20 h. ago China says it is ‘evaluating’ US offer for talks on Trump tariffs

Beijing warns Washington that any attempt to use talks as pretext to engage in coercion and extortion won’t work

Politics

24 h. ago Stock markets gain as China ‘evaluates’ offer of US trade talks – business live

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as FTSE 100 gains on hopes of US-China trade thaw; Shell profits drop 28% to $5.5bnCommodities companies are among the best performers on stock markets this morning.They would be among the best placed to benefit from the US backing down in its trade war with China. The FTSE 100 has a lot of Europe’s big mining listings, and they are leading the way on Friday. Continue reading...

Economics

42 h. ago US has approached China seeking talks on Trump tariffs, says state social media

Development may be indication China is softening on beginning negotiations over American 145% tariffsUS politics live – latest updatesThe US has approached China seeking talks over Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state media has said, potentially signalling Beijing’s openness to negotiations.“The US has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue,” Yuyuan Tantian reported in a post published on its official Weibo social media account, citing anonymous sources. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago White House gets defensive when asked if Xi and Trump have talked about the future of tariffs

Trump has claimed to have spoken with the Chinese leader in recent weeks. The Chinese government says it hasn’t happened

Events

4 d. ago US tariff war hurting trade with China; M&S tells hundreds of warehouse agency staff not to come to work after cyber

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsBack in Beijing, China’s foreign ministry has said President Xi Jinping had not spoken to Donald Trump.The ministry also denied that the two administrations are in talks to strike a tariff deal, which contradicts a claim from Trump last week.“As far as I know, the two heads of state have not called each other recently,“I would like to reiterate that China and the U.S. have not conducted consultations or negotiations on the tariffs issue. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago Swiss leader says Trump administration foresees ‘privileged’ talks with 15 countries on US tariffs – US politics live

Karin Keller-Sutter, Swiss president, says Switzerland is among 15 countries with which US plans to hold negotiations to reach deals over tariffsThe Swiss president says Switzerland is among 15 countries with which the United States plans to conduct “privileged” negotiations to help reach a deal after sweeping US tariffs on dozens of countries that have shaken global markets, reports the Associated Press (AP).Karin Keller-Sutter, in an interview with broadcaster SRF published Friday, said she was “satisfied” with talks in Washington this week that included an International Monetary Fund conference and her one-on-one meeting with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Keller-Sutter also serves as Switzerland’s finance minister. “The United States has defined a group of 15 countries with which it wants to find a quick solution in this tariff question. Switzerland is part of this group of these 15 countries,” she told reporters separately late on Thursday in Washington, according to the ...

Politics

7 d. ago Swiss leader says Trump administration foresees 'privileged' talks with 15 countries on US tariffs

The Swiss president says Switzerland is among 15 countries with which the United States plans to conduct “privileged” negotiations to help reach a deal in the wake of sweeping U.S. tariffs on dozens of countries that have shaken global markets

Politics

8 d. ago China calls reports of ongoing US tariff talks ‘baseless’ while Trump claims administration ‘actively’ seeking deal – live

Spokesperson for China’s ministry of commerce says any claims of progress in China-US negotiations are ‘without factual evidence’South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has said he talked about the war in Ukraine and the need to foster good bilateral relations with the US in his phone call with Donald Trump.“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths... to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations,” Ramaphosa wrote in a post on X. Continue reading...

Economics

9 d. ago Treasury secretary says China tariffs not sustainable as US signals willingness to de

Scott Bessent said the tariffs – 145% on Chinese products and a retaliatory 125% on US products – would have to come down before talks can proceedStock markets rise as Trump backtracks on high China tariffs and firing Fed chairNato secretary general Mark Rutte will visit the US and meet the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the national security adviser, Mike Waltz, according to a media notice shared by the military alliance’s press office.Rutte will visit the US on 24 and 25 April. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Rachel Reeves says US trip about more than 'damage limitation' as she signals UK could lower import levies on American cars in bid for trade deal with Donald Trump

The Chancellor is in Washington for IMF meetings and talks with other G20 finance ministers to discuss the impact of the US president on global commerce.

Politics

1 week 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

2 w. 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

2 w. ago Japan reports a $63 billion trade surplus with the US as it talks with Trump on tariffs

Japan recorded a trade deficit for the fiscal year that just ended but racked up a $63 billion surplus with the United States

Economics

2 w. 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

2 w. ago Japan set for ‘guinea pig’ trade talks with US after Trump’s tariffs

Tokyo first in line for negotiations that will be closely watched as test case of Washington’s trade war strategy

Politics

2 w. ago SNL’s Colin Jost and Michael Che mock Donald Trump’s tariffs U

Jost said that listening to Trump discuss tariffs was ‘like listening to Bubba Gump talk about shrimp’

Politics

3 w. ago EU agrees to start trade talks with UAE after Trump tariff war

Gulf state pushes for free trade agreement with bloc

Politics

3 w. ago Trump pauses US tariffs as British Steel crunch talks continue and Universal theme park brings 'jobs and joy'

Watch the business stories making the headlines today in under two minutes.

Politics

3 w. 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

3 w. 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