Trump Tariffs Live Updates: UK lawmakers approve emergency rescue of British Steel

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, speaking at Saturday's opening ceremony for the Osaka expo, expressed his hope that the event will help restore global unity in a world plagued by conflicts and trade wars.

“The world, having overcome the coronavirus pandemic, is now threatened by an array of divisions,” Ishiba said. “At a time like this, it is extremely meaningful that people from around the world gather here and discuss the theme of life and experience cutting-edge technology, diverse ideas and culture.”

Discussing the global response to US trade tariffs, Rosa Balfour, Director of Carnegie Europe, highlighted that nations and major economic blocs are collaborating to establish interconnected relationships aimed at safeguarding international trade.

In her conversation with ANI during the Carnegie Global Tech Summit, Rosa Balfour stated, "The US has unleashed a global trade war, then it backed down a little, and now it's giving it a three-month pause. We need to see what the next steps will be. But what I'm seeing happening is that with the US intent on upending the global economy, other countries and large blocs are actually working to make sure they have a web of relationships that can preserve global trade in the face of one country that is intent on destroying it or intent on isolating itself from the global economy."

She additionally noted that whilst the United States' direction remains uncertain, other nations are actively seeking alternative solutions to address these challenges.

Senior research fellow Shruti Rajagopalan welcomed America's decision to pause the trade tariffs for a window of 90 days and expressed her views on the global trade order. She also spoke about the steps Indian policymakers can adopt to make exports more competitive. Rajagopalan made the remarks on the sidelines of the Carnegie Global Tech Summit.

Speaking to ANI about the pause on Trump Tariffs, Rajagopalan said, "A 90-day pause is a welcome announcement from the United States, but overall, cooler heads need to prevail. There needs to be a systemic solution. I don't think it is a good idea to walk away from the old global trade order."

She said that people are needed at the table "who will actually negotiate low certain tariff rates across most goods and services, except very few that threaten the security and sovereignty of individual nations."

Speaking about India, she said, "I think India needs to have very clear free trade agreements bilaterally with individual countries, but other than that, I think India needs to systematically reduce its tariffs and protectionism. The reason is that it directly impacts our export competitiveness."

She underscored that if 'Make in India' and 'Manufacture in India' have to be promoted, then the need of the hour is to "have very strong trading relationships".(ANI)

Trump administration announced that it will exclude electronics such as smartphones and laptops from reciprocal tariffs. The move could help keep prices down for popular consumer devices that are rarely manufactured in the US.

The exemption is expected to benefit major tech companies like Apple and Samsung, as well as chipmakers like Nvidia — potentially triggering a tech stock rally on Monday.

According to US Customs and Border Protection, products including smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors, and certain chips will be exempt. Machines used in semiconductor manufacturing are also excluded. This means these items won’t face the current 145% tariffs on Chinese goods or the 10% base tariffs applied to other countries.

The change marks another shift in the Trump administration’s evolving tariff policy. It also signals a recognition that tariffs are unlikely to bring smartphone and computer production back to the US, despite earlier claims that companies like Apple would begin making iPhones domestically.

The United States is exempting a wide array of electronics including computers, smartphones, hard drives, semiconductors, chip-making equipment from President Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” in a climbdown aimed at assuaging America consumer fears of price hikes and support US tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Dell and others.

The US Customs and Border Protection published the exclusions on Friday night amid growing domestic skepticism about Trump's tariff gambit that has failed to bring China to its knees, and instead elicited a defiant response from Beijing.

China accounts for more than 70% of global output of consumer electronics according to some industry estimates, and the US concession, albeit meant to safeguard national security and protect its domestic constituency, is also seen as retreat in Washington's tariff standoff with Beijing.

UK lawmakers returned to Parliament from their Easter break on Saturday to approve an emergency rescue of the country's last remaining factory that makes steel from scratch.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer summoned lawmakers for the unusual Saturday sitting, only the sixth since World War II, to back a bill primarily aimed at blocking British Steel's Chinese owners, Jingye Group, from closing the two massive blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in the north of England that are key in the steelmaking process.
The bill gives Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds the power to direct the company’s board and workforce, ensure its 3,000 workers get paid and order the raw materials necessary to keep the blast furnaces running.
Jingye has said the Scunthorpe plant is losing 700,000 pounds ($910,000) a day as a result of challenging market conditions and increased environmental costs. The recent decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a 25% tariffs on imported steel hasn’t helped.
After Parliament passed the bill, Starmer headed to Scunthorpe to meet workers, who were clearly relieved that the town's steelmaking heritage, which stretches back around 150 years, has been preserved.
“You and your colleagues for years have been the backbone of British Steel, and it’s really important that we recognize that," Starmer said. "It’s your jobs, your lives, your communities, your families.”
The relief in the town was evident during the interval of Scunthorpe United's soccer match, where the crowd at the Attis Arena cheered on a few dozen steelworkers on the field of play. The team is known as “The Iron,” a fond reflection of the town's identity.
Starmer had been under pressure to act after Jingye's recent decision to cancel orders for the iron pellets used in the blast furnaces. Without them and other raw materials, such as coking coal, the furnaces would likely have to shut for good, potentially within days, as they are extremely difficult and expensive to restart once cooled.
That would mean the UK, which in the late 19th century was the world's steelmaking powerhouse, would be the only country in the Group of Seven industrial nations without the capacity to make its own steel from scratch rather than from recycled material, which use greener electric arc furnaces rather than blast furnaces.
The repercussions would be huge for industries like construction, defense and rail and make the country dependent on foreign sources for so-called virgin steel, a vulnerability that lawmakers from all political parties balked at.
“We could not, will not and never will stand idly by while heat seeps from the UK’s remaining blast furnaces without any planning, any due process or any respect for the consequences, and that is why I needed colleagues here today,” Reynolds told lawmakers.
Reynolds criticized Jingye for making “excessive” demands of the government in discussions in recent months, and that without the government's intervention, the company would have "irrevocably and unilaterally closed down primary steel making at British Steel.”
Though the legislation does not transfer ownership of the plant to the state, Reynolds conceded it was a future possibility.
It's unclear what role Jingye, owner of British Steel since 2020, will have in the day-to-day running of the steelworks. But should it fail to abide by the new laws, the company and its executives could face legal sanctions.

In a significant shift, the Trump administration has exempted smartphones, computers, and other high-tech electronics from its sweeping “reciprocal” global tariffs—softening the potential blow to American consumers amid rising trade tensions.

The exemptions were made public late Friday in a notice by the US Customs and Border Protection, sparing a wide range of electronics from steep import duties, including those originating from China. This includes products like smartphones and computer components, which had faced an additional 145% tariff under the administration’s aggressive trade measures.

The Trump administration has exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from its punishing "reciprocal" tariffs -- lessening the cost impact on American consumers for a host of popular high-tech products.
The exemptions, published late Friday in a notice by the US Customs and Border Protection office, cover various electronic goods including smartphones and components entering the United States from China, which is currently subject to a staggering additional 145 percent tariff.
Semiconductors are also excluded from a "baseline" 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners.

The new US tariff regime could shrink global trade by 3 per cent and significantly shift export flows from traditional markets like the US and China to emerging economies such as India, Canada, and Brazil, according to a top United Nations trade official, as PTI reported.

Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, warned on Friday in Geneva that US President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff hikes—followed by China’s retaliation—are likely to cause long-term disruptions in international commerce and economic integration.

“Global trade could shrink by 3 per cent, with significant long-term shifts in trade patterns and economic integration,” Coke-Hamilton told PTI. “Exports from Mexico—which have been highly impacted—are shifting from markets such as the US , China, Europe and even other Latin American countries, with modest gains instead in Canada and Brazil, and to a lesser extent, India.”

The Trump administration has exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from its punishing "reciprocal" tariffs -- lessening the cost impact on American consumers for a host of popular high-tech products.
The exemptions, published late Friday in a notice by the US Customs and Border Protection office, cover various electronic goods including smartphones and components entering the United States from China, which is currently subject to a staggering additional 145 percent tariff.

Semiconductors are also excluded from a "baseline" 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners. (AFP)

US businesses that rely heavily on Chinese manufacturing are reeling after former President Donald Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on imports from China — raising them to an unprecedented 145% in retaliation for what he called unfair trade practices.

