The Daily Populous Wednesday April 9th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by cbc.ca and submitted by HelFJandinn

The United States said on Tuesday that 104 per cent duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plan.

U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday for a fourth straight trading day since Trump's tariffs announcement last week, with the S&P 500 closing below 5,000 for the first time in almost a year. The index is now 18.9 per cent below its most recent high on Feb. 19, close to the 20 per cent decline that defines a bear market.

S&P 500 companies have lost $5.8 trillion US in stock market value since Trump's tariff announcement last Wednesday, the deepest four-day loss since the benchmark was created in the 1950s, according to LSEG data.

Global markets had previously posted gains on hopes that Trump might be willing to negotiate down the array of country- and product-specific trade barriers he is erecting around the world's largest consumer market.

Japan's Nikkei saw a broad sell-off on Wednesday morning and other Asian markets were braced for falls, hours before the tariffs were set to take effect.

The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.

"These are tailored, highly tailored deals," Trump said at a White House event, where he signed executive orders aimed at boosting coal production. "We've had talks with many, many countries, over 70, they all want to come in. Our problem is, can't see that many that fast."

But the White House made clear that country-specific tariffs of up to 50 per cent would nevertheless take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET, as planned.

WATCH | How China is fighting Trump's tariffs: U.S. trade war: How China is fighting Trump’s tariffs Duration 25:39 China is hitting the U.S. in a vulnerable spot as the trade war escalates between the two. Then, Andrew Chang explains why the math used to determine President Donald Trump’s global reciprocal tariffs is misleading.

Those tariffs will be especially steep for China, as Trump has ratcheted up duties on its imports to 104 per cent in response to counter-tariffs Beijing announced last week. China has refused to bow to what it called "blackmail" and has vowed to "fight to the end."

Administration officials said they would not prioritize negotiations with the world's No. 2 economic power.

The U.S. will itself face new tariffs at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday — from Canada — of 25 per cent, on fully-assembled vehicles that aren't compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), when imported into Canada from the U.S.

Fully assembled vehicles that are CUSMA-compliant will also be hit with 25 per cent tariffs on their non-Canadian and non-Mexican content, when brought into Canada from the U.S.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had telegraphed that Canada would bring these countermeasures forward, and Canada's finance minister confirmed Tuesday that these were moving ahead.

"Canada continues to respond forcefully to all unwarranted and unreasonable tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canadian products," Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.

'Not doing exemptions … in the near term'

Trump's sweeping tariffs have raised fears of recession and upended a global trading order that has been in place for decades.

"Right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others," White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Fox News.

Trump's tailor-made approach to negotiations with individual countries could take into account foreign and military aid as well as economic factors, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump's lead trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, told Congress that his office is trying to work quickly but is not facing a particular deadline.

"The president has been clear, again, that he's not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term," Greer told lawmakers.

At an evening speech to Republican lawmakers, Trump said he would soon announce "major" tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, arguing the duties would push drug companies to move manufacturing operations to the U.S.

China is bracing for a war of attrition, and manufacturers are warning about profits and scrambling to plan new overseas plants. Citing rising external risks, Citi cut its 2025 China GDP growth forecast to 4.2 per cent from 4.7 per cent.

Three out of four Americans expect prices to rise as Trump's tariffs kick in, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Chipmaker Micron told customers it will impose a tariff-related surcharge starting on Wednesday, while U.S. clothing retailers said they are delaying orders and holding off on hiring. Running shoes made in Vietnam that now retail for $155 US will cost $220 US when Trump's 46 per cent tariff on that country takes effect, according to an industry group.

The company logo is seen on the Micron Technology Inc. offices in Shanghai in 2023. Chipmaker Micron told customers it will impose a tariff-related surcharge starting on Wednesday. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Consumers are stocking up while they can. "I'm buying double of whatever — beans, canned goods, flour, you name it," Thomas Jennings, 53, said as he pushed a shopping cart through the aisles of a New Jersey Walmart.

Broad-based price hikes may not show up immediately, as tariffs will not apply to goods that were already in transit before they took effect.

The market slide has prompted some business leaders, including those close to Trump, to urge the president to reverse course. Global oil prices steadied after falling to four-year lows.

The European Commission, meanwhile, is considering countertariffs of 25 per cent on a range of U.S. goods including soybeans, nuts and sausages, though other potential items like bourbon whiskey were left off the list. Officials said they stood ready to negotiate.

The 27-member bloc is struggling with tariffs on autos and metals already in place, and faces a 20 per cent tariff on other products on Wednesday. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on EU alcoholic drinks.

European pharma companies, also fearful of the tariff fallout, warned the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a meeting that Trump's tariffs would expedite the industry's shift away from Europe and toward the United States.

Rogermcfarley on April 8th, 2025 at 20:18 UTC »

It's mind bogglingly insane that Trump would at a 104% price increase on Chinese goods for Americans. Considering how much the USA buys from China I can't imagine for any length of time how this will work out for the better for America. It's more than destruction, surely Republicans are going to stop Trump the amount of economic decimation this will cause. It literally affects every person and every business in America. If you don't believe me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67tHtpac5ws

GuestCartographer on April 8th, 2025 at 20:17 UTC »

MAGA lost its fucking mind during COVID because it wasn't able to guy buy cheap Chinese crap at Walmart. The sticker shock from Trump's tariff war might actually kill them.

supercyberlurker on April 8th, 2025 at 20:16 UTC »

It's going to suck but no it's not going to get through to Trump or republicans.

They are already preparing the 'we are taking medicine' denials. They are fully prepped for disaster to come and then to act like it's part of their plan.