Traders leaving the New York Stock Exchange were trying to make sense of another day of volatilityTraders leaving the New York Stock Exchange after the bell closed on Monday were sanguine about what had been, by an measure, a day of mood swings on Wall Street, as waves of volatility shook the stock markets, each one created by another deluge of headlines around Donald Trump's trade war and global economic uncertainty.The markets opened down a lot, then there was a rumor that the tariffs were off, and they went back up, then all bets were off again and it went down," said Steve Kos of Option Circle, who offered a series of trading day comparisons as he walked out on to Broad Street in lower Manhattan. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: As Keir Starmer weighs up his response to Washington, the prime minister holds an unfavourable handGood morning. Everyone was very impressed when David nobbled Goliath with a rock to the forehead, but Keir Starmer might be forgiven for scoffing at how easy he had it. At least David got to choose his slingshot. In the global trade war, it is the large philistine in the White House who has picked the weapons - and in the hands of a relative minnow like the UK, the truth is that tariffs will barely make a dent.With that unpromising alternative on the horizon, Starmer spent yesterday talking about what he can do to help business at home, instead. But the changes he announced to support the car and pharmaceutical industries - even if they are backed up with more action later this week - also look trivial against the size of the task. And as the US president's latest threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports makes abundantly clear, there is no guarantee that it won't get bigger still.NHS | Hospitals in England could axe more than 100,000 jobs as a result of the huge reorganisation and brutal cost-cutting ordered by Wes Streeting and the NHS's new boss. The NHS Confederation, which represents trusts, estimates that an order to cut corporate functions by 50% could mean shedding between 3% and 11% of the workforce.Gaza | Autopsies conducted on 15 Palestinian paramedics and civil emergency responders who were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza show they were shot in the upper body with intent to kill", according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which is demanding an international investigation into the attack.Conservatives | One of the Conservatives' biggest donors has stopped funding the party in a move insiders believe will result in the closure of its northern HQ, the Guardian can reveal. Richard Harpin, the founder of home repairs business HomeServe, has donated 3.8m to the party since 2008 and loaned Rishi Sunak a helicopter during the last election campaign.Asylum seekers | At least 250 people who were detained at Manston asylum centre when it was dangerously overcrowded are suing the government for unlawful detention and other breaches of their rights. They include a woman who had a miscarriage and a teenager who was a victim of torture and trafficking.Fertility | Surgeons are hailing an astonishing" medical breakthrough as a woman became the first in the UK to give birth after a womb transplant. Grace and Angus Davidson named their daughter Amy Isabel after Grace's sister Amy, who donated her own womb, and Isabel Quiroga, a surgeon who helped perfect the technique. Continue reading...
Ex-Bank of England deputy governor Charlie Bean says cut of 0.5 points needed because of crazy situation' in USThe Bank of England should use its meeting next month to cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point to 4% in response to the financial turmoil created by Donald Trump's trade tariffs, the former deputy governor Charlie Bean has said.He believes an aggressive strategy is needed to combat the fallout from Trump's tariff war, which has knocked trillions of pounds off global stock markets, undermining business and consumer confidence. Continue reading...
by Cecilia Nowell (now); Lucy Campbell and Tom Ambros on (#6WERS)
This blog has now closed. You can read more of our US politics coverage hereEU ministers are in Luxembourg to consider the European Union's response to Trump's sweeping tariff regime amid continuing market turmoil and heightened fears of a global economic recession.It comes after Trump doubled down on his tariff policy in comments aboard Air Force One overnight. He said Europe has treated us very, very badly," and has taken our leaders for a ride", and declined to hold talks on changing tariffs unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis". He also repeated criticism of Europe for not spending a fair share on Nato. Continue reading...
