Donald Trump Tariffs highlights: Canada PM says trade deal talks with US to start in May

Trump tariff live: China's President Xi Jinping on Friday spoke to Spain's prime minister and stressed the importance of unity between his country and the European Union to oppose the US' “unilateral acts of bullying.”

"China has always regarded the EU as an important pole in a multipolar world, and is one of the major countries firmly supporting the EU's unity and growth," Xi added during his conversation with PM Sanchez.

Sanchez stated that China and the United States needed to hold talks to defuse the situation.

Trump tariff live: The IMF on Friday noted that US tariffs could spell trouble for Sri Lanka's economic recovery and lead to another economic crisis.

The United States is Sri Lanka's largest single market, accounting for almost a quarter of its $12 billion in merchandise exports. President Trump imposed a 44 percent "reciprocal tariff" on the country before putting it on hold for 90 days on Thursday.

Sri Lanka is attempting to negotiate a deal however the IMF said that the uncertainty created by the tariffs, could be devastating for the island nation.

Trump tariff live:The United Kingdom is reportedly in talks to improve upon the 10% tariff levied on their products by President Donald Trump.

And advisor to the Trump administration told NBC, that it would take an “extraordinary deal” for Trump to go below the “baseline” tariff of 10%.

Trump tariff live: In the UK, the FTSE 100 is down 0.47% after China announced a whopping 145% tariffs on China in the ongoing trade war with the US. Other European markets have also displayed a downturn.

Trump tariffs news live: Pamela Coke-Hamilton, the head of the International Trade Centre, stated that tariffs could have “catastrophic effects” on developing countries and could even shrink global trade.

"It is huge. If this escalation between China and the U.S. continues it will result in an 80% reduction in trade between the countries, and the ripple effect of that across the board can be catastrophic," she said.

Trump tariffs news live: After imposing 125% tariffs on the US, China's mission to the World Trade Organization said on Friday, that they had filed an additional complaint to the trade body over US tariffs.

"On 10 April, the United States issued the Executive Order, announcing a further increase of the so-called 'reciprocal tariff' on Chinese products. China filed a WTO complaint against United States’ latest tariff measures," they said.

China's finance ministry on Friday announced that it has raised additional tariffs on US goods from 84 per cent to 125 per cent. “If the US insists on continuing to infringe upon China's interests in a substantive way, China will resolutely take countermeasures and fight to the end,” the Chinese finance ministry was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged the European Union to join Beijing in resisting “unilateral bullying", state media Xinhua reported. The Chinese president's remarks come amid the trade war between China and the United States as President Donald Trump imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. Xi Jinping made the comments as he met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing.

"China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities... and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices," Xi said, according to AFP. Read more.

German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies said on Friday that the European Union will be ready to respond in case negotiations with the United States over reciprocal tariffs don't work out, reported Reuters. He made the remarks ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers.

"The US side has to be aware that if negotiations do not work, then we will have another discussion around response mechanisms," Kukies said.

Reacting to the 90-day halt on the reciprocal tariffs by Trump, he said that it adds to the uncertainty. "What remains is the uncertainty, which no CEO likes," he said in an interview to a local newspaper. "It potentially increases uncertainty even more. After all, there could be further escalation after 90 days," he added.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sought to strengthen ties with China as the tariff war between US and China escalates. Ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Sanchez said, "We need mutually beneficial relations and to promote balanced trade and investments,” reported Bloomberg

“Spain is a deeply pro-European country and sees China as a partner of the EU,” he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the 90-day pause on US' reciprocal tariffs remains "fragile" as it poses 90 days of "uncertainty" for all their businesses. He also said that he met entrepreneurs and industrialists on Thursday, whose businesses have ben hurt by the tariffs.

"The partial suspension of US tariffs for 90 days is a signal and an open door to negotiation. But this pause remains fragile. Fragile, because the 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automobiles and the 10% tariffs on all other products still exist. They represent €52 billion for the European Union!" he said in a lengthy post on X.

"With the Commission and in European unity, our objective remains simple: to negotiate to remove these unfair tariffs and obtain a balanced agreement, without asymmetry. Together with the European Commission, we must be strong: Europe must continue to work on all necessary countermeasures and mobilise all available levers to protect itself, also to prevent flows from third countries from disrupting our market. France is ready. Europe must be too. Let us remain clear-headed, united, and firmly defend our interests," he added.

The Indian stock markets opened on a higher note on Friday, days after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day postponement of reciprocal tariffs for 75 countries including India, amid an escalating trade war with China. The BSE Sensex jumped 1,061.26 points to open at 74,941.53, while the NSE Nifty climbed 354.90 points, starting the day at 22,754.05. The sharp uptick in Indian equities reflected improved investor sentiment after the temporary easing of global trade tensions. Click here to read key reasons behind the jump.

European Union finance ministers will come together on Friday to brainstorm how to use the breather the United States has given from the higher import tariffs to broker a deal with Washington, and how to handle the situation otherwise.

"The fact that we will have 90 days respite is, quite frankly, very helpful, because this means that we can now strategise and we'll have 90 days to prepare ourselves in case there is no trade to deal with the Americans," Reuters quoted a senior EU official involved in preparing the ministerial talks as saying.

The Indian stock market opened in the green amid the global uncertainties due to the ongoing US-China trade war. At 9:15 am, the BSE benchmark Sensex was up by more than 1,000 points and trading at 74,942.46. The NSE Nifty was trading at 22,746.40, up by 347.25 points from the previous close. The market closed in the red after the previous trading session ended on Wednesday, April 10. Read more.

Vietnam may crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory in hopes to mend ties with the US and evade the punishing reciprocal tariffs, Reuters reported citing a person familiar with the matter and a government document. Vietnam will also reportedly strengthen control on sensitive exports to China. This comes after some senior US officials raised concerns over Chinese goods being sent to the US with 'Made in Vietnam' labels.

Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday, heading for their steepest weekly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis, as China bore the brunt of escalating trade tensions with US President Donald Trump. However, markets in mainland China markets saw more moderate losses.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% in early Friday trade, hovering near a three-month low and bringing its losses this week to 9.7%. The tech subindex weakened 0.5%, reported Reuters.

The Shanghai Composite Index was down just 0.1% on Friday morning, though the blue-chip CSI 300 Index dropped 0.6%. Both are on track to lose 3.8% this week, their worst weekly decline in four months.

Amid the ongoing tensions between China and the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced that he will visit three Asian countries next week, reported Bloomberg.

From April 14-15, Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam followed by Malaysia and Cambodia from April 15 to 18. The visits can be viewed as China's effort to strengthen ties with Asian nations as its tariff war with the US escalates.

The finance and central bank officials of China, Japan and South Korea met to discuss the US tariffs and their impact on global economic situation, Reuters reported citing China's central bank on Friday.

Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, Xuan Changneng, was at the ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea finance and central bank deputies meeting on April 8-9, said the statement.

In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Donald Trump expressed confidence in his tariffs plan and said that the country might face some 'transitional problems', but things will soon fall into place. “There’ll be a transition cost, and transition problems, but in the end, it’s going to be a beautiful thing,” Trump said. “We’re in very good shape.”

Asian markets took a hit early Friday after Wall Street lost steam, giving up much of the momentum from its big rally the day before. Growing jitters over President Donald Trump’s trade war sent Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunging 5.6%.

The nervous mood spilled over to South Korea and Australia too, where stocks also opened lower.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%, slicing into Wednesday’s surge of 9.5% following Donald Trump’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014 points, or 2.5%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.3%. Read more.

Gold prices surged to a fresh record high on Friday as worries about the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on the global economy continued.

Bloomberg reported that gold advanced as much as 3% to $3,175.07 an ounce, surpassing a previous peak reached earlier in the month.

US gold futures rose 3.2% to settle at $3,177.5, according to Reuters. Spot silver fell 0.5% to $30.88 an ounce, platinum shed 0.5% to $932.41, and palladium slipped 1.4% to $918.45. Read more.

US President Donald Trump threatened Mexico with tariffs and sanctions over a water dispute. Trump has accused Mexico of violating an 81-year-old water-sharing treaty between the countries, adding that Mexico is “stealing” water from the farmers of Texas, reported Reuters.

In a post on his own social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Mexico OWES Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, but Mexico is unfortunately violating their Treaty obligation.”

In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, US President Donald Trump expressed hope that he could reach an agreement with China. “Well, we’ll see what happens with China… would love to be able to work a deal,” he said, reported AP.

According to Census Bureau data, the US ran a $295 billion trade deficit last year with China.