Main Points
- Wall Street’s main indexes have sunk on the day after Donald Trump abruptly cut US tariffs to 10% for 90 days – except for China
- The White House confirmed to media that tariffs on China now total 145%
- The EU will pause the reciprocal tariffs against the US, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said.
- Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government had “all along” been advised “not to over-react” but “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
- China’s countermeasures have taken effect, raising tariffs to 84%, but it says it is open to dialogue with the US
Key reads
- Arthur Beesley: What happens next and what does it mean for Ireland?
- Cliff Taylor: Tariffs turmoil plays havoc with pensions
- Inside Trump’s reversal on tariffs: from ‘be cool!’ to ‘getting yippy’
- European stocks rally closes off highs
With that, we are concluding our live coverage of these events. Thanks for joining us and see irishtimes.com for all the latest news and our analysis.
US stock markets have closed, and Wall Street stocks have tumbled on mounting worries over the economic impact of Trump’s multi-front tariff war.
All three major US stock indexes suffered steep losses, forfeiting much of the previous session’s gains as growing concerns over the escalating Washington-Beijing trade face-off dampened optimism over upbeat economic data and US-Europe trade negotiations.
The S&P 500 lost 3.45 per cent today, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 4.31 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.54 per cent.
“Investors are still uncomfortable with it, because they don’t know what the end game is,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor at Murphy & Sylvest in Elmhurst, Illinois. “I think what we’re seeing, still, is investor concern about tariffs and that is pretty much front and center for everything.”
Former US treasury secretary Janet Yellen is not mincing her words.
The economic heavyweight has called Trump’s tariffs “the worst self-inflicted wound that I have ever seen an administration impose on a well-functioning economy”.
She also accused the US president of having “taken a wrecking ball” to the American economy.
All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 are lower, with energy and tech suffering the steepest declines.
Big Tech is under pressure once again, with each of the so-called Magnificent Seven group of artificial intelligence-related momentum stocks down between 3.6 per cent and 8.5 per cent.
Wall Street stocks are continuing to tumble.
All three major US stock indexes have fallen sharply, forfeiting much of the previous session’s gains amid growing concerns over the escalating Washington-Beijing face-off. Much of the positive sentiment from the earlier announcement of a pause on tariffs has been shattered by that.
After Trump announced the 90-day tariff reprieve on Wednesday, the S&P 500 surged 9.5 per cent, the largest one-day percentage jump since October 2008. The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 12.2 per cent, notching its second-biggest daily gain on record.
But the trade war with Beijing persists, with China vowing to “follow through to the end” if the US does not let up.
The CBOE Market Volatility Index, often called the “fear index,” remains elevated. “It’s hard for investors to feel comfortable about buying stocks with volatility so high,” an analyst said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 2.86 per cent; the S&P 500 is down 3.66 per cent; and the Nasdaq Composite is down 4.4 per cent.
The US has slashed its forecasts for global oil demand growth and domestic crude production as Trump’s tariff moves put a cloud over the economic outlook.
Global oil demand is now expected to grow by about 900,000 barrels a day in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration’s short-term energy outlook, released today. That’s about 400,000 barrels a day lower than last month’s estimate.
Donald Trump has said he would love to get a deal with China to end the escalating trade war.
Trump made the comments during a Cabinet meeting opened to press. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said during the meeting that as they settle deals with countries, it will bring more certainty on trade policy.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis, which has significant operations here, said today it plans to build six new manufacturing plants as part of expansion plans. It has not disclosed the locations.
It said it plans to spend $23 billion to build and expand 10 facilities in the US, as it grapples with renewed threats of drug import duties from the Trump administration.
The group also plans to build six new manufacturing plants, some of which will make raw pharmaceutical ingredients, as well as a new research and development site in San Diego, California, the company said.
Novartis makes drugs, including heart failure medicine Entresto and breast cancer therapy Kisqali, across 33 manufacturing sites globally.
The new sites and extensions will be built over the next five years and are expected to create more than 1,000 jobs for skilled workers like engineers and scientists as well as another 3,000 support staff and construction jobs, Novartis said.
But the company said it had yet to decide where to build its new manufacturing plants.
Here is some analysis on the unfolding situation from Cliff Taylor.
“The relief rally in US markets does not seem to have lasted very long,” he says. “By lunchtime in New York, the S&P 500 was down more than 5 per cent and US bond prices were falling again, too.
“Despite Donald Trump taking some of the risk off the table by delaying the implementation of many of the tariffs to allow room for negotiation, investors remain worried about the risks of the remaining tariffs and particularly the wider implications of a trade war with China.
“Economists have been crunching the numbers and still reckon that as things stand, the tariffs will add significantly to US inflation, reduce consumer spending power and increase the risk of recession. The messing up of business supply lines to China is another big negative.
“As of now, markets have not given up all of yesterday’s gains. But with the US government bond – or treasury – market also looking nervous and long-term interest rates edging up again, the period of market volatility still looks to have a way to run.”
Wall Street’s main indexes are continuing to sink. As of now, the benchmark S&P 500 has plunged more than 5 per cent.
Stocks shot higher earlier today after Trump announced his 90-day tariff pause for many countries, but he has since raised the levy on imports from China to 145 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 4.43 per cent, the S&P 500 is down 5.25 per cent; and the Nasdaq Composite is down 6.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to launch free trade talks, the EU said today.
“Today, [European Commission] president von der Leyen held a cordial phone call with … Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates,“ the EU said in a statement.
”During their discussion, they agreed to launch negotiations on a free trade agreement."
The talks will focus on trade in goods, services, investment and deepening cooperation in strategic sectors including renewable energy, green hydrogen and critical raw materials, the EU said.
Trump’s pause has also had the knock-on effect of a headache for UK leader Keir Starmer.
He has been answering questions from reporters today on whether the UK’s decision not to retaliate to the tariffs – as opposed to the EU’s more aggressive approach – was the right one.
After initially having the advantage, the pause now means other nations enjoy the same rate as the UK.
He told reporters during a visit to Cambridgeshire: “I don’t think having a strong relationship with the US has given us no advantage whatsoever.