John Bailey does the sums on the 10% tariff imposed by the US, and Lee Wilkinson has a Crocodile Dundee momentNot surprisingly, Labour ministers are claiming the imposition of only" a 10% across-the-board tariff on UK exports to America (excluding steel, aluminium and automobiles, already hit with a 25% rate) as vindication of their diplomatic skill in dealing with Donald Trump(It could've been much worse': how UK avoided a bigger blow from Trump tariffs, 5 April).In fact, the figure of 10% owes less to diplomacy and rather more to the method used to calculate the tariff. The algorithm applied is simple (and simplistic) in the extreme: the tariff equals either the total deficit in US trade with a particular country, divided by the value of that country's exports to America and then halved, or a default 10%, whichever is larger (Trump's idiotic' and flawed tariff calculations stun economists, 3 April). Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Why the global sell-off continued in earnest this morning - and why it mattersGood morning. The markets might have been closed over the weekend, but the break has offered little respite for those who might have hoped for some sign that Donald Trump would consider a change to his tariffs policy.With White House officials and the president himself insisting that their plan was the right one despite the global economic meltdown it has induced, the market sell-off in response continued in earnest this morning in Asia - and traders in Europe and the US will be braced for more of the same later today.War crimes | A war crimes complaint against 10 Britons who served with the Israeli military in Gaza is to be submitted to the Met police by one of the UK's leading human rights lawyers. Michael Mansfield KC is one of a group of lawyers behind a dossier alleging targeted killing of civilians and aid workers.France | The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told supporters in Paris she would fight a political, not a judicial ruling" that could bar her from the next presidential election, as a rival rally denounced an existential threat" to the rule of law after her conviction for embezzling public funds.UK politics | Labour and the Tories have become embroiled in a war of words after the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, defended Israel's decision to deny two MPs entry into the country and deport them. MPs from across parliament criticised Badenoch for her response to Israel's decision to expel the Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed.Deaths in custody | More than 100 relatives of people who have died after contact with the police in the UK since 1971 have joined plans for a class action lawsuit in pursuit of compensation and justice. Organisers had recorded 3,000 deaths involving the police in the UK over the past 50 years, during which time four police officers have been convicted over a killing.Olivier awards | The play Giant, which portrays children's author Roald Dahl amid an outcry about his antisemitism, has triumphed at the Olivier awards on a star-studded night at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Among three awards for the production, US star John Lithgow took home the best actor prize for his performance as Dahl. Continue reading...
Carmakers will be given more flexibility over targets on transitioning to electric vehiclesKeir Starmer has said the government will step in to support key British industries, as business grapples with the economic turmoil unleashed by Donald Trump's global tariffs.As the government attempts to counter the impact of the White House hitting the UK with a 10% base levy on exports to the US, the prime minister will promise to help shelter vulnerable sectors and will implement key parts of the industrial strategy months early. Continue reading...
by Maya Yang (now); Yohannes Lowe and Vicky Graham (e on (#6WE88)
Kevin Hassett claims tariffs will not have a big effect on US consumers and there will be no political coercion' over interest ratesStarmer orders economic reset amid Trump's tariff mayhemIndonesia, 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. Continue reading...
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 carsEver 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. Continue reading...
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 ratesOn 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.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...
Baseline' 10% import levy takes effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses, with some higher tariffs to begin next weekDonald 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. Continue reading...
Labour faces tough choices on its economic strategy. It must be guided more by its progressive values rather than political expediencyThe market reaction to Donald Trump's announcement last Wednesday that he would be levying punitive tariffs on imports from the rest of the world was immediate: US stock markets experienced their worst single-day decline since Covid. The long-term implications will depend on how permanent Trump's reshaping of the global economic order turns out to be. At the moment, his administration is sending contradictory signals as to whether these tariffs are here to stay, or whether they are intended to be used to in effect blackmail other countries into doing the bidding of the US. But the global recession they could trigger raises huge strategic headaches for a British government already struggling to square the fiscal circle and deliver its pledge to boostgrowth.There is no logic to Trump's trade populism: contrary to his claims, the US has done immensely well out of being the dominant economy in the global free trade system of recent decades. If Trump doesn't change course quickly, his act of economic self-sabotage will reverberate around the world, harming not just Americans, but triggering increasing poverty in America's poorer trading partners, generating even more of the global instability that has become synonymous with Trump's presidency. Continue reading...
