Desperate Don Dumps WTO rule book
Tue 7:58 am +00:00, 8 Apr 2025 1Trump’s tariff war breaks the rules – and dares the world to stop him
Washington rewrites trade law by ignoring it
The future of global trade and the impact of US President Desperate Don’s latest tariff initiatives will largely depend on Washington’s ultimate objective. Is the United States preparing to leave the World Trade Organization (WTO), or is it trying to force long-overdue reforms upon an organization it has increasingly sidelined? By imposing sweeping new tariffs, the US has not only blatantly violated its WTO commitments but has also signaled that it no longer feels bound by international trade law. Moreover, Washington has shown no intention of invoking the WTO’s existing mechanisms for handling emergency tariff hikes.
FTSE 100 jumps 1.2% at start of trading as Europe rebounds
Newsflash: Europen stock markets are rising at the start of trading, despite fears that the trade war between the US and China is intensifying.
Following three days of turmoil, the UK’s London stock exchange is regaining some ground. The FTSE 100 share index is 95 points higher in early trading, up 1.2%, at 7799 points.
Airline operator IAG are the top rise, up 4.9%, followed by technology investor Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (+4%), miners, oil companies and banks.
Markets are higher across Europe too; France’s CAC index jumped by 1.8%, and Germany’s DAX is 1.3% higher.
This follows gains in some Asia-Pacific markets today, with Japan’s Nikkei jumping by 6%.
The rally comes despite China’s commerce ministry vowing to fight US tariffs “to the end”, after Donald Trump threatened to impose additional levies of 50% unless Beijing dropped its retaliatory tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last night that he hoped tariff rates will come down as negotiations get going with US trading partners.
Jim Reid, market strategist at Deutsche Bank, says that optimism over a US-Japan tariff deal is lifting markets:
He told clients:
The market selloff has shown some initial signs of stabilising after the incredible rout over recent days. For instance, the S&P 500 was “only” down -0.23% yesterday, and futures this morning are up +1.32%, which would be the first positive day since the reciprocal tariffs were announced.
That pattern has been evident globally, and in Asia this morning, the Nikkei (+4.99%) is on course for its best day since the summer turmoil, surging back after Treasury Secretary Bessent said that “I would expect that Japan is going to get priority”.
“After multiple punishing sessions, stock markets appear to have started their road to recovery,” says Russ Mould, investment director at brokerage AJ Bell.
Mould explains:
“Asia led the way, including a 6% advance from the Nikkei after Japan effectively jumped to the front of the queue for tariff negotiations with Donald Trump. Reports that Japan would get priority status for talks fired up markets in hope of a resolution.
“Trump has the same end-goal for the countries on which he has imposed new tariffs. He wants to make it easier for US companies to do business overseas, for the partnering countries to buy more US goods, and for the US to get its hands on strategically important assets such as natural resources.
Investors will be pondering whether a breakthrough in tariffs could unleash “the mother of all rebound rallies”, Mould reports, before cautioning:
“Markets could stay fragile for days and weeks to come. It would only take a new sign of aggression from Trump or a trading partner fighting back hard to cause upset again. Market recoveries can quickly lose momentum if investors lose faith in a remedy to the situation that caused the original sell-off.”
guardian
I listened to an Australian economist on RT news last evening and he was saying that it was the wealthy 85% who play the stock market and who were wailing about tariffs.
In his view, the ordinary Joe like you and me will be far better off and the billionaires screaming blue murder today make me think he’s right.