US President Donald Trump on Friday said that his tariff policy was “doing really well” despite China hiking levies on US goods to 125 percent in spiraling disputes between the world’s two biggest economies.
Investors dumped US government bonds, the US dollar tumbled and stocks seesawed after Beijing’s retaliation against Trump deepened concerns about already traumatized global markets.
Trump sent financial markets into a tailspin by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners last week, only to abruptly roll them back to 10 percent on Wednesday for 90 days — while raising levies on goods from China.
Photo: AP
“We are doing really well on our tariff policy,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network after China announced its latest hike.
“Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote.
The White House later said that Trump remained “optimistic” about a deal with China, and added that 15 other countries have offers “on the table” during his 90-day pause in their tariffs.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president made it very clear, when the United States is punched he will punch back harder.”
The US and Beijing have been trading salvos of increasingly harsh tariffs since last week.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) gave his first major comments on the tensions on Friday, with Chinese state media quoting him as saying his country was “not afraid.”
Xi also said the EU and China should “jointly resist unilateral bullying practices” during talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Beijing announced after Xi’s comments that new tariffs of 125 percent on US goods would take effect yesterday — almost matching the 145 percent level imposed on Chinese goods coming into the US.
Trump reiterated on Thursday that he was looking to do a deal with Xi despite the mounting tensions.
“He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” he told reporters.
However, US officials have made it clear they expect Xi to reach out first.
Meanwhile, yields on crucial US government bonds, which are normally seen as a financial refuge, were up again on Friday, indicating weaker demand as investors take fright.
Wall Street stocks finished higher on Friday, concluding a rollercoaster week on a positive note amid hopes that the market has absorbed the worst headlines about trade conflicts.
However, policymakers at the US Federal Reserve warned of higher inflation and slower growth ahead due to Trump’s tariff policy.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS