Latest impact on UK markets revealed amid fears Trump tariffs will spark all-out trade war – live updates

The Government is working to agree a trade deal with India and talks will take place on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves told MPs.

The Chancellor said she had spoken to ministers in Canada, Australia, Ireland, France, Spain and the European Commission since the imposition of tariffs by Donald Trump, and would have separate discussions with India on Wednesday.

We will pursue these talks in earnest. Tomorrow I will hold talks with the Indian government as part of our two nations’ economic and financial dialogue, as we seek to secure a new trade deal with India.

Rachel Reeves said the impact of tariffs from the US could be ‘profound’, adding a trade war is in ‘nobody’s interests’.

The Chancellor said the Government would remain ‘pragmatic’ as it looks into a deal with the United States.

A trade war is in nobody’s interests, it is why we must remain pragmatic, cool-headed and pursue the best deal with the United States that is in our national interest.

This remains our priority, and that was part of the discussion that I had with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent last week, but we have been clear, nothing is off the table.

She referred to measures announced since the weekend, including on electric vehicles, and shortening times to set up clinical trials.

I know that the challenges facing the global economy and the potential impact could be profound, and as a Government we must step up to that challenge to deliver security for working people.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told Parliament Britain’s markets are ‘functioning effectively’ as she provided the latest update on Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The Chancellor said she had spoken to Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor this morning, as the FTSE 100 showed its first signs of recovery.

The United States’ decision to impose tariffs has had and will continue to have huge implications for the world economy.

These implications have been reflected in the reaction that we’ve seen in global markets in recent days, which the financial authorities have of course been monitoring closely.

This morning I spoke to the governor of the Bank of England, who has confirmed that markets are functioning effectively and that our banking system is resilient.

The billionaires who backed Donald Trump’s election campaign are turning on the president ahead of his ‘arrogantly extreme’ and ‘ignorant’ tariffs going into effect tomorrow.

Trump’s allies have issued stark warnings of an ‘economic nuclear war’ that will crash markets and drive the global economy into a downturn if the tariffs are not halted.

Ken Fisher, who has supported Trump since his first campaign in 2016, said that he does not typically comment publicly on presidential actions, ‘but on tariffs Trump is beyond the pale by a long shot’.

The Fisher Investments founder branded Trump’s tariffs proposal as ‘stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools’ in a post on X.

Financial experts have warned markets could remain fragile for ‘days and weeks to come’ as they showed the first signs of recovery in Europe and Asia.

Early gains in the UK’s FTSE 100 index, Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 have been maintained throughout the morning after a better day for most Asian countries.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, told the BBC the rebound today suggests investors are ‘slowly regaining confidence’ but warned it was ‘dangerous’ to think a ‘massive rally’ will soon take place.

Markets could stay fragile for days and weeks to come. It would only take a new sign of aggression from Trump or a trading partner fighting back hard to cause upset again

A woman checks her phone in front of the Heng Seng Index in Hong Kong

China and Hong Kong stocks regained some ground today, steadying in the wake of stronger regional markets and government-led support after a brutal selloff triggered by concerns over trade tariffs.

China’s blue-chip CSI 300 Index climbed 1.7% and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.6% at the close, after both slid more than 7% on Monday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.5% after slumping 13.2% in the previous session, its steepest decline since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The Hang Seng Tech Index added 3.8%, after plummeting 17% on Monday.

But Indonesia’s benchmark stock index closed nearly eight percent lower on Tuesday, the biggest fall since 2011 in a sell-off stoked by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 7.9 percent to its lowest level since June 2021 as markets in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy reopened after being closed since March 28 because of public holidays. It was the biggest fall since 2011, Bloomberg reported.

Investors thinking about how to make the most of their tax-free allowances may be feeling more cautious than usual this year.

Equity markets have taken the biggest hit since Trump’s bombshell announcement that will see some countries face tariffs of up to 50 per cent, before recovering somewhat on Tuesday.

On Monday, the market rout continued with markets crashing across the globe. The Vix index, which tracks global volatility and is a good indicator of investor nerves, has also seen its sharpest rise since the pandemic.

