27 h. ago Trade war hits foreign companies in China with double tariffs

Many manufacturers are exposed to paying duties on imports as well as exports

Events

1 week ago Reeves to hold talks with US as Trump says ‘no rush’ to strike deals

Britain is hoping a deal can help stave off the full brunt of the US president’s sweeping 10% tariffs on all goods imported to America.

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s tariffs are reckless – but they hold a key lesson for Democrats | David Sirota

There is a middle ground on tariffs. But Democrats’ free-trade advocacy allows Trump to play the populistTo tariff or not to tariff? Today’s tweet-length political discourse pretends this is a binary choice. Donald Trump has pitched across-the-board import levies as a panacea to rebuild American manufacturing, while Democrats insist the president’s proposals are an attempt to crash the economy, and that their party should tout its opposition to all tariffs.But neither the policy nor politics of this moment are that neat and simple. While too few or too many tariffs can destroy economies, there is a Goldilocks zone that’s just right. It’s just being omitted from the conversation. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Criticise Trump’s tariffs all you like, but western sanctions aren’t any better – just ask Syria | Simon Jenkins

This form of economic aggression is macho and myopic, yet countries including the UK refuse to give it upAmong the more improbable countries that Donald Trump punished most severely last week was Syria, with a 41% tariff in retaliation for its part in the “raping and plundering” of the US economy. That should teach it a lesson for toppling Bashar al-Assad last year.The Damascus regime that subsequently came to power is pleading for help in keeping order and restoring its economy. But the chief obstacle is not Trump’s absurd tariff – now reduced to 10%. It is the sanctions regime imposed on it for the past 14 years by the west, including Britain. The US prohibits nearly all trade and financial transactions, extending this to foreign companies engaged with the Syrian government. EU sanctions targeted crude oil, investments, banking, telecoms and more. No tariff could be as severe as this.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s tariffs are ruinous, but are western sanctions any better? Just look at Syria | Simon Jenkins

Sanctions as a form of economic aggression are macho and myopic, yet countries including the UK refuse to call a haltAmong the more improbable countries that Donald Trump punished most severely last week was Syria, with a 41% tariff in retaliation for its part in the “raping and plundering” of the US economy. That should teach it a lesson for toppling Bashar al-Assad last year.The Damascus regime that subsequently came to power is pleading for help in keeping order and restoring its economy. But the chief obstacle is not Trump’s absurd tariff – now reduced to 10%. It is the sanctions regime imposed on it for the past 14 years by the west, including Britain. The US prohibits nearly all trade and financial transactions, extending this to foreign companies engaged with the Syrian government. EU sanctions targeted crude oil, investments, banking, telecoms and more. No tariff could be as severe as this.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in th...

Politics

2 w. ago Brazil to prioritize negotiation after US trade tariffs, official says

Brazil’s strategy to address extra tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump is to combine negotiations with the U.S. while it expands trade agreements with other countries, a top foreign trade official said Thursday

Politics

3 w. ago The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s tariff ultimatum: tribute for access to America’s empire | Editorial

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...

Politics

3 w. ago David Lammy says he regrets Trump has embraced protectionism, something not seen in US ‘for nearly a century’ – UK politics live

David Lammy, foreign secretary, says UK is ‘a nation that believes in open trade’ and says government is negotiating with US over economic agreementAn anti-abortion campaigner at the centre of a free speech controversy involving the US government has been found guilty of breaching a “buffer zone” outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic, PA Media reports. PA says:Livia Tossici-Bolt was convicted at Poole magistrates’ court of two charges of breaching the Public Spaces Protection Order on two days in March 2023.The case involved the 64-year-old from Bournemouth holding a sign saying “Here to talk, if you want”.But I think our approach should be to slightly stand back and think, what does Britain want, and can it get from the rest of the world, and what can we contribute?And in that regard, it’s important to realise that the rest of the G7, except the US, collectively are the same size as the United States. And I would have thought a very sensible thing to be doing is having a serious co...

Politics

3 w. ago David Lammy says Trump has taken US economic policy back 100 years with ‘return to protectionism’ – UK politics live

David Lammy, foreign secretary, says UK is ‘a nation that believes in open trade’ and says government is negotiating with US over economic agreementThe official plan to increase access to NHS dental services in England has been a “complete failure”, and some of the government’s initiatives have worsened the crisis, a damning report warns, Andrew Gregory reports.David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is at the Nato HQ in Brussels this morning, where Nato foreign ministers are meeting. Speaking to the media, he said President Trump was taking US economic policy back almost a century by embracing protectionism. He said:The United Kingdom, like France, is a great maritime nation.We are a nation that believes in open trade, and I regret the return to protectionism in the United States, something that we’ve not seen for nearly a century. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump claims Starmer is ‘very happy’ about tariffs imposed on Britain

UK foreign secretary regrets ‘return to protectionism’ and says Britons will be concerned about impact on financesBusiness live – latest updatesDonald Trump has claimed that the UK is “very happy” with tariffs imposed on the country as part of his shock upending of global trade, but the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, said he regretted the “return to protectionism”.Wielding a chart in the White House Rose Garden, the US president revealed on Wednesday that the UK would be hit with 10% so-called “reciprocal” tariffs as part of a sweeping drive on all countries. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago No escape for UK as Trump targets ‘foreign cheaters’ in new global trade war

Keir Starmer urges ‘calm’ as Donald Trump reveals that UK companies face a 10 per cent tariff from 0500 GMT

Events

3 w. ago Trump’s tariffs: how might Europe respond to unleashing of trade war?

Bloc’s options include retaliating with tariffs on US goods and services and forming closer ties with other countriesDonald Trump is getting ready to impose sweeping and immediate tariffs on all foreign goods, thereby unleashing a trade war and upending the multilateral trading system that the US helped to build after the second world war.Here is how Europe might respond: Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Businesses rush goods into US foreign trade zones as tariffs loom

Policy uncertainty fuels surge in use of approved facilities that temporarily exempt businesses from paying levies

Economics