President Donald Trump said Monday he’s ready to slap new 50% tariffs on China following Beijing’s retaliatory duties announced last week, further escalating the global trade war that has rattled markets.
He said the additional tariffs would take effect midweek if China doesn’t remove its 34% retaliatory tariff by Tuesday.
He also said meetings China had requested would be canceled, though he said other countries would begin negotiating on trade immediately.
“Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” he went on.
“Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Some context: Since returning to power in January, Trump had already levied two tranches of 10% additional duties on all Chinese imports, which the White House said was necessary to stem the flow of illicit fentanyl from the country to the US. Last week, Trump announced an additional 34% on all Chinese goods, which is set to take effect Wednesday. If his latest threat of an additional 50% went into effect, Chinese goods arriving in the US would effectively be subject to tariffs of 104%.
This post has been updated with additional details.
A federal appeals court declined on Monday to put on hold a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to bring back a man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
The decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals comes just hours before the administration faces an 11:59 p.m. deadline to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, to the US.
The ruling came minutes after the administration asked the Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to lift the preliminary injunction issued late last week by US District Judge Paula Xinis.
It’s not every day that financial markets go from deep in the red to well into positive territory and then back down to the red again — all in the span of minutes.
But that’s exactly what happened on Monday.
With banners flashing on CNBC and posts piling up on social media that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day pause on all tariffs with the exception of China, investors breathed a huge sigh of relief. But then it turned out that they got a little too excited.
A White House official told CNN any such reports are “fake news.”
Much of the reporting traced back to an interview President Donald Trump’s top economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, had on Fox News this morning. Hassett was asked if Trump can call a “90-day timeout” on tariffs.
Hassett responded: “I think the President will decide what the President is going to decide.” Several news networks took that to mean Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs. However, there was no official reporting on that.
White House director of communications Steven Cheung also denied reports of a 90-day pause being under consideration. He reposted a NewsMax post on X post of Hassett with his own comments: “Not true. Nobody can point to a transcript … because it was never said.”
President Donald Trump’s administration urged the Supreme Court today to block a lower court order requiring officials to bring a man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador back to Maryland.
The emergency appeal over Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, landed at the high court on a short fuse: A lower court judge has ordered the Trump administration to return him to the US by 11:59 p.m. Monday.
Trump attorneys have conceded in court filings that the administration mistakenly deported the father of three “because of an administrative error,” but said it could not bring him back because he is in Salvadoran custody. His case has added to the already considerable legal scrutiny over White House efforts to deport immigrants without a hearing or review.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post.
The wild swings in financial markets on Monday morning underscore how badly investors want President Donald Trump to pause the trade war.
US stocks surged off their lows and even briefly turned positive on rumors of a 90-day pause. However, that rebound proved fleeting as traders realized nothing official had been announced.
“That was a good example of what would happen if we actually got some rational thought mixed in with the ignorant tariff policy,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management, told CNN in a phone interview Monday. “The stock market vigilantes have spoken loudly that we need rational thought mixed in with this trade policy. And there is none so far.”
Oversold markets desperate for good news are subject to wild swings that can quickly reverse, Hogan added.
The European Union is “ready to negotiate” with the United States and has offered to scrap tariffs on industrial goods, Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Monday.
“These tariffs come first and foremost at immense costs for US consumers and businesses but, at the same time, they have a massive impact on the global economy,” the head of the EU’s executive arm said at a news conference in Brussels.
Following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of hefty tariffs on dozens of countries last week, EU exports to the US face a 20% “reciprocal” tariff, while its steel and auto industry face a 25% tariff. Von der Leyen said the tariffs, which have caused a global market rout, represent a “major turning point” for the US.
“Nonetheless, we stand ready to negotiate with the United States. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners, because Europe is always ready for a good deal,” she said.
Asked when the EU tabled the zero-tariff offer, von der Leyen said the offer was made “long before” Trump’s latest tariff announcement and “repeatedly, for example, in the automotive sector.” She stressed that the EU has long gone “zero for zero with other countries that also have a strong automotive sector.”
At the same time, the EU is willing to play hardball: Although the EU would prefer to strike a “negotiated settlement,” the bloc is also “preparing a potential list (of US imports) for retaliation,” she said.
Meanwhile, the head of the EU’s executive arm said the bloc would explore new opportunities, citing deals it has already made with Mexico and Switzerland, as well as new trade agreements it is exploring with India, Indonesia and other countries in the Indo-Pacific.