“We have got a very strong relationship on defence, security, intelligence sharing.
“No two countries are as closely aligned as ours.”
When pressed that most nations now face the same tariff rate as the UK, he said: “Of course we are continuing to talk to the US about how further we can mitigate the impact of the tariffs.
“But a trade war is in nobody’s interest and there is no business sector that is being impacted by these tariffs who is saying jump in with both feet to retaliate and cause a trade war.”
In what is probably some interesting data, Revolut has analysed its Irish customers’ trading activity over the past day or so in order to assess consumer confidence with the market.
Its findings revealed a 32 per cent rise in trading activity on Wednesday as the US president put a 90-day pause on the initial 20 per cent tariffs levelled against the EU last week.
Revolut also tells me that recent volatility has led its European investors to diversify, with a “notable rise” in interest in Irish Government bonds, which saw a volume increase of 26 per cent during the period April 3rd to April 8th. It said that was the biggest increase among all bonds on the platform.
Less than 3 per cent of Revolut’s Irish investors with open positions decided to sell with losses between April 4th and April 8th, while the remainder opted to hold firm – and have since benefited from today’s market recovery, the company said.
Major stock indexes have been falling today. The Nasdaq is down more than 3 per cent in early trading, after the previous session’s massive relief rally.
These stock declines are happening despite US data showing consumer prices unexpectedly fell in March.
“All things being equal, if tariffs are paused and inflation is going lower, it’s green light go if you’re an investor,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 2.3 per cent, and the S&P 500 is down 2.8 per cent.
European natural gas prices have erased a jump from earlier today as traders digested Donald Trump’s pause on tariffs, which could be a signal that persistent concerns around the unfolding trade war will keep hurting the economy and global energy demand.
Benchmark futures hovered below €34 a megawatt-hour on Thursday afternoon, wiping out the morning’s 8 per cent advance that came on the back of Trump’s tariff pause. They’re still trading about 18 per cent lower since Trump’s initial announcement last week.
The White House has just informed US network CNBC that US tariffs on China now total 145 per cent after the latest hike.
Republicans meanwhile have been busy trying to paint Trump’s tariff climbdown as stroke of genius.
House speaker Mike Johnson has said on social media: “Behold the ‘Art of the Deal.’ President Trump has created leverage, brought MANY countries to the table, and will deliver for American workers, American manufacturers, and America’s future!”
Iowa senator Chuck Grassley was similarly glowing, describing Trump as a “great dealmaker”, adding the president will “continue to bring fairness to US economy”.
He added the decision to implement a pause “brings more certainty” and that “things are moving”.
Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he was not “surprised overall” about Donald Trump announcing a 90-day tariff pause.
“I wasn’t surprised overall because every meeting I was in, in the US, I was hearing more and more of the word ‘negotiation’, and it was quite clear that the turmoil being seen on both the stock market and the bond market – and the very real impact that was beginning to have on the lives of American citizens, and indeed European citizens, was beginning to take a toll,” he said.
“So in many ways, I think we’ve gotten to a point that we always believed was inevitable.
“If you remember the Irish position as being consistent: talk before tariffs, the US position was tariffs and then maybe talks.
“We think that’s a regrettable order, but we are now where we are, and we need to use this period of time in a sensible way to try and make progress.”
Irish economic inflation
Here’s a reminder from Irish Times business reporter Ian Curran of how the Irish economy fared last month, in the lead up to Trump’s tariff announcement on April 2nd.
Headline inflation in the Irish economy increased slightly to 2 per cent in March, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Thursday in its latest consumer price index (CPI) report, the State’s official measure of price growth.
It means prices were on average 2 per cent higher in March than they were in the same month last year, up from an annualised inflation rate of 1.8 per cent.
Inflation tied to restaurants and hotels and housing made the largest contribution to upward headline inflation in the year.
Restaurants and hotel prices were up 3.2 per cent since March 2023, the CSO said.
Housing and energy costs increased 2.2 per cent, largely driven by a 5.2 per cent surge in private and 5.8 per cent surge in local authority rents. Household electricity, fuel and gas prices, meanwhile, were down by 1.6 per cent compared with March 2023.
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco prices, which increased by 4.2 per cent in the year, and food prices, which increased by 3.3 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, were the categories of goods with the largest increase overall over the 12 months.
Europe on Thursday agreed to pause its retaliatory tariffs on US goods imports in its dispute with the Trump administration over steel and aluminium imports to allow time for talks. If implemented, the tariffs could boost price growth in the euro area, but economic growth may also take a hit from worsening transatlantic trade relations.
On Wednesday, before US president Donald Trump agreed to pause his so-called reciprocal tariffs, two European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers said the potential impact of the trade measures on European economic growth boosted the case for another interest rate cut later this month.
Analysts at US banking giant JP Morgan Chase this week forecasted the ECB to cut rates four more times between now and September.
Read Ian Curran’s full report on Irish inflation here
Gold prices rise and precious metal ‘regains its safe-haven appeal’
Gold prices rose more than 1 per cent on Thursday, extending previous session’s sharp rise, as a drop in the dollar and an escalating trade war between the US and China drove investors towards the safe-haven allure of the precious metal.
Spot gold was up 1.6 per cent at $3,132.29 an ounce at 1.30pm, after rising more than 3 per cent on Wednesday. US gold futures climbed 2.3 per cent to $3,150.20.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would temporarily lower hefty duties on dozens of countries, but ramped up the tariff on China to 125 per cent from 104 per cent.
“Gold regains its safe-haven appeal and gets back on track for new all-time highs,” said Nikos Tzabouras, Senior Market Analyst at Tradu.com.
“However, prospects of deals with trading partners pose a significant risk to gold’s upside potential, as they could renew pressure on the metal. Additionally, headwinds may arise from pared-back Fed rate cut bets that can strengthen the dollar.”
The dollar index, meanwhile, slipped more than 1 per cent against its rivals, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.
Data on Thursday showed US consumer prices unexpectedly fell in March, but inflation risks are tilted to the upside after Trump doubled down on China tariffs.
