9 h. 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

35 h. ago ‘The sky won’t fall’: China plays down Trump tariff risks as stock markets rally

Chinese customs official says trade has diversified away from US in recent years and plays up its ‘vast domestic market’Business live – latest updatesChina has played down the risk of damage to its exports from Donald Trump’s tariffs, with an official saying the “the sky won’t fall”, as stock markets rose on Monday amid signs of a retreat on electronics restrictions.The world’s second-largest economy has diversified its trade away from the US in recent years, according to Lyu Daliang, a customs administration spokesperson, in comments reported by state-owned agency Xinhua. Continue reading...

Politics

36 h. ago Stock markets rise on signs of Trump tariff retreat; British Steel races to keep furnaces burning – business live

Chinese exports jump as official says ‘the sky won’t fall,’ despite warning from US officials that smartphone and laptop exemption from import tariffs on China will be short-livedMatt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:Just when it seemed the tariff chaos couldn’t get any worse, tech investors have spent the weekend scrambling to make sense of a whirlwind of confusing - and at times contradictory - messages coming out of the White House. Despite the drama, European markets have taken an easing stance on US tech components as a positive in a broad-based rally this morning, with the FTSE 100 up 1.5% in early trading.This time, it’s chips, smartphones, and other tech components taking centre stage. While there were early signs on Friday night that some broad exemptions might be in play, it turns out tariffs are still very much on the table. But here’s the twist: despite the messy rollout, what’s caught investors’ attention is the news that these products won’t...

Economics

37 h. ago China says ‘sky won’t fall’ as exports surge ahead of Trump tariffs

Rush of shipments preceded escalation of trade war between world’s two biggest economies

Politics

37 h. ago China customs says ‘sky won’t fall’ as exports surge ahead of Trump tariffs

Rush of shipments preceded escalation of trade war between world’s two biggest economies

Politics

37 h. ago China says ‘sky won’t fall’ as exports surge ahead of Trump’s tariffs

Rush of shipments preceded escalation of trade war between world’s two biggest economies

Politics

4 d. ago The big lesson for Europe? Trump backed down under pressure | Alexander Hurst

The EU neither ‘kissed ass’ nor unleashed its most powerful trade weapon. Now it must provide the world with an alternative to US chaosMy condolences to everyone who spent days trying to play 5D chess with Donald Trump’s market-exploding tariff mess. Where Trump is involved, there is a cloud of malevolent chaos, and there is grift amid the chaos. What grandmasters there are to be found are almost certainly grandmasters of grift.When markets dump $10tn in three days and then gain trillions back in a single afternoon on the erratic decisions of one deeply corrupt person, you can be sure that a small number of people have made immense sums of money out of that volatility. Were the people responsible for abnormal spikes buying into the markets (including call options on various indexes and exchange-traded funds) on Wednesday morning – and again, 20 minutes before the tariff announcement went public – extraordinarily lucky? Were they in the right Signal group? Or were they just simply fo...

Politics

7 d. ago Trump tariff chaos hits PlayStation and Nintendo hard as game companies shaken by rollout

Japanese gaming companies have been hit hard in the earliest days of President Trump's tariffs, including Nintendo has it prepares to launch its Switch 2 console in June

Events

8 d. ago How do you price the risk of ‘economic nuclear winter’? The market hasn’t a clue | Nils Pratley

While US bosses look terrified of being labelled unpatriotic over Trump’s tariffs, stock markets are trading on guessworkVolatility grips global stock markets as Trump insists on tariff ‘medicine’What is the correct level of fall in the stock market if the US president declares economic war on the rest of the world even at the risk of causing a recession in his own country? Does 10% capture it? Or 12%, which was roughly the S&P 500 index’s three-day decline by the time the London market closed on Monday? Or 15%? How about 20%? More? A lot more?During three straight days of heavy falls in the share prices everywhere, a striking feature has been the absence of wise old market heads popping up to argue that the panic is perhaps a little overdone and fair value is emerging. Instead, the collective mood is stuck in bewildered mode for understandable reasons. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago IMF warns of ‘significant risk’ to global economy from Trump tariffs as markets plunge

Fund boss Kristalina Georgieva says it is important that US and trading partners avoid escalating trade warBusiness live – latest updatesThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Donald Trump’s implementation of swingeing tariffs poses a “significant risk” to the global economy, as stock markets were hit by a punishing worldwide sell-off by investors.Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, said it was important that the US and its trading partners avoided further escalating Trump’s trade war, while stock markets plunged on Friday as China retaliated against the tariffs. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Dow and NASDAQ see historically bad day with plunges among worst ever as Trump tariffs spark sell

Trump’s tariff plan will ‘level the playing field for American workers,’ the treasury secretary said Thursday as the stock markets slide

Politics