PM ready to ditch old assumptions' and is debating possible changes to fiscal rules to boost growthKeir Starmer is preparing to rethink key elements of the government's economic policy in an emergency response to Donald Trump's tariff blitz, amid growing concern in Downing Street that the US president's trade war could do lasting damage to the UK.The prime minister believes, say allies, that old assumptions should be discarded" in the UK's response, suggesting he and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, may be preparing to raise taxes again - despite having promised not to do so - or even possibly change their iron clad" fiscal rules to allow more borrowing and fire up economic growth at home in the event of recession. Continue reading...
Beijing has launched a charm offensive with other countries as US tariffs tighten. If they can't be won over, it may have no choice but to stimulate its vast domestic marketChina's leader, Xi Jinping, says he is prepared to dance if it means sidestepping some of the worst of Donald Trump's trade tariffs. Last week he sent a letter to India's president, Droupadi Murmu, urging her to join him in a tango to celebrate 75 years of bilateral trade.Xi said it was the right choice" for the two countries to be partners of mutual achievement and realise the Dragon-Elephant Tango'", which, he added, fully serves the fundamental interests of both countries and theirpeoples." Continue reading...
As the White House retools US imperialism with import duties, others must resist dependency - deepening regional ties and reducing exposure to chokepointsWhen Donald Trump stood before union auto workers in the Rose Garden he declared Liberation Day", promising to stand up for Main Street. Whether that pledge will be fulfilled is moot. He will declare victory either way. What the US president offered was not just an economic programme, but an imperial one.Mr Trump's logic, if it exists, lies in the 397-page report on foreign trade barriers" he brandished on Wednesday. Its message is brutally simple: you may sell your goods to Walmart shoppers, but only if you let US cloud services hoover up your data, US media flood your screens and US tech monopolies operate on their terms - not yours.TikTok is the test case for Trump's platform nationalism: only US firms may mine data, reap profits and rule the digital empire. Continue reading...
by Andrew Sparrow (now) and Yohannes Lowe (earlier) on (#6WD2G)
Union says the government should intervene directly and force the council to settle the disputeTrump claims Starmer very happy' about tariffsDowning Street has refused to confirm President Trump's claim that Keir Starmer was very happy" about the treatment the UK is getting under the new US global tariff regime. (See 9.32am.) Asked about the president's words at the morning lobby briefing, the PM's spokesperson said that the government had already set out its position yesterday and that it was disappointed" by the US tariff policy.Livia Tossici-Bolt has been sentenced at Poole magistrates' court to a conditional discharge for two years for two charges of breaching a buffer zone" outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, PA Media reports. See 11.22am. Continue reading...
by Kiran Stacey, Eleni Courea and Heather Stewart on (#6WDCM)
Experts say UK may have to raise taxes in autumn as senior MPs caution against too many concessions in US trade talksDonald Trump's tariffs signal a new global economic era, Downing Street has said, as economists warned that the British government would probably have to raise taxes in response.No 10 said on Friday the prime minister believed that this week's trade announcement by the US president, which has started a global trade war and sent stock markets tumbling, marked a turning point in history. Continue reading...
by Heather Stewart and Richard Partington on (#6WDGN)
President's move has no historic parallels, but the deep uncertainty for the global economy may prove as destructive as the tariffsFrom world leaders, to the tiniest manufacturers thousands of miles from Washington, decision-makers across the global economy are racked with uncertainty as they scramble to come to terms with Donald Trump's historic tariffs.Experts are all but unanimous that the impact on global growth of Wednesday's extraordinary Rose Garden press conference will be negative - but just how bad remains highly uncertain. Continue reading...
