Trump tariff news live: Eased duties won’t be enough, says UK PM Starmer

United States Steel Corp. shares tumbled as much as 16% in post-market trading after President Donald Trump said he does not want to see the steelmaker owned by a Japanese company, Bloomberg reported.

Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, pointed to the producer’s rising steel orders as evidence that it doesn’t need any investment right now. He also said he doesn’t want US Steel bought by “any other place,” apparently referring to other foreign buyers.

UK PM Sir Keir Starmer has warned that striking an economic deal with the US or securing lowered American tariff rates for the UK will not be “enough” for Britain.

The Prime Minister conceded he was unsure whether the 10% import tax imposed by Donald Trump on British goods would be in place indefinitely and said the Government must “step up” to adapt to a rapidly changing world.

Wall Street forged ahead with a rally Wednesday afternoon, with the tech-focused Nasdaq soaring more than 10 per cent shortly after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs for countries except China, AFP reported.

US stocks were flying higher after the 90-day tariff pause announcement for most countries except for China.

The S&P 500 was up 5.7 per cent after erasing an earlier loss of 0.7 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 2,000 points, or 5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was up 6.8 per cent.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he would raise the tariff on Chinese imports to 125% from 104%. The newer range of tariffs will come into effect at midnight. READ MORE

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he authoried a 90-day pause as part of his tariff plan but was also raising the tariff rate for China to 125%, effective immediately.

US stocks are flying high after Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause in tariffs on most of the countries except China.

The S&P 500 was up 5.7% after erasing an earlier loss of 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 2,000 points, or 5%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 6.8%.

Wall Street’s main indexes saw a sharp upward trend after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs and 10 per cent tariff effective immediately on most countries.

At 01:26 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2,169.93 points, or 5.76%, to 39,801.82, the S&P 500 gained 321.89 points, or 6.46%, to 5,304.66, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1,229.20 points, or 8.04%, to 16,497.11.

After China imposed a 84% retaliatory tariff on US goods on Wednesday, Donald Trump has once again hit back on Beijing, raising its tariff to 125 per cent.

In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump said, “Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”

Amid mounting global pressure, president Donald Trump has authorized a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs as well as the global 10 per cent tariff.

“Conversely, and based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.

Irish whiskey producers are worrying over Trump tariffs. Toney Healy, an Irish whiskey producer in Dundalk, near the UK border with Northern Ireland, US tariffs on EU alcoholic drunks were an unexpected “curve ball”.

“But it’s here now, so we have to deal with it,” the 62-year-old told AFP on the factory floor where his “Healy’s” family-name whiskey brand is made.

Aiming to tap into the larger Irish-American diaspora, the Dundalk Bay Brewing Company had began exporting to the US just five years ago and was “just breaking in”. But now, it is having to figure out how to shave the 20 per cent tariff from the bottom line.

According to the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA), a trade body, the US market represents 40 percent of total exports.

Commerce and Industry minister of India Piyush Goyal on Wednesday warned exporters not to use India as a destination for re-routing goods originating from high tariff countries like China and other ASEAN nations to the US, news agency PTI reported, citing industry sources.

They said that actions like buying goods from countries facing higher US tariffs and then sending those to America might draw flak from US authorities, which could include blackisting of firms as such exports violate US rules of origin norms.

A violent US Treasury selloff has reignited fears of fragility in the world’s biggest bond market. According to a Reuters report, the $29-trillion Treasury market had surged in the recent weeks as investors dumped stocks for the government’s safety in a tariff-struck atmosphere.

On Monday, however, equities stayed under pressure but, Treasuries were hit by a wave of selling. The selloff picked up pace on Tuesday and into Wednesday, pushing benchmark 10-year yields above 4.425%, 16 basis points higher on the day.

Oil plunged to a four-year low amid the intensifying trade war between China and the US. Beijing earlier imposed 84 per cent retaliatory tariffs on Washington after Trump levied a 104 per cent duty on China.

Brent futures tumbled below $60 a barrel for the first time since 2021 as copper and other commodities also slid. West Texas Intermediate futures traded near $57 a barrel, while shares of BP Plc, Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. slumped, a Bloomberg report said.

House Republicans on Wednesday plan to move to prevent Democrats from forcing them into taking a public vote on President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

While the repeal resolution could be vetoed by Trump anyway, a House vote would require every legislator to take a public stand on import taxes that are likely to bring a surge on consumer prices.

US President Donald Trump has claimed that world leaders are “dying to make a deal” with him amid the increasing worries over the tariffs imposed him.

He said that world leaders in his contact have told him that they would do anything to secure a pact on tariffs.

“I am telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass,” Trump said during a speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner.

“They are dying to make a deal. ‘Please, please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything sir’,” he added.

As the reciprocal global tariffs imposed by Donald Trump begin to take effect, American consumers could face the wrath with higher prices for their favourite goods.

Consumers might, at times, find there are no goods to pay for as companies from Europe to Asia halt shipments of cars to video game consoles to the US.

Among the products that might run dry are cars and SUVs. Audi has suspended deliveries to the US, with shipments that arrived after April 2 to be held from dealers for the time being. New Jaguar Land Rover vehicles may be hard to come by after the British carmaker said it’s putting exports on hold in April as it deals with the new trading terms.

The US consumers will also reportedly run dry on award-winning Japanese whiskey as Suntory Holdings Ltd decided to divert products to Japan and other Asian markets if Trump’s tariffs make them too expensive for American consumers.

US President Donald Trump’s 26 per cent tariffs on imports from India came into full effect on Wednesday morning.

Trump had announced the sweeping reciprocal tariffs on April 3 as part of his ‘Liberation Day’ announcement.

During his announcement from the White House’s Rose Garden, Trump had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘a great friend’ but added that the country was ‘not treating us right’.

“Their Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) just left (US recently). He is a great friend of mine, but I said to him that ‘you’re a friend of mine, but you’ve not been treating us right’. India charges us 52%, so we will charge them half of that – 26%,” he said.

As of 12:39 pm GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an uptick of 0.54 per cent.

With US markets opening in mixed trends in the backdrop of levies imposed by China and the European Union, Donald Trump continued to keep the spirits high.

“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” he posted on his Truth Social network. Soon after his endorsement, the US market saw a positive uptick in its trends.

Amid the escalating global trade war, sparked by the sweeping tariffs Donald Trump imposed, the US President posted on his Truth Social network: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”

With the constant fears of the impact of Trump’s trade war and concerns over chances of recession, stock markets tumbled across most of Europe and much of Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 3.9 per cent, London’s FTSE 100 dropped 2.9 per cent, and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 3.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, Chinese stocks were an outlier. Their indexes rose 0.7 per cent in Hong Kong and 1.3 per cent in Shanghai.

Amid the escalating trade war, triggered by Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, the US stock market is witnessing another shaky day.

Most of the markets tumbled as China and EU hit back at the US with retaliatory tariffs.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2 per cent in midday trading after quivering through the morning, AP reported.

After China, the European Union approved tariffs to hit around €21 billion ($23.2 billion) of US goods in retaliation for the 25 percent duties President Donald Trump imposed last month on the bloc’s steel and aluminum exports.

The tariffs will target politically sensitive American states and include products such as soybeans from Louisiana, home to House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as diamonds, agricultural products, poultry, and motorcycles.

Shortly after China announced 84 per cent retaliatory tariffs on American goods, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business Network that Beijing’s levy is “unfortunate”.

Bessent suggested that China “should not try to devalue their way out of” the tariff war, urging Beijing to come to the table for talks.

Instead, he said, China needs to punish those exporting fentanyl precursors to the US, an issue which has been long raised by American President Donald Trump.