Marketing Newscast

(Edited 10 April 2025)

Having denied he would do so, US President Donald Trump yesterday paused for 90 days his imposition of higher trade tariffs of up to 50% on every country in the world. Because over 75 countries want to negotiate deals with the US, he said on his Truth Social media platform, he had “authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately”. There was one exception to this: China. Beijing was told by Trump he was “raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately,” from 104%, because of the “lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets.” His climbdown follows the most intense financial turmoil the markets have seen since Covid lockdowns. Investors have seen $10tn wiped off their pensions and savings in the past few days, and US bonds and the US dollar were looking less and less like the safe haven they have long been hailed as. One analyst even told City AM that US bonds were in “meltdown,” while another speculated that “China and other parties are dumping their holdings as a retaliatory tool”. “The bond market is very tricky. I was watching it ... I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy,” Trump said, while denying he was making a U-turn, telling reporters that “you have to be flexible,” because people were “getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid”. After Trump’s announcement, Wall Street rallied immediately: the Dow Jones closed 7.87% up last night and the Nasdaq managed an astonishing 12.16% gain in the last two and a half hours of trading. At the time of writing, the FTSE 100 is up 358.96 points at 8.038.44, a 4.67% gain. Other European stocks are also up this morning: the Continent-wide Stoxx 600 – which includes British companies – has climbed 7.3% and the Paris Cac 40 jumped 6.4%. Overnight, the Nikkei posted an 8.89% gain, while the Hang Seng managed 2.11%.

Trump’s pause has been universally welcomed. It triggered a slew of countries to make announcements that they were keen to advance trade deals with the US. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen again pushed Trump to agree a “zero-for-zero” agreement with the EU. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said Trump’s U-turn was a “welcome reprieve” for the world economy, and that Ottowa would commence negotiations on a new economic and security relationship with the US immediately after its next election, which he called last month. Vietnam’s deputy prime minister Ho Duc Phoc said its government and the United States had agreed to start negotiations on a “bilateral trade agreement... to promote stable and mutually beneficial economic and trade relations”. Vietnam had been facing 49% tariffs. Taiwan president Lai Ching-te said his government could eliminate duties on US products if Washington did the same. South Korean Trade Minister Cheong Inkyo welcomed the pause, saying: “The latest pause decision can be evaluated positively in that it gives us room to minimise impact on our industries while continuing tariff negotiations with the US”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK’s position on US tariffs “hasn’t changed”. The UK - like other countries - still faces a baseline 10% levy on exports to the US and so, she told Sky News this morning, Britain will continue to seek a trade deal with the US. “Our position hasn’t changed. We are continuing to approach this in a calm, steady way, continuing to negotiate and work in the UK’s national interest,” she said. “Overall what we want to see is a reduction in barriers to trade so countries can trade effectively, rather than increases.” Asked why Trump had changed his position, she said: “I can’t comment on the decisions that the US government is making. What we are doing is acting in the UK’s national interest.”

How has China reacted? Beijing’s imposition of an 84% tariff on all goods imported from the US went ahead as planned earlier today. It also put 18 US companies on trade restriction lists, and filed a new complaint with the World Trade Organization accusing the United States of “bullying China.” However, Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yongqian urged the US to meet it “halfway” in the mounting trade war, but also promised to “fight to the end” if compromise cannot be reached. “The door to dialogue is open, but it must be based on mutual respect and conducted in an equal manner,” he said. In equally conciliatory and robust tones, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing is not interested in a fight but will not fear if the US continues its tariff threats, saying: “The US cause doesn’t win the support of the people and will end in failure.” Meanwhile, China has been sounding out new potential trade partners. Commerce minister, Wang Wentao has held talks with his Malaysian counterpart, and he confirmed he also spoke to the EU trade and security commissioner on Tuesday, saying China was willing to deepen trade, investment and industrial cooperation, and that China and the EU would immediately restart negotiations on electric vehicles. Beijing also reached out to “join hands” with Australia, but that approach was rebuffed by the country’s defence minister, Richard Marles who told reporters: “We don’t want to see a trade war between America and China, to be clear, but our focus is on actually diversifying our trade.” Back in China, the head of China’s largest e-commerce association said Chinese companies that sell products on Amazon were preparing to raise prices for the US or quit that market because of the “unprecedented blow” from the tariffs. A China Daily editorial said that “caving in to the US pressure is out of the question for Beijing”. It continued: “Profits of export-oriented industries will take a blow and the resulting decline in manufacturing investment and consumer sentiment will dampen economic growth. But [Beijing] also knows that kowtowing to the US’s tariff bullying will gain it nothing, given that it is no secret the US is now intent on cutting China out of its consumer market and reshaping the global supply chains to serve its own narrow interests”. Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan has fallen to its lowest level since 2007, a rapid depreciation that follows two consecutive months of deflation, and makes Chinese exports cheaper globally, partly offsetting the impact of US tariffs.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the World Trade Organization, said yesterday an escalating US-China tariff war could cut trade in goods between the two countries by 80%. Given the two economic giants account for 3% of world trade, that could “severely damage the global economic outlook”, she warned.