Fears of global recession rise as stock markets continue to fall after China responds to US president's bullying tactics'Stock markets around the world plunged for a second day on Friday as China announced retaliatory tariffs of 34% on US imports, signalling a major escalation of a trade war ignited by Donald Trump and feeding fears of a global recession.For all imported goods originating from the US, an additional tariff of 34% on top of the current applicable tariff rate will be imposed," Beijing's finance ministry said. Continue reading...
by Richard Partington Senior economics correspondent on (#6WCN1)
Economists say levies of between 10% and 50% have dramatically added to the risk of a worldwide downturnGlobal financial markets have been plunged into turmoil as Donald Trump's escalating trade war knocked trillions of dollars off the value of the world's biggest companies and heightened fears of a US recession.As world leaders reacted to the US president's liberation day" tariff policies demolishing the international trading order, about $2.5tn (1.9tn) was wiped off Wall Street and share prices in other financial centres across the globe. Continue reading...
The UK is among those least hit by the US president's war on the world economy. Retaliation at this point makes no senseThe tirade was astonishing. On Wednesday afternoon the world watched as the leader of its most powerful nation accused friends and foes alike of having looted, pillaged, raped, plundered", and simultaneously waved a bogus list of tariff imbalances. The playground paranoia was cringeworthy. What on earth was going on?The answer can only be that Donald Trump is America's elected president for the next four years. He says he wants to end the military conflicts the US has fought or sponsored round the globe for a quarter of a century. We are waiting for that. Meanwhile, he is waging an economic war on world trade, a response that his biographer and ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, blames on his childhood: a life spent feeling like a victim ... any time he does not totally dominate he feels ripped off". Continue reading...
A global trade war could affect everything from prices to pensions, and inflation to interest ratesDonald Trump's announcement that the US will put tariffs on goods from around the world, including a 10% charge on UK imports, has signalled the start of a global trade war.Although the UK faces a lower tariff than many other countries, for UK consumers there could still be some fallout. How it all plays out remains unclear. Continue reading...
Chinese commerce ministry says there is no way out for protectionism' as tariffs rise from 20% to 54%China has condemned the unilateral bullying" practices of the US, as it urged Washington to immediately drop the enormous tariffs that have been placed on Chinese goods.Late on Wednesday night, the White House unveiled sweeping new tariffs on all imports to the US. Chinese goods, which were already subject to a 20% levy, received an additional 34% tariff, taking the total tariff to 54%. The additional levy, part of Donald Trump's suite of so-called reciprocal tariffs" targeted at specific countries, takes effect on 9 April. Continue reading...
Jonathan Reynolds has urged MPs to keep calm as the government gauges its response to Donald Trump's announcement of tariffs on countries around the world, including the UK. Reynolds said the UK had launched consultations with businesses and would be open to a trade deal with the US on favourable terms
by Richard Partington Economics correspondent on (#6WBG2)
Donald Trump's threats to impose widescale import levies have spooked governments, investors and analysts alike. Here's why ...Donald Trump has said tariffs" is the most beautiful word in the dictionary.The US president is expected to announce his latest round of these border taxes on Wednesday at 4pm ET (9pm BST). In what he is calling liberation day", Trump has argued the step is needed to raise money and to encourage domestic manufacturing. But it is also rattling the global economy. Continue reading...