“We will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the United States – vast opportunities – and this is why we’re deepening our relations with our trading partners,” she said at a news conference in Brussels.
This post has been updated with additional information.
US stocks were extremely volatile Monday as traders searched for any sign that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be negotiated or halted.
Markets around the world had tumbled over concerns about how Trump’s sweeping tariffs might upend the global economy and stymie US economic growth. US stocks opened the day in bear market territory but surged an hour later on rumors that the Trump administration may pause tariffs – perhaps for several months.
That rumor turned out to be just that, it seems. And the Dow, which had risen nearly 900 points, was back down once again.
The Dow was lower 500 points, or 1.3%. The broader S&P 500 edged lower. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% lower.
At the open, the S&P 500 tumbled into bear market territory – a decline of 20% from a recent peak – before pulling back. The decline in US stocks came after a historic rout in Asia and massive losses in Europe.
The S&P 500 hit a record high less than seven weeks ago, on February 19. If the index closes in bear market territory, that would be the second-fastest peak-to-bear market shift in history (the fastest occurred during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic).
Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said Monday’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump will be the first in-person meeting with a foreign country to negotiate on the tariffs announced last week.
“Israel is the first meeting today,” Hassett said, alluding to all the countries trying to negotiate. “President Trump has talked to world leaders all weekend.”
“I’m sure they will talk about trade policy and Middle East policy as well,” Hassett told Fox News on Monday from the White House.
Hassett emphasized that the US is prepared for a “good deal.”
The US imposed a 17% tariff on Israel, according to Trump’s announcement last week.
President Donald Trump said Monday that “countries from all over the World” are talking to the United States after he announced reciprocal tariffs last week and that “tough but fair parameters are being set,” specifically mentioning the Japanese prime minister sending negotiators.
“Spoke to the Japanese Prime Minister this morning. He is sending a top team to negotiate! They have treated the U.S. very poorly on Trade,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They don’t take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs. Likewise Agriculture, and many other ‘things.’”
Trump also highlighted China as a particular focus, suggesting that trade relations with China need significant changes.
“It all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!”
Asian markets dip: Global markets plunged on Monday, deepening a global stocks rout triggered by Trump’s trade war and China’s forceful response to unexpectedly high tariffs. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 7.9% lower, while the broader Topix finished down 7.7%. Tech giant Sony plummeted more than 10%.
CNN’s Juliana Liu and John Liu contributed to this report.
Last week Vietnam offered to lower its tariffs on American exports to 0% in exchange for the same treatment, according to a report published by the Vietnamese government on Friday. That came after President Donald Trump spoke with Vietnam’s General Secretary Tô Lâm on Friday in a call Trump labeled “productive.”
But White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Monday that Vietnam’s offer is not being taken seriously.
“Let’s take Vietnam. When they come to us and say ‘we’ll go to zero tariffs,’ that means nothing to us because it’s the non-tariff cheating that matters,” Navarro said in a CNBC interview on Monday.
More context: Vietnam is among the nations set to see the highest “reciprocal” tariff rates of 46% come April 9, according to the new tariff regime the Trump administration unveiled last week. Vietnam was the United States’ sixth-largest source of imports last year, according to US Commerce Department data.
The tariffs Trump is set to impose could raise the price for a slew of goods which the US relies heavily on from Vietnam, including electronics, apparel and footwear
US stocks opened lower Monday as markets around the world tumbled over concerns about how President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs might upend the global economy and stymie US economic growth.
Markets opened in bear market territory – a decline of 20% from a recent peak – after a historic rout in Asia and massive losses in Europe.
The Dow fell 1,200 points, or 3.2%. The broader S&P 500 was 3.4% lower and opened in bear territory. The Nasdaq Composite slid 3.96%. The S&P 500 hit a record high less than seven weeks ago, on February 19. If the index closes in bear market territory, that would be the second-fastest peak-to-bear market shift in history (the fastest occurred during the 2020 pandemic).
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, has surged to levels not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic as investors fret over the market’s next move. CNN’s Fear and Greed Index has slumped to its lowest levels this year.
President Donald Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on trading partners could derail the global move toward green energy, aimed at preventing the worst impacts of climate change.
The tariffs will likely make key green technologies more expensive and could also force governments to divert resources from addressing the climate crisis into propping up their economies.
China is the world’s largest producer of many of the materials that are crucial for clean energy technologies. Among others, it exports vast amounts of lithium and lithium batteries as well as the materials used to build wind turbines and solar panels.
