8 h. ago Britain's growth outlook is slashed 0.5% by IMF in fresh blow to Rachel Reeves as she jets off to Washington for crunch talks as Trump's tariff war tests 'resilience of global economy'

Britain's growth outlook has been downgraded by the International Monetary Fund in a fresh blow for Labour - as Donald Trump's tariff wars deliver a severe hit to the global economy.

Politics

5 d. ago Trump claims ‘big progress’ in tariff talks with Japan after surprise appearance at negotiations

Japan’s PM says there are still gaps between the two countries’ stances

Politics

6 d. ago John Swinney meets trade union leaders to discuss Donald Trump's tariffs carnage

The First Minister met business leaders the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) to discuss how to deal with the damage the US President is causing to the global economy.

Politics

6 d. ago Visas not an issue in UK trade talks, insists India's top diplomat in London amid Trump tariff chaos

Vikram K Doraiswami stressed that his country wanted Indian companies to be able to move staff to Britain ‘more easily’ as part of an agreement, but their focus was on hiring locally

Politics

7 d. ago Baba Vanga made eerie prediction about the global economy in 2025

As the US president threatens to set the global finance trade ablaze with his controversial tariffs, the Economic Times reports that Baba Vanga was the first to foresee it.

Politics

9 d. ago BP dropped its green pledges and turned back to oil. Now the price of crude has collapsed

At its AGM this week, the company will face not only the activist investor at its heels, but a global economy being changed from the White HouseAfter Donald Trump’s “liberation day” on Wednesday last week, BP lost almost a quarter of its market value in a share price rout even deeper than the oil giant endured in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The collapse in global oil prices in the wake of the US president’s ­tariff blitz may have wiped billions from its ­market value – but Trump isn’t BP’s only problem.The oil company will face shareholders this week for the first time since it bowed to investor pressure to abandon its green energy ambitions in favour of a return to fossil fuels, and its chair, Helge Lund, agreed to step down from the board. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Chris Riddell on Donald ‘Captain America’ Trump wielding his tariff shield – cartoon

Is the president really ready to do battle with China after causing global chaos and undermining the US economy?You can buy a copy of this cartoon Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago In the face of Trump’s mayhem, Europe is the direction to which the UK must turn – and Keir Starmer knows it | Tom Baldwin

The PM will not antagonise the unpredictable president, but it is clear to No 10 that Trump is the problem and the solution lies elsewhereTom Baldwin is the author of Keir Starmer: The BiographyKeir Starmer was back at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to watch Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Real Madrid, a result that far exceeded expectations of his team’s chances in Europe. And, over the next few days, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to snatch a short Easter break in the warmth and sunshine of that same continent.Football and family holidays offer him some much needed relief from the grim reality of a faltering economy, towering public debt and terrifying global insecurity, which are all being made worse on a daily – sometimes hourly – basis by Britain’s closest ally of the previous 80 years. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump is ‘making it up as he goes,’ hurting US and allies, charges Wall Street Journal

Whose side is he on, wonders editorial

Politics

1 week ago Trump is ‘making it up as he goes’ on tariffs, hurting US and allies, charges Wall Street Journal

Whose side is he on, wonders editorial

Politics

1 week ago Will global climate action be a casualty of Trump’s tariffs?

Clean energy investors likely to pull back from US, but other countries may seize opportunity to speed transitionDonald Trump’s upending of the global economy has raised fears that climate action could emerge as a casualty of the trade war.In the week that has followed “liberation day”, economic experts have warned that the swathe of tariffs could trigger a global economic recession, with far-reaching consequences for investors – including those behind the green energy projects needed to meet climate goals. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago The Guardian view on the tariff war pause: the Trump trade shambles is not over | Editorial

The US president blinked first, but this is just a time-out. The threat to the global economy remains real.It was Donald Trump who blinked first. Never forget that. China is unlikely to overlook its importance. A week after launching an all-out global trade war, the US president paused significant parts of it for 90 days. Having insisted that he would stick with the random tariffs he imposed on most trading nations, Mr Trump suddenly decreed that he would reduce most of them to 10%. It was a major humiliation.Yet 10% is still a significant tariff to bear for nations exporting to the US. This is also only a pause until July, not a withdrawal, so the uncertainty remains. And huge tariffs still remain on China (now hiked to 145%), Canada and Mexico (both 25%), as well as on all US imports of steel, aluminium and cars (also 25%). Mr Trump is now substituting a US-world conflict with a US-China one. The two largest economies in the world – which between them have generated around ha...

