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US President Donald Trump has announced a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports as he accused the country’s leftist leadership of orchestrating a “witch hunt” against his right-wing ally, former leader Jair Bolsonaro.In a letter Wednesday to counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump insisted that Bolsonaro’s trial — for allegedly plotting a coup to hold on to power after 2022 elections he lost — “should not be taking place.”Trump has historically reserved his tariff ire for countries with which the United States runs a negative trade balance. Brazil is not one.Analysts say ideological considerations, not economics, are behind the US president’s actions in defense of Bolsonaro, dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics.”- Firm friends -“Brazil came up on Trump’s radar now because Bolsonaro’s trial is advancing and there are Republican lawmakers who brought the issue to the White House,” Leonardo Paz, a political scientist at Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP. Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president’s son and a Brazilian congressman, recently moved to the United States where he lobbies for pressure on Brasilia and the judges presiding over his father’s coup trial. Lula blames Bolsonaro’s son for troubling the bilateral waters, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered an investigation into whether the US-based campaign constitutes obstruction of justice.Moraes is an arch foe of Bolsonaro, who has labeled the justice a “dictator.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke in May of a “great possibility” of sanctions against Moraes, who has clashed repeatedly with rightwingers and former Trump ally Elon Musk in a quest to stamp out online disinformation.Bolsonaro calls Trump a “friend” and says they are both victims of “persecution.”- ‘Non-economic reasons’ -In his missive to Lula, Trump complained of “a very unfair trade relationship” with Brazil.But official Brazilian figures show a near two-decade sustained surplus in favor of the United States. Last year, it was almost $284 million.The United States is Brazil’s third-largest trading partner after China and the European Union. It imports mainly crude oil and semi-finished iron and steel products from the South American powerhouse.Brazil in turn primarily imports non-electric engines and machines, and fuel from up north.In a sign of Brazilian business jitters, the Sao Paulo Federation of Industries called Thursday for a “calm” response to the “non-economic reasons” for Trump’s tariffs.Lula has said Brazil would be willing to reciprocate, in spite of Trump’s warning of further escalation if it did so.- Free speech tussle -Trump also complained of Brazilian “attacks” on free speech and “hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL censorship orders to US media platforms” issued by Brazil’s Supreme Court.Last month, the court toughened social media regulation, upping the accountability of platforms for user content in a groundbreaking case for Latin America on the spread of fake news and hate speech.Last year, Moraes blocked Musk’s X platform for 40 days for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation.He had also ordered the suspension in Brazil of Rumble, a video-sharing platform popular with conservative and far-right voices — including Trump’s son Don Jr. — over its refusal to block a user accused of spreading disinformation.Detractors accuse the judge of running a campaign to stifle free speech.- BRICS brawl -“It didn’t help that the BRICS summit was held in Brazil at a time a narrative exists in the United States portraying the bloc as anti-Western,” said Paz.Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the group on Sunday spoke out against Trump’s “indiscriminate” tariff hikes, prompting the president to threaten further trade penalties.Members China, Russia and India refrained from hitting back, but Lula took it upon himself to defend the “sovereign” nature of BRICS governments, insisting: “We don’t want an emperor.”Behind the scenes, Brasilia has been negotiating with Washington for months to try and avoid the worst of Trump’s tariff war.A member of Lula’s entourage told AFP that Trump’s attack on Brazil was partly inspired by “discomfort caused by the strength of the BRICS,” whose members account for about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output.

