China has hit out at countries it accuses of appeasing the US in trade talks over President Donald Trump’s tariffs. A Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson made the comments in response to reports that Washington plans to put pressure on governments to restrict trade with Beijing in exchange for exemptions to US import taxes. The Trump...
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of breaching a 30-hour “Easter truce” that was announced by the Russian president on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Ukraine’s front line had been hit by more than 46 Russian assaults since the start of the day on Sunday. The BBC has not independently verified these figures....
Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump discussed “ongoing and productive” trade talks, No 10 has said, in their first call since the US president imposed tariffs on UK goods. The prime minister stressed his commitment to “free and open trade and the importance of protecting the national interest”, a Downing Street spokesperson said. They added...
Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni talked up the chances of a trade deal between the US and Europe, as the Italian prime minister visited Washington. “There will be a trade deal, 100%,” Trump said, “but it will be a fair deal”, while Meloni said she was “sure” they could reach an agreement, later adding that...
Carys Nally BBC News, Bristol BBC The new plaque outlines Edward Colston’s role in the Atlantic slave trade A new plaque has been installed on the plinth where a slave trader’s statue once stood. The statue of Edward Colston in Bristol was torn down during a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020 and thrown...
Gold has jumped to a fresh record high as investors fret over the impact of the trade war between the US and China. Spot gold rose above $3,500 (£2,645) per ounce on Wednesday, before dipping from its peak. It has risen by around 30% since the start of the year. The latest move comes after...
Charlotte Edwards Business reporter, BBC News Getty Images The World Trade Organization (WTO) has forecast that global trade will fall this year because of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. It added “severe downside risks”, including reciprocal tariffs and political uncertainty, could lead to an even sharper decline in global goods trade. “The decline is expected...
Suranjana Tewari Asia Business Reporter Getty Images Li Chenggang is a former World Trade Organisation and UN representative China has unexpectedly appointed a new trade envoy, as officials said the US’ practice of “tariff barriers and trade bullying” is having a serious impact on the global economic order. Li Chenggang, a former assistant commerce minister...
US Vice-President JD Vance said there was a “good chance” a trade deal could be reached with the UK, as the dust continues to settle from America’s global trade shakeup. “We’re certainly working very hard with Keir Starmer’s government,” Vance said in an interview on Monday with the UnHerd website. The global stock market has...
Well, well, well. In a US customs messaging note quietly slipped out in the early hours of Saturday, a series of numbers were listed as exempt from the 125% tariff on goods entering the country from China. The code “8517.13.00.00” means very little to most of the world, but in the US customs list it...
Anthony Zurcher North America correspondent in Washington•@awzurcher EPA Donald Trump announced a massive tariff plan last week that would have upended the global economic order as well as long-established trading relationships with America’s allies. But that plan – or at least a significant part of is – is on ice after the president suspended higher...
A year ago Congress passed a law giving TikTok’s Chinese owner a deadline to divest itself from the company or face it being shut down in the US. After a court battle which TikTok lost, that deadline for a sale was set to be Joe Biden’s last day in office. But Biden decided to drop...
BBC There has been a historic upheaval in American trade policy. The announcement of Donald Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on 2 April – what he called “liberation day” – sent a shockwave through the global trading system and financial markets. And the President’s 90-day pause on some of these tariffs on 9 April set off...
John Sudworth Senior North America correspondent Watch: China tariffs ‘not good’ for the economy – US shoppers Suddenly, Donald Trump’s trade war is in much sharper focus. Rather than a fight on all fronts against the world, this now looks far more like a fight on familiar Trumpian territory: America v China. The 90-day pause...
Anthony Zurcher North America correspondent in Washington•@awzurcher Watch: Why US markets shot up like a rocket after tariffs pause For days, Donald Trump and his White House team had insisted they were fully committed to their decision to impose sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries. They even derided a report on Tuesday that said...