Live Reporting
Edited by Ayeshea Perera and Peter Hoskins in Singapore
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China calls Trump’s latest tariffs threat ‘mistake on top of a mistake’published at 02:13 British Summer Time
China’s commerce ministry has said it will never accept the “blackmail nature” of the US as it vowed to fight against tariffs “to the end”.
The ministry called President Trump’s threat of an additional 50% levy on China-made goods “a mistake on top of a mistake”.
It demanded that all plans for tariffs be dropped and for US-China differences to be resolved through dialogue.
Image source, Getty Images -
Taiwan stocks add to falls after Monday’s slumppublished at 02:04 British Summer Time
Taiwan’s benchmark TAIEX stock index is around 4% lower in early trading after falling by almost 10% yesterday.
It comes despite other stock markets in the region, including Japan, South Korea and Australia making gains.
On Monday, shares from Shanghai to Tokyo and Sydney to Hong Kong plunged by levels not seen in decades, as global markets continued to reel from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
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Taiwan stock market set to openpublished at 01:55 British Summer Time
We’re waiting for the stock market in Taiwan to open in a few minutes, after yesterday’s almost 10% plunge on its benchmark index.
That slump was worsened by traders having to play catch up on the slide in global share prices on Friday as the market was closed for a public holiday.
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Trade war with China “not necessarily bad,” former Trump official sayspublished at 01:44 British Summer Time
One of Trump’s former economic advisers is speaking out in support of tariffs, denying expert predictions of an incoming recession and saying a trade war with China is “not necessarily bad”.
Tomas Philipson, who served as the acting chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the first Trump administration, firmly stood by the president’s tariffs in an interview with BBC News, saying talks of a serious economic downturn have been exaggerated.
“Tariffs are not inflationary,” he said.
J.P. Morgan earlier raised the probability of a global recession to 40%, citing Trump’s tariffs as the reason.
Philipson also took aim at China, calling them a “military adversary”.
The trade war is good, he said, because currently the US is “subsidizing the Chinese buildup of a military, of communism,” he said.
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Analysts say Asia markets are showing ‘hint of optimism’published at 01:38 British Summer Time
Annabelle Liang
BBC News, Business reporterThe few financial markets that have opened in the Asia Pacific region are trading higher.
Japan’s Nikkei is seeing the most gains at the moment of around 5%, while indices in South Korea and Australia are making smaller advances.
But they are still some way from recouping losses from Monday.
What is currently happening is “something of a natural market bounce following Monday’s calamities,” said Tim Waterer from the KCM Trade brokerage.
“US futures markets have been moving higher which has given a hint of optimism for Asian markets,” he added.
Vishnu Varathan from Mizuho Securities Singapore said investors are seeing “some scope for a rebalancing” after several “rather ugly” market sessions.”It’s just a case of waiting it out to determine which way [tariff threats] swing,” Varathan added.
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Japan market adds to gainspublished at 01:28 British Summer Time
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo has added to today’s gains after plunging yesterday.
In morning trading, the benchmark stock index is now up by more than 5%.
Yesterday, it slumped by 7.8% as shares in major Japanese companies from carmakers to banks were sold off.
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What are the new tariffs Trump has threatened on China?published at 01:21 British Summer Time
President Trump has threatened China with an additional tariff of 50% on its imports to the US.
This came as he called on Beijing to withdraw its plan to respond to US tariffs by putting a 34% levy on goods made in America.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, the US president said he was not considering a pause on new tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.
Read more about Trump’s latest threat here, external.
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Asia markets make gains after yesterday’s routpublished at 01:15 British Summer Time
Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, BBC News SingaporeFinancial markets in the Asia-Pacific region are seeing some calm after yesterday’s “bloodbath”, as one analyst described it to the BBC.
Japan’s Nikkei, the Kospi in South Korea, and Australia’s ASX 200 all opened higher this morning, although they only regained some of Monday’s big losses.
Later in the Asia morning, we’ll get a broader picture of how investors are reacting to Trump’s new China tariffs threat as stock exchanges in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan open.
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Trump: I’m not considering pause on new tariffspublished at 01:08 British Summer Time
Media caption, Watch: Trump says US ‘not looking into’ pausing tariffs
On Monday, US President Donald Trump said he was not considering a pause on new tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.
Earlier, there were reports that Washington would impose a 90-day pause, these claims were promptly refuted by the White House who called it “fake news”.
Asked directly about a potential pause, he told reporters in the Oval Office: “We’re not looking at that. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and there are going to be fair deals.”
The US president went on to reiterate his threat of additional 50% tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing did not walk back from its retaliatory plans by tomorrow (Tuesday).
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Japanese, Australian and South Korean shares open higherpublished at 01:04 British Summer Time
Japanese and South Korean stock markets have opened higher after sinking yesterday.
The Nikkei 225 and Kospi are around 2% higher.
Meanwhile, Australia’s ASX 200 opened slightly higher.
Image source, Getty Images -
Asia markets open after Monday’s plungespublished at 01:00 British Summer Time
Some key financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region have just opened after yesterday’s turmoil.
Trading on stock markets in Japan, South Korea and Australia is getting underway.
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What happened in Asia on Monday?published at 00:59 British Summer Time 8 April
Good morning it’s 8am in Singapore and we are about to see markets open in the wake of yesterday’s slump. We are monitoring markets and how they are going to be performing today. Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region plunged on Monday by levels not seen in decades.
Here is where they closed.
- Nikkei 225 -7.8%
- Kospi -5.6%
- Hang Seng -13.2%
- Shanghai composite -7.3%
- ASX 200 -4.2%
- Taiex -9.7%
- Nifty 50 -3.2%
- Sensex -3%
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What’s happened so farpublished at 00:57 British Summer Time 8 April
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New YorkMedia caption, Watch: Three things to know about Trump’s tariffs announcement
On April 2, US President Donald Trump unveiled a slew of aggressive tariffs on imports from nearly every country in the world, sending shockwaves through global markets.
He targeted all countries with a standard 10% tariff, but for some of America’s biggest trading partners, that number went much higher.
China was hit with a 54% tariff, for example (although this included some earlier tariffs Trump had ordered).
What followed was the worst week the global stock market has experienced since the Covid pandemic.
The three major US indexes slumped, falling more than 5%. Some Asian stocks are having their worst drop in decades.
World leaders are now scrambling to respond, with some now negotiating with Trump to lower their rates. Others, like China, are imposing their own retaliatory levies on the US.
Trump has continued to defend the tariffs, saying on Sunday, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something”.
