Afp Business Asia

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)

In the basement of a Jakarta housing complex, surrounded by the silver piping of the air-conditioning system, Indonesian technician Ari Sobaruddin is doing his part to tackle climate change.Ari and his colleagues will spend 12 hours capturing AC refrigerant to stop this “super-pollutant” — thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide — from leaking into the atmosphere.It is plodding, sweaty work, but Ari, a member of climate startup Recoolit, does not mind.”I love it because it’s about preserving nature, saving nature,” the 30-year-old technician told AFP.Recoolit began working in Indonesia in 2021 to tackle what it considers an often-overlooked contributor to climate change: refrigerants.These gases found in air-conditioners, fridges and cars are an old environmental problem.In the 1970s, research showed refrigerants called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were destroying the ozone layer.Countries agreed to phase them out under a deal that came into force in 1989.While their replacements, particularly hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are less harmful to the ozone layer, they still have major climate-warming properties.”And those are in AC units, in the form of refrigerant banks… everywhere in developing countries right now,” said Recoolit’s head of operations Yosaka Eka Putranta.- ‘Growing problem’ -There are international agreements to phase out HFCs too, but, particularly in developing countries, they will be in use for decades yet. Demand is increasing as climate change fuels record temperatures and expanding middle classes seek cooling and refrigeration. “It is a growing problem because we need our indoor environments to be more resilient to climate change,” said Robyn Schofield, associate professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Melbourne.HFCs are expected to account for between 7 and 19 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to the United Nations.The risk comes during maintenance or disposal, when refrigerants like the HFC Ari is capturing can be released accidentally or on purpose.In Indonesia, as in most countries, this venting is illegal, but enforcement is limited.”It’s odourless, we cannot trace it. (Capturing) it takes so much resources. The machine, the people,” said Recoolit’s senior business development manager Erik Cahyanta.”So some people just release it.”Recoolit trains, equips and incentivises technicians to capture refrigerant so it can be destroyed.Technicians get 50,000 rupiah ($3) per kilogram of recovered refrigerant, which Recoolit sends to a government-approved cement kiln or municipal incinerator to be destroyed.While refrigerant can be recycled or reused, Recoolit argues this is imperfect.”Who’s going to guarantee that when the refrigerants are injected again… they are going to stay there without another venting?” said Yosaka.- Big tech interest -Recoolit sells carbon credits based on the amount of refrigerant it destroys, priced at $75 a unit.Carbon credits have faced criticism in recent years, and Benja Faecks of Carbon Market Watch warned that “offsetting” can give the impression “that emissions can simply be erased through financial transactions”.This allows “polluters to claim ‘carbon neutrality’ or ‘negating ongoing emissions’ without actually reducing their own emissions,” she told AFP.Recoolit argues its carbon credits are robust because it measurably destroys a climate-warming gas. While many carbon credits are sold on exchanges with third-party verification, Recoolit sells directly to buyers and uses a credit methodology developed by the Carbon Containment Lab, a nonprofit spun out from Yale University.Yosaka said canisters are sampled, and analysis is then done by the region’s only qualified lab, in Malaysia, to confirm the contents are refrigerants.Destruction facilities pass a “trial burn test” confirming they can break down refrigerants.Recoolit also pays less than the market price for coolants to avoid creating a market for new refrigerants.Refrigerant destruction remains a relatively small part of the carbon market. Existing players include US-based Tradewater, which grew out of California’s state-level emissions caps and has worked in Latin America and Africa.But Recoolit has attracted attention from one of the market’s biggest corporate players: Google.Earlier this year, the tech giant announced a partnership with Recoolit and a second company to prevent emissions equivalent to one million tons of carbon dioxide.Google says it wants to help Recoolit scale up operations and expand outside Indonesia.Some critics say refrigerant capture should simply be enforced by government policy, but Recoolit argues it is filling a real-world gap unlikely to be addressed otherwise.And Schofield said the need for refrigerant capture is significant.”As a climate action… it’s a very good one,” she said.”I wish we had more of it.”