As reported by the Associated Press, the dramatic tariff hikes — rolled out unpredictably and at speed — have stunned American importers. Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, a Chicago-area educational toy company, said he planned for a 40% tariff hike but was blindsided when the rate jumped more than threefold.

Woldenberg’s company, which has made products in China for four decades, now faces an estimated $100 million tariff bill for 2025, up from $2.3 million last year. “Honest to God, no exaggeration: It feels like the end of days,” he told AP.

Rick Woldenberg thought he had come up with a sure-fire plan to protect his Chicago-area educational toy company from President Donald Trump’s massive new taxes on Chinese imports.
"When he announced a 20% tariff, I made a plan to survive 40%, and I thought I was being very clever," said Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, a third-generation family business that has been manufacturing in China for four decades. "I had worked out that for a very modest price increase, we could withstand 40% tariffs, which was an unthinkable increase in costs."

His worst-case scenario wasn’t worst-case enough. Not even close.

The American president quickly upped the ante with China, raising the levy to 54% to offset what he said were China’s unfair trade practices. Then, enraged when China retaliated with tariffs of its own, he upped the levies to a staggering 145%.

Woldenberg reckons that will push Learning Resource’s tariff bill from $2.3 million last year to $100.2 million in 2025. “I wish I had $100 million,” he said. “Honest to God, no exaggeration: It feels like the end of days.”

UK lawmakers returned to Parliament from their Easter break on Saturday to approve an emergency rescue of the country's last remaining factory that makes steel directly from raw materials. Prime Minister Keir Starmer summoned lawmakers for the highly unusual Saturday sitting to debate a bill aimed at blocking British Steel's Chinese owners, Jingye Group, from clos

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ing blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in the north of England.

If the bill passes, which is expected, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will have the power to direct the company's board and workforce, ensure workers get paid and order the raw materials necessary to keep the plant's two massive blast furnaces running.

Starmer said Friday that the future of the plant "hangs in the balance," necessitating the need for the quick-fire legislation and the recall of Parliament.

Though Starmer did not use not use the term "nationalization," he did say all options remain on the table for the steel works, which employs around 2,700 workers directly.

The decision to introduce the emergency legislation was given added urgency by the recent move by Jingye to cancel orders for the iron pellets used in the blast furnaces. Without the pellets and other raw materials, they would likely have to shut for good, potentially within days.

China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said US tariffs will "inflict serious harm" on poor nations, according to a statement from his ministry released on Saturday.
"These US 'reciprocal tariffs' will inflict serious harm on developing countries, especially the least developed countries, and could even trigger a humanitarian crisis," Wang told the World Trade Organization's chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a call on Friday, the statement said.

Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, a UAE parliamentarian, asserted on Friday that with any challenge comes opportunity, and the latest tariff regime in the US can be an opportune moment for India-UAE ties.

"This (US tariff) brings opportunity for the relationship between our two countries. The bilateral relationship should take advantage...," the UAE politician told ANI in Dubai.

"We do understand that, but at the same time, there is always opportunity. Here in the UAE, whenever there are challenges, there are opportunities. And we see that both countries, UAE and India, should try to look into the opportunity that these challenges are bringing to the world," the UAE Parliamentarian and Educator, Chairman, Defense Affairs, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee, UAE Federal National Council, said.

Senior BJP leader and Member of Parliament Zafar Islam highlighted India's robust economic growth, attributing it to the transformative policies implemented since 2014.

"India's economy is growing rapidly," Islam stated. "In every sector, especially in power, we are witnessing significant development."

Addressing concerns about international economic policies, Islam remarked, "There is global nervousness around Trump's tariffs. However, the Indian economy is self-reliant, and the impact on it will be extremely minimal."

He further elaborated on the indicators of economic strength: "If you look at high-frequency data, it clearly shows the strength of the Indian economy--whether it's strong capital expenditure or sustained growth momentum."

Reflecting on the government's journey since 2014, Islam said, "When we came to power in 2014, PM Modi began working on an economic transformation. One of his first steps was launching the Jan Dhan Yojana to connect people with the banking system. Today, over 53 crore people are linked to this scheme, and remarkably, 66% of them are women."

China is refusing to back down in its tariff standoff with the United States because Beijing believes it has the strength and strategy to endure what it sees as economic bullying from Washington.

Chinese leaders have repeatedly told the public that they are capable of absorbing the impact, positioning themselves as resilient and unwilling to yield to what they have repeatedly described as "economic bullying."

An onslaught of tariffs by the United States will send "shock waves" through African economies, the president of the African Development Bank said on Friday, warning of reduced trade and higher debt-servicing costs.

The comments come as US President Donald Trump has upended global markets by pushing -- and then retracting -- a slew of tariffs in recent days.

A baseline 10-percent levy remains in place for all countries, along with higher tariffs on Chinese imports to the United States -- scrambling decades of global trade policy.

Those new levies -- with 47 African countries at risk of even higher tariffs -- will cause local currencies to weaken on the back of reduced foreign exchange earnings, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Official figures Friday showed that the British economy, the world's sixth-largest, enjoyed a growth spurt in February, the month before US President Donald Trump started to roll out tariffs on imported goods. The Office for National Statistics found that the British economy grew by 0.5% in February, ahead of market expectations for a more modest increase of 0.2%. It also revised up January's figure to no change from the previous estimate of a 0.1% decline.

Were these more normal times, hopes for the year ahead would be high. But the recent market turmoil prompted by Trump's tariff policies - and subsequent abrupt changes - is expected to lead to a downturn around the world, as businesses and consumers retrench in the face of the heightened economic uncertainty.

China's decision to raise tariffs on US goods from 84% to 125% from Saturday has only added to fears that the world's two biggest economies are heading for a drawn-out and damaging trade war.

US President Donald Trump is "optimistic" about striking a trade deal with China, the White House said Friday, even as the world's two largest economies clash over tariffs.

"The president has made it very clear he's open to a deal with China," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, adding: "He's optimistic."

China on Friday continued its tit-for-tat move against the Trump administration's tariffs by hiking its additional levies on imports from the US to 125 per cent against duties of 145 per cent by America even as it evinced interest in dialogue with Washington to resolve the impasse. Announcing an additional 125 per cent tariff, China's Customs Tariff Commission said, "Even if the US imposes higher tariffs, it would no longer make economic sense and ultimately go down as a joke in world economic history."

"Given that it's already impossible for the Chinese market to accept US imports at the current tariff level if the United States imposes further tariffs on Chinese products, China will ignore it," it said.

However, should the US persist in substantially undermining China's interests, Beijing will take firm countermeasures and fight to the end, the commission added.

China's new tariffs of 125 per cent against US imports will be effective from Saturday, it said.

The announcement follows the US move to raise the "reciprocal tariffs" on Chinese imports to 125 per cent. The US later confirmed the total tariff on Chinese products was 145 per cent with the inclusion of 20 per cent levies announced by Trump soon after he took over power in January this year.

Vast pharmaceutical factories pepper the green landscape in southern Ireland, but the wind turbines next to the plants outside Cork are in the eye of Donald Trump's global trade storm.

The area around the village of Ringaskiddy and its port in Cork harbour has emerged in recent decades as a base for US pharma giants where products such as Pfizer's Viagra pills are made and shipped off to the United States and worldwide.

Pharmaceuticals are now the motor of Ireland's economy, accounting for around 100 billion euros ($114 billion) in 2024, almost half of all Irish exports, and up around 30 percent from the previous year.

The sector also provides an estimated 20,000 well-paid jobs in County Cork, most of them around Ringaskiddy and the neighbouring commuter town of Carrigaline, and flushes a corporate tax bounty into the Irish exchequer.

President Donald Trump struck a confident tone on Friday despite his tariff policy triggering worries about the US economy with the dollar falling and markets in turmoil.

"We are doing really well on our tariff policy. Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly," Trump said on social media.

The commerce ministry is actively tracking developments in global trade, particularly in relation to tariff changes, import surges, and export-related challenges, an official statement said on Friday. In this backdrop, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has operationalised a dedicated 'Global Tariff and Trade Helpdesk' to assist stakeholders in navigating emerging trade issues, the commerce ministry said.

"Given the evolving trade landscape and the introduction of various tariff and counter-tariff measures, there may be both new export opportunities and heightened import pressures from specific countries or product sectors," it said.

The helpdesk would look into issues relating to import and export challenges, import surges or dumping, EXIM Clearance, logistics or supply chain challenges, financial or banking issues, and regulatory or compliance issues.