Following the data, traders bet the US Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates in June and probably reduce its policy rate by a full percentage point by the end of the year.
Reuters
Global investors say market turbulence is here to stay
As the dust settles after a bruising week eased by US president Donald Trump’s tariff pause, the takeaway from global investors is loud and clear: market turbulence is here to stay.
In a stunning reversal on Wednesday, Trump said he would temporarily lower the hefty duties newly imposed on dozens of countries while further ramping up pressure on China.
A massive relief rally sent the S&P 500 stock index up nearly 10 per cent in its biggest one-day jump since October 2008, while on Thursday Japanese stocks surged 9 per cent and European shares were set for their best day since 2020.
Investors and analysts said de-risking from US markets would likely continue with investors reducing exposure to Wall Street shares and increasing exposure to safe havens.
“The volatility is not over, the environment remains uncertain and some of the impacts are irreversible,” said Sat Duhra, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors in Singapore. “We have to get used to more back and forth on this issue and trying to trade it on such a short-term basis is one for traders not for investors.”
UBS Global Wealth Management CIO Mark Haefele said the market rebound was an opportunity to position for a likely volatile period, especially given an escalation in trade tensions between the US and China – the world’s two biggest economies.
And while Trump’s tariff pause has eased recession fears, banks said they still expected a sharp slowdown in economic growth with consumer and business sentiment likely to be hit by the uncertainty around trade levies.
“It seems very clear that the smooth long-term up-track for US stocks is broken, and we are in a new era of heightened volatility and uncertainty,” said Guy Miller, chief markets strategist at Zurich Insurance Group, adding that he remained cautious.
Leading measures of stock and bond market volatility remain well above levels seen before Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement last week.
And the safe-haven Swiss franc is up more than 5 per cent against the dollar so far in April – set for its best month since late 2022.
Analysts and investors across the globe have pointed to this week’s sharp sell-off in US treasuries and weakness in the dollar as evidence that confidence in the world’s biggest economy has been shaken.
Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note before Trump’s announcement that the market had lost faith in US assets.
Reuters
Why did Trump pause tariffs abruptly, what happens next and what does it mean for Ireland?
Irish Times current affairs editor Arthur Beesley on the immediate implications of Trump’s 90-day pause on tariffs
Trump acolytes have claimed the tariffs were all part of a cunning plan by the leader of the world’s largest economy to recast the terms of its growing trade with the second-largest, China. But most analysts see the move as a response to tension in the market for sovereign bonds, a form of debt much like an IOU which governments issue to help pay the bills.
Because the US has an enormous public debt, it needs bond market stability to raise and refinance debt at decent prices from investors.
This week Stock Exchange turmoil in the market for company shares spilt over into turmoil in the market for government bonds. The US was hit hard. In summary, Trump turned because he had lost the confidence of bond market investors.
Trump’s move means Irish exporters will still face the baseline 10 per cent charge but they have been spared, for now at least, the impact of the higher reciprocal rate.
His latest manoeuvre was intended to create space for talks so the pause may open to the way to some kind of an EU-US negotiation on a new deal.
Still, Trump had warned repeatedly that the pharmaceutical sector was in his sights and that tariffs were quickly coming. That may now be in abeyance as the US concentrates on the trade war with China.
But if serious EU-US trade talks follow, it seems likely that European pharmaceutical imports will be a big point of interest for American negotiators. This remains highly sensitive for Ireland because of the scale drug manufacturing and the employment and tax revenues associated with it.
Read Arthur Beesley’s full report here.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower on Thursday, coming off a blistering rally following US president Donald Trump’s move to temporarily lower the heavy tariffs on dozens of countries.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 611.5 points, or 1.51 per cent, at the open to 39,996.93.
The S&P 500 fell 103.7 points, or 1.90 per cent, at the open to 5,353.15, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 489.5 points, or 2.86 per cent, to 16,635.454 at the opening bell.
Reuters
Who is US treasury secretary Scott Bessent?
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday the US administration’s pullback on tariffs had been the plan all along, to bring countries to the bargaining table.
He said: “This was his strategy all along, and that you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position, they responded.”
Mr Bessent said the tariffs had worked to get some of China’s closest neighbours to seek deals with the United States. “Do not retaliate, and you will be rewarded,” he said.
So, who is Bessent and was it this US treasury secretary who saw sense this week and pushed for the 90-day pause on global tariffs?
Bessent’s brief as secretary of the US treasury is to “maintain a strong economy, foster economic growth and create job opportunities for all Americans by promoting the conditions that enable prosperity at home and abroad as well as managing the US Government’s finances,” according to the government’s treasury website.
From South Carolina, he was previously chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Key Square Capital Management, a global hedge fund focused on macro investing that he founded in 2015.
Before that, Bessent was the chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, which was founded by George Soros in 1970. Mr. Bessent was an adjunct professor at Yale University, where he taught economic history. From 1991 to 2000, he was managing partner of Soros Fund Management’s London office.
Additional reporting from Reuters
How on earth do we manage our money through the head-spinning events we are now witnessing? asks Cliff Taylor
In his Smart Money column, he discusses what the tariffs turmoil means for pensions and interest rates . . .
Latest on the markets from the Guardian:
Donald Trump’s surprise decision to pause the hefty tariffs he had just imposed on dozens of countries brought relief for battered global stock markets, even as he ratcheted up a trade war with China.
Markets across Asia rose sharply on Thursday on signs that the US president’s trade war may not prove as damaging to the global economy as feared.
European markets, which had closed when Trump announced the 90-day pause on Wednesday, jumped at the start of Thursday’s session. The FTSE 100 was up 352 points, or 4.6 per cent, at 8,031 points, continuing the relief rally. Germany’s Dax rose 5.8 per cent while France’s Cac 40 was up 5.8 per cent, and Spain’s Ibex 35 climbed 3.4 per cent.
The market moves were further supported by concessions from the EU. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed on Thursday that the EU will put its own tariff countermeasures against the US – which were due to kick in on April 15th – on hold for 90 days.
