Trump tariffs live: China stunned by JD Vance ‘peasants’ insult as 104% tariff begins

China will impose 84 per cent tariffs on U.S. goods from Thursday, up from the 34 per cent previously announced, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

German conservatives under Friedrich Merz agreed a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Wednesday, aiming to revive growth in Europe’s largest economy just as a global trade war threatens recession.

The deal caps weeks of haggling between chancellor-in-waiting Merz and the SPD after he topped elections in February but fell well short of a majority, with the far-right Alternative for Germany surging into second place.

Pressure to reach a deal has taken on new urgency as the government will take charge at a time of global turbulence in an escalating trade conflict sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping import tariffs.

The conservative CDU-CSU bloc and the SPD will present their agreement to form a new government at 3:00 p.m. (1300 GMT), the CSU party said.

Merz, who called Trump’s U.S. an unreliable ally, has already vowed to build up defence spending as Europe faces a hostile Russia, and to support businesses struggling with high costs and weak demand.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has repeated that “all options” remain on the table over the future of British Steel, as fears mount over the company’s plant in Scunthorpe.

“This government recognises the importance of those jobs in Scunthorpe and in the local area, and we’re doing everything we can to preserve those jobs and to support those communities,” she said.

“We’re in conversation both with the owners and with the trade unions to find a deal.”

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer said all options remained on the table amid suggestions the UK could nationalise the company.

British Steel has launched a consultation on the proposed closure of blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant and the Government has been talking to the company’s Chinese owner Jingye.

There have been calls for temporary nationalisation amid fears of thousands of job losses.

Britain does not need to lower food standards or accept concessions in a trade deal with the US, Kemi Badenoch has said, but instead must strive for “mutual gain”.

During a local elections visit to Worcestershire, the Conservative leader was asked whether she would accept chlorinated chicken into the UK or abolish a tax on big tech companies if she were negotiating a deal with the US.

Ms Badenoch, a former business secretary, replied: “Trade deals are not about tit for tat and giving things away. They are about gaining on both sides.

“I am a former trade secretary. I signed the biggest trade deal we did since Brexit, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We didn’t have to lower our food standards and where countries did ask us to lower food standards, like Canada, I said no to changing the trade deal we had existing with them.”

She added: “So, we don’t need to do things like that. We need to look at where there are opportunities. You look at mutual gain, recognising mutual professional qualification, bringing tariffs right down.

“This is what Keir Starmer needs to do. My worry is that he can sign a trade deal that just gets us back to where we were last week. What we actually need is a trade deal that is going to be for the future, not the past.”

The chancellor met chief executives from banking and investment first in the Treasury this morning, vowing to shield “working people” from the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

At the meeting were Lloyds chief executive Charlie Nunn, Hargreaves Lansdown boss Dan Olley and other business leaders.

Ms Reeves promised to build closer ties with non-US allies to boost trade, while Britain seeks to hammer out a deal with the Trump administration to lower or lift tariffs on Britain.

Following the meeting, a Treasury spokesman said: “This morning, the Chancellor and Economic Secretary met with key players across the industry promoting the UK as a place to invest given our stable political climate, our ongoing reforms to our capital markets and our commitment to bolstering the UK’s retail investment culture and delivering growth under our Plan for Change.”

“They are dying to make a deal – ‘please sir make a deal, I’ll do anything, I’ll do anything sir’,” he said.

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she does not want to “see an escalation of tariffs”, after Donald Trump’s worldwide tariffs came into effect.

Speaking to broadcasters, she said: “Trade wars are to the benefit of no-one, and that is why in the UK we are keeping cool heads and remaining pragmatic.

“We will always act in our country’s national interest for jobs and to support British business.

“That’s what we will continue to do whilst we have ongoing discussions with our counterparts in the United States.

“We don’t want to see an escalation of tariffs. We want to do a deal that supports the UK economy.”

Risks to the stability of the world’s financial system have increased as US tariffs could weigh on global economic growth, the Bank of England has warned.

Households and businesses nonetheless remain resilient and the UK banking system is equipped to support them even through a period of stress, the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said in its latest report.

“The global risk environment has deteriorated and uncertainty has intensified,” the FPC found.

“The probability of adverse events, and the potential severity of their impact, have risen.”

It follows US President Donald Trump announcing a series of new and higher tariffs on all imports to the US, resulting in retaliatory charges including by China.

The major shift in global trade arrangements could “harm financial stability by depressing growth” in the world’s economy, the Bank said.

These risks are “particularly relevant” to the UK because it is an open economy with a large financial sector.

UK household borrowers, like people with a mortgage, and businesses with loans have remained resilient on the whole, according to the FPC.

European Union countries are expected to approve on Wednesday the bloc’s first countermeasures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, joining China and Canada in retaliating and escalating a conflict that could become a global trade war.

The approval will come on the day that Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on the EU and dozens of countries took effect, including massive 104 per cent duties on China, extending his tariff onslaught and spurring more widespread selling across financial markets.

The 27-nation bloc faces 25 per cent import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars as well as the new broader tariffs of 20 per cent for almost all other goods under Trump’s policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to U.S. imports.

The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, proposed on Monday extra duties mostly of 25 per cent on a range of U.S. imports in response specifically to the U.S. metals tariffs. It is still assessing how to respond to the car and broader levies.

The imports include motorcycles, poultry, fruit, wood, clothing and dental floss, according to a document seen by Reuters. They totalled about 21 billion euros ($23 billion) last year, meaning the EU’s retaliation will be against goods worth less than the 26 billion euros of EU metals exports hit by U.S. tariffs.