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The fate of South Korea’s presidency hangs on the Constitutional Court Friday as it decides whether to uphold Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment over a disastrous martial law declaration or to return him to power.Yoon, 64, was suspended by lawmakers over his December 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament. He was also arrested over a separate criminal trial on insurrection charges.At least six of the Constitutional Court’s eight justices must vote to remove Yoon. Otherwise, he will be reinstated.If removed, he would become the second South Korean leader to be impeached by the court after Park Geun-hye in 2017.After weeks of tense hearings, judges spent more than a month deliberating the case, all while public unrest has swelled.Yoon, who defended his December 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule as necessary to root out “anti-state forces”, still commands the backing of extreme supporters, who have staged protests for weeks in the run-up to the verdict.The wait for his ruling had led to worsening political divisions in the country and the emergence of unverified conspiracy theories, some suggesting that the justices were locked in intense disagreements.At least two staunch Yoon supporters — one in his 70s and the other in his 50s — have died after self-immolating in protest of the controversial leader’s impeachment.Opposition MP Back Hye-ryun last month was hit in the face with an egg outside the court, as she was urging justices to uphold Yoon’s impeachment.Police have been increasing security, and plan to deploy maximum capacity Friday to head off unrest. Embassies — including the American, French, Russian and Chinese — have warned citizens to avoid mass gatherings in connection with Friday’s verdict.- ‘Highly unlikely’ to reinstate -South Korea has spent the four months since Yoon declared martial law without an effective head of state, as the opposition impeached Yoon’s stand-in — only for him to be reinstated by a court ruling.The leadership vacuum comes during a series of crises and headwinds, including an aviation disaster and the deadliest wildfires in the country’s history.This week, South Korea was slammed with 25 percent tariffs on exports to key ally the United States after President Donald Trump unveiled global, so-called reciprocal levies.  Since December, South Korea has been “partially paralysed — it has been without a legitimate president and has been challenged by natural disasters and the political disaster called Trump,” Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, told AFP.Yoon also faces a separate criminal trial on charges of insurrection over the martial law bid, making him the first sitting South Korean president to stand trial in a criminal case.Many law and constitution experts say expect that the court will uphold Yoon’s impeachment.”Given the patently unconstitutional and illegal nature of attempting to seize the National Assembly through the deployment of martial law forces, it seems highly unlikely that a dismissal of the impeachment is a viable outcome,” Lee Jong-soo, a professor at Yonsei University Law School, told AFP.”Based solely on legal principles, I would expect an 8-0 unanimous ruling in favour of upholding the impeachment.”But another expert, Professor Lee In-ho at Chung-Ang University’s school of law, predicts the court could end in a deadlock. Lee told AFP he thinks the impeachment will likely be dismissed with “the constitutional interpretation concerning the president’s justification for declaring martial law (to) remain unresolved.”

Wall Street led a global markets bloodbath Thursday as countries around the world reeled from President Donald Trump’s trade war, while the White House insisted the US economy will emerge victorious.The Dow Jones dropped more than three percent and the S&P 500 plummeted more than four percent. The Nasdaq toppled more than five percent.Shock waves also tore through markets in Asia and Europe in the wake of Trump’s Wednesday announcement, while foreign leaders signaled readiness to negotiate but also threatened counter-tariffs.Trump slapped 10 percent import duties on all nations and far higher levies on imports from dozens of specific countries — including top trade partners China and the European Union.Separate tariffs of 25 percent on all foreign-made cars also went into effect and Canada swiftly responded with a similar levy on US imports.In a sign of the real-world impacts expected to become common, Stellantis — the owner of Jeep, Chrysler and Fiat — paused production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants.Trump dismissed the turmoil, insisting to reporters as he left for a weekend at his Florida golf resorts, that stocks will “boom.”- ‘Trust Donald Trump’ -Trump, 78, says he wants to make the United States free from reliance on foreign manufacturers in a massive economic reshaping.And he likened his trade policy declaration to a painful medical procedure.”THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED,” he posted on his Truth Social app, with his trademark use of all-caps.”THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE.”Amid howls of protest abroad and from even some of Trump’s Republicans, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called for patience.”Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing,” he said on CNN. “You’ve got to trust Donald Trump in the White House.”But China demanded that the tariffs be immediately canceled and vowed countermeasures, while France and Germany warned that the EU could hit back at US tech firms.French President Emmanuel Macron called for suspending investment in the United States until what he called the “brutal” new tariffs had been “clarified.”The 27-nation EU and other countries also showed willingness to negotiate as they refrained from immediate retaliatory measures, with almost a week until the harsher US levies actually take effect.Beijing said it was “maintaining communication” with Washington over trade issues, and EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic planned to speak with US counterparts on Friday.However, Brazil’s president vowed to take “all appropriate measures.”Gold — a safe-haven investment — hit a new record prices, oil fell and the dollar slumped against other major currencies.The head of the World Trade Organization, which helps manage global trading, warned the upheaval may lead to contraction of “one percent in global merchandise trade volumes this year.”- Global economic ‘sumo wrestler’ -Trump has brushed off warnings about triggering a global economic slowdown and politically damaging price rises at home.Republican Senator Mitch McConnell broke ranks with Trump, slamming tariffs as “bad policy.””Preserving the long-term prosperity of American industry and workers requires working with our allies, not against them,” he said.But while Trump is under pressure to avoid a drawn-out trade war, he appears determined to stick with the tariffs until he forces competitors to play by US rules.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CNN that Trump made it clear that “this is not a negotiation.”And Lutnick also struck a hard line, saying, “You can’t really fight with the United States.””You fight… the greatest customer in the world, you’re going to lose. We are the sumo wrestler of this world,” he said.- ‘Treat us badly’ -Trump reserved some of the heaviest blows for what he called “nations that treat us badly.” That included an additional 34 percent on goods from China — bringing the new added tariff rate there to 54 percent.  The figure for the European Union was 20 percent, and 24 percent on Japan.For the rest, Trump said he would impose a “baseline” tariff of 10 percent, including on another key ally, Britain, which will come into effect on Saturday while the higher duties will kick in on April 9.burs-sms/bgs

US President Donald Trump has slapped punishing new tariffs on imports of Chinese goods, deepening a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.Beijing has vowed countermeasures in response and warned the new tariffs will cripple global supply chains — and Washington’s own interests.AFP looks at how so-called “liberation day” tariffs — which bring levies on Chinese goods to 54 percent — will hit China:- Why is China so vulnerable? – China’s export-driven economy is particularly sensitive to vicissitudes in international trade.Trade between it and the United States, the world’s two largest economies, is vast.According to Beijing’s customs data, sales of Chinese goods to the United States last year totalled more than $500 billion — 16.4 percent of the country’s exports.US duties also threaten to harm China’s fragile economic recovery as it struggles with a long-running debt crisis in the property sector and persistently low consumption — a downturn Beijing had sought to slow with broad fiscal stimulus last year.But an intensified trade war will likely mean China cannot peg its hopes for strong economic growth this year on its exports, which reached record highs in 2024.”The US tariffs on Chinese imports announced so far this year could fully negate the lift from the fiscal stimulus measures announced so far,” Frederic Neumann, Chief Asia Economist at HSBC, told AFP.And while he said the impact on export competition may be slightly mitigated by the fact that all countries are hit by the levies, he stressed “the drag on Chinese growth is nevertheless significant”.- What impact will the new tariffs have? -The new tariffs slap 10 percent levies on imports from around the world.But China has long drawn Trump’s ire with a trade surplus with the United States that reached $295.4 billion last year, according to the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.The latest salvo adds 34 percent to a 20 percent rate imposed last month, bringing the total additional tariffs on imports from the Asian economic powerhouse imposed by the Trump administration to 54 percent.The tariffs come into effect in stages — a ten percentage point bump on Thursday, followed by the full levy on April 9. China is also under sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminium and car imports. Analysts expect the new levies to take a significant chunk out of the country’s GDP, which Beijing’s leadership hope will grow five percent this year.Julian Evans-Pritchard, Head of China Economics at Capital Economics, said in a note he said he expected the economic hit to range from 0.5 percent to one percent of GDP.Likely to be hit hardest are China’s top exports to the United States — the country is the dominant supplier of goods from electronics and electrical machinery to textiles and clothing, according to the Peterson Institute of International Economics.But analysts also warn that because of the crucial role Chinese goods play in supplying US firms, the tariffs may also have major knock-on effects. “US imports from China are dominated by capital goods and industrial materials instead of consumer goods,” Gene Ma, Head of China Research at the Institute of International Finance, told AFP.”The tariff will hurt US manufacturers as well as consumers.””This trade war not only has a destructive impact on China but also on the global trade system,” Chen Wenling, Chief