The decision triggered a rally in the euro, pushing the single currency up more than a cent against the US dollar to $1.108, up 1.1 per cent on Thursday.
Trump’s U-turn, which came less than 24 hours after steep new tariffs kicked in on most trading partners, followed the most intense episode of financial market volatility since the early days of the Covid pandemic.
The upheaval erased trillions of dollars from stock markets and led to an unsettling rise in US government bond yields that appeared to catch Trump’s attention.
“I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line, they were getting yippy, you know,” Trump told reporters after the announcement.
US stock indexes shot higher on the news, with the benchmark S&P 500 index closing 9.5 per cent higher, and the relief continued into Asian trading.
Taiwan stocks soared 9.2 per cent in early trading on Thursday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 7.2 per cent, while in Seoul the Kospi was up more than 5 per cent. In Australia, the ASX 200 jumped more than 6 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 2.69 per cent, while the Shanghai composite index jumped 1.29 per cent.
After the market surge, White House officials said “this was his [Trump’s] strategy all along” and showed “the art of the deal” at work.
‘Would you invest in the USA at the moment?’
Vivienne Clarke: The chief executive of the Irish Exporters Association, Simon McKeever, has warned that 90 days was not sufficient time to negotiate a deal on tariffs and said such negotiations had taken years in the past.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, Mr McKeever also pointed out the 10 per cent tariff remained in place and many companies were still facing increased costs for doing business with the US.
“So the amount is less, but there’s still a tariff. Some of those tariffs are compounded, particularly in the agri-food sector – that 10 per cent will sit on top of a tariff that already exists. So companies are absolutely still facing price pressure over there. So it’s not good, even though it’s not 20 per cent, it’s 10 per cent, it is still an awful lot.”
Mr McKeever added that there was still uncertainty over whether the pharma sector would be included in future tariffs.
He said: “17 per cent of our exports to the United States are manufactured goods, and 3 per cent of them are food and drink, you know, and that is two to three billion euros, and it’s about €12 billion in manufactured goods.
“And all those companies are indigenous Irish businesses and some foreign-owned businesses here, but a lot of them are big employers in local areas of the country. They’ve gone to bed last night, woken up again this morning, still looking at a particular challenge and threat to their business.
“I’d be under no illusion that it was the bond market that drove this decision yesterday. The bond market in the US is considered to be the safest of safe havens. And normally when stock markets get sold off, people move into treasuries, they buy treasuries, but they actually sold treasuries yesterday. And that is signifying a complete loss of confidence in the US.
“You hear words like uncertainty, I think people are still extremely uncertain this morning and you know, you need to ask the question: ‘would you invest in the USA at the moment?‘,” Mr McKeever said.
“Ninety days, it’s definitely not enough to negotiate a trade deal with any single country. Trade deals take years, there is always complexities in them. So this will have to go on longer.”
‘We will moderately reduce the import volume of American films’
China has said it is open to dialogue with the United States, China correspondent Denis Staunton reports...
China has said it is open to dialogue with the United States after US president Donald Trump announced a 125 per cent tariff on its goods while pausing increased import duties on other countries. But the ministry of commerce in Beijing said on Thursday that any talks must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and without threats.
“China’s position is clear and consistent. If the US wants to talk, our door remains open, but dialogue must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and equality. If the US wants to fight, our response will continue to the end. Pressure, threats, and coercion are not the right way to deal with China,” spokesman He Yongqian said.
Read the full story here
The United States is talking to trading partners and is close to reaching agreements with some on tariffs, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Thursday after Donald Trump paused some of the duties.
“There’s a big inventory of deals that are right close to the finish line,” he said in an interview with CNBC. – Reuters
Starmer urges UK to ‘rise to the moment’
Britain must not just “sit back and hope” but “rise to the moment” in the face of ongoing uncertainty over Donald Trump’s global tariffs, Keir Starmer said after the US president suspended some of his sweeping import taxes.
Mr Starmer said the UK should “recognise where our future lies” and accept that “the world is changing, and we as a country must change with it”, following a week of panic in the markets over Washington’s trade policy.
It comes after the US president’s surprise announcement of a 90-day pause to hefty tariffs imposed on some countries brought respite to battered stock markets across the globe, including the FTSE 100.
The UK had been spared the higher rates faced by other nations, but the 10 per cent “baseline” levy on all goods entering America remains in place, meaning Britain finds itself in the same position as other economies with the exception of China.
Speaking on Thursday, the British prime minister reiterated his message that the tariffs signalled a shifting world to which the UK must adapt, without directly criticising the US president.
“This government is ambitious for Britain,” he said.
“I’m not going to stand here and pretend that tariffs are good news. That is not true, and you wouldn’t believe me if I said it, but just as we’ve seen recently on defence and security across Europe, and with Ukraine, they do make one thing very clear, and that is that the world is changing, and we as a country must change with it.
“In other words, we’ve got to rise to the moment here, recognise where our future lies, renew Britain and deliver security for working people.”
Mr Starmer said his Labour administration was “not a government that’s just going to sit back and hope” but would deliver “fundamental change”.
Ministers still hope an economic deal with America can be reached to soften the blow of the tariffs, but are also seeking to strengthen trade relations with other countries to protect the economy from further potential shocks. - PA
Trump: ‘More great days coming!!!’
Not long after he slapped the world’s second-largest economy with a 125% tariff, Trump posted this message on Truth Social: “What a day, but more great days coming!!!”
The president also raised eyebrows with another post earlier in the day, as the market was experiencing major swings. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” he wrote at 9.37am local time, prompting some Democrats to question whether the president was manipulating stock markets.
The US trade representative denied these claims saying the administration is “trying to reset the global trading system”.
Vietnam and US to open talks
Vietnam and the US agreed to start negotiations on a “reciprocal” trade deal, with the breakthrough coming just hours after Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs.
Deputy prime minister Ho Duc Phoc said Vietnam wants to maintain stable economic and trade relations with the US “for the benefit of businesses and people of the two countries”, after meeting US trade representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, according to a post on the government website.
The two sides agreed to consider minimising “non-tariff barriers to each other’s goods” as well as strengthen “co-ordination to control and prevent acts of trade fraud”, the statement said.
Vietnam was among the first countries singled out by Trump for showing willingness to negotiate over the tariffs following a phone call between the US leader and Communist Party chief To Lam last week. Exporters in Vietnam are now closely watching the trade talks and banking on the government’s ability to navigate a way out of the crisis.
“With China tariffs at effectively trade-embargo level, we expect orders for Vietnamese and rest of Asia factories to rise in the coming months,” said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong. “The question is whether Vietnam can keep a level where it can still be competitive and what it needs to do to stay there,” Trinh added.
As part of his US business push, Phoc is also expected to meet SpaceX executives on Thursday, during which a permit to operate Starlink internet services in Vietnam for a pilot period is set to be granted, according to sources. The details of the schedule could still be subject to change. – Bloomberg
EU ‘presses pause button’ on counter tariffs
Tariffs the EU was due to put on US soybeans, oranges, steel and other products have now been put on hold for three months, to give time for trade negotiations with the United States to take place, Europe correspondent Jack Power writes.
Those tariffs were due to kick in over three phases, on April 15th, May 15th and December 1st.
In a statement, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said its tariffs on US products and trade would now all be put on hold for 90 days.
“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in. Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues,” she said. “We want to give negotiations a chance,” von der Leyen said in her statement.
EU states had voted to approve the package of counter-tariffs on Wednesday.
The commission has been leading the EU’s response on tariffs, as it has responsibility for the bloc’s trade policy.
The shift comes in response to Donald Trump announcing he would be pausing the higher rates of his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days, effectively reducing widespread tariffs on EU imports from 20 per cent down to 10 per cent.
Previous 25 per cent tariffs the US put on imports into the US on steel, aluminum, automobiles and car parts remain in place.
Commission officials said the plan was to “press the pause button” on the EU’s retaliation, to give negotiations with the US administration a better chance of succeeding.
The message to the White House would be: “We’re ready to make deals, let’s talk,” a commission spokesman said.
The EU is expected to further step up efforts to offer a deal to the US, where both sides would reduce tariffs on industrial goods to zero. This would get rid of long-standing duties of 10 per cent charged to sell cars from the US into EU states, duties that predate Trump’s second term.
Asked about what would happen at the end of the EU’s 90-day period of pause, a commission spokesman said that was very far down the line, in a situation that was constantly changing. “I’m more worried about what might happen in 90 minutes,” the spokesman said.
Following a week of heavy market losses and Donald Trump’s tariffs U-turn, global markets are now surging.
Trying to make sense of it all? Arthur Beesley has an explainer what went down (and up) ...
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen confirms the EU will pause the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days.
“We took note of the announcement by President Trump. We want to give negotiations a chance. While finalising the adoption of the EU countermeasures that saw strong support from our Member States, we will put them on hold for 90 days. If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in. Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues. As I have said before, all options remain on the table.”
Emmet Malone reports from Ibec at their employment law conference.
There has been a upturn in the number of member companies seeking advice on the introduction of short-time working and temporary lay-offs since president Trump’s announcement of tariffs on goods being imported from the EU last week, according to employer group Ibec.
The organisation’s executive director of employer relations, Maeve McElwee, said on Thursday it was hearing of a small number of companies that have already moved to cut costs as the uncertainty over the scale of disruption to trade the tariffs will cause continues while others are seeking guidance as they plan for worst-case scenarios.
The 90-day suspension of the more extreme tariffs imposed by the president was welcome, she said, but it still means another 90 days of uncertainty.
“There are sectors where you won’t necessarily see that that impact hitting immediately, it doesn’t mean that you’re looking at staff involved in production being laid off but we are seeing people looking at slowing or pausing of investment in a new piece of tech, a project or a research piece is coming down the line.”
US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours to disclose their dealings, amid concerns of market manipulation related to Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
AOC posted on X: “I’ve been hearing some interesting chatter on the floor. Disclosure deadline is May 15th. We’re about to learn a few things. Any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now.”
Delicate negotiations ahead as original tariffs are paused
Cliff Taylor shares this analysis: The soundings from EU diplomats that member states will consider deferring the tariffs decided yesterday on US imports into the EU is interesting and explains some of what went on late last night. Technically, the EU’s response package signed up to by member states on Wednesday was to the earlier tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed by the US, which remain in place and not to the package announced in the Rose Garden last week. So because Trump is not pausing these tariffs, there is a case for the EU to leave its response in place and let them it take effect as planned in the weeks ahead.
However, to try to sweeten the negotiations and to avoid having headlines about new tariffs from the EU, it now looks like these may be delayed for 90 days – the same time period for which Trump has delayed many of the tariffs he announced last Wednesday. This explains a reference by Tánaiste Simon Harris in his statement last night to contacts being required between Washington and Brussels. There was an interesting exchange between Trump and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnik at the signing ceremony last night, in response to a question from journalists about the EU tariffs. (Lutnik said they would be pushed out).
Assuming this is agreed by the EU countries, it clears the way for tariffs on the EU to be reduced from 20 per cent to 10 per cent for the next 90 days at least. And some kind of negotiations. But this is all delicate and there is a long way to go.
Another consequence of tariffs: Nintendo can prepare for its new console launch
A pause on the most punishing US tariffs in a century hands Nintendo valuable time to prepare the momentous June launch of its new console and lifts pricing pressure. For now.
The 90-day reprieve on heightened tariffs for most US trading partners gives the Japanese company a chance to ramp up shipments of the Switch 2 to a market that accounts for more than a third of its sales.
Roughly a third of Switch 2 units are assembled in Vietnam, which would have been subject to a 46 per cent levy, but now only faces the 10 per cent universal tariff imposed by Donald Trump’s administration. Nintendo can focus all that production on the US and stock up as many units as possible over the next three months.
The company is preparing for what the industry expects to be the largest gaming console launch in industry. Hosiden Corp, one of three main Switch 2 assemblers, shipped more devices in February to the US from Vietnam than in the previous six months combined, according to customs data provided by NBD. That suggests Nintendo can build a stockpile of millions of consoles from the Southeast Asian country in time for the June launch.