Our This Is Money team ask experts how investors should approach the current turbulence and whether to open a new stocks and shares Isa this week, or wait it out.

One of Wall Street’s most successful investors has warned that the stock market slide in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs is merely a pothole in the road toward a sheer cliff edge.

Mark Spitznagel, chief investment officer and founder of Universa Investments, told MarketWatch he expected an ‘80% crash’ was lurking around the corner.

‘I expect an 80% crash when this is over. I just don’t think this is it. This is a trap,’ he said, adding that when the real crash happens, investors will know it.

Universa is a $16 billion hedge fund specialising in risk mitigation against ‘black swan’ events – unpredictable and high-impact drivers of market volatility.

It uses credit default swaps, stock options and other derivatives to profit from severe market dislocations.

Spitznagel’s fund was one of the big winners during the extreme volatility that rocked markets in the early days of the pandemic in 2020, returning a whopping 4,144% in Q1 of the Covid-affected year.

‘This is another selloff to shake people out. This isn’t Armageddon. That time will come as the bubble bursts,’ he said in comments to MarketWatch.

Ireland’s EU commissioner Michael McGrath has said the bloc’s 27 countries ‘still stand ready’ to negotiate with the US.

The Commissioner for Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection also said that the EU needed to respond and ‘create an incentive for the US to get around the table with us’.

The leaders of EU countries are due to vote on Tuesday on a package of counter measures responding to US tariffs on steel and aluminium already in effect.

A 20% import tax will be slapped on EU goods on Wednesday as part of a major tariff announcement by US President Donald Trump last week.

Mr McGrath said that the value of EU goods being hit by additional US tariffs is 380 billion euro, generating 80 billion euro in revenue for the US, up from the “normal” value of seven billion euro.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, he said:

Our strong preference is for negotiations with the US, we still stand ready to negotiate. We do wish to negotiate, it is our preference because we recognise that everyone loses when it comes to a trade war and the imposition of tariffs.

As part of the EU’s counter measures, 26 billion euro worth of US goods would have been targeted to match the damage by US tariffs on steel and aluminium, Mr McGrath said.

If you’re just joining us, we have been reporting live updates on Donald Trump’s tariffs as markets across Europe and Asia opened for trading.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Markets across Europe and Asia have shown signs of recovery amid hopes the US will negotiate tariffs imposed last week
• In Europe, the FTSE 100 has opened up 1%, with Cac 40 in France rising 1.8% and the Dax in Germany up 1.3%
• Japanese stock market Nikkei 225 rose by 6% today with markets in South Korea and Australia also rebounding.
• But the threat of a global trade war remains as Trump warns China it must reverse a planned 34% tariff on US goods today or face a further 50% tariff – taking Beijing’s total tariff rate on certain goods to 104%
• China responded to additional 50 per cent levies announced last night by warning the world’s second largest economy would ‘fight to the end’
• Health Secretary Wes Streeting said US tariffs would provide ‘another layer of challenge’ for ensuring the supply of medicines and insisted the NHS was ‘not for sale’ in any US-UK trade deal

The EU have held talks with China as it warned against escalating a trade conflict sparked by Donald Trump’s tariffs.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen sounded the alarm during a phone call with China’s Premier Li Qiang this morning, the European Commission said.

According to a readout of the call, the ‘President called for a negotiated resolution to the current situation, emphasising the need to avoid further escalation.’

The contact comes came after Beijing vowed to ‘fight to the end’ against fresh tariffs threatened by Trump.

Donald Trump last night threatened to slap China with tariffs of more than 100 per cent despite mounting pressure from allies to halt his trade war as trillions more were wiped off markets.

Stocks plunged for a third day, yet the US President took aim at Beijing, which said it would impose its own 34 per cent levy on imports of American goods as a retaliatory measure to last week’s tolls.

The tit-for-tat could take the US tariff rate on China to 104 per cent. That would be made up of the 34 per cent tariffs announced last week, which are set to kick in tomorrow and which came on top of 20 per cent levies already in place.

