The economic friction between the U.S. and China just reached a boiling point. Last month, the U.S. slapped a 145% tariff on Chinese imports, and China has responded with a 125% tariff on American goods.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, warned that prolonged trade tensions are pushing global companies to shift supply chains away from China—permanently.

"That cake is already baked," he wrote April 26 on X, referring to the irreversible decisions companies are making to exit China.
Tariffs Stack Up And Ships Slow Down.
Global Supply Chains Find New Homes
As companies scramble to minimize exposure, Ackman argued the longer the tariffs persist, "the more rapidly every company that has a supply chain based in China relocates it." He pointed to India, Vietnam, Mexico, and the U.S. as new manufacturing hubs for both U.S. and non-U.S. firms.

The premier of Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta said Monday she will hold a referendum on separation from Canada next year if a citizen-led petition reaches the required number of signatures.

Speaking on a livestream address, Danielle Smith said she personally does not support the province leaving Canada and expressed hope of a “path forward” for a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.

“Should Ottawa, for whatever reason, continue to attack our province as they have done over the last decade, ultimately that will be for Albertans to decide," she said. "I will accept their judgement.”

Smith’s announcement comes just one week after Prime Minister Mark Carney led the Liberal Party to a fourth consecutive federal government. It also comes as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to threaten Canada with tariffs and talk of the country becoming the 51st state.

As financial markets pin their hopes on a de-escalation in the U.S.-China trade war, some experts caution that meaningful progress in striking a deal between the world's two largest economies may still be some way off.

"Either tariffs are cut to more palatable levels or both sides put more exclusions on the table to make tariffs effectively less binding," Aidan Yao, Amundi's senior investment strategist for Asia, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

"For now, signs of these are sparse, presumably because the pain threshold has not been reached," Yao said, adding that the outlook for the Chinese economy still looks positive.
China recently said it was "evaluating" a U.S. proposal to resume trade talks over Washington's 145% tariffs. It has also created a list of U.S.-made products for exemption from its 125% retaliatory tariffs.

Vietnam faces more challenges than opportunities because of U.S. tariffs but will still aim to meet its target of at least 8% growth this year, the Prime Minister said on Monday, ahead of the start of trade talks with Washington later this week.The Southeast Asian economy, which is heavily reliant on exports for growth, is facing a 46% tariff if a reduction cannot be negotiated before a U.S. moratorium expires in July.

"We have stayed calm and courageous and taken several appropriate measures," Pham Minh Chinh told parliament.

"Vietnam is among the first countries the U.S. has agreed to hold tariff negotiations with," he said, adding the first negotiation session will take place on Wednesday.

There is a possibility that Malaysia can negotiate a reduction in threatened U.S. tariffs as Washington has agreed to further talks, but the global trade war meant economic growth was likely to be below target this year, the Prime Minister said on Monday.

Malaysia is facing a 24% tariff rate in July for exports to the U.S., unless an agreement is struck between both countries.

"Although these are preliminary discussions... the United States government has agreed to further negotiate with Malaysia, and there is a possibility of reducing the reciprocal tariff imposed," Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told parliament.

He said the suspension of most tariffs until July meant the impact was manageable for now, but said Malaysia was unlikely to meet its economic growth forecast of 4.5% to 5.5% this year.

Donald Trump said that he is ordering the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department to begin the process to impose a 100% tariff on imports of movies that are produced in “foreign lands.”

Calling runaway production a “national security threat,” Trump’s comments follow reports that one of his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, Jon Voight, was a devising a plan to save the entertainment industry.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!

President Donald Trump said he will not drop tariffs on China to get Beijing to come to the negotiating table.

The president discussed his stance on the tariffs, which he defended, in an interview with NBC's "Meet The Press" recorded Friday from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

"They said today they want to talk. Look, China, and I don't like this. I'm not happy about this. China's getting killed right now," Trump told host Kristen Welker. "They're getting absolutely destroyed. Their factories are closing. Their unemployment is going through the roof. I'm not looking to do that to China now. At the same time, I'm not looking to have China make hundreds of billions of dollars and build more ships and more Army tanks and more airplanes."