What is expected from Donald Trump's tariffs on US imports and how will EU and UK leaders react?The EU and the UK are bracing for a damaging trade war with the US, as Donald Trump is expected to implement his threat to impose tariffs on imports from Europe.For weeks, he has named 2 April liberation day", with the unveiling of a tariff plan to reverse what he called unfair practices that have been ripping off our country for decades". Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: The administration's sweeping tariffs have left markets bracing for volatility - but what impact will they have on an unsteady global economy?Good morning. According to Donald Trump, it's liberation day": the advent of a new trade order in which Americans reap the benefit of massive tariffs on imports, and the rest of the world picks up the tab.Unsurprisingly, the United States' trading partners tend to take a very different view. And they are doing everything they can to avoid being passive targets for the White House's carnivorous vision of American exceptionalism.Israel-Gaza war | Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced a major expansion of the military operation in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to the security zones of Israel. Follow the latest here.Israel-Gaza war | Some of the bodies of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, killed by Israeli forces and buried in a mass grave in Gaza, were found with their hands or legs tied and had gunshot wounds to the head and chest, according to two eyewitnesses. The accounts add to evidence pointing to a potentially serious war crime on 23 March.UK news | More than 20 women have contacted police to say they fear they may have been attacked by the serial rapist Zhenhao Zou, with detectives fearing there may be even more victims to come. Zou, 28, was convicted last month of raping three women in London and seven in China between 2019 and 2024.US politics | Cory Booker, the Democratic US senator from New Jersey, has broken the record for longest speech ever by a lone senator by spending 25 hours and five minutes inveighing against Donald Trump in the chamber. Booker's speech was intended to highlight the grave and urgent" danger that Trump poses to democracy.Cinema | Val Kilmer, the actor best known for his roles in Top Gun, Batman Forever and The Doors, has died at the age of 65. His daughter Mercedes told the New York Times that the cause of death was pneumonia. Continue reading...
by Pippa Crerar, Heather Stewart and Richard Partingt on (#6WAZX)
Exclusive: UK willing to placate Trump with lower digital services tax rate also encompassing non-US companiesBig US technology companies have been offered a significant tax cut by Keir Starmer in return for lower tariffs from Donald Trump's administration as the UK braces itself for a global trade war.The Guardian understands the UK government is willing to reduce the headline rate of its digital services tax (DST) in an attempt to placate the US president, while at the same time applying the levy to companies from other countries. Continue reading...
The US president wields tariffs not as a policy tool but as an instrument of pressure, rewarding loyalty and punishing defiance - even among alliesDonald Trump has probably not read much MichelFoucault. But he appears to embody the French philosopher's claim that politics is the continuation of war by other means". Nowhere is this more apparent than in his fondness for tariffs. He presents taxing foreign imports as a way to rebuild the American economy in favour of blue-collar workers left behind by free trade and globalisation. Yet he plainly thinks that politics is not about truth or justice. It is about leverage and supremacy.Britain is learning first-hand that Mr Trump, with his us-versus-them framing and taste for spectacle, is an accidental Foucauldian - using tariffs as tools of loyaltyand dominance, even against allies. If MrTrump follows through on his threat to impose a 20% tariff on all imports, UK growth will suffer. The effect depends on the response. No British retaliation would mean GDP 0.4% lower this year and 0.6% next. A global trade war would push that to 0.6% and 1%. Either outcome would wipe out the government's fiscal headroom. But while British policymakers fret over the shrinking margins of fiscal rules, Mr Trump sees no need to cloak power in objectivity.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Survey shows between 56% and 79% across seven countries in favour if Trump introduces Liberation Day' leviesA large majority of western Europeans support retaliatory tariffs against the US, a survey has suggested, if Donald Trump introduces sweeping import duties for major trading partners as expected this week.The US president appears likely to unleash a range of tariffs, varying from country to country, on Wednesday, which he has called Liberation Day. He also said last week that a 25% levy on cars shipped to the US would come into force the next day. Continue reading...
President promises he will be very kind' but critics warn his strategy risks triggering chain reaction and global trade warAs Donald Trump prepared to unveil a swathe of reciprocal tariffs, global markets braced and some Republican senators voiced their opposition to a strategy that critics warn risks a global trade war, provoking retaliation by major trading partners such as China, Canada and the European Union.The US president said on Monday he would be very kind" to trading partners when he unveils further tariffs this week, potentially as early as Tuesday night. Continue reading...