The E3G independent climate change think tank said in a research paper that the tariffs will increase the cost of manufacturing of low-carbon technologies and could eventually result in higher prices for consumers — at a time when prices were going down, encouraging faster transition.
Climate policies are already being changed because of the tariffs.
More context: The UK government on Monday scrapped some electric vehicle sales targets, specifically quoting the “new era of global insecurity” as one of the reasons. While the government kept the 2030 deadline to stop sales of new petrol and diesel cars, it gave companies more flexibility up until then, and it also slashed the fines for those who don’t meet the targets.
After the Canadian government scrapped the consumer carbon tax last month, some Canadian provinces followed suit and stopped other carbon levies, quoting the US tariffs among the reasons.
To avoid the worst of the climate crisis, the world needs to quickly transition to clean energy. With governments and businesses facing economic pressures, resources could be diverted away from green projects. That will likely backfire as failing to invest in emission cutting now will make more costly to deal with the consequences in the future.
President Donald Trump urged patience and warned against becoming “panican” in a post Monday ahead of markets opening in the United States.
“The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” he went on.
Trump was writing as markets traded sharply lower in Asia and Europe, and a US futures tumbled. Earlier this morning, Trump defended the US economy and claims tariffs will boost revenue
White House national economic council director Kevin Hassett defended President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Monday, responding to billionaire Trump supporter Bill Ackman who criticized and said the “economic nuclear war” is triggered by tariffs.
“I would urge everyone, especially Bill, to ease the ease off the rhetoric a little bit,” Hassett told Fox News on Monday from the White House.
“I think a lot of us at the White House think that these are these economic responses are exaggerated by critics, even if you think that there will be some negative effect from the trade side, that’s still a small share of GDP as the idea that it’s going to be a nuclear winter or something like that is completely irresponsible rhetoric,” Hasset said responding to Ackman.
Ackman, who endorsed Trump’s 2024 bid for president, said Sunday that America was heading toward a self-inflicted “economic nuclear winter” because of Trump’s tariff policy rollout.
Hassett also responded to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has issued a bunt warning about Trump’s tariff policy. Dimon said America’s “extraordinary standing” in the world was built on the strength of its economy, military and morals. But tariffs and Trump’s “America First” foreign policy could undermine that standing.
“Trump came into office with the biggest debt to GDP that we’ve seen in the US ever since World War 2,” Hassett said. “And what we’re doing right now is we’re fixing that,” he added in response to Dimon.
Trump’s announcement last week, targeting nearly all the US trading partners last week, including a 10% tariff on all imports and higher tariffs on certain countries, triggered a sharp and ongoing decline in global markets, with several nations imposing retaliatory tariffs on goods.
The global market rout sparked by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs deepened in Asia and Europe on Monday, with the US bracing for a further slump when its markets open shortly.
Although the president has doubled down on his trade policy, members of his administration failed to offer a coherent message about his strategy over the weekend. Some of Trump’s billionaire backers are now calling for a return to freer trade.
Here’s what you need to know:
• Asian markets plummet: With trading now over for the day, Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index closed 13.2% down – its worst day since 1997. The city’s financial markets had been closed Friday for an annual festival.
• Europe also slumps: Stocks indexes in Europe are down around 5% halfway through the day’s trading. Meanwhile, European Union trade ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss a response to Trump’s tariffs.
• US markets set to open: If the US stock market closes in bear territory – a drop of 20% from a recent peak – it would be the earliest in a new administration that a bull market has turned into a bear market in the history of the S&P 500, which dates back to 1957.
• Dimon sounds alarm: JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon has warned that Trump’s tariffs could raise prices, tip the global economy into recession and weaken America’s standing in the world by tearing up its alliances.
• Trump doubles down: After his trade policy wiped trillions of dollars off global markets last week, Trump told reporters late Sunday that he doesn’t want “anything to go down,” but that “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.” On Monday morning, Trump defended his policy in a Truth Social post, saying tariffs would bring in billions of dollars in revenue.
• Musk breaks rank: Elon Musk has said he would be in favor of a “zero-tariff situation” between the US and EU, after the man he helped elect as president imposed a 20% tariff on the bloc. Bill Ackman, another of Trump’s billionaire backers, has also criticized the president’s trade policy.
