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    Southeast Asia, With Little Leverage, Seeks to Placate Trump on Trade

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    Southeast Asian leaders, their export-driven economies in peril, are trying to placate the president. “We may have to comply,” Thailand’s finance minister said.They were hit by some of President Trump’s most punishing tariffs, in one case as high as 49 percent. The new levies threatened to cripple their economies, which have prospered by making sneakers and tech goods for American consumers.So Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia and Vietnam rushed to appease Mr. Trump. They promised not to retaliate, unlike China and Europe. And they proposed to reduce or even eliminate their own tariffs on American imports.On Thursday, the region woke up to the good news that Mr. Trump had paused his “reciprocal” tariffs. The president suggested he had reversed course because of the market turmoil they had caused. Still, Southeast Asia is sticking with its conciliatory approach.In a statement on Thursday, the economic ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as Asean, said the 10-country bloc was “united in the opinion that retaliation is not an option.” (The ministers were in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a meeting that had been previously scheduled.)Despite Mr. Trump’s 90-day pause, the anxiety here is palpable. His tariffs, the Asean statement said, are “introducing uncertainty and undermining trust in the global trade system.” Millions of livelihoods in the region are on the line. Thailand’s finance minister, Pichai Chunhavajira, acknowledged that the White House had leverage over his nation in matters of trade.“This is how you negotiate,” Mr. Pichai said in an interview. “You start with an extreme measure and then ease your demand along the way. We may have to comply.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Inside Trump’s Reversal on Tariffs: From ‘Be Cool!’ to ‘Getting Yippy’

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      Economic turmoil, particularly a rapid rise in government bond yields, caused President Trump to reverse course on the steep levies.For the past week, President Trump has been urging calm in the face of the financial chaos that he created and resisting calls for him to rethink his approach.“I know what the hell I’m doing,” he told Republicans on Tuesday as the massive tariffs he had imposed sent global markets into a tailspin. “BE COOL!” he said in a social media post on Wednesday morning. “Everything is going to work out well.”At 9:37 a.m. Wednesday, the president was still bullish on his policy, posting on Truth Social: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”But in the end, it was the markets that got him to reverse course.The economic turmoil, particularly a rapid rise in government bond yields, caused Mr. Trump to blink on Wednesday afternoon and pause his “reciprocal” tariffs for most countries for the next 90 days, according to four people with direct knowledge of the president’s decision.Asked to explain the decision, Mr. Trump told reporters: “Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”Behind the scenes, senior members of Mr. Trump’s team had feared a financial panic that could spiral out of control and potentially devastate the economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others on the president’s team, including Vice President JD Vance, had been pushing for a more structured approach to the trade conflict that would focus on isolating China as the worst actor while still sending a broader message that Mr. Trump was serious about cracking down on trade imbalances.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Britain Lost Out on Euro Disney. Now It’s Getting a Universal Theme Park.

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      A yet-to-be-named Universal Studios theme park will be the country’s largest tourist attraction when it opens in 2031. But studio executives have not yet said which characters will be featured.Universal Studios will build its first European theme park in Bedfordshire, England, studio officials said Wednesday, previewing a sprawling resort that could combine iconic American brands like “Jurassic Park” with classic British characters like Paddington Bear, Dr. Who and Harry Potter.Set to open in 2031, British officials said the yet-to-be-named theme park would be Britain’s largest single tourist attraction. Executives at Comcast, Universal’s parent company, said the 476-acre complex would include themed lands, rides, a 500-room hotel, shops and dining.Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, hailed the announcement as a boost for his country’s sluggish economy and an example of his government’s attempt to cut through the red tape that has long made it costly and difficult to complete complex projects in Britain.“Today we closed the deal on a multibillion-pound investment that will see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks in Europe,” Mr. Starmer said in a statement, adding that the project would create around 28,000 jobs.The theme park, which Mr. Starmer said would generate nearly $64 billion (£50 billion) in revenue for the area by 2055, is a rare bright spot at a moment when the British economy has been barely growing.But it will be years before the doors open to the public as the company transforms what is a bare piece of land about 35 minutes north of London by train. That delay creates the kind of uncertainty that has sometimes doomed previous theme park efforts.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      U.K. Boosts Military Spending and Cuts Welfare in ‘Uncertain World’