Notably, almost all of Hosiden’s production went to the US starting January, from about 11 per cent to two-thirds over the previous 12 months, the data showed. Shares in Kyoto-based Nintendo jumped 12 per cent on Thursday.
There’s no plan B for the company beyond the $450 Switch 2, which will soon be the key platform for its popular game franchises. Nintendo is diversifying its business to better tap a rich library of intellectual property and beloved characters – via film, merchandise and theme parks – but to do that, it must have a thriving platform and expanding user base.
“If the tariffs stay at 10 per cent, Nintendo probably keeps pricing at $450 and just takes the hit on margin,” said Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu. “At 46 per cent Vietnam tariffs, I expected them to raise by $50 to $100.”
Nintendo delayed pre-orders in the US to fully assess the impact of the new tariffs – which were announced mere hours after Nintendo’s online event unveiling the Switch 2’s price and launch game lineup.
– Bloomberg
There are signs of further de-escalation in the global trade war: the European Union is considering pausing its countermeasures against US tariffs – due to come into effect on April 15th – for 90 days, EU diplomats have told news wire Reuters. It’s tit-for-tat again, but in a more constructive way today.
Apple transports 1.5 million iPhones to US from India to beat Trump tariffs
Tech giant Apple chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tonnes of iPhones – as many as 1.5 million devices – to the United States from India, after it stepped up production there in an effort to beat president Donald Trump’s tariffs, sources said.
Analysts have warned that US prices of iPhones could surge, given Apple’s high reliance on imports from China, the main manufacturing hub of the devices, which is subject to Trump’s highest tariff rate of 125 per cent.
That figure is far in excess of the tariff of 26 per cent on imports from India, but which is now on hold after Trump called a 90-day pause this week that excludes China.
Apple “wanted to beat the tariff”, said one of the sources familiar with the planning.
The company lobbied Indian airport authorities to cut to six hours the time needed to clear customs at the Chennai airport in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, down from 30 hours, the source added.
The so-called “green corridor” arrangement at the airport in the Indian manufacturing hub emulated a model Apple uses at some airports in China, the source said.
About six cargo jets with a capacity of 100 tons each have flown out since March, one of them this week just as new tariffs kicked in, the source and an Indian government official said.
The packaged weight of an iPhone 14 and its charging cable come to about 350 grammes, Reuters measurements show, implying the total cargo of 600 tons comprised about 1.5 million iPhones, after accounting for some packaging weight.
Apple sells more than 220 million iPhones a year worldwide, with Counterpoint Research estimating a fifth of total iPhone imports to the United States now come from India, and the rest from China.
Trump consistently increased US tariffs on China, to stand at 125 per cent by Wednesday, from 54 per cent earlier.
At the 54 per cent tariff rate, the $1,599 cost of the top-end iPhone 16 Pro Max in the United States would have surged to $2,300, calculations based on projections by Rosenblatt Securities show.
– Reuters
Trump reversal shows influence of US treasury secretary Scott Bessent
Trump’s U-turn on the tariffs may be down to the growing influence of US treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Minutes after Trump announced the 90-day pause on tariff plans, Bessent strode out of the White House to explain the abrupt turnabout.
“President Trump created maximum negotiating leverage for himself,” Bessent told reporters. “This was his strategy all along.”
It was the clearest sign yet of the larger role Bessent has taken this week in articulating Trump’s trade policies to the financial markets, even though his messaging has sometimes contradicted the president and business leaders.
Multiple sources close to the White House said Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, was seen as the proverbial adult in the room, giving the president the best counsel among a team of advisers on trade that includes tariff hawk Peter Navarro and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.
“The president is the one who ultimately ... altered his strategy,” said Stephen Moore, a long-time Trump adviser and economist at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
“But I think it was Scott who was always trying to take on the protectionists in the White House, who were always pressing Trump to go big on the tariffs.”
One White House official said Bessent had favoured lower levies while Navarro had favoured higher ones, though the whole trade team backed the decision Trump announced on April 2nd in the Rose Garden.
Bessent publicly stuck to the administration’s script in defending the original tariffs policy. But in private conversations, he moved the president toward negotiating with other countries, according to one source with close ties to the White House.
– Reuters
European stocks rally as trade war eases
Ciara O’Brien reports: In European markets, stocks rallied as concerns about a global trade war eased. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was 6 per cent higher by 8.50am in London, with all sectors in the green and banks and miners leading gains.
France’s CAC 40 jumped 6 per cent and Germany’s DAX soared 7 per cent.
In Dublin, the Euronext was up 4 per cent by 9.50am, with many of the major stocks gaining between 3 and 5 per cent. AIB and Bank of Ireland added 7 per cent each, while travel stocks such as Dalata and Ryanair climbed by almost 7 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
Full story here
‘We’re not out of the woods yet’ – Taoiseach reacts to Trump U-turn
Vivienne Clarke reports: Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the chief executives of pharma and medtech companies advised him “don’t overreact” to the proposed US tariffs. “Different voices in the US administration also cautioned “don’t go in with a bazooka”, he told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.
“To a certain extent, there has always been an expectation, despite all of the noise, that there would be a negotiated pathway. But we’re far from out of the woods yet,” he said.
He said the bond markets were “clearly” a key factor in the timing of Trump’s reversal. “It was quite scary yesterday in terms of what was happening both on the bond market and in terms of stocks,” said Martin.
There were also growing concerns emerging in the US Congress.
“We should remind ourselves that it’s reducing ... to 10 per cent so there is still a tariff there,” he said. He expected Europe to respond positively and to hold back on countermeasures with a view to starting negotiations with the US.
“There is now an opportunity to get this on to a negotiation path, which we can bring other things on to the table,” he said.
Mr Martin acknowledged that the “US side” were still saying “that they want to do something on pharma” – an area of concern to the Government given multibillion dollar value of pharma exports to the US – but he hoped that pharma would now be included in any negotiations.
The Taoiseach said he knew many US companies have been engaged with the Trump administration to explain that the pharmaceutical and medtech supply chain was “very complex” and how there needed to be access to medicines.
