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    Trump tariffs live: US stocks plunge on opening as EU ‘finalising’ plan to hit back in trade war

    Starmer vows UK won’t be cowed by Trump’s tariffsUS stocks have plunged on opening today as markets plummeted across the globe and the EU warned it is “finalising” plans to hit back in Donald Trump’s global trade war.After the US president announced his sweeping tariffs last week, Wall Street is sinking again, with the S&P 500 down 3.8 per cent in early trading on Monday, coming off its worst week since Covid-19 began crashing the global economy in March 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,200 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 4 per cent lower.EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said the bloc’s list of countermeasures is being finalised tonight, with a view to them being implemented on 15 April if struggling negotiations with the US fail.The panicked mood was felt across Europe, with the UK’s FTSE 100 index plunging to a one-year low on Monday, while Germany’s Dax index recorded a drop of around 6.5 per cent.Asian markets also tumbled, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed more than 13 per cent in morning trade.The US president said overnight on Monday that he did not want global markets to fall, but also that he was not concerned about the major sell-off, adding: “Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”The impact of the tariffs prompted major banks to hike the probability of a global recession. JP Morgan raised its odds for a US and global recession to 60 per cent up from 40 per cent before the tariff rollout. Other major banks including Goldman and Barclays also warned of higher risks.White House describes reports Trump is considering 90-day pause in tariffs as ‘fake news’The White House has described reports that Donald Trump is considering a 90-day pause in tariffs as “fake news”.Tara Cobham7 April 2025 15:47EU warns it is finalising its list of countermeasures tonightThe EU has warned it is finalising its list of countermeasures tonight.EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said: “When it comes to the volume of counter measures, when it comes to steel, aluminium and derivatives, we are finalising the list tonight.”Tara Cobham7 April 2025 15:44Farage calls Trump’s tariffs ‘excessive’Nigel Farage has called Donald Trump’s tariffs a “bit excessive”.”I think it’s a bit excessive. Yes, I really do,” he told the PA news agency.”Although he promised he’d do it in the run-up to the American election.”So you can’t say he’s breaking his promises, but I think the impact of it – my own view, is the impact of it has been bigger than he could have predicted.”He said he speaks to Mr Trump “far less” now than he did during his first term as US president.Nigel Farage has called Donald Trump’s tariffs a ‘bit excessive’Tara Cobham7 April 2025 15:42EU’s countermeasures on US tariffs to start next week if negotiations fail, warns bloc’s trade commissionerEU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic has said that the EU’s own countermeasures on US tariffs would start next week if negotiations fail.Sefcovic said on Monday that if negotiations failed to yield an agreement, the EU’s own countermeasures on US tariffs, which will start on 15 April, could not be delayed.He said EU negotiators had not seen engagement that would lead to a mutually acceptable solution, after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced last week a sweeping round of tariffs for most imported goods.He added on Monday that the European Union would not change its VAT system, which he described as an important source of income for member states.US president Donald Trump’s administration has said that VAT – value-added taxes – are an additional trade barrier.Tara Cobham7 April 2025 15:40Stocks turn positive on Wall Street in sudden reversalStocks have turned positive on Wall Street in a sudden reversal and the Dow Jones index has jumped 300 points, erasing a loss of 1,700.Tara Cobham7 April 2025 15:29Netanyahu to seek tariff relief in talks with TrumpIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to limit the sting of tariffs imposed on his country when he meets US President Donald Trump on Monday, a visit likely to be closely watched by world leaders as global markets spiral downward.Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to meet face-to-face with Trump since he announced a sweeping tariff policy last Wednesday.Under the new policy, Israeli goods face a 17 per cent US tariff. The United States is Israel’s closest ally and largest single trading partner.During midday talks in the Oval Office, the two leaders are also expected to discuss the 18-month-old war in Gaza and the fate of hostages taken from Israel and still held in the Palestinian enclave.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to limit the sting of tariffs imposed on his country when he meets US President Donald Trump on Monday More

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    Trump tariffs make Easter bittersweet for Swiss chocolatiers

    With the normally brisk Easter season around the corner, the mood in Switzerland’s chocolate business is bittersweet, thanks to high cacao prices and — now — the newly added U.S. tariffs on imports.Many Swiss, from the government to chocolatiers to watchmakers and other businesses, are sensing “shock” over the tougher American position on trade, but many are also taking a wait-and-see stance.At the Festichoc chocolate festival in Geneva over the weekend, the Trump administration tariffs announced last week were on many minds, though they seemed to do little to sour the mood on Switzerland’s most famous sweets.Julie Jammes, marketing manager for Canonica, a Geneva chocolatier with three stores in San Francisco, said her company hasn’t yet made any decision on what actions might be taken. “We’re waiting a little longer, but it’s clearly a shock for us,” Jammes said.That meshes with Switzerland’s overall approach: Despite hefty 31% U.S. tariffs slapped on Swiss goods — well more than the 20% faced by exports from European Union – the government in Bern is taking a cautious approach for now. But it has warned of the impact on crucial Swiss industries like watches, coffee capsules, cheese and chocolate.“An increase in trade tensions is not in Switzerland’s interests. Countermeasures against US tariff increases would entail costs for the Swiss economy, in particular by making imports from the USA more expensive,” the government said last week, adding that the executive branch “is therefore not planning to impose any countermeasures at the present time.”The government said Swiss exports to the United States on Saturday were subject to an additional 10% tariff, and another another 21% beginning Wednesday. The United States is Switzerland’s second-biggest trading partner after the EU – a 27-member-country bloc that nearly surrounds the wealthy Alpine country of more than 9 million – and U.S.-Swiss trade in goods and services has quadrupled over the last two decades, the government said.The Swiss government said Switzerland abolished all industrial tariffs on Jan. 1 last year, meaning that 99% of all goods from the United States can be imported into Switzerland duty-free.The atmosphere remained bubbly at Festichoc, where eager shoppers nibbled chocolate squares and ogled at chocolate Easter bunny and egg sculptures at the annual gathering in the Geneva town of Versoix.Jammes, of Canonica, expressed hope that the “loyal clientele” in the United States would remain faithful, but she said “I put myself in the consumer’s shoes” and realized a pocketbook pinch might dissuade many shoppers.“I don’t see why I would pay $45 tomorrow for a box (of chocolates) that I’d pay $30 for today,” she said Saturday. “It’s still a very complicated issue.”The Swiss chocolate industry association Chocosuisse has expressed its disappointment over the Trump tariffs, even though it can still count on the domestic market: The Swiss are among the world’s top consumers of chocolate, scarfing down more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) per year.“It is completely incomprehensible that Switzerland is targeted by these tariffs,” Chocosuisse said, adding that it was taking the situation “very seriously” and decried how the U.S measure “hits our businesses hard and represents a heavy burden that will weigh on exports to the United States.” Philippe Pascoet, a chocolatier from Geneva, lamented a sharp increase in cocoa prices over the last six months, and said the U.S. market has always been tricky for smaller producers. “Trump now has wanted to impose taxes on imported products. But it has always been complicated to send chocolate to the United States, just for sanitary reasons,” he said. “They want to control what is imported into their country. So even people who used to order chocolate from us online often found it blocked at customs.”___Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report. More

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    Britain should ‘notch up’ Trump tariff retaliation threats, former ambassador to US says

    The UK should “notch up” its threats of retaliation towards Donald Trump after he imposed 10 per cent tariffs on UK exports, a former ambassador to the US has said. It comes as the government scrambles to boost support for British businesses and negotiate a trade deal with the US that would give Britain a carve-out to avoid the sweeping tariffs, which have been slapped on all major economies. While the UK has said nothing is off the table when it comes to responding to the tariffs, Sir Nigel Sheinwald said the UK should have gone further, earlier with its threats. “I think it’s right that we should say we’re going to think about retaliation. We might indeed have said that a little bit earlier on”, Sir Nigel told Sky News. “I think it’s always wrong to take that off the table or sound as if you don’t mean it, because in the world of trade policy and trade negotiators, this is a tough world where you’ve got to brandish those weapons and seem as though you’re prepared to use them.”Sir Nigel Sheinwald said the UK should have made threats of retaliation ‘a little bit earlier on’ More

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    Ex-NFU chief who said tractor tax will ‘wipe out family farms’ hired to lead government review into UK farming

    A former National Farmers’ Union (NFU) chief who previously warned the so-called ‘tractor tax’ would “wipe out the family farm” has been hired by the government to lead a review into British farming. As part of the government’s latest attempt to show they are listening to farmers and rebuild trust within the community, environment secretary Steve Reed has now hired Baroness Minette Batters, who has previously voiced opposition to the extension of inheritance tax to family farms, to lead a review of farm profitability.The review, which will see the cross-bench peer provide recommendations to the department, is aimed at helping to ensure the farming sector is “more viable, self-sustaining and competitive in the long-term”. National Farmers’ Union (NFU) President Minette Batters speaking during the National Farmers’ Union annual conference (Jacob King/PA) More

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    Starmer promises ‘bold changes’ to rules over electric cars in response to Trump tariffs

    Sir Keir Starmer has pledged “bold changes” to the rules around electric and new petrol and diesel cars in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs.The prime minister will announce Labour’s plan to reinstate the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales on Monday, in a move expected to pile pressure on Britain’s beleaguered motor industry.Businesses are currently grappling with the new rules from the White House, which mean a 25 per cent tariff is now applied to foreign cars imported into the US, while other products face a 10 per cent levy.The prime minister’s announcement follows Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to suspended shipments to the US over the weekend, as they look to “address the new trading terms”.Labour pledged in its election manifesto to restore the 2030 date, after it had been rolled back to 2035 by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government.Sir Keir Starmer will vow to support British carmakers amid Donald Trump’s tariff war More

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    Britain expresses outrage after Israel prevents 2 lawmakers from visiting the occupied West Bank