As President Donald Trump ramps up tariff threats on US trading partners, his administration is taking aim at a tactic said to be used by Chinese companies to dodge the levies by moving goods through third countries.The issue is “transshipping,” or having products pass through a country to avoid harsher trade barriers elsewhere, a practice Washington has accused Chinese companies of.”Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff,” Trump warned in letters issued since Monday, days after unveiling a trade pact with Vietnam that promised steeper duties for such goods too.”The clause is less about Vietnam per se and more about signaling that rules-of-origin games across the broader Asian production network will attract a premium penalty,” said Barath Harithas, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.He told AFP the White House is likely making two points at once: closing a back door to China and putting the rest of Asia on notice.Noting that Vietnam was “the single biggest winner from Chinese supply-chain diversion since the first Trump tariffs in 2018,” Harithas said the US administration is keen to avoid a repeat of this situation.Ten of the 14 countries first to receive Trump’s tariff letters this week were in Asia and mostly Southeast Asia, which sits between Chinese component suppliers and western consumer markets.”Washington’s message seems to be: ‘Either help us police Chinese evasion or absorb higher duties yourselves,'” Harithas said.- ‘Whack-a-mole’ -“I think it is clear that transshipment of Chinese goods so far this year is massive,” said Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.While there has been a drop in direct exports from China to the United States, this is “more than offset by” trade shifts elsewhere, he told AFP. In a recent report, Brooks noted that Chinese exports to both Thailand and Vietnam started surging “anomalously” in early 2025 as Trump began threatening widespread tariffs.It is unclear if all of these goods end up in the United States.But he cast doubt on the likelihood that domestic demand in both these countries rocketed right around the time that Washington imposed fresh duties, saying tariffs tend to instead bog down global trade due to uncertainty.Similarly, Chinese exports to the European Union, he said, also rose markedly in early 2025.”It’s a little bit like whack-a-mole,” Brooks said, adding that as long as Washington maintains different tariff rates for different countries, business will try to take advantage of the lowest levels.This in turn could be a reason that US inflation remains muted despite wide-ranging duties including a 10 percent rate on almost all US trading partners, and levels of up to 50 percent on sector-specific imports like steel and aluminum.Transshipment is not a China-specific issue. Concerns also flared in recent years over goods bound for Russia — skirting European export controls — after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.- Complications -But it is difficult to draw a line defining product origins.While Washington may take issue with Chinese-headquartered companies moving production facilities to third countries, for example, many firms genuinely export components for value-added manufacturing to take place.In Vietnam, raw materials from the world’s second biggest economy are the lifeblood of manufacturing industries. There is massive uncertainty over how an incoming 40 percent US tariff on goods passing through the country — double the 20 percent rate applied to Vietnamese goods — might be applied.Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures, said the Trump administration appears to be trying to simplify an otherwise complex web of legal definitions.”But whether or not that will work for other trading partners remains to be seen,” she said.While products from China might be impacted, she believes the White House’s intentions stretch beyond Beijing.”They’re trying to load a bunch of negotiations on to this reciprocal (tariffs) vehicle,” she added. “And they want other countries to play by the rules.”

Stocks largely rose on Thursday, with London striking a record high and US indices also edging to fresh new peaks, as investors looked past US President Donald Trump’s plethora of tariff threats.Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq shrugged off early weakness to eke out gains that left them at all-time highs.US airline shares enjoyed a particularly buoyant session with Delta, United and American Airlines all winning double digit gains after Delta’s results topped estimates.Investors are largely ignoring a flood of tariff announcements from Trump this week affecting myriad important trading partners, analysts said.”It’s pretty clear that the market does not want to pay attention to tariff news until the tariffs are actually in place,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.”As long as there is any plausible, any possible reason for tariffs to get renegotiated or pushed back or modified, then the market is going to just not respond to the news,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index rose more than one percent to set a new all-time high, lifted also by a surge in mining stocks after Trump said he would enact a 50-percent copper tariff on August 1.Paris stocks advanced, tracking gains in Asia, but Frankfurt ended the day lower. Negotiators from around the world have been trying to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline pushed back to August 1.”Indications that the EU is edging closer to a deal with the US, with an agreement thought to be possible in a few days, has added to the positive vibes,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.There was little global reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50-percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with higher duties, with the United States running a goods trade surplus with the South American giant.- Key figures at around 2140 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 44,650.64 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,280.46 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 20,630.66 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 1.2 percent at 8,975.96 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,902.25 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,456.81 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1698 from $1.1720 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3576 from $1.3586Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.19 yen from 146.33 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.16 pence from 86.27 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.5 percent at $68.64 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.7 percent at $66.57 per barrelburs-jmb/ksb