"You're not dropping the tariffs against China to get them to the negotiating table?" Welker asked.

China signaled the nation is “assessing” potential trade talks with the U.S. amid the Trump administration’s trade war but urged Washington to show “sincerity” to establish trust.

“As the US has recently reached out through relevant channels multiple times, expressing a desire to engage in talks with China over tariff issues, China is currently assessing the situation,” a Commerce Ministry spokesperson said in a statement, shared on social platform X by the Chinese Embassy.

“In any potential dialogue or talks, if the US does not rectify its erroneous unilateral tariff measures, it would demonstrate a complete lack of sincerity and further undermine mutual trust,” the ministry added. “Saying one thing while doing another, or even attempting to use talks as a cover for coercion and blackmail, will not work with China.”

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. was meeting with many countries, including China, on trade deals, and his main priority with China was to secure a fair trade deal.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had no plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, but U.S. officials were speaking with Chinese officials about a variety of different things.

Asked if any trade agreements would be announced this week, Trump said that could "very well be" but gave no details.

Trump's top officials have engaged in a flurry of meetings with trading partners since the president on April 2 imposed a 10% tariff on most countries, along with higher tariff rates for many trading partners that were then suspended for 90 days. He has also imposed 25% tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 145% tariffs on China.

Trump, during the interview that was conducted May 2, said he's not looking at running for a third term for president.
Trump again refused to take responsibility for the state of the economy and blamed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, after the U.S. gross domestic product shrank at a 0.3% annual rate in the first three months of the year.
Trump said he does not know whether he's required to uphold the Constitution as he defended his administration's actions to remove people who are in the country illegally.
Trump said little girls in America don't need to own so many dolls, doubling down on an example he gave last week to defend his universal tariffs on imports that could spike the prices of many goods, particularly imports from China.
Trump downplayed economic anxieties caused by his tariffs, saying that everything would be "OK" even if the U.S. enters a recession in the short term.
"Everything's OK," Trump said, arguing the United States is in a "transition period"

Britain is ‘compliant servant of communist China’, says Trump’s tariff chief- The real truth by Peter Navarro.
Donald Trump’s tariffs tsar has accused Britain of being a “compliant servant of communist China” at risk of having its “blood sucked” dry by Beijing.

Peter Navarro, the president’s trade adviser, said the Government must resist “string-laden gifts” from Beijing and avoid becoming a “dumping ground” for goods that China can no longer sell to the US.

In an intervention set to complicate trade negotiations between Britain and America, he said: “If the Chinese vampire can’t suck the American blood, it’s going to suck the UK blood and the EU blood.

“This is a very dangerous time for the world economies with respect to exposure to China.”

Talks or no talks: Who blinks first in US-China trade war?
China's ministry of commerce announced that Beijing was assessing the possibility of tariff negotiations with the United States.

It was news the rest of the world had been waiting to hear as astonishingly high tariffs - up to 245% on some Chinese exports to the US - throttle trade between the world's two biggest economies, raising the spectre of a recession.

"US officials have repeatedly expressed their willingness to negotiate with China on tariffs,"

"China's position is consistent. If we fight, we will fight to the end; if we talk, the door is open... If the US wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel unilateral tariffs."
"China has no need to talk to the United States," Yuyuantantian, a Weibo account affiliated with China Central Television (CCTV). "From the perspective of negotiations, the United States must be the more anxious party at present."

China, Brazil and other members of the BRICS grouping on Tuesday slammed the "resurgence of trade protectionism" at a meeting in Rio de Janeiro dominated by US President Donald Trump's tariffs blitz.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov were among the top diplomats of the 11-country grouping attending two days of talks on issues ranging from Trump's trade war to the push for peace in Ukraine.

Mauro Vieira, the foreign minister of Brazil which holds the rotating BRICS presidency, said the bloc underscored its "firm rejection" of protectionism, without explicitly referring to Trump.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has hit dozens of countries with a blanket 10 percent tariff, but China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products.