Mr Trump’s threat of an additional 50 per cent would essentially double the price of any Chinese goods imported to the US.

Donald Trump said the European Union’s proposal for an exemption from tariffs on industrial products, including cars, is not enough to account for the transatlantic trade deficit.

Speaking on Monday at the White House, the President said:

The European Union has been very, very bad to us, they don’t take our cars, like Japan in that sense, they don’t take our agricultural product. They don’t take anything practically.

Last week, Trump announced a 20 percent tariff on European goods, in his all-out protectionist offensive, which is set to take effect April 9.

Trump’s comments came in response to the proposal announced Monday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seeking a bilateral tariff exemption for cars and other industrial goods.

‘We have proposed zero tariffs on industrial products… Europe is always ready to strike a good deal with the United States’, von der Leyen said during a press conference in Brussels.

Sir Keir Starmer will face MPs this afternoon as market turbulence triggered by Donald Trump’s tariffs showed signs of easing.

The Prime Minister will appear before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs on the last day the Commons sits before it heads into the Easter break.

He could face questions over the UK’s response to the global economic shock caused by Trump’s tariffs.

The UK has not retaliated so far, but has drawn up a 417-page list of possible products which could face tariffs if Starmer decides to put import taxes on US goods.

The Government is pushing for a deal with the White House in the hope of easing the 10% tariff on US imports of British goods, along with a 25% tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.

Taiwan can have negotiations with the United States at any time on the tariffs issue, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said today, a day after the island’s stock market plummeted on trade fears.

Major semiconductor producer Taiwan, hit with a 32% duty, was singled out by the U.S. administration as among the U.S. trading partners with one of the highest trade surpluses with the country.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Sunday proposed a zero-tariffs regime with the United States, and to invest more in the country and remove trade barriers.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of parliament, Lin said that Taiwan was ready to talk about a variety of issues with the United States, including investment in and purchases from the country and non-tariff barriers.

“As long as there is a confirmed time and method for negotiations, they can be discussed at any time with the United States,” he added.

On Monday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Taiwan had reached out to discuss the tariffs.

Taiwan’s benchmark stock index, which logged its worst fall ever on Monday, down almost 10%, fell another 4% on Tuesday and hit its lowest level in 14 months.

Pedestrians walk past an electronic stock board showing the Nikkei Stock

Japanese stock market Nikkei 225 rose by 6% today amid speculation that the US is prepared to open trade negotiations with Japan.

The Nikkei is recovering from a one-and-a-half year low hit in the previous session, as investors scooped up stocks, encouraged by signs of a recovery on Wall Street.

The Nikkei index climbed 6.03% to 33,012.58, marking its sharpest daily percentage gain since August 6.

The broader Topix also recorded a more than 6% gain, closing at 2,432.02.

‘Investors bought back stocks as they thought the shares were oversold. They saw signs of a market recovery as U.S. stock futures rose in Japan trade,’ said Takamasa Ikeda, senior portfolio manager, GCI Asset Management.

A new poll suggests voters are against Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to fight the 10 per cent tariff levied on UK exports to the US.

More than half of those polled by More in Common back retaliatory tariffs on US goods entering Britain.

It comes as the government insists the UK will keep a ‘cool head’ with no ‘knee-jerk response’ while pointing out ‘nothing is off the table’.

UK businesses have just over three weeks to give their views on possible retaliatory action before a consultation closes on May 1.

The Health Secretary also insisted the NHS is not for any sale in any possible UK-US trade deal.

The Prime Minister said intense discussions had taken place between the two countries amid hopes an an agreement could soften the blow caused by tariff increases.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Streeting said any sale of patient data was off the table but anyone who wants to use it for research purposes should pay for access.

The NHS is not for sale and our patients’ data is not for sale.

At the heart of that health beta research service are the values and the principles that underpin our National Health Service, which is our data should be… publicly owned, it belongs to all of us. That data should only be shared for research purposes with our consent.