Martin said there was a need to separate “what gets said publicly and the reality of negotiation and engagement”. His view from the outset was “not to be commenting on every single statement that gets articulated on a daily basis from the US ... that we have to look at it in the round and in the overall and standing back from all of the sort of noise and different announcements.
“There is no certainty. The only certainty is uncertainty right now,” he said.
‘Substantive, calm, measured dialogue’ with US required – Harris
Cormac McQuinn reports: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has briefed EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on his talks in Washington with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.
Mr Harris and Mr Šefčovič also discussed the ongoing European preparations for engagement with the US.
Speaking this morning, Mr Harris said: “It has been my consistent position and the consistent position of the Irish Government and the European Union that we need to get into substantive, calm, measured dialogue with the United States.
“It has always been our preference that would have happened before tariff announcements. Clearly that was not the position of the United States.
“However, after my discussions yesterday, it is now clear to me that such engagement and negotiation is likely.”
Mr Harris said this needed to happen in “a timely fashion” and that “all sides need to engage in good faith because uncertainly and turmoil is not the way forward”.
“The trading relationship between the EU and the US is worth €1.6 trillion per year. It’s massively important in terms of jobs, growth and investment in Ireland, across the European Union and in America,” he said.
“Yesterday’s discussions with secretary Lutnik were an opportunity to be updated directly and to gain an insight into the US position on a range of these matters.
“I look forward to further engagement with my European counterparts in the hours and days ahead.”
Financial markets may have welcomed Trump’s pause on higher, but it is not all good news. American imports taxes are still at an historic high and economists say a US recession is still a risk.
Higher import taxes raise costs for domestic consumers and businesses and reduce real disposable incomes and profit margins, while retaliatory measures by other countries threaten to damp US exports. The tariffs also tend to make investment more expensive, economists say.
Full story here.
‘Substantive, calm, measured dialogue’ with US required - Harris
Cormac McQuinn reports: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has briefed EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on his talks in Washington with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.
Mr Harris and Mr Šefčovič also discussed the ongoing European preparations for engagement with the US.
Speaking this morning, Mr Harris said: “It has been my consistent position and the consistent position of the Irish Government and the European Union that we need to get into substantive, calm, measured dialogue with the United States.
“It has always been our preference that would have happened before tariff announcements. Clearly that was not the position of the United States.
“However, after my discussions yesterday, it is now clear to me that such engagement and negotiation is likely.”
Mr Harris said this needed to happen in “a timely fashion” and that “all sides need to engage in good faith because uncertainly and turmoil is not the way forward”.
“The trading relationship between the EU and the US is worth €1.6 trillion per year. It’s massively important in terms of jobs, growth and investment in Ireland, across the European Union and in America," he said.
“Yesterday’s discussions with Secretary Lutnik were an opportunity to be updated directly and to gain an insight into the US position on a range of these matters.
“I look forward to further engagement with my European counterparts in the hours and days ahead.”
Stocks in South Korea rallied on Thursday by the most in five years while Japan’s equities recorded the biggest gain since August as a reprieve in higher US tariffs lured buyers back to the beaten-down markets.
South Korea’s Kospi Index soared 6.6 per cent, a day after entering a bear market. Japan’s benchmark Topix index rose 8.1 per cent and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 9.1 per cent.
Across Asia, equity markets bounced back sharply along with currencies after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs that hit dozens of trade partners. But a degree of caution persisted as traders remained uncertain about the prospects of a long-term resolution to the crisis.
“Investors across Asia and beyond are breathing a sigh of relief,” said Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. “The postponement of reciprocal tariffs by the US allows more time for negotiations. For export-centered Asian economies this is especially important, given the growth impact steep US tariffs would have had.” – Bloomberg
The European Commission spokesman for Economic Security and Trade, Olof Gill, has said the European Commission will continue to respond to US tariffs “in a calm, coherent way”.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Mr Gill said it was too early to say precisely what was going to happen next. “I think we can all agree that the situation is volatile, changing day by day, sometimes hour by hour. So we’re going to proceed as we’ve been doing all along, which is to look at the problem in a calm, coherent way.
“The European Commission which is responsible for EU trade policy on behalf of the entire European Union will continue to talk to our member states, will continue to talk to industry, and we will plot a careful course forward on that basis.”
‘EU has lot of cards to play’
Vivienne Clarke reports: The former Irish ambassador to the US Dan Mulhall has said the European Union “has a lot of cards to play” in negotiations with the US in regard to tariffs.
“American companies are very active throughout Europe. They have a privileged position. They make huge profits from the European single market. Remember, the trading relationship between the EU and the United States is the biggest one in the world. It’s almost a trillion dollars in two-way trade. And that’s just in goods,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“And then there’s a services trade. So the services trade is a big plus card for the European Union, because that’s an area where the United States has a surplus with the European Union. And that’s a card that they can play I think effectively to try to leverage a deal that will be beneficial for both sides,” he said.
“Obviously they have to give something to the United States to sweeten the deal for them, but I think it’ll be worth making some concessions on the part of the European Union and I’m sure the commission already has a list of things that they could offer the Americans by way of concession.”
“You need to go into these negotiations hoping that both sides can come out and declare victory and Donald Trump will declare victory ... but whatever the outcome is, he’ll come out and say: ‘this is a great deal and only I could have made this’.
“And that’s the kind of outcome that he’s looking for, and that kind of an outcome would be okay with me too, because as long as we get a deal that doesn’t wreck the global trading system, that doesn’t destroy transatlantic trade or put it in shackles, that would be a good day for Europe, for the United States, and in particular for Ireland because after all we are more exposed to transatlantic trade than any of our European partners are in percentage terms.”
Mr Mulhall added that he was “fairly optimistic” that a deal could be “wrapped up” within the 90 day pause. “He’s had this kind of edge-of-the-cliff moment, and he’s backing away from it. So why would he now go back to imposing tariffs and creating further turbulence?
“I think perhaps a lesson may have been learned, and this may have been the only way in which Donald Trump’s mind could have been changed, that he started to be shown the real consequences of what he was doing.