France will from next year impose a handling tax for every small parcel sent from China sent by platforms such as Shein and Temu, a minister said Tuesday.

The charge was announced by public accounts minister Amelie de Montchalin amidst international concerns that tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump could force more Chinese goods into other markets.

Montchalin said the tax would be a "a few euros" for each parcel, or a few cents for each article. The aim, she added, was for platforms to pay rather than the consumer.

The European Union is aiming to reform its customs union by 2028 and the minister's office said France wanted "the rapid establishment at the European level of a handling fee mechanism for each small package entering Europe."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country would “never” yield to the United States as he declared victory in federal elections early Tuesday, following a campaign overshadowed by relentless provocations and steep trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The Liberal Party leader issued a stunning rebuke to Trump as he sent a message of unity to a divided nation, promising to “represent everyone who calls Canada home.”

“As I have been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. But these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us,” Carney said, as he hailed a remarkable reversal in fortune for his party. “That will never ever happen.”

Carney reiterated statements he made on the campaign trail about the vastly changed nature of Canada’s relationship with the United States.

The president and Terry Moran when talking about the import tax, with Moran arguing the tariff is going to “raise prices on everything from electronics, to clothing, to building houses.”

“You don’t know that, you don’t know whether or not China’s going to eat it,”
“That’s mathematics,” Moran said.
“China probably will eat those tariffs,” Trump replied. “But at 145, they basically can’t do much business with the United States. And, they were making from us a trillion dollars a year, they were ripping us off like nobody’s ever ripped us off.”
“They make up bargaining chips out of thin air, bully and go back on their words,” Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of China’s economic agency.
Zhao added that the method “makes everyone see one thing more and more clearly, that is the so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ severely go against historical trends and economic laws, impact international trade rules and order and seriously impair the legitimate rights and interests of countries.”

Markets in China were down this morning on gloomy macroeconomic data showing a possible contraction of activity caused by President Trump’s trade war. The S&P 500, by contrast, notched six straight days of gains on hopes that as Trump makes further compromises on tariffs the worst may be behind us.

The trade war has begun to take its toll on Chinese stocks, which until recently had been more resilient than U.S. equities to President Trump’s incoming tariffs. China’s SSE was down 0.23% today and the CSI 300 was down 0.12%, following news that new export orders in China fell in April to their lowest since COVID-19. China’s purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing fell to 49, indicating a contraction in activity.
However, new data emerged showing a drastic reduction in export shipping from China to the U.S. and investors appear to have reacted as a result. While the S&P has now notched six straight days of gains, the CSI has lost 0.45% over the same period.

Chinese President Xi Jinping used a visit to Shanghai on Tuesday to push for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and underscore China’s leading role in the "Global South".

Although Xi did not reference the trade war started by U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit, the implicit message was clear: China can develop its own leading technology and has alternative markets.

"It's a show of strength," said Alfred Wu, a China expert at National University of Singapore.

Xi's Shanghai trip, his first to China's main international financial hub since November 2023, comes at a time when the tariff fight with the U.S. has raised the stakes for global economic growth, and as Beijing pursues AI development in the wake of the global success of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.
Shanghai to accelerate efforts to turn itself into a technological and innovation hub with global influence and strive to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) development and governance.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said the "onus" is on China to bring down its tariffs as he outlined how many jobs the world's second-largest economy stands to lose in a trade war.

If the US keeps tariffs in place at the current level of 145%, China could lose 10 million jobs "very quickly," Bessent said during a press conference at the White House, citing outside statistics.

Even if the US were to lower tariffs somewhat, China still stands to lose 5 million jobs, he added.

"So remember that we are the deficit country," Bessent said. "They sell almost five times more goods to us than we sell to them. So the onus will be on them to take off these tariffs. They're unsustainable for them."

China’s leaders are downplaying the potential impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, saying they have the capacity to protect jobs and limit damage from higher tariffs on Chinese exports.