Stocks largely rose on Thursday, with London striking a record high, as investors remained optimistic that governments will reach deals to avoid US tariffs.The dollar climbed versus main rivals while oil prices slid.Bitcoin steadied after topping $112,000 for the first time on Wednesday.Wall Street’s main indices wobbled in morning trading, a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set fresh highs thanks to a surge in US chip titan Nvidia that pushed the firm to a record $4 trillion valuation at one point.But as European market’s closed, both the Dow and S&P 500 were in the green.In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index rose more than one percent to set a new all-time high, lifted also by a surge in mining stocks after US President Donald Trump said he would enact a 50-percent copper tariff on August 1.Paris stocks advanced, tracking gains in Asia, but Frankfurt ended the day lower. “European markets in general continue to shrug off Donald Trump’s daily tariff updates, perhaps seeing them as noise and not facts,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.”Trump is throwing out numbers left, right and centre, and investors have begun to dismiss anything that isn’t set in stone,” he added.Negotiators from around the world have been trying to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline pushed back to August 1.”Indications that the EU is edging closer to a deal with the US, with an agreement thought to be possible in a few days, has added to the positive vibes,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.The EU expects Trump to keep a 10-percent baseline tariff on EU goods with exemptions for critical sectors such as airplanes, spirits and cosmetics.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.There was little global reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50-percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with higher duties, with the United States running a goods trade surplus with the South American giant.Traders were given few guides on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes published on Wednesday from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward.While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.”There is an understanding that the tariffs could invite higher prices and worsening inflation, but the stock market and the Treasury market continue to operate with an attitude of ‘seeing is believing’,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”They haven’t seen enough in the hard data to be convinced that the inflation threat is coming to fruition,” he added.- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 44,732.82 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,278.04New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 20,596.43London – FTSE 100: UP 1.2 percent at 8,975.96 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,902.25 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,456.81 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1679 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3558 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: UP at 146.49 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.14 pence from 86.21 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.6 percent at $69.07 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $67.12 per barrelburs-rl/jj

E-commerce giant Shein faces a possible 150-million-euro ($175-million) fine in France for failing to properly get consent to track users on the internet.The regulator, the CNIL, faulted the fast-fashion retailer for using trackers called cookies that enable for targeted advertising to users without their approval as required in Europe, or for using a confusing method to get consent.It also found during a 2023 inspection that when users refused the tracking cookies Shein continued to read information from them.Given the firm has the technical and staff resources necessary to comply with the regulations its behaviour was negligent, said CNIL.Shein had recently complied with the regulations, it added.A final decision on fining the fast-fashion giant should come within weeks.Shein called the proposed amount of the fine “disproportionate”, in a statement sent to AFP.”Since August 2023 we have actively worked with the CNIL to ensure our compliance and respond to their queries,” the China-founded firm said.This additional possible fine from the CNIL follows a record 40 million-euro penalty it received last week from France’s competition and anti-fraud office over “deceptive commercial practices” by misleading customers on price deals and on its environmental impact.  

An Irish regulator helping police European Union data privacy said Thursday it had launched an investigation into TikTok over the transfer of European users’ personal data to servers in China. TikTok was fined 530 million euros ($620 million) in May by the Data Protection Commission over sending personal data to China, though the Chinese social media giant had insisted this data was only accessed remotely.The DPC on Thursday said it had been informed by TikTok in April that “limited EEA user data had in fact been stored on servers in China,” then deleted, contrary to evidence previously presented by the company.The watchdog said it had expressed “deep concern” in its previous investigation that “TikTok had submitted inaccurate information”.TikTok plans to appeal the May fine — the second largest ever imposed by the DPC.The social media giant has been in the crosshairs of Western governments for years over fears personal data could be used by China for espionage or propaganda purposes.But TikTok has insisted that it has never received any requests from Chinese authorities for European users’ data.- Big tech -TikTok, which has 1.5 billion users worldwide, is a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance.But since it has its European headquarters in Ireland, the Irish authority is the lead regulator in Europe for the social platform — as well as others such as Google, Meta and Apple.The DPC is tasked with ensuring companies comply with the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), launched in 2018 to protect European consumers from personal data breaches. Its latest probe against the Chinese-owned giant will determine “whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations” to comply with the GDPR.The data protection watchdog has imposed a number of massive fines against tech companies as the EU seeks to rein in big tech firms over privacy, competition, disinformation and taxation.For years, TikTok promoted its data protection policies. It made much of what it called Project Clover, a plan to invest 12 billion euros (currently $14 billion) in European data security over 10 years, from 2023 onwards.It claimed that Europeans’ data was by default stored in Norway, Ireland, and the United States and “that employees in China have no access to restricted data,” such as phone numbers or IP addresses.TikTok told AFP in May that it had “promptly” informed the DPC of a technical issue regarding data transfers.The social media giant is also under pressure in the United States where it faces a looming ban if it does not find a non-Chinese buyer. US President Donald Trump said at the end of June that a group of buyers had been found for TikTok, adding that he could name the purchasers in a matter of weeks.

An Irish regulator helping police European Union data privacy said Thursday it had launched an investigation into TikTok over the transfer of European users’ personal data to servers in China. TikTok was fined 530 million euros ($620 million) in May by the Data Protection Commission over European data transfers to China, though the Chinese social media giant had insisted this data was only accessed remotely.The DPC on Thursday said it had been informed by TikTok in April that “limited EEA user data had in fact been stored on servers in China,” contrary to evidence presented by the company.The regulator said it had expressed “deep concern” in its previous investigation that “TikTok had submitted inaccurate information”.TikTok is a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance.But since it has its European headquarters in Ireland, the Irish authority is the lead regulator in Europe for the social platform — as well as others such as Google, Meta and Apple.The DPC is tasked with ensuring companies comply with the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), launched in 2018 to protect European consumers from personal data breaches. It has imposed a number of big fines against tech companies as the EU seeks to rein in big tech firms over privacy, competition, disinformation and taxation.

Stock markets mostly rose Thursday on optimism that governments would reach deals to avoid US tariffs, with London hitting a record high. London’s FTSE 100 index jumped one percent in morning trading, lifted also by a surge in mining stocks after US President Donald Trump said he would enact a 50-percent copper tariff on August 1.The dollar fell versus main rivals and oil prices slid. Bitcoin steadied after topping $112,000 for the first time on Wednesday.Paris and Frankfurt stock markets advanced, tracking gains in Asia and after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit all-time highs Wednesday in New York.”European markets in general continue to shrug off Donald Trump’s daily tariff updates, perhaps seeing them as noise and not facts,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.”Trump is throwing out numbers left, right and centre, and investors have begun to dismiss anything that isn’t set in stone,” he added.Negotiators from around the world have been trying to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline pushed back to August 1.”Indications that the EU is edging closer to a deal with the US, with an agreement thought to be possible in a few days, has added to the positive vibes,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.The EU expects Trump to keep a 10-percent baseline tariff on EU goods with exemptions for critical sectors like airplanes, spirits and cosmetics.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.Thursday’s stock market rallies followed a healthy lead from Wall Street, thanks to a surge in US chip titan Nvidia that pushed the firm to a record $4 trillion valuation at one point.There was little global reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50 percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with higher duties, with the United States running a goods trade surplus with the South American giant.Traders were given few guides on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward.While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.- Key figures at around 1030 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,956.73 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,930.37Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 24,584.82Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,458.30 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1733 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3606 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.17 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.24 pence from 86.21 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $69.92 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $68.03 per barrel

President Donald Trump announced a 50-percent tariff Wednesday targeting Brazil as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-leader, and said a US “national security” levy on copper would begin in August.In a letter addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump criticized the treatment of his right-wing ally Jair Bolsonaro as an “international disgrace.”Bolsonaro is facing trial over accusations he plotted a coup after his narrow 2022 election loss to Lula.In response to Trump’s tariff letter, Lula warned of possible reciprocation, writing on social media that “any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity.”Brazil said earlier on Wednesday it had summoned the US charge d’affaires over Trump’s previous criticism of the Bolsonaro trial.The 50-percent US tariff on Brazilian goods will take effect August 1, Trump said in his letter, mirroring a deadline that dozens of other economies face.On that same date, a 50-percent tariff on US imports of copper — a key metal used in green energy and other technologies — will take effect, Trump announced Wednesday evening on social media.He said the move followed a “robust NATIONAL SECURITY ASSESSMENT,” likely alluding to a Department of Commerce investigation into copper launched this year.”Copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense!” Trump said.- Escalation threats -Trump’s message to Lula was the latest in more than 20 such letters the US president has released since Monday, after repeatedly threatening to simply decide a rate for countries as negotiations continue over his elevated “reciprocal” tariffs.Brazil had not been among those threatened previously with duties above a 10-percent baseline, and the United States runs a goods trade surplus with Brazil.China said in response that “arbitrary” tariffs such as the 50-percent levy on copper “serve no party’s interests”.”We have always opposed the overstretching of the concept of national security,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news conference.On Wednesday, Trump also addressed letters to leaders of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Moldova, spelling out duties ranging from 20 percent to 30 percent that would also take effect on August 1.Similar to a first batch of documents published Monday, the levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some partners received notably lower rates this time.While Trump in April imposed a 10-percent levy on almost all trading partners, he unveiled — and then withheld — higher rates for dozens of economies.The deadline for those steeper levels to take effect was meant to be Wednesday, before Trump postponed it further to August 1.Countries that faced the threats of elevated duties began receiving letters spelling out US tariff rates on their products.In the messages, Trump justified his tariffs as a response to trade ties that he says are “far from Reciprocal.”The letters urged countries to manufacture products in the United States to avoid duties, while threatening further escalation if leaders retaliated.Other countries that have received Trump’s letters include key US allies Japan and South Korea, as well as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand.- EU deal in ‘coming days’? -Analysts have noted that Asian countries have been a key target so far.But all eyes are on the state of negotiations with major partners who have yet to receive such letters, including the European Union.European stock markets rose at the start of trading on Thursday, with London hitting a fresh record high on optimism that governments will strike deals to avoid the worst of US tariffs.The Trump administration is under pressure to unveil more trade pacts. So far, Washington has only reached agreements with Britain and Vietnam, alongside a deal to temporarily lower tit-for-tat levies with China.Trump said on Tuesday his government was “probably two days off” from sending the EU a letter with an updated tariff rate.An EU spokesperson said Wednesday the bloc wants to strike a deal with the United States “in the coming days,” and has shown readiness to reach an agreement in principle.Apart from tariffs targeting goods from different countries, Trump has rolled out sector-specific duties on steel, aluminum and autos since returning to the White House in January.

London hit a record high Thursday as equity markets were boosted by optimism governments will hammer out deals to avoid the worst of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs even after he broadened his range of measures.Negotiators from around the world have tried to reach agreements with Washington since Trump in April unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell, with a July 9 deadline recently pushed back to August 1.Letters have been sent in recent days to more than 20 trading partners — including Japan and South Korea — setting out new tolls, with some higher and some lower than the initial levels.Trump also said this week he would put a 50 percent tariff on copper imports, while considering a 200 percent charge for pharmaceuticals.However, analysts said the threats are largely being seen as negotiating tools, and investors have increasingly taken them in their stride, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting all-time highs in New York.David Chao, global market strategist for Asia Pacific at Invesco, painted a positive picture even in light of the threatened levies.”Should the US ultimately impose higher tariffs on Asian countries, the region appears better positioned to withstand the resulting headwinds,” he wrote.”A softer dollar should give Asian central banks greater flexibility to ease policy to support their domestic economies without heightened concerns over currency depreciation.”London jumped one percent to a record high at the open, with Frankfurt and Paris also advancing.In Asia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei and Jakarta all rose, though Tokyo edged down with Manila, Bangkok and Wellington.The rallies followed a healthy lead from Wall Street, where the Nasdaq hit another peak thanks to a surge in Nvidia that pushed the firm to a $4 trillion valuation at one point.The upbeat mood helped push bitcoin above $112,000 for the first time.There was also little reaction to news that Trump had hit Brazil with a 50 percent tariff as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.In a letter addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, he called the treatment of his right-wing ally an “international disgrace”. Bolsonaro is on trial over accusations he plotted a coup after his 2022 election loss to Lula.Lula said he will impose reciprocal levies on the United States.Brazil had not been among those threatened with these higher duties previously, with the United States running a goods trade surplus instead with the South American giant.Traders were given few guides on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans after minutes from its June policy meeting showed officials divided on the best way forward.Boss Jerome Powell’s patient approach to lowering borrowing costs has drawn the ire of Trump, who on Wednesday said on social media that they were “AT LEAST 3 Points too high”.While the board sees the president’s tariffs as inflationary, the minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.Companies might choose not to raise consumer prices until they depleted their product stockpiles, for example, but supply chain disruptions caused by the levies could trigger larger price hikes.”While a few participants noted that tariffs would lead to a one-time increase in prices and would not affect longer-term inflation expectations, most participants noted the risk that tariffs could have more persistent effects on inflation,” the report said.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 39,646.36 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 24,028.37 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,509.68 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 8,952.92Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1733 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3610 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: UP at 146.32 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.18 pence from 86.21 penceWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $68.39 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $70.26 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,458.30 (close)