    Britain expressed outrage after Israeli authorities prevented two lawmakers from entering the country in order to visit the occupied West Bank. Israel accused the members of parliament of supporting boycotts against it.Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said late Saturday that it was “unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning” that two British members of parliament were detained and refused entry to Israel. “I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians,” he said.Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said they were “astounded at the unprecedented step taken by the Israeli authorities to refuse British MPs entry on our trip to visit the occupied West Bank.”“It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness firsthand the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory,” they said, adding that they had planned to visit humanitarian aid projects and local communities.Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity that helped organize the visit, said the two were questioned upon arrival at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport before being denied entry and deported.A statement from Israeli authorities accused the two lawmakers of having called for boycotts of Israel and said they were not visiting as part of an official delegation.Israeli law prohibits the entry of non-citizens and non-residents who support the Palestinian-led international boycott movement, known as Boycott, Divest and Sanctions, or BDS.Supporters portray BDS as nonviolent activism based on a similar campaign against apartheid South Africa. Israel views the movement as an attack on its very legitimacy and accuses some organizers of antisemitism, allegations they deny.In February, Israel denied entry to two European Union lawmakers, accusing one of promoting boycotts of the country.___Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war More

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    ‘The financial strain of having a baby left me suicidal – it’s time for mothers to be fairly compensated’

    “Suddenly I felt like everything I’d ever worked for had crashed around me, suddenly I was losing everything,” says Grace Carter. “The idea of losing my business felt like losing a baby. “I really, really struggled.”After trying for years to have a second child, the 33-year-old was overjoyed when she gave birth to her daughter in November 2023.However, she tells The Independent, she was left feeling suicidal as a result of the financial strain of having a baby and is still in a huge amount of debt after trying to keep her business as well as her young family afloat.Ms Carter, from Colchester, has since joined calls for maternity pay to match the national living wage, and is demanding that the “economic contribution of mothers is appropriately recognised and compensated”.She said she received Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), which works out at the equivalent of a full-time worker on a 37.5 hour week earning around £4.99 per hour after the first six weeks of maternity leave. This is roughly just 41 per cent of the 2025 national living wage (NLW) of £12.21 per hour, which has been set out to ensure a basic standard of living.Ms Carter – who is the founder of The Metamorphose Group, a collective of purpose-driven brands aimed at changing the lives of women and girls, which she has been building over eight years – said the combined effects of her being out of work, as the head of her company, and the discrimination she faced led to her business’ yearly turnover shrinking to almost half, from an average of £600,000 to £350,000 that year, and she was forced to borrow £140,000.The mother-of-two – who has had five miscarriages and whose daughters are now aged five and one – has founded the End Parenting Poverty campaign More

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    Trump tariffs live: Starmer warns ‘world as we knew it has gone’ – while EU readies retaliatory measures

    Starmer ‘unhappy’ about Trump tariffs, according to ministerSir Keir Starmer has said the “world as we knew it has gone” after US president Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on dozens of trading partners including the UK.Sir Keir has said that his government stands “ready to use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm.”It comes after the US president put a 10 per cent tariff on all UK goods exports to America, including a 25 per cent tariff on all British carmakers.Labour minister Darren Jones said that a trade war was in “no-one’s interests” and said that globalisation as we’ve known it has come to an end. However Reuters has reported that the EU is considering retaliatory tariffs on $28 billion worth of US imports. A list of US goods that could be slapped with tariffs will reportedly be presented to EU countries late on Monday. Meanwhile Jaguar Land Rover said it was suspending shipments to the US while it considers how to mitigate the cost of Mr Trump’s tariffs.Taiwan’s president offers zero tariffs as basis for US negotiations Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has offered zero tariffs as the basis for talks with the US, pledging to remove trade barriers rather than imposing reciprocal measures and saying Taiwanese companies will raise their US investments. President Donald Trump announced across-the-board import tariffs on Wednesday, with much higher duties for dozens of trading partners, including Taiwan, which runs a large trade surplus with the U.S. and faces a 32 per cent duty on its products.The US tariffs, however, do not apply to semiconductors, a major Taiwanese export.In a video message released by his office after meeting executives from small and medium-sized companies at his residence, Taiwan’s president said given Taiwan’s dependence on trade the economy would inevitably have a hard time dealing with the tariffs, but that he thought the impact could be minimised.”Tariff negotiations can start with ‘zero tariffs’ between Taiwan and the United States, with reference to the U.S.-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement,” Lai said.Taiwan’s cabinet is considering what large-scale agricultural, industrial and energy purchases to make from the United States, while the defence ministry has already put forward its weapons purchase plans, he added.”All purchases will be actively pursued,” Lai said.Holly Bancroft6 April 2025 15:44India does not plan to retaliate against US tariffs – reports India does not plan to retaliate against US president Donald Trump’s 26 per cent tariff on imports from the Asian nation, an Indian government official has told Reuters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has looked into a clause of Trump’s tariff order that offers a possible reprieve for trading partners who “take significant steps to remedy non-reciprocal trade arrangements”, said the official, who declined to be named as the details of the talks are confidential.Reuters reported last month that New Delhi is open to cutting tariffs on U.S. imports worth $23 billion.( More