• MAGA’s mixed signals: Top Trump administration officials offered mixed messaging over whether countries can negotiate their way out of tariffs, or if the levies are here to stay. Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary under Barack Obama, said the administration “doesn’t have a coherent message on why it’s implementing the largest tax increase” seen in the US in 50 years.
@cnnFrom Nikkei to Hang Seng, Asia’s markets have tumbled after Trump’s new tariffs were announced, which has countries like Japan and South Korea concerned about the short to long-term effects. #CNN #News #Japan #China #SouthKorea
President Donald Trump’s trade plan could cause a repeat of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs from 1930 that worsened the Great Depression, former Federal Reserve official James Bullard warned on Monday.
“This has dramatically raised the risk of a Smoot-Hawley type outcome,” Bullard, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, told CNBC. “Global trade collapsed and the Great Depression was on. That’s what really has people worried about this.”
Economists widely blame the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Act with making the Great Depression worse than it had to be. The act surged tariffs on US imports to protect workers. A half-century later, the infamous legislation was featured in an iconic scene in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
Bullard, who now serves as dean of Purdue University’s Mitch Daniels School of Business, told CNBC that Trump’s tariffs are setting up a situation where “you could get a dramatic downturn in the economy.”
Bullard added, however, that this does not have to be a repeat and noted that it’s not clear the tariffs will even stay in place.
“What’s the chance this will stick through the courts? Because I think this is probably executive overreach,” Bullard said, arguing that the executive branch likely needs the support of Congress to make these kinds of sweeping decisions on trade. “Who wants to invest when you don’t know what the rules are going to be?”
President Donald Trump took to social media Monday to argue that the US is in a strong economic position, despite the fact that the US and global markets have tanked.
“Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow-moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president claimed that the country will earn billions of dollars from the tariffs he placed on other countries, even as the stock market faces its worst start to a presidential term in modern history.
“This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate. They’ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA! Our past “leaders” are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump’s post continued.
Trump on Sunday aboard Air Force One said he does not want “anything to go down,” but stressed “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” with the administration sending mixed signals on whether his trade policies are open for negotiation.
The sweeping tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump last week are set to add to the pain inflicted on US farmers by the tariffs imposed during his first term, a union boss has warned.
“It’s not fun, we still haven’t recovered from the last tariffs that the president put on,” Bob Kuylen, Vice President of the North Dakota Farmers Union, told CNN Monday.
He added that farmers “haven’t gotten (those) markets back yet and now he’s picking on Canada and Mexico and China.” Farmers are being “held down to almost surf levels, just barely getting by,” he said.
“We raise thousands and thousands of acres of corn and soybeans and wheat and other products and we export just about half of what we raise in the United States,” he said.
Farmers often receive government funding to protect them when prices fall due to weather or market fluctuations – but in 2018 they needed bailing out to protect them from the Trump administration’s trade policies. During Trump’s first term, the government spent billions of dollars bailing out farmers feeling the pinch from the president’s trade war.
Over the weekend, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was unable to clearly state whether Trump’s new tariffs are here to stay, or whether there was room for deals.
Rollins indicated there could be support for farmers affected by the most recent tariffs, pointing to the previous relief during Trump’s first term.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has issued a blunt warning about President Donald Trump’s tariff policy: It threatens to raise prices, drive the global economy into a downturn and weaken America’s standing in the world.
“The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession,” Dimon warned in his annual letter to shareholders. “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”
Dimon said America’s “extraordinary standing” in the world was built on the strength of its economy, military and morals. But tariffs and Trump’s “America First” foreign policy could undermine that standing.
“If the Western world’s military and economic alliances were to fragment, America itself would inevitably weaken over time,” he said.
Despite a recent plunge in markets, stocks could tumble much farther still, Dimon argued. The US stock market is set to open in bear market territory after hitting a record high less than seven weeks ago, on February 19 – the second-fastest peak-to-bear market shift in history (the fastest occurred during the 2020 pandemic).
“Even with the recent decline in market values, prices remain relatively high,” Dimon said. “These significant and somewhat unprecedented forces cause us to remain very cautious.”
US President Donald Trump and his tariffs have taken a bull stock market and are on the precipice of turning it into a bear faster than any president has overseen in modern history.
If the stock market closes in bear territory – a drop of 20% from a recent peak – it would be the earliest in a new administration a bull market has turned into a bear in the history of the S&P 500, which dates back to 1957.
These same tariffs may also take a booming economy and turn it into a recession.
Read more about the state of the stock market today here.