US tariffs provide ‘another layer of challenge’ for ensuring the supply of medicines, the Health Secretary warned this morning.

Wes Streeting told Sky News:

Until this trade war erupted, we’d already had issues with medicines production and supply internationally.

We are constantly watching and acting on this situation to try and get medicines into the country, to make sure we’ve got availability, to show some flexibility in terms of how medicines are dispensed, to deal with shortages.

But whether it’s medicines, whether it’s parts for manufacturing, whether it’s … the ability of businesses in this country to turn a profit, this is an extremely turbulent situation.

The steps the US has taken are ‘unprecedented in terms of global trade’, he said.

Here’s footage of Keir Starmer speaking yesterday as the Prime Minister called for calm and insisted the UK would remain ‘cool headed’ in its response to Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Global stocks rallied on Tuesday morning after another tariff-induced slump in the previous session, as cautious investors sought evidence the US may be willing to negotiate.

Optimism is being driven by news US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will lead trade negotiations with Tokyo, helping Japan’s Nikkei index to outperform peers in early trading.

But market sentiment remains frail, with the so-called ‘fear index’ – the Vix – spiking over the 60 mark overnight for only the second time since the pandemic.

Chinese official haves responded to additional 50 per cent levies announced last night by warning the world’s second largest economy would ‘fight to the end’ if the US insists on waging a trade and tariff war.

Keir Starmer spoke about the impact of US tariffs with his Singaporean counterpart in a phone call on Monday.

Giving a readout of the Prime Minister’s call with Lawrence Wong, a Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister spoke to the Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong today. The leaders began by discussing the tariffs announced by the US last week and the impact on the global economy. They both agreed that there can be no winners in a trade war.

Free and open trade is fundamental, and the leaders agreed to strengthen collaboration between the UK and Singapore through bilateral agreements including the UK-Singapore Strategic Partnership, with ASEAN and through trading blocs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The leaders are said to have committed to ‘further collaboration’ on technology, security and defence in the 60th year of bilateral relations between the UK and Singapore.

London’s FTSE 100 rose slightly today

European stock markets have slightly rebounded at the start of trading today.

It comes after similar recoveries for Asian equities that followed huge losses triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index won 1.3 percent, the Paris CAC 40 advanced 1.4 percent and Frankfurt’s DAX won 0.9 percent.

However, analysts have warned there could be further turmoil to come amid a looming trade war between China and the US.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:

This should hardly be seen as the end of the trouble, especially with President Trump showing no signs of easing his stance on perceived trade imbalances, having doubled down on China.

Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods from Wednesday unless China withdrew the 34% retaliatory tariff announced by Beijing last week.

The US President had already imposed a 20% tariff on China before it was increased by a further 34% on his so-called Liberation Day last Wednesday – meaning the total tariff could reach 104%.

But China’s Commerce Ministry said it would respond with extra “countermeasures” targeting American goods if Trump followed through on his threat.

Accusing the Trump administration of blackmail, it said in a written statement that “if the US insists on this way, China will fight it to the end’.

Some stock markets across Asia and the Pacific made gains this morning when trading opened following a dramatic slump yesterday.

However, they were still down in mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Let’s take a look at how Asia-Pacific major stock markets opened this morning:

• Shanghai Composite (China) -0.2%
• Nikkei 225 (Japan) +6.6%
• Hang Seng (Hong Kong) +1.7%
• Kospi (South Korea) +1.5%
• ASX 200 (Australia) +1.5%
• STI (Singapore) -2.2%
• TWI (Taiwan) -3.8%

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as Donald Trump’s tariff continue to cause economic turmoil across the world.

London’s FTSE 100 has risen in the first few minutes of trading on Tuesday, as a sense of optimism returned to the financial markets after several days of heavy losses.

The index, which tracks the UK’s top 100 listed companies, was up more than 1% shortly after markets opened on Tuesday.

All other indexes on the London Stock Exchange were also in the green.

It follows a more positive session for Asian markets, with some indexes making gains after suffering from steep falls in previous days.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates throughout the day