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      The changes come as President Trump’s tariff threats have disrupted global trade and added pressure to the British government’s already strained budget.The British government on Wednesday laid out plans for higher military spending and cuts to social benefits, as it sought to keep the nation’s finances on track in what it called a “more uncertain world.”Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the Exchequer, said there would be an extra 2.2 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) for defense in the fiscal year that begins next month. And she reiterated recently announced reductions to the benefits system that were expected to save about £5 billion by 2030.The changes come as President Trump’s economic policies have disrupted the global economy, putting more demands on the British government’s already stretched budget. Like many other European countries, Britain has pledged to spend more on defense to support Ukraine against Russia. At the same time, the threat of a global trade war is lurking and interest rates have increased, pushing up government borrowing costs.“Our task is to secure Britain’s future in a world that is changing before our eyes,” Ms. Reeves said in Parliament on Wednesday.“The job of a responsible government is not simply to watch this change,” she added. “This moment demands an active government.”Adding to the hurdles, the British economy slowed in the second half of last year, and the Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent watchdog, halved its forecast for growth this year to 1 percent from 2 percent.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      UK Aims to Cut Billions in Welfare Amid Budget Crunch

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      Changing disability allowances is a particularly contentious move within Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left Labour Party.Britain’s center-left government outlined plans on Tuesday to curb spiraling welfare costs as it attempts to juggle a difficult set of competing objectives: saving public money, incentivizing work and protecting the most vulnerable.The announcement follows weeks of tense internal debate within the governing Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, about how to cut Britain’s spending on welfare, which has risen sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic.“The status quo is unacceptable but it is not inevitable,” Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, said in Parliament, promising “decisive action” to get those who can work into employment, protect those who cannot, and save five billion pounds (about $6.5 billion) by 2030.For Labour, a party that sees itself as the creator and guardian of Britain’s post-World War II welfare state, cutting support for some of the most vulnerable in society is especially contentious.But Britain, with a total population of about 68 million, now has more than 9.3 million people of working age across England, Scotland and Wales who are not employed, a rise of 713,000 since 2020. Of those, 2.8 million receive long-term sickness payments or related welfare, according to the government, which expects the number to grow to more than four million if nothing is done. The government spent £65 billion on sickness payments last year.Facing mounting pressure to increase military spending, at a time when public services including the health system are badly underfunded, and economic growth is sluggish, Britain’s Treasury is searching for cuts to public programs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      China Outlines Plan to Bolster Consumption in Face of Trump Tariffs

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      Beijing’s leaders are ordering fiscally strapped local governments to spend more to help workers, consumers and businesses.The Chinese government and the Communist Party jointly issued a lengthy list of planned initiatives on Sunday to get people to spend more, in yet another move by Beijing to offset potential harm from its escalating economic warfare with Washington.The road map for economic stimulus included larger pensions, better medical benefits and higher wages — measures that could bolster China’s lagging domestic consumption. But it assigned many of these tasks to the country’s local governments, many of which are struggling under enormous debts and plummeting revenues from the sale of state land.The action comes as China’s leaders are searching for ways to rebalance the economy away from its current dependence on an ever-rising trade surplus, which reached almost $1 trillion last year. President Trump has already imposed 20 percent tariffs on China’s shipments to the United States. Countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are also raising tariffs on China’s flood of manufactured-goods exports.Part of the document released on Sunday seemed aimed at reassuring the Chinese public that their investments were safe, so that they would start spending money again. The authorities promised to undertake “multiple measures to stabilize the stock market” and to underpin the real estate market, which has been marred by falling property prices.A housing market crash has wiped out much of the savings of China’s middle class in the past three years. Chinese households have responded by curtailing their spending on hotels, restaurants and other services and stuffing savings into bank deposits that pay very little interest.One bright spot of late for China has been its stock markets. In the United States, the tariffs and uncertainty caused by Mr. Trump’s policies dragged the S&P 500 last week into a correction, down more than 10 percent from its peak. But China’s markets are positive, partly on enthusiasm for the country’s progress in developing its own artificial intelligence programs. Hong Kong’s stock market, where many Chinese companies trade, is up about 20 percent since Mr. Trump’s inauguration.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      China’s Economic Plan Is Light on Detail as Trade War Intensifies

