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Reporting from London
European Union trade ministers are holding an emergency meeting in Luxembourg this morning to consider the E.U.’s response to Trump’s tariffs, which include a 20% levy on most imports from the 27-member bloc.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that while the E.U. is willing to negotiate, is also prepared to respond with countermeasures to the latest 20% levy, which takes effect Wednesday, as well as Trump’s earlier 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports.
Later today the European Commission is expected to publish a final list of American products that it will target in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, including meat, cereals, wine, wood and bourbon. Member states are expected to vote on that list on Wednesday.
If approved, the E.U. would join China and Canada in imposing retaliatory tariffs as fears of a global trade war continue to mount. The first E.U. tariffs would take effect April 15.
Speaking with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated that the E.U. would work with partners to defend its interests with proportionate countermeasures to Trump’s tariffs.
Meanwhile, European stock markets opened to sweeping falls today, with London’s FTSE 100 index down nearly 6%. Germany’s DAX index was down 7.6% after sinking to 10% at one point, while France’s CAC 40 index is 7% lower.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said yesterday that he won’t retaliate against the 32% tariffs Trump slapped on the island last week.
“Taiwan has no plans to adopt retaliatory tariffs,” Lai said during a recorded speech yesterday in which he cited the island’s resilience and the fact that its exports to the U.S. were valued at more than $110 billion last year.
Instead, Taiwan will import more American goods and expand its investments in the U.S., he said, adding that it can start talking with U.S. negotiators about a Taiwan-U.S. bilateral zero-tariff treatment. “Working together, we’ll usher in a golden age of shared prosperity,” Lai wrote in a post on X today.
Taiwan shares have plunged over 9% to hit a one-year low, with stocks of the island’s top chipmaker TSMC declining nearly 10%, according to CNBC. The U.S., which has no official relations with Taiwan, is the Beijing-claimed island’s most important international backer.
Reporting from London
As Asian stocks plummeted during early trading today, Trump said that his tariffs are the only way to solve “financial Deficits with China, the European Union, and many others.”
“Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding that the tariffs are bringing “Tens of Billions of Dollars” into the U.S.
While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday, Trump said that foreign governments would have to pay “a lot of money” to lift the sweeping tariffs and called them “medicine,” leading to global financial markets convulsing even further.
“I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock market futures opened sharply lower as investors expressed concerns over the risk of a global recession brought on by higher prices, weaker demand and lower confidence.
Reporting from Hong Kong
Markets in Europe followed the plunge in Asia today, with London’s FTSE 100 index falling over 5% in its early hours of trading.
Germany’s DAX index appeared to lead the rout in Europe, falling as much as 10% early today. Rheinmetall, a German defense manufacturer that had enjoyed a rally from Europe’s push to be self-reliant in defense, plunged over 14%.
France’s CAC 40 and the Swiss market index also fell 6% as the fallout from Trump’s tariffs extended to the broader European Union, which is meeting in Luxembourg today to consider its response.
Reporting from Hong Kong
The fallout of Trump’s tariffs is still reverberating around the world, including in Asia, where markets opened to a bloodbath, triggering circuit breakers in some places.
The Chinese territory of Hong Kong, where trading resumed after a holiday on Friday, led losses in the region, with the Hang Seng Index plunging 11% in one of its biggest single-day falls, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost more than 7% in value.
Trading was briefly halted in Japan after Nikkei 225 and Topix futures briefly dipped below 8% — activating automatic circuit-breakers that stop a market freefall. The broader Topix index in Japan, and China’s CSI 300 index, also recorded similar losses. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 extended losses to 5.3%.
In South Korea, where the Kospi index recorded a 5% plunge, authorities announced they were prepared to provide up to 100 trillion won ($68 billion) in emergency liquidity and other market stabilization measures.
Trump this morning is set to host the Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of the 2024 World Series.
Shortstop Mookie Betts told reporters last week that he will be in attendance, despite previously declining Trump’s invitation to visit the White House in 2019 when Betts played for the Boston Red Sox.
Trump will hold a joint news conference this afternoon with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said.
The prime minister’s visit comes less then a week after Trump imposed a 17% tariff on Israeli goods, even though the country had canceled all its tariffs on goods from the U.S., its largest trading partner.
Netanyahu will seek relief from the tariffs, he said in a statement yesterday. He will be the first world leader to meet with the president in person to negotiate tariffs after Trump’s sweeping announcement last week.
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Live updates: Trump tariffs shock persists; Netanyahu visits White House – NBC News