Donald Trump’s insistence that “spoiled” Japan imports more US rice is adding to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s problems ahead of elections that could sink his premiership after less than a year in office.Japan is one of more than 20 countries receiving letters this week from the US president warning of “reciprocal” tariffs from August 1 failing a trade agreement with Washington. The 25 percent across-the-board levy for Japan is separate from similar charges for cars, steel and aluminium that have already been imposed.Trump wants to get Japanese firms to manufacture more in the United States and for Tokyo to buy more US goods — notably gas and oil, cars and rice — to reduce the $70 billion trade deficit with the Asian powerhouse.”I have great respect for Japan, they won’t take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,” Trump said on Truth Social on June 30.Rice, though, is small fry in the grand scheme of bilateral business between the countries.BMI Fitch Solutions said that it accounts for only 0.37 percent of US exports to Japan, and that even doubling that would have a “negligible” effect on overall trade.”(The) Trump administration seems more concerned with the optics of striking deals than with meaningfully narrowing the US trade deficit,” BMI said.For Japan, doubling imports could be swallowed if only the economic impact is considered.It could be well worth it if such a concession could reduce or even remove Trump’s damaging 25 percent tariff on Japanese autos.- Lost majority -But the politics of rice are fraught for Ishiba, whose ruling coalition disastrously lost its majority in lower house elections in October.Upper house elections on July 20 could see a similar drubbing, which might prompt Ishiba to quit, 10 months after taking the helm of the long-dominant but unloved Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).Rice Japan holds a cherished place in Japanese national culture — samurai reputedly used to be paid in it.Relying on imports — currently almost all rice consumed is grown domestically — would be seen by many as a national humiliation for the country of 124 million people, and risky.”Culturally, and historically, the Japanese people are all about rice,” Shinichi Katayama, the fourth-generation owner of 120-year-old Tokyo rice wholesaler Sumidaya, told AFP.”I personally welcome having an additional option for Japanese consumers. But I also feel the move (letting in lots of foreign rice) is too early from the standpoint of food security,” he said.”If we become reliant on rice imports, we may face shortages again when something happens.”While Japan already imports rice from the United States, many consumers see foreign, long-grain varieties as being of dubious quality and lacking the requisite stickiness of the homegrown short-grain rice.Bad memories linger from when Japan suffered a cold summer in 1993 and had to import large volumes of the grain from Thailand.American rice “tastes awful. It lacks stickiness”, said Sueo Matsumoto, 69, who helps families where children have hearing difficulties.”If they (the Americans) want to export to Japan, they must work at it. They must think about consumer preference,” he told AFP in Tokyo.- No sacrifice -As a result, Ishiba’s government has been at pains to say it won’t bend on the issue — although this may change after the election.”We have no intention of sacrificing agriculture in future negotiations,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said recently.”Ishiba is walking a narrow plank, wary of provoking powerful domestic lobbies like rice farmers, while juggling an approval rating that would make aggressive trade moves politically perilous,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.The government has already been under fire for the recent skyrocketing of rice prices, which have roughly doubled in 12 months.Factors include a very hot summer in 2023, panic-buying after a warning of an imminent “megaquake” in 2024,  alleged hoarding by some traders, and a surge in rice-hungry tourists. To help ease the pain, Tokyo is tapping emergency stockpiles, and imports have risen sharply — led by rice from California — but these are still tiny compared with domestic production.”All these problems with rice prices show the LDP’s agriculture policy has failed,” retiree Yasunari Wakasa, 77, told AFP.

Asian markets mostly rose Thursday on optimism that 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.The US president 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.And 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.”Asian stocks mostly advanced after 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.Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta all rose, though Tokyo edged down with Wellington.The broadly 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 they were “at least” three 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 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 39,610.61 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 23,938.07Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,503.13Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1741 from $1.1719 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3608 from $1.3590Dollar/yen: DOWN at 145.95 yen from 146.30 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.28 pence from 86.21 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $68.28 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $70.15 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,458.30 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,867.02 (close)

US President Donald Trump announced a 50 percent tariff Wednesday targeting Brazil as he blasted the trial of the country’s ex-leader, while widening a push to secure more bilateral trade deals with other partners.In a letter addressed to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump criticized the treatment of Jair Bolsonaro as an “international disgrace,” adding that the trial “should not be taking place.”In response, Brazil threatened Wednesday to reciprocate, with Lula writing on X “any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity.”Trump also said Washington would launch an investigation into Brazil’s trade practices.The latest tariff threat came after Brazil said it had summoned the US charge d’affaires in a diplomatic row over Trump’s earlier criticism of the coup trial of Bolsonaro.Bolsonaro denies he was involved in an attempt to wrest power back from Lula, with prosecutors saying the alleged coup plot failed only for a lack of military backing.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.While Trump has started to issue letters to trading partners this week as he ramps up pressure towards more deals, he has focused on partners with which his country runs significant deficits.Brazil had not been among those threatened with these higher duties previously. The United States runs a goods trade surplus instead with Brazil.- Escalation threats -Trump’s message to Lula was the latest in more than 20 such letters the US president has released since Monday, setting out tariff rates as Washington tries to bring about more trade pacts.On Wednesday, Trump had 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.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 on Tuesday said his government was “probably two days off” from sending the EU a letter with an updated tariff rate.An EU spokesman 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.On Tuesday, Trump said levies were incoming on copper and pharmaceuticals. The planned rate for copper is 50 percent, he added, while pharmaceutical products face a levy as high as 200 percent — but manufacturers would be given time to relocate operations to the United States.

The Nasdaq powered to a fresh record and major European markets closed in the green Wednesday, brushing off US President Donald Trump’s growing array of tariff targets.After releasing tariff warning letters to seven additional countries early Wednesday afternoon, Trump followed up late in the afternoon with a threatened 50 percent levy on Brazil.Trump tied the levy — which is more severe than those facing dozens of other countries — to Brazil’s prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro over an alleged attempted coup following the 2022 election, when Bolsonaro was defeated by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.Trump, who spent last week successfully lobbying Congress for his sweeping fiscal legislation, has returned to tariffs with a vengeance this week. On Monday, Trump sent letters to Japan and South Korea, among other countries. On Tuesday, the US president announced a potential 50 percent toll on copper imports, and said he was looking at 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals.The news sent the price of copper — with a wide range of uses including in cars, construction and telecoms — to a record high Tuesday.But Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said Wednesday “the market is not taking Trump at his word when it comes to tariffs, and the market impact has been limited so far.”The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index vaulted nearly one percent higher to a fresh all-time high, while artificial intelligence giant Nvidia touched $4 trillion in market value before falling back slightly.”The market is certainly not acting as if it’s fearing the tariffs,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “Obviously, there’s been a lot of attention on the tariff letters that have gone out this week, but the market is operating on the assumption that they are just negotiating tools and that, ultimately, better terms will be reached.”European markets were also shrugging off risks of a trade war. Germany’s Dax hit a new high as it posted a 1.4 percent gain, matched by the CAC 40 in Paris. London could only manage a gain of just under 0.2 percent. But Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, urged caution as “reports suggesting that Trump relishes the actual dealmaking process more than an actual resolution seem to suggest that a further delay to tariffs will be forthcoming, although this is an approach fraught with risk.”Earlier in Asia, Tokyo gains were tempered by losses in Hong Kong and Shanghai.- Key figures at around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 44,458.30 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 6,263.26 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 20,611.34 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,867.02 points (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 7,878.46 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.4 percent at 24,549.56 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,821.28 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,892.32 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,493.05 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1719 from $1.1725 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3590 from $1.3659Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.30 yen from 146.58 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.21 pence from 86.26 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $70.41 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $68.38 per barrel