In other news…

Telecoms companies including Vodafone, O2 owner Telefonica and Orange have written to UK, EU and Nato officials warning there could be global internet blackouts, highlighting a rising number of suspected Russian sabotage attacks on subsea cables that are putting critical services at risk. In an open letter, they wrote: “The repercussions of damage to subsea cables extend far beyond Europe, potentially affecting global internet and power infrastructure, international communications, financial transactions and critical services worldwide.” At least 11 subsea cables have been damaged in the Baltic Sea since October 2023 and similar outages have been reported in the North Sea, The Telegraph reports. Concerns have also been raised about Chinese sabotage following a number of incidents around Taiwan. The companies are calling for the entire subsea cable network to be classed as critical infrastructure to ensure they are granted the appropriate level of protection and security investment, and urge the EU, UK and Nato to share intelligence and undertake shared monitoring and surveillance initiatives.

West Yorkshire Police (WYP) has been temporarily blocking applications from white British candidates to its police constable entry programmes in an attempt to boost diversity, The Telegraph discloses, having been in contact with a whistleblower who was heavily involved in sifting job applications for recruits. He said he raised concerns over the policy with his bosses but was warned not to interfere. In his report to senior officers, he said: “This feeds into a general theme where the pipeline for anyone white British is strangled, whilst anyone not white British is ushered through onto the next available stage.” Black and far east Asian candidates were considered particularly under-represented and given a “gold” ranking, followed by those of south-east Asian origin who were in the silver tier, he said. “White others”, including candidates from Irish and eastern European backgrounds, were bronze, the whistleblower, who has since left the force, said. The process worked by giving minority candidates months to register an interest and fill out applications while white candidates were given as little as 48 hours. A spokesperson from WYP appeared to confirm the whistleblowers account, telling the newspaper: “The most recent census found that 23% of people in West Yorkshire identified as being from an ethnic minority background. Our current police officer representation from ethnic minority backgrounds is around 9%. To address this under-representation, we use Positive Action under the Equality Act 2010. “Our use of this was recently reviewed by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services in an Activism and Impartiality inspection, and no issues were identified. “Positive Action allows people from under-represented groups who express an interest in joining the force to complete an application, which is then held on file until a recruitment window is opened. No interviews are held until the window is officially opened to all candidates.” WYP is the fourth largest police force in England. It employs 19 diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) staff – many of them serving police officers – at a cost of just over £1m a year. A report earlier this year suggested it spends more money on DEI than any other force.

Royal Mail says Ofcom's proposed reforms to the one-price-goes-anywhere postal service could add "significant costs" to customers and "will not deliver the efficient, reliable and financially sustainable Universal Service that customers need”. Royal Mail, which is owned by International Distribution Services (IDS) has agreed with Ofcom that the requirement deliver Second Class letters six days a week should be removed in favour of delivering every other weekday, but says other proposals put forward by Ofcom, including a 99.5% target for First Class and Second Class letters to be delivered within three and five days, respectively, are "over specified and will add significant cost to the delivery of the Universal Service". Royal Mail also wants Ofcom to agree to remove "unnecessary" regulation that prevents it from offering parcel tracking for Universal Service customers.

Meanwhile, Royal Mail is proposing to give the NHS its own postage stamps to stop late letters leading to missed appointments, The Telegraph reveals, with the stamp barcode system used to automatically identify, separate and process NHS letters. The special NHS barcodes have been agreed by the health service and Royal Mail after consultation with patient groups, including Healthwatch England, as a way to improve the current situation in which late letters are behind 2m of the 8m missed NHS appointments each year. It will also mean the letters can be filtered from other post and prioritised, even during times of national disruption such as strikes, or when the Royal Mail is missing its service targets, the newspaper explains.

The Government has offered to buy the coking coal that is essential to keep steel production going at British Steel in Scunthorpe, the BBC has been told. The news follows warnings from the Chinese-owned company that it is running out of the raw materials to keep its plant's two blast furnaces operational, and this appears to be an offer to buy time while negotiations over the future of the plant continue. Owner Jingye says the furnaces are "no longer financially sustainable" and so around 2,700 job losses are on the cards. Trade unions say the situation is on a "cliff-edge". The government has not ruled out nationalising British Steel, saying all options remain on the table. It is not known whether the offer to Jingye, which has apparently been put in writing, will be accepted. Talks resume today. The Department of Business and Trade did not comment on the BBC’s story.

Most small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are no longer prioritising net zero practices, according to a survey of around 500 business owners by technology firm Bionic, which cites cost pressures as one reason for the move away from green practices in the last year.

MPs on the House of Common’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee have called for a ‘Netflix tax’ to help pay for a new cultural fund, administered by the British Film Institute (BFI), to create more British drama shows. The report, released today, says US media giants such as Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Apple should “put their money where their mouth is” and pay a 5% levy on their UK revenues to “correct” an imbalance in domestic and foreign TV dramas. British public service broadcasters were struggling to fund quintessentially British programmes, they said, because commissioning US streaming services prioritised shows with broad international appeal. The media giants need to “step up their support for the making of culturally British content, and not just reap the cultural and training benefits it provides,” they said, echoing demands from high-profile industry figures including Peter Kosminsky, the creator of Wolf Hall, and Patrick Spence, the former ITV executive who produced Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The committee said the new fund should be voluntary for a year, whereafter Government could make it statutory if necessary. However, streaming giants including Netflix have pointed out that new taxes risk damage to the British TV sector, and that US companies already invest heavily in ‘quintessentially British’ productions, citing the recent Netflix hits Adolescence and Toxic Town, Apple’s Slow Horses and Amazon Prime’s Clarkson’s Farm.

Sky News is reporting that The Treasury will today announce that Nikhil Rathi, the Financial Conduct Authority CEO, is to stay in the role for a second term starting in the autumn, bringing an end to speculation that the former London Stock Exchange boss would quit the City watchdog.