“Of course, it’s possible that he will decide to go after the pharma industry and impose tariffs on pharma. But, you know, I think there’s a reasonable chance that the pharma tariffs will be paused and they will become part of this general negotiation between the European Union and the United States, which I believe ought to be successful because the EU is a very experienced trade negotiator.
“Now okay there’s still a 10 per cent tariff but that’s more manageable than the 20 per cent tariffs. So, this is a good day for our economy, for the prospects, for some kind of rapport between the EU and the US developing.
“We must hope, keep our fingers crossed, that [Maroš] Šefčovič and his team will be able to come up with the goods and produce the kind of agreement that will put things back to the way they were before the so-called Liberation Day.”
Europe Correspondent Jack Power on von der Leyen’s comments on the latest Trump:
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the pause in Trump’s higher rate of tariffs, saying it was an “important step towards stabilising the global economy”.
The head of the EU executive arm, which is leading the union’s tariff response, said the import levies only hurt businesses and consumers.
“That’s why I’ve consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States,” she said.
The German politician said the EU “remains committed to constructive negotiations with the United States, with the goal of achieving frictionless and mutually beneficial trade”.
The EU would also look at diversifying its trade partners, beyond the US, she said. The current crisis had made it clear the EU had to push forward with its own reforms of its single market.
“My team and I will continue to work day and night to protect European consumers, workers and businesses. Together, Europeans will emerge stronger from this crisis,” she said – Reuters
In markets news, global shares surged and a manic bond sell-off stabilised on Thursday after Donald Trump said he would temporarily lower the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries.
However, the sharp overnight rally in US stocks and the dollar lost steam as a trade war between the United States and China ratcheted up, with investors also perplexed over the flip-flopping of the Trump administration’s tariff plans.
Following a days-long market rout that erased trillions of dollars from global stocks and jolted US Treasury bonds and the dollar, Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on many of his new tariffs in a shock reversal.
That pushed European futures up sharply in the Asian session, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures climbing nearly 8 per cent each, while FTSE futures gained 5.4 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei similarly advanced more than 8 per cent.
But Wall Street took a breather after a towering rally overnight, as investors struggled to come to terms with the US administration’s economic policies. – Reuters
Ciara O’Brien writes: It has been a rollercoaster few days for the markets as US president Donald Trump announced plans for reciprocal tariffs on most countries – and then hit pause for 90 days.
The one exception is China, which is facing tariffs of more than 100 per cent as the US ratchets up the trade war. The country has imposed its own 84 per cent tariffs on US imports coming into the country, and tensions between the economic superpowers remain high.
The rest of the world is in damage control mode. Asian markets saw their biggest jump in more than two years following the announcement, and European equity futures surged.
Investors may be breathing a sigh of relief for now, but with trade relations in such a volatile state, that may not last for long.
Pharma tariffs
Last night, Mr Trump said he would go ahead with pharma tariffs to get companies to relocate to the US, though Tánaiste Simon Harris said he hopes the 90-day period would give a chance to negotiate on this, writes Pat Leahy.
Speaking in Washington, DC, last night after a meeting US secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick, Mr Harris said lower tariffs would come as a relief to Irish exporters but that further contacts between Washington and Brussels were needed to clarify this.
He said he told Mr Lutnick what was needed was “substantive and meaningful engagement” between Europe and the US “because if we have seen anything in the last few days it is the turmoil and uncertainty the tariffs have brought”.
He said Mr Lutnick told him Mr Trump had “five sectors that he wants to take action in relation to tariffs and pharma is one of them”.
“I certainly made the point that actually Europe and Ireland is not the challenge here: that we actually have an opportunity to collaborate in a way that is good for the US, good for Ireland, good for the EU.”
Trump’s U-turn on tariffs fails to reassure markets and trading partners
US president Donald Trump announced a 90-day ceasefire in the worsening global trade war last night, but deep uncertainty continues to spook the global economy, financial markets and America’s trading partners after the sudden move, writes Keith Duggan
After repeatedly insisting there would be no change in his tariff policy, Mr Trump blinked last night when he dramatically cut tariffs on all countries to 10 per cent for 90 days – except for China, which has been hit with 125 per cent tariffs immediately.
After days of massive losses on the stock markets since the tariffs were announced last week, the pressure on the Trump administration intensified yesterday with a sell-off of US Treasury bonds which threatened to increase the cost of US government borrowing and put the country’s ability to finance its massive deficits in doubt.
The trend caused significant disquiet among market analysts, who warned of potentially catastrophic consequences for the global financial system if there was a mass sell-off of US Treasuries – which some market watchers feared was already under way.
After a bullish speech to Republicans in Washington, DC, on Tuesday evening, Mr Trump continued to insist he was not for turning and promised that more tariffs on pharmaceuticals would soon follow.
But as markets wobbled again on Wednesday morning, Mr Trump made what appeared to be efforts to restore some confidence in a series of social-media posts.
“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well,” he posted in midmorning as global financial markets continued to show signs of turmoil. “The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”
A few minutes later he added: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”
But the president’s exhortations failed to reassure markets and as the day went on there were increasing worries about the bond market, traditionally a safe haven for investors in times of turmoil on the markets, as the trade war seemed set to worsen.
China imposed 84 per cent tariffs on US goods in return for US tariffs of more than 100 per cent on Chinese imports. In Brussels, European Union member states voted to begin retaliating against the US tariffs after they came into effect on European imports yesterday morning.
Yesterday evening Mr Trump announced an abrupt U-turn in a lengthy social media post.
Mr Trump said he would implement a “90-day pause”, reducing the tariffs announced last week to 10 per cent. This means the 20 per cent tariff on Irish and other EU goods has been paused for now and will stand at 10 per cent.
He said this applied to countries that “have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States”.
The EU’s retaliatory tariffs have not yet come into effect.
But Mr Trump also said he would raise the tariff on Chinese goods to 125 per cent “effective immediately” – intensifying the conflict between the world’s two most powerful economies and setting the stage for further uncertainty as other countries decide how to react.