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      The country’s top leaders set an optimistic growth target but gave few hints of how to achieve it as their export-led strategy is challenged by rising tariffs on Chinese goods.For months, China has promised to help its people spend more to turn the economy around, while taking few concrete measures.On Wednesday, the country’s top leaders pledged to “vigorously” boost spending but once again offered limited details and little money to back it up.The government’s budget and annual work report, released on the most important day in China’s political calendar, during the meeting in Beijing called the National People’s Congress, set an optimistic target of 5 percent growth but gave scant indication of how the economy would get there without another surge in exports this year. China’s reliance on trade for growth faces fresh challenges as the United States and many other countries have raised tariffs on Chinese goods.“The headwinds remain very strong on growth: The property market hasn’t stabilized and consumer confidence remains low,” said Tao Wang, chief China economist at UBS. “Now we have a fresh wave of tariffs and who knows what else will come. Policy needs to do the heavy lifting.”Here are some key takeaways from China’s budget — and what it means for one of the world’s biggest economies.Beijing to consumers: Spend, spend, spend!China is one of the few places in the world with deflation, an economic condition in which many prices are falling. That might sound appealing to Americans struggling with hefty bills for groceries and other expenses, but it can be a crippling problem: Many companies and households have seen their earnings shrink in recent years. Deflation also raises the cost of debt payments and encourages consumers to put off purchases on the expectation of prices being lower in the future.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      China Signals Confidence in Economy Despite Sluggish Growth and U.S. Trade War

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      As Chinese leaders meet in Beijing, they are striking a confident posture in the face of pressure and uncertainty from the United States.China’s top leaders sought to project confidence in the country’s economy on Wednesday despite sluggish growth, an escalating trade war with the United States and growing geopolitical uncertainty caused by the Trump administration.The government will aim to expand China’s economy by “around 5 percent” this year, said Premier Li Qiang, China’s highest-ranking official after Xi Jinping, at the opening of the annual session of the country’s rubber-stamp legislature.“Achieving this year’s targets will not be easy, and we must make arduous efforts to meet them,” Mr. Li said, acknowledging that the economy faced many challenges. But he struck a positive note about the country’s prospects, saying: “The underlying trend of long term economic growth has not changed and will not change. The giant ship of China’s economy will continue to cleave the waves and sail steadily toward the future.”The meeting in Beijing, called the National People’s Congress, is a tightly scripted political pageant, showcasing how Mr. Xi plans to lead China through what he has often described as “great changes unseen in a century” around the world.That vision includes lifting China’s technological prowess and self-reliance and beefing up its military capabilities so it can dominate the Asia-Pacific region. It is focused on strengthening the ruling Communist Party’s grip on power by making national security a priority for all facets of Chinese society.Security at the legislative session, which brings around 3,000 delegates to the Great Hall of the People, is also a top priority. Uniformed and plainclothes police and soldiers were posted at several checkpoints on major roads near the venue and on pedestrian bridges, while entrances at nearby subway stations were temporarily closed.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Japan’s Economy Recovered In Second Half But Barely Grew in 2024

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      Though it recovered in the second half of the year, Japan’s economy barely grew in 2024 as a depreciated yen fueled inflation and strained households.For decades in Japan, it was accepted as gospel: A weak currency makes companies more competitive and bolsters the economy.Part of that promise came true last year: As the yen tumbled to a 37-year low against the dollar, big brands like Toyota Motor reported the highest profits in Japanese history. Stocks soared to record highs.Yet for the majority of Japanese households, the weakened yen has done little more than drive up the costs of basic living expenses, such as food and electricity. Figures released Monday showed that while Japan’s economy picked up pace in the second half of 2024, its inflation-adjusted growth rate for the full year slowed to 0.1 percent. That was down from 1.5 percent the prior year.Attempting to stimulate exports by weakening a currency has long been a policy tool for countries seeking economic growth: President Trump has said he wants a weaker dollar to help American manufacturing. Japan provides an example of what can happen when a depreciated currency, even if it helps exports, crushes consumer purchasing power by worsening inflation.“In economics, they teach us that everything has a benefit and a cost, and it’s about asking which is greater,” said Richard Katz, an economist who focuses on Japan. Of the yen trading at around 153 to the dollar, “this is clearly not the way to run a railroad,” Mr. Katz said. “It would be good to take a lesson from this.”The figures released on Monday show that household spending shrank slightly in 2024, after expanding in the previous three years. Unlike in the United States, where strong consumption helped the economy surge back after the Covid-19 pandemic, prolonged weak spending in Japan has left its real gross domestic product barely above prepandemic levels.

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      Japan consumer confidence index
      Source: Cabinet Office of JapanBy The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More