Starbucks has received around 30 offers from investment firms seeking a stake in the company’s China business, US media reported Wednesday.The coffee chain’s China business, its second biggest after its US operation, drew non-binding offers from a mix of Chinese and foreign private equity firms valuing the enterprise at between $5 and $10 billion, CNBC reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.Under one possible outcome, Starbucks could retain a 30 percent stake with a group of buyers each holding less than this share, CNBC said. A note from TD Cowen said a valuation of between $2.6 billion and $4.7 billion is “more realistic” than one as potentially as high as $10 billion.Starbucks declined to comment directly on any offers received but said it would not exit China.”We are looking for a strategic partner with like-minded values, who shares our vision to provide a premium coffeehouse experience,” a Starbucks spokesperson said.”We remain committed to China and want to retain a meaningful stake in the business. Any deal must make sense for Starbucks business and partners.”The bidders include Centurium Capital, Hillhouse Capital and US private equity firms Carlyle Group and KKR, CNBC reported.As of the end of March, Starbucks had around 7,700 cafes in more than 250 cities in China, employing more than 60,000 people. Only the United Staets, with more than 17,000 cafes is bigger for the chain.Starbucks has been in turnaround mode, naming former Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol as CEO in August 2024 after the short tenure of Laxman Narasimhan failed to reignite growth.In its most recent quarter ending March 30, Starbucks had flat revenues in China compared with the year-ago period, with the number of transactions rising four percent but the average ticket falling four percent.In a conference call in late April, Niccol told analysts that Starbuck’s China sales had benefited during the period from adding new sugar-free beverages and introducing options at different price points.”We’ve got more work to do in the market, but our brand remains strong,” said Niccol.Shares of Starbucks fell 0.2 percent in afternoon trading.

US President Donald Trump released a fresh set of letters to trading partners Wednesday, setting out tariff rates for seven more countries as Washington pushes to bring about a flurry of trade deals.The letters, addressed to leaders of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Moldova, spelled out duties ranging from 20 percent to 30 percent that would take effect on August 1.Similar to Trump’s 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.Sri Lanka’s updated tariff was 30 percent, down from 44 percent announced in April, while the figure for Iraq was 30 percent, down from 39 percent.The Philippines, however, saw a 20 percent levy, up from 17 percent announced previously.While the president 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.Instead, countries who face the threats of elevated duties began receiving letters spelling out US tariff rates on their products.Trump said Wednesday that he decided on the levies based on “common sense” and trade deficits.He added at an event that he would release more letters later in the day — including for Brazil, which does not currently face a tariff hike come August.Trump’s latest messages were near-identical to those published earlier in the week, and justified his tariffs as a response to trade ties that he says are “far from Reciprocal.”They urged countries to manufacture products in the United States to avoid duties, while threatening further escalation if leaders retaliated.For now, over 20 countries have received Trump’s letters including 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.For now, 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 on Tuesday said that his government was “probably two days off” from sending the EU a letter with an updated tariff rate for the bloc.”They’re very tough, but now they’re being very nice to us,” he added at a cabinet meeting.An EU spokesman said Wednesday that 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.EU diplomats say the European Commission, in charge of trade policy for the 27-country bloc, could continue talks until August 1.The EU expects Trump to keep a 10 percent baseline tariff on its goods, with exemptions for critical sectors such as airplanes, spirits and cosmetics, diplomats told AFP this week.Legal challenges to Trump’s sweeping tariffs are continuing to work their way through the US court system.Apart from tariffs targeting goods from different countries, Trump has also rolled out sector-specific duties on steel, aluminum and autos since returning to the White House in January.On Tuesday, Trump said levies were incoming on copper and pharmaceuticals. The planned rate for copper is 50 percent, he added, while pharmaceutical products face a levy as high as 200 percent — but manufacturers would be given time to relocate operations.

