Ursula von der Leyen says tariffs a ‘major blow’ to world economy, as US dollar falls to six month low after US President Trump’s ‘liberation day’
The new US tariffs “will only create losers” with US consumers particularly hard hit, the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA), has said in a statement, calling on the EU “to act together and with the necessary force, while continuing to signal its willingness to negotiate.”
The body, which represents the powerful German auto industry, said the tariffs marked
the United States’ departure from the rules-based global trade order – and thus a departure from the foundation for global value creation and corresponding growth and prosperity in many regions of the world.
This is not America first; this is America alone.
Continue reading...PM says measures mark ‘the beginning of a new era’ for trade and the global economy
Internet safety campaigners have expressed alarm about reports that the Online Safety Act could be reviewed as part of the economic deal the UK is negotiating with the US.
According to a Politico report, quoting unnamed sources who have been briefed on what is in the potential deal, it will include a commitment to a review of the Digital Markets and Competition Act and the Online Safety Act.
We are dismayed and appalled by reports that the Online Safety Act could be watered down to facilitate a US trade deal.
We have written to Jonathan Reynolds [business secretary] urging him not to continue with an appalling sell out of children’s safety and to meet with lived experience campaigners to understand the dire consequences.
The Online Safety Act offers a foundation that we believe will vastly improve children’s experiences online.
For too long, too many children and young people have been exposed to harmful content, groomed, harassed and bullied online. The Government must not roll back on their commitment to making the online world safer for them, now and in the future.
Continue reading...Democrats accuse Trump of ruining US economy on purpose and note the lack of tariffs for Russia
In the aftermath of the disastrous debate against Donald Trump that ultimately ended his political career, Joe Biden skipped a White House meeting with the congressional Progressive caucus in favor of a Camp David photoshoot with the fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz, a new book says.
“You need to cancel that,” Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff and debate prep leader, told the president, as he advocated securing the endorsement of the group of powerful progressive politicians perhaps key to his remaining the Democratic nominee.
Continue reading...Retailer’s ‘gift to America’ could be hit by new taxes as it also adjusts to rules on advertising high fat, sugar and salt foods
Percy Pig’s US invasion could be called to a halt amid fears that Donald Trump’s tariffs could affect sales of Marks & Spencer’s popular confectionery brand which has just launched in Target stores across the Atlantic.
Archie Norman, the chair of M&S, has described Percy as the retailer’s “gift to America” but he told the Retail Technology Show in London that “we might have to change our minds” as Trump imposes additional taxes on imported goods. While M&S is not considering withdrawing the sweets, tariffs could push up prices and make them less popular.
Continue reading...‘Willing sycophants’ came up with simplistic formula that has thrown global economy into disarray
Waving a big chart as a prop in the White House Rose Garden, Donald Trump suggested his new tariff plan was simple: “Reciprocal – that means they do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple. Can’t get simpler than that.”
Perhaps a bit too simple. The method used to calculate the most important numbers in international trade, politics and economics has left some of the world’s leading experts shocked.
Goods trade deficit: $291.9bn
Total goods imports: $438.9bn
Those figures divided = 0.67, or 67%
And halved = 34%
Reciprocal tariffs are calculated as the tariff rate necessary to balance bilateral trade deficits between the US and each of our trading partners. This calculation assumes that persistent trade deficits are due to a combination of tariff and non-tariff factors that prevent trade from balancing.
Continue reading...US president Donald Trump yesterday produced a chart of all the new tariffs he was announcing, affecting trade with countries across the world. Here is the list as he displayed it
The president displayed the top of his list from a podium in the White House Rose Garden, and later published a longer version. Note that the “tariffs charged to the USA” in Trump’s formulation include “trade barriers” so don’t necessarily align with the tariffs published by countries concerned.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has upended decades of US foreign policy by bringing in a vast array of tariffs that threaten to disrupt international trade. Here are some initial key points
Countries across the world are racing to absorb the new way of doing business with the US, after Donald Trump unveiled tailored tariffs that looks set to ignite a global trade war.
Trump has made clear the goals he wants to accomplish through the tariffs: bring manufacturing back to the US; respond to unfair trade policies from other countries; increase tax revenue; and incentivise crackdowns on migration and drug trafficking.
Continue reading...A global trade war could affect everything from prices to pensions, and inflation to interest rates
Donald 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...Munther Abed, 27, was in the first ambulance on the scene of an airstrike near Rafah when Israeli soldiers opened fire
• Gaza paramedic killings: a visual timeline
A survivor from a massacre of Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza has said he saw Israeli troops open fire on a succession of Red Crescent ambulances and rescue vehicles and then use a bulldozer to bury the wreckage in a pit.
Munther Abed, a 27-year-old Red Crescent volunteer, was in the back of the first ambulance to arrive on the scene of an airstrike in the Hashashin district of Rafah before dawn on 23 March, when it came under intense Israeli fire. His two Red Crescent colleagues sitting in the front were killed but he survived by throwing himself to the floor of the vehicle.
Continue reading...Transport secretary Heidi Alexander grants consent to London’s fourth-biggest airport to allow potential 32m passengers a year
Luton airport will be allowed to almost double in capacity after the government overruled planning inspectors who recommended blocking the scheme on environmental grounds.
The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, granted a development consent order for the airport’s plans to expand its perimeter and add a new terminal, allowing for a potential 32 million passengers a year.
Continue reading...