Several senior officials of different government ministries appeared aimed at shoring up confidence with promises of support for companies and the unemployed, easier lending conditions and other policies to counter the impact of combined tariffs of up to 145% on U.S. imports from China.

It followed a meeting of China's powerful Politburo last week that analysts said had focused on ways to counter keep growth on track despite slowing exports.

“Chinese policymakers are on heightened standby mode,” Louise Loo, lead economist at Oxford Economics said in a a report. She noted that the policies were similar to earlier pronouncements.
Beijing has denied that any such talks were underway, and China has retaliated against Trump's tariffs by putting 125% import duties on products from th

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had no clue whether President Donald Trump had actually spoken to China to negotiate tariffs—days after Trump said they were happening.

“I think that the Chinese will see that this high tariff level is unsustainable for their business model,” Bessent said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

Host Martha Raddatz asked Bessent why China would lie about negotiations if the two countries were engaged in talks. “Why would they deny that the negotiations are going on?”

Bessent claimed the Chinese were “playing to a different audience,” but as Raddatz continued to press him on the state of any negotiations between the two countries, he refused to say whether any conversations were taking place.
“We have a process in place,” he said. “And again, I just believe these Chinese tariffs are unsustainable.”

Africa which side are you choosing:-
With China and the US at intense economic odds, nations are being forced to choose sides.
One went to the United States. The other went to China. It was a sign of the times.

While the Swiss president was in Washington last week to lobby U.S. officials over President Donald Trump's threatened 31% tariff on Swiss goods, the Swiss foreign minister was in Beijing, expressing his nation's willingness to strengthen cooperation with China and upgrade a free trade agreement.

As Trump's trade war locks the world’s two largest economies on a collision course, America's unnerved allies and partners are cozying up with China to hedge their bets. It comes as Trump's trade push upends a decade of American foreign policy — including his own from his first term — toward rallying the rest of the world to join the United States against China. And it threatens to hand Beijing more leverage in any eventual dialogue with the U.S. administration.

India and the U.S. just cleared the first hurdle toward what could be one of this year's most consequential trade agreements. The two sides have finalized a broad framework covering 19 areas from agricultural goods and digital services to data localization and critical minerals. This follows Vice President JD Vance's visit to New Delhi and comes as India tries to avoid the return of a 26% Trump-era tariff.
For investors, the opportunity set is big. U.S. tech and retail giants like Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart are eyeing improved access to India's vast consumer base, long shielded by domestic protectionism. Meanwhile, players like Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon are hoping to ease data localization rules that have long been a sticking point for scaling cloud and AI services in the region. India's inclusion of critical minerals in the talks also opens new doorsespecially as companies like Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) look to diversify battery supply chains and de-risk from China exposure.

China's top leaders pledged on Friday to step up support for the economy and oppose "unilateral bullying" in global trade in a veiled rebuke of hefty tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The world's two largest economies are engaged in a high-stakes trade war that has spooked markets and spurred major manufacturers to reconsider supply chains.

Leaders at a gathering of the Chinese Communist Party's top decision-making body focused on economic work, which was attended by President Xi Jinping, acknowledged that "the impact of external shocks is increasing", state news agency Xinhua reported.

They also said they would seek to "work with the international community to actively uphold multilateralism and oppose unilateral bullying practices", it said.
The brutal trade war comes as China's economy strains under the weight of longstanding woes in the property sector and reluctance by consumers to pull out their wallets.

The United States and the European Union still need a lot of work to reach a deal that would prevent the imposition of tariffs on each other's goods, EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday.

The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on EU cars, steel and aluminium in March and 20% tariffs on other EU goods in April. It then halved the 20% rate until July 8, setting a 90-day window for talks to reach a more comprehensive tariff deal.

In response, the EU suspended its own tariffs on some U.S. goods and proposed zero tariffs for all industrial goods on both sides. Dombrovskis said the zero-tariff offer met with only moderate U.S. interest.
"There's a lot of work ahead to come to more concrete parameters and elements and areas of cooperation which would allow us to avoid the implementation of tariffs," Dombrovskis said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington.