Wall Street rose and major European markets closed in the green Wednesday, brushing off US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on copper and pharmaceuticals. Investors kept an eye on countries seeking to hammer out tariff agreements before Trump’s new cut-off date of August 1.The US president had reignited trade jitters Tuesday by announcing a 50 percent toll on copper imports and saying he was looking at 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals.The news sent the price of copper — with a wide range of uses including in cars, construction and telecoms — to a record high Tuesday.But Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, found Wednesday “the market is not taking Trump at his word when it comes to tariffs, and the market impact has been limited so far.”The tech-heavy Nasdaq had added almost 1 percent two hours into the session with chipmaker Nvidia barrelling ahead just over 2 percent as AI growth saw it top $4 trillion in market value, the first company to hit the mark as it extended its globe-leading market capitalisation.Noting tech had endured some lean months going back to the third quarter of last year, eToro’s US investment analyst Bret Kenwell said “we’re seeing growth stocks come to life on the back of AI initiatives, while cybersecurity firms are rallying higher. Mega-cap tech continues to spend fortunes building out the necessary AI infrastructure for the future.”After Trump said he would allow pharmaceutical manufacturers time to relocate operations to the United States before rolling out fresh duties, equity markets largely took the news in their stride as “details of when, how and who remain thin on the ground”, said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.European markets were shrugging off risks of a trade war. Germany’s Dax hit a new high as it posted a 1.4 percent gain, matched by the CAC 40 in Paris. London could only manage a gain of just under 0.2 percent. But Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, urged caution as “reports suggesting that Trump relishes the actual dealmaking process more than an actual resolution seem to suggest that a further delay to tariffs will be forthcoming, although this is an approach fraught with risk.”Trump warned he would not again extend his August 1 deadline to reach deals, after he pushed back his July 9 cut-off.Earlier in Asia, Tokyo gains were tempered by losses in Hong Kong and Shanghai.- Key figures at around 1545 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 44,306.77 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,242.61New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 20,5301.22London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,867.02 points (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 7,878.46 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.4 percent at 24,549.56 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,821.28 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,892.32 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,493.05 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1714 from $1.1730 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3606 from $1.3592Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.44 yen from 146.53 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.11 pence from 86.27 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $70.29 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $68.52 per barrel

Stocks were mixed Wednesday as investors assessed Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats, while keeping an eye on trade talks after the US president warned he would not again extend a deadline to reach deals.Investors took in their stride news that Trump had sent letters to 14 countries outlining his new levies on expectations that most will hammer out an agreement before his new cut-off date of August 1.But he caused rumbles on trading floors again Tuesday by announcing a 50 percent toll on copper imports and saying he was looking at 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals.The news sent the price of copper — used in a wide range of things including cars, construction and telecoms — to a record high Tuesday, though it edged down in Asian business.The measures would broaden a slate of sector-specific actions Trump has imposed since returning to the White House, with autos and steel hit with taxes.The president has ordered probes into imports of copper, pharmaceuticals, lumber, semiconductors and critical minerals that could lead to further levies.”Today we’re doing copper,” he told a cabinet meeting Tuesday. “I believe the tariff on copper, we’re going to make it 50 percent.”Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later told CNBC the rate will likely come into effect at the end of July or on August 1.Regarding pharmaceuticals, Trump said: “We’re going to give people about a year, a year and a half to come in, and after that, they’re going to be tariffed.”They’re going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200 percent.”He also warned “no extensions will be granted” to his August 1 deadline for tariff deals, after he pushed back his previous cut-off of July 9 to allow more time for talks.Despite the prospect of more tariffs, equity traders largely took the latest announcement in stride, with Wall Street ending on a mixed note. Asia saw similar moves, with gains in Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Manila, Mumbai and Jakarta tempered by losses in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington and Bangkok.London, Frankfurt and Paris rose in the morning.”This is the market equivalent of driving with one foot on the gas and one on the brake — negative headline risk can impact sentiment one minute, while hopes of negotiation breakthroughs ease it the next,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes. “The president’s Truth Social posts are now a de facto ‘risk on-risk off’ barometer for global markets, each one examined like scripture, influencing metals, bond yields, and risk premiums in their wake.”However, Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG, said: “When combined with country-specific tariffs, the impact on prices of goods and services can be far more severe than current levels suggest.”There was little major reaction to data showing Chinese consumer prices rose in June for the first time since January, providing a much-needed bright spot for the world’s number two economy.Still, that was tempered by a sharper-than-expected fall in factory gate prices that suggested there were further deflationary pressures.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,821.28 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,892.32 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,493.05 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,867.21 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1708 from $1.1730 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3585 from $1.3592Dollar/yen: UP at 146.85 yen from 146.53 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.18 pence from 86.27 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $68.65 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $70.48 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 44,240.76 (close)