"We have to have a deal that we want," says Donald Trump, as he hits the pause button on his tariffs.
The US President continues to dominate headlines this week as well. He has announced a 90-day pause on his “reciprocal” tariffs, reducing tariff rates for most US trade partners to 10%. However, he has increased tariffs on China to 125%, accusing it of showing a "lack of respect to the world’s markets." President Trump’s tariff reversal came just hours after these reciprocal tariffs came into effect.
Retaliating to Trump’s tariff hike, China has also upped tariff on US imports to 125%. China's Customs Tariff Commission said, “Even if the US imposes higher tariffs, it would no longer make economic sense and ultimately go down as a joke in world economic history." "Given that it's already impossible for the Chinese market to accept US imports at the current tariff level if the United States imposes further tariffs on Chinese products, China will ignore it," it said.
Now, Trump has said that he is very close to making his first tariff deal, but wants to ensure it is proper for the US.
And speaking of trade deals – India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, has said that India’s talks with the US for a bilateral trade agreement are “progressing well.” He also emphasised that India is ahead of others in this US tariff race.
Staying with the Trump tariff story – global markets remain volatile amidst the tariff action by the US President, and China’s retaliation. Markets across the world have been topsy-turvy, with some of the sharpest cuts and strongest gains in history recorded within days. Indian equities also mirrored this global volatility, ending the week almost unchanged, following Friday's stellar rally.
The other big story from India this week – the Reserve Bank of India has cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6 per cent. This is the second consecutive reduction in the repo rate – the rate at which the RBI lends to banks. The RBI has also lowered its growth outlook for India’s GDP to 6.5% from the earlier 6.7%.
That’s all the time we have on this edition of the Business News Wrap. Log on to hook.online for the latest updates.