China has decided to grant exemptions from import tariffs for some aircraft parts, including jet engines, the head of French engine maker Safran said on Friday.

"We learned last night that China has taken the decision not to tax engines or landing gear or nacelles (engine housings), in other words a certain number of aerospace equipment parts," CEO Olivier Andries told reporters on a first-quarter results call.

"It demonstrates that the situation is very fluid," he said, adding that finished aircraft were not included in the decision.

China is considering exempting some U.S. imports from its 125% tariffs and is asking businesses to identify goods that could be eligible, business groups in China said on Friday.
The possible dispensation is the latest sign the world's two largest economies are prepared to try to calm a trade war.

Together with GE Aerospace, Safran co-produces LEAP jet engines for best-selling Boeing and Airbus narrow-body jets, as well as China's COMAC C919

China has called on the US to cancel its sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country as a sign that US President Donald Trump is serious about resolving the trade war between the two countries.

A Chinese official said there had been no trade talks with the US, despite suggestions otherwise from the Trump administration.

But Trump has appeared to soften his stance on China, saying that the taxes he has so far imposed on Chinese imports would "come down substantially, but it won't be zero".
A trade war between China and the US is in full swing, with Trump imposing import taxes of up to 145% on Chinese goods coming into the US, and China hitting back with a 125% tax on American products.

In one of China's strongest statements yet over the tariff war, Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong said the US should remove all "unilateral tariff measures" against China "if it truly wanted" to solve the issue.

"The person who tied the bell must untie it," he added.

China on Thursday directly contradicted President Donald Trump’s claims that Beijing and Washington are actively discussing resolutions to a trade war that threatens to upend the global economy.

While Trump said Wednesday that the world’s two largest economies are “actively” talking, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson responded that “China and the U.S. have not engaged in any consultations or negotiations regarding tariffs, let alone reached an agreement.”

The spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, made the comments at a briefing in Beijing, saying that reports of ongoing talks were false. He added that while China is open to negotiations, “if it’s a fight, we will fight to the end.”

At 145%, Trump’s tariffs are higher on China than any other country. As he ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods in recent weeks, citing unfair trade practices, Beijing has responded in kind, bringing its total tariff on U.S. goods to 125% — levels that amount to a mutual trade embargo.

China and the U.S. are not having any tariff negotiations, and the U.S. should stop creating confusion, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Apr. 25.
President Donald Trump had claimed in an interview with TIME magazine the same day that China’s President Xi Jinping had called him, and both administrations are engaged in active talks to strike a deal.

It would be a “total victory” if the U.S. still has tariffs as high as 50% on foreign imports a year from now, he added.

Meanwhile, China is reportedly mulling suspending the 125% tariffs on key imports from the U.S., Bloomberg reported on Apr. 25.
The publication cited sources familiar with the development to report that China is rethinking the tariff hikes because of the adverse impact of the trade war on critical Chinese industries.
Medical equipment, industrial chemicals, aircraft leasing payments, and select semiconductor products are among the U.S. imports China is considering slashing tariffs on.

China has exempted some U.S. imports from its 125% tariffs and is asking firms to identify critical goods they need levy-free, according to businesses that have been notified, in the clearest sign yet of Beijing's concerns about the trade war's fallout.

The dispensation, which follows de-escalatory statements from Washington, signals that the world's two largest economies were prepared to rein in their conflict, which had frozen much of the trade between them and raised fears of a global recession.

Beijing's exemptions, which business groups hope would extend to dozens of industries, pushed the U.S. dollar up slightly and lifted equity markets in Hong Kong and Japan.
"As a quid-pro-quo move, it could provide a potential way to de-escalate tensions," said Alfredo Montufar-Helu.

But, he cautioned: "It's clear that neither the U.S. nor China want to be the first in reaching out for a deal."

China has not yet communicated publicly on any exemptions.