Key events
Amy Hawkins
If you have ever bought a Christmas decoration, a button, an electric shaver or any other cheap manufactured product, there is a good chance it came from Yiwu, a city in east China’s Zhejiang province that is home to the world’s largest wholesale market.
Covering more than 4m square metres, tens of thousands of suppliers have booths in Yiwu International Trade City.
As the US and China exchange increasingly hysterical rhetoric and threaten ever-higher tariffs, it is vendors at places like Yiwu who are at the frontline of the new trade war. And while the sellers have reduced their exposure to the US, they fear the repercussions of a global economic shock.
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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index has fallen 2.1% to 7,351.20 points this morning, Reuters is reporting.
Australian stock market set to plunge amid tariff tensions
Jonathan Barrett
Australian shares are poised to fall sharply today as Donald Trump presses ahead with plans to hit China with huge retaliatory tariffs.
Futures prices were pointing towards a steep 2% loss when the S&P/ASX 200 opened a short while ago, erasing yesterday’s rebound.
The anticipated price move would push the benchmark back under 7,350 points, the level it closed at on Monday after the market suffered its worst trading day in five years.
Trump tariffs could slice developing Asia growth – report
The full implementation of US tariffs could cut developing Asia’s growth by about a third of a percentage point this year and nearly a full percentage point in 2026, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday.
In its Asian Development Outlook report, the ADB projected that growth in developing Asia will ease slightly to 4.9% in 2025 – the slowest pace since 2022 – and slow further to 4.7% in 2026, from 5.0% in 2024, Reuters reports.
The forecasts were finalised before the US unveiled sweeping new import tariffs last week, the ADB said at a press conference for the report’s release.
“The elephant in the room is clearly whether the U.S. tariffs will be fully implemented, which would lead to lower growth in our baseline forecast,” ADB chief economist Albert Park said.
Developing Asia, as defined by the ADB, is made up of 46 Asia-Pacific countries stretching from Georgia to Samoa – and excludes countries such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Park said the eventual effects of the US tariffs remained uncertain, as their scope and timing could change due to negotiations, delays, or exemptions being granted.
On the flip side, stronger retaliation and further escalation could result in bigger impacts. Additionally, the size and speed of policy changes under the new US administration could reduce investment globally and in the region, while rising trade tensions and fragmentation would boost trade costs and disrupt global supply chains.
Japan’s Nikkei average futures are down 3.4% in early trade, reports say.
Here’s a quick recap of some of the other latest developments as the global upheaval from Donald Trump’s tariffs continues.
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Canada’s retaliatory 25% tariffs on some American cars will go into effect at 12.01 ET tonight, the Canadian prime minister said. “President Trump caused this trade crisis – and Canada is responding with purpose and with force,” Mark Carney said in a social media post on Tuesday. The tariffs apply only to vehicles not already covered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.
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Trump dismissed criticism of tariffs at a White House event to boost US coal production, claiming the US was making $2bn a day from tariffs. “America is going to be very rich again very soon,” he said.
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The Trump administration claims “the phones have been ringing off the hook” as countries seek to negotiate with the US on tariffs and trade. Nearly 70 countries have reached out looking to begin negotiations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump held a “great call” with South Korea’s acting president, Han Duck-soo, and said they discussed more than just trade issues. It was also confirmed that the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will travel to the US next week for talks on tariffs with Trump on 17 April.
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The Trump administration has made it clear it is not just interested in talking to other countries about tariffs in order to “level the playing field” for US companies trading overseas. US trade representative Jamieson Greer told Congress on Tuesday that countries must also lower their standards, tests and regulations the US sees as obstructive – for example, against beef and pork exports to Australia, shellfish to the EU, and its limited access to Japan’s agricultural market.
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Elon Musk reportedly made several pushes to try to get the president to back down on his tariff agenda. His failure to get Trump to listen, however, is evidence to some observers of a growing rift between the US president and the world’s richest person. Asked about the growing insult-heavy feud between Musk and top trade adviser and tariff plan architect Peter Navarro (the latest is Musk called Navarro a “moron”), Leavitt said: “Boys will be boys.”
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Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk reportedly made several pushes to try to get the president to back down on his tariff agenda. His failure to get Trump to listen, however, is evidence to some observers of a growing rift between the US president and the world’s richest person. Asked about the growing insult-heavy feud between Musk and top trade adviser and tariff plan architect Peter Navarro (the latest is Musk called Navarro a “moron”), Leavitt said: “Boys will be boys.”
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live business blog, with Donald Trump’s global tariffs due to take effect on Wednesday.
The US president appears poised to push on with measures against imports to the US from almost every country in the world. The US will also go ahead with imposing a staggering 104% tariff on China from 12.01am ET (12.01pm China Standard Time) on Wednesday, the White House confirmed after Beijing did not lift its retaliatory tariffs on US goods by Trump’s Tuesday noon deadline.
Trump’s tariffs are due to take effect at 2pm Australia time so Asian markets can give us some indication of how things are likely to be received.
After early rallies on global stock markets, Wall Street closed down after another session of sharp losses as investors’ hopes for US delays or concessions on tariffs ahead of a midnight ET deadline turned to despair.
The S&P 500 fell 1.6% after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years. That brought the index nearly 19% below its record set in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 683 points, or 1.8%, after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460 points. The Nasdaq composite was down 3.2%.
We’re likely to see another bumpy day on stock markets around the world. Stick with us to follow all the latest news, reaction and analysis.
