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09 May 19:09
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday, his ministry said, days before US President Donald Trump begins a regional tour.
Araghchi is due to hold talks with senior Saudi officials in Riyadh before heading to Doha for a conference on Arab-Iranian dialogue, ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement.
– AFP
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09 May 15:30
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that 80% tariffs on Chinese goods „seems right“ as representatives prepared for weekend talks to contain a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet Chinese economic tsar He Lifeng in Switzerland for talks that could be the first step toward resolving their trade disputes.
„China should open up its market to USA – would be so good for them!!! Closed markets don’t work anymore!!!“ Trump said in a Truth Social post.
„80% tariff on China seems right. Up to Scott B,“ Trump said.
Since taking office in January, Trump has hiked levies on imports from China to 145%, in addition to those he imposed on many Chinese goods during his first term and the duties levied on Beijing by the Biden administration.
– Reuters
09 May 15:00
Switzerland will once again on Friday try to talk its way out of punitive tariffs on its exports to the US, which would have serious ramifications for Swiss jobs and businesses.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng are meeting in Geneva in an attempt to cool the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
That has given the Swiss another chance to twist Washington’s arm over the global wave of tariffs unleashed by US President Donald Trump on 2 April, and comes a day after Britain reached a deal with the US avoiding the worst of the punitive levies.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, who is also the country’s finance minister, and Economy Minister Guy Parmelin are set to meet Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a top hotel in the city.
– AFP
09 May 14:30
European shares ticked higher on Friday, with Germany’s benchmark index notching an all-time high, as investors bet on de-escalation in the trade war ahead of discussions between the US and China over the weekend.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.3%, as of 09:40 GMT, with all regional bourses trading higher.
Frankfurt’s DAX index climbed 0.6%. BP shares rose 3.5% after a Financial Times report said Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and TotalEnergies and ADNOC have „run the numbers“ for a possible takeover of the oil major.
Energy and basic resources clocked in the most gains among European sectors, rising 1.9% and 1%, respectively.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday predicted import tariffs on Beijing of 145% would likely come down as officials from the world’s top two economies gear up for negotiations in Switzerland.
Washington will roll out dozens of trade deals over the next month, but a 10% tariff imposed on most countries will likely stay, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC on Thursday, as the US announced a limited bilateral trade agreement with the UK.
– Reuters
09 May 13:30
Britain spent months buttering up Donald Trump, keeping calm in the face of the US president’s tariff-led assault on global trade, before deciding late on Wednesday to drop its demands for a comprehensive deal and take a quick but limited win instead.
Britain had been in talks with Trump’s administration for months in a bid to avoid, and then to lower, the 10% US baseline tariffs it faced on all goods, and the 25% levies that were imposed on cars and steel.
Late on Wednesday, as business minister Jonathan Reynolds dined with London’s business and finance leaders and Prime Minister Keir Starmer was watching his beloved soccer team, they agreed to strike a deal that would improve access for the worst-hit sectors, rather than do a more comprehensive deal.
„Because we haven’t got that full agreement in place, being able to have this announcement on the sectoral side is obviously of crucial importance,“ Reynolds told reporters on Thursday, citing the significant impact of the tariffs on carmakers in particular.
The British government says the limited deal to protect cars and steel is just a start, and the two sides will continue to negotiate on a deal to eliminate Trump’s 10% baseline on most products.
But a fully fledged Free Trade Agreement – a prize much longed-for by those who backed Britain’s departure from the European Union – is a distant prospect.
– Reuters
09 May 12:30
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday, his ministry said, ahead of a regional visit by US President Donald Trump next week.
Araghchi is due to hold talks with senior Saudi officials in Riyadh before heading to Doha for a conference on Arab-Iranian dialogue, ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement.
– AFP
09 May 11:30
Chinese exports rose last month despite the trade war raging with the US, official data showed on Friday ahead of talks between the world’s top two economies toward easing the standoff.
Experts said that the forecast-smashing 8.1% rise indicated that Beijing was re-routing trade to Southeast Asia to mitigate US tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports imposed by President Donald Trump.
Trade between the world’s two largest economies has slumped since Trump imposed the tariffs – some cumulative duties are 245% – and China responded with levies of 125% and other measures.
The year-on-year increase in exports of 8.1% in April was much higher than the 2% forecast by analysts polled by Bloomberg in April.
The data from the Chinese customs bureau showed exports to Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam surged by double digits, in what one analyst called a „structural repositioning“ of trade.
– AFP
09 May 10:30
Some Chinese areas feeling immediate impact from US tariffs were furniture and toy makers, as well as textiles, said an official.
There are internal signals that Chinese companies were struggling to avoid bankruptcies and to replace the US market, three people familiar with the Chinese government’s thinking said.
US diplomats in China have also been closely monitoring factory closures, strikes, and job losses in the industrial heartland in southern China.
Many analysts have downgraded their 2025 economic growth forecasts for China, and investment bank Nomura has warned the trade war could cost it up to 16 million jobs.
China’s central bank this week announced fresh monetary stimulus.
One of the officials said Chinese companies were struggling to replace the US market because developing nations cannot buy as many items, and that for many firms this was an existential threat that needed to be resolved in days or weeks.
– Reuters
12h ago
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