Economic news

Kevin Hassett claims tariffs will not have a big effect on US consumers and there will be no ‘political coercion’ over interest rates

Starmer orders economic reset amid Trump’s tariff mayhem

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy which faces a 32% tariff rate, said it will not retaliate against the levies and would instead pursue diplomacy and negotiations to find mutually beneficial solutions. Jakarta has said it would send a high-level delegation to the US for direct negotiations with the government.

Cambodia asked the US government on Friday to postpone the 49% tariff rate on its products, the highest rate in Asia and second-highest globally.

Vietnam’s leader To Lam and Donald Trump agreed on Friday to discuss a deal to remove tariffs (Vietnam will be subject to a 46% tariff).

Brazil, which faces a 10% levy on its exports to the US, has said its “government is evaluating all possible actions to ensure reciprocity in bilateral trade, including resorting to the World Trade Organization, in defense of legitimate national interests”.

Taiwan’s top financial regulator said this morning it will impose temporary curbs on short-selling of shares to help deal with potential market turmoil brought resulting from the new import tariffs. Taiwan’s government said on Thursday that the new 32% tariff rate levied on the island were unreasonable and it would discuss them with Washington.

China has hit back hard against Trump’s imposition of 34% tariffs on Chinese goods, which were already subject to a 20% levy, taking the total levy to 54%. Beijing in turn announced a slew of countermeasures, including extra levies of 34% on all US goods and export curbs on some rare earth minerals.

Canada announced a limited set of counter measures against the latest US tariffs. The new Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said the government will copy the US approach by imposing a 25% tariff on all vehicles imported from the US that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal (Canada and Mexico were exempt from Trump’s latest duties because they are still subject to a 25% tariff related to the US fentanyl crisis for goods that do not comply with the US-Mexico-Canada rules of origin). Carney says Canada will retaliate against “unjustified, unwarranted” tariffs.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is set to travel to Washington to meet with his close ally, US president Donald Trump.

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The factory that produces the Land Rover employs 9,000 people – now the town is in the middle of a ‘perfect storm’ created by the US president’s import taxes on cars

Ever since the first Land Rover rolled off the production line in Solihull in 1948, the medieval market town has become synonymous with the carmaker. But the fallout from the US president’s recent actions threatens to wreak havoc on the flagbearer of the UK’s automotive industry.

Last week, Donald Trump announced new import taxes of 25% on cars and car parts coming into the US in a move the president said would drive growth and spur on investment. The Institute for Public Policy Research warns this could be costly, with 25,000 UK jobs at risk.

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Instead of standing up to Trump, the PM is encouraging people who want to destroy our values to come and do it in our country at reduced tax rates

On 1 April, the TV comedian John Richardsons, who you will have seen on many panel shows, announced he was becoming a teacher, having already completed the training in secret. I was humbled by Richardsons’s decision to do something genuinely worthwhile and by his foolhardy bravery. How would he control a class of teenagers pre-armed with clips of him clowning around with Russell Brand on The Great Celebrity Bake Off?

But it turned out Richardsons’s story was merely an April fool prank. D’oh! The fact that the inspiring tale wasn’t true left me deeply saddened, like the time I wept when my mum finally told me Father Christmas hadn’t been eating the mince pies I’d made for him. I was 28 years old.

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‘Baseline’ 10% import levy takes effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses, with some higher tariffs to begin next week

Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on all imports from many countries, including the UK, has come into force after 48 hours of turmoil.

US customs agents began collecting the unilateral tariff at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week – including from the EU, which will be hit with a 20% rate.

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