Following the imposition of sweeping 10% tariffs have rocked the global economy since coming into force over the weekend, rates on imports to the US from exporters like the EU or Japan rose further at 12.01am today.

China – Washington’s top economic rival but also a major trading partner – is the hardest hit, with tariffs imposed on its products since Trump returned to the White House now reaching a staggering 104%.

Trump said yesterday his government was working on “tailored deals” with trading partners, with the White House saying it would prioritise allies like Japan and South Korea.

His top trade official Jamieson Greer also told the Senate that Argentina, Vietnam and Israel were among those who had offered to reduce their tariffs.

Trump told a dinner with fellow Republicans yesterday night that countries were “dying” to make a deal.

“I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my a**,” he said.

But Beijing has shown no signs of standing down, vowing to fight a trade war “to the end” and promising countermeasures to defend its interests.

China’s retaliatory tariffs of 34% on US goods are due to enter in force tomorrow.

The US president believes his policy will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the US.

But many business experts and economists question how quickly – if ever – this can take place, warning of higher inflation as the tariffs raise prices.

Trump said yesterday the US was “taking in almost US$2 billion a day” from tariffs.

China ‘wants to make a deal’

He originally unveiled a 34% additional tariff on Chinese goods.

But after China countered with its own tariff of the same amount on American products, Trump piled on another 50% duty.

Counting existing levies imposed in February and March, that would take the cumulative tariff increase for Chinese goods during Trump’s second presidency to 104%.

Trump has insisted the ball was in China’s court, saying Beijing “wants to make a deal, badly, but they don’t know how to get it started”.

Late yesterday, Trump also said the US would announce a major tariff on pharmaceuticals “very shortly”.

Separately, Canada said that its tariffs on certain US auto imports will come into force today.

China ‘confident’

After trillions in equity value were wiped off global bourses in the last days, markets in Asia opened down again today, with Hong Kong plunging more than 3% and Japan’s Nikkei sinking 2.7%.

The foreign exchange markets also witnessed ructions, with the South Korean won falling to its lowest level against the dollar since 2009 this week.

China’s offshore yuan also fell to an all-time low against the US dollar, as Beijing’s central bank moved to weaken the yuan today for what Bloomberg said was the fifth day in a row.

Oil prices slumped, with the West Texas Intermediate closing below US$60 for the first time since April 2021.

The EU has sought to cool tensions, with the bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen warning against worsening the trade conflict in a call with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

She stressed stability for the world’s economy, alongside “the need to avoid further escalation”, said an EU readout.

The Chinese premier told von der Leyen that his country could weather the storm, saying it “is fully confident of maintaining sustained and healthy economic development”.

The EU – which Trump has criticised bitterly over its tariff regime – may unveil its response next week to new 20% levies it faces.

In retaliation against US steel and aluminium levies that took effect last month, the EU plans tariffs of up to 25% on American goods ranging from soybeans to motorcycles, according to a document seen by AFP.

‘Tailored deals’

Wall Street’s major indices closed lower yesterday, with the broad-based S&P 500 falling 1.6%.

In one public sign of friction over tariffs, key Trump ally Elon Musk described senior White House trade adviser Peter Navarro as “dumber than a sack of bricks”.

Musk, who has signalled his opposition to Trump’s trade policy, hit out after Navarro described his Tesla company as “a car assembler” that wants cheap foreign parts.