffs, some country leaders will be fearing the worst after Washington singled out a “dirty 15” list of nations.
Although not naming the countries, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the group of nations traded heavily with the US and had high tariffs on US goods, plus held non-tariff barriers such as domestic-content production rules.
Coining the term “dirty 15”, Bessent was referring to 15 per cent of countries that account for the bulk of U.S. trading volume - a list of nations economists expect could be hit by Trump’s tariffs.
My colleague Alex Croft reports:
US markets fall ahead of Trump tariffs
Tuesday 1 April 2025 16:11
,
Karl Matchett, Business and Money Editor
US stocks have opened with the major indices in the red on Tuesday, ahead of Donald Trump confirming his tariffs.
A couple of hours into trading, the S&P 500 is down 0.2 per cent, the DOW is down 0.5 per cent and the Russell 2000 – an index of smaller-cap businesses – is down just over 1.0 per cent.
The Nasdaq is slightly in the green though, 0.1 per cent, with those among the individual gainers Stateside including Tesla (4.7 per cent up), Alphabet (1.5), Airbus (1.3) and General Electric (1.1).
UK should tariff Tesla ‘to hit people like Musk where it hurts’, says Lib Dem MP
Tuesday 1 April 2025 15:57
,
Andy Gregory
Sir Keir Starmer’s government should “stop cowering in the corner” and hoping the “bully” Donald Trump “won’t hurt us if we give him what he wants”, a Liberal Democrat MP has said.
Anna Sabine told BBC Politics Live: “I think we should stop cowering in the corner and hoping that if Donald Trump’s behaving like a bully he just won’t hurt us if we give him what he wants, which seems to be the current approach.
“I think we need to stand up to Trump. I think we should have prepared retaliatory tariffs. I think we should be looking at imposing tariffs on things like Tesla to hit people like Elon Musk where it hurts.
“And I think fundamentally we need to be pushing back hard, not coming up with a deal that potentially ... reduces digital services tax, so kind of caves into them – goodness knows what else might be in a deal with America.”
Ms Sabine added: “This is just the wrong way of dealing with a bully. You don’t deal with a bully by just giving everything they want, particularly when Trump’s historically very unreliable, and we could do one deal one day and he changes his mind the next.”
Trump signs off Keir Starmer’s controversial Chagos Islands deal
Tuesday 1 April 2025 15:42
,
Andy Gregory
While Sir Keir Starmer may have failed to avert looming US tariffs hitting the UK, there was better news for the UK government as No 10 announced that Donald Trump has formally signed off Keir Starmer’s deal to hand the Chagos islands over to Mauritius.
The agreement is now being “finalised” between the UK and Mauritius, Downing Street said.
The revelation comes after Mr Trump strongly indicated that he would back the deal when he met with Sir Keir in the White House in February, despite early indications he was sceptical of the deal.
Kate Devlin and David Maddox have more details in this report:
Tuesday 1 April 2025 15:27
,
Andy Gregory
The UK government’s approach to seeking an economic deal with Donald Trump is “not about sucking up to anyone”, the business secretary has insisted.
Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Standing up for the country, doing a strong response to this, is about pursuing your own national interest – and the UK’s national interest is in reaching an agreement.
“We have things available to us that are not available to other countries, and that’s because the existing UK-US trading relationship is a fair and balanced one – the US does not have a significant deficit in traded manufactured goods, which is so much a part of their thinking.
“So there are things available to us. It’s not about sucking up to anyone. It’s not about not responding. It’s about pursuing our national interest – that is what the government is doing.
“And whilst there is a ch