Politics

1 week ago EU agrees to start trade talks with UAE after Trump tariff war

Gulf state pushes for free trade agreement with bloc

Politics

1 week ago ‘We are stepping up,’ UK defence secretary tells ‘coalition of the willing’ for Ukraine – Europe live

John Healey tells meeting of more than 30 countries that coalition is working on ‘putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position’We’re getting a bit more details from EU spokesperson, Olof Gill, speaking at the commission’s press briefing right now (which, notably, got delayed by almost half an hour as that von der Leyen statement was being put out).He said:We are not going to offer any greater detail at this point about what we are not saying to the Americans beyond what we have already said.We want to negotiate, we want to talk. Continue reading...

Society

1 week ago AP PHOTOS: Trump pushed the global economy to the brink with tariffs — and then pulled back

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors

Politics

1 week ago Ursula von der Leyen says Trump’s tariffs pause is ‘important step towards stabilising global economy’ – Europe live

European Commission president floats idea of zero-for-zero tariff agreement with US, saying she hopes to achieve ‘frictionless trade’Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis put forward a proposal for a “win-win” trade deal with the US last night, saying the EU and the US should push "for “a solution which will be mutually beneficial.”Speaking to Breitbart US, he said there was “still room for negotiations before we consider any major reciprocal response beyond what has been announced today, which, anyhow, was, the expected EU reaction.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s tariffs may be reduced but their impact will be felt in the UK and beyond

We examine potential consequences of US president’s market chaos, which could reach every corner of global finance and economyDonald Trump may have stepped back from his huge tariff rises on every country, except China, which now faces 125%, but the impact of the market chaos is likely to continue in the UK and beyond. The rest of the world still faces a blanket 10% tariff on all US exports.While much of the focus has been the direct impact of the tariffs on physical goods, Trump’s actions threaten to reach every corner of global finance and the economy. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump is pushing the world into recession. By learning the lessons of 2008, we can still prevent it | Gordon Brown

As I discovered then, global problems need international responses. By working together, we can protect jobs and living standardsThis is the first in a two part series on the global response to Donald Trump’s tariffsNo more than a narrow window of opportunity remains if we are to prevent an unnecessary global recession. As China and the US decouple, disruptive trade wars are intensifying and threaten to descend into currency wars; import, export, investment and technology bans; and financial fire sales that will destroy millions of jobs worldwide. It seems barely credible that the world is being brought to its knees by one economy, outside of which live 96% of the population, who produce 84% of the world’s manufactured goods. But even though US officials have previously talked of a tariff policy of “escalate to de-escalate”, Donald Trump’s aim is to force manufacturing back to the US, and his 90-day relaxation of some tariffs does not mean he intends to defuse the crisis.On Monday, ...

Politics

1 week ago Trump is pushing the world towards recession. By learning the lessons of 2008, we can still prevent it | Gordon Brown

As I discovered then, global problems need international responses. By working together, we can protect jobs and living standardsThis is the first in a two part series on the global response to Donald Trump’s tariffsNo more than a narrow window of opportunity remains if we are to prevent an unnecessary global recession. As China and the US decouple, disruptive trade wars are intensifying and threaten to descend into currency wars; import, export, investment and technology bans; and financial fire sales that will destroy millions of jobs worldwide. It seems barely credible that the world is being brought to its knees by one economy, outside of which live 96% of the population, who produce 84% of the world’s manufactured goods. But even though US officials have previously talked of a tariff policy of “escalate to de-escalate”, Donald Trump’s aim is to force manufacturing back to the US, and his 90-day relaxation of some tariffs does not mean he intends to defuse the crisis.On Monday, ...

Politics

1 week ago I’ve seen many phoney trade wars come and go. This is the real thing | Larry Elliott

This battle between the US and China goes far beyond market turmoil – it has killed off the liberal dream of a borderless world Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 104% tariff on Chinese imports into the US – and China blasting back with 84% – has spooked the financial markets. The response is entirely rational. Over the past few decades, phoney trade wars have been commonplace. Rival nations have squared off against each other, indulged in a bit of sabre-rattling, but eventually agreed on a deal. Headlines that screamed “trade war looms” were quickly replaced by those that read “trade war averted”. This time it’s different. The battle between the US and China prompted by Trump’s tariffs is no pretend trade war. It is the real deal – and it will have real consequences. Tariffs operate as a tax, adding to the costs of doing business and raising prices for consumers. Growth will slow and inflation rates will rise. The global economy was already growing only slowly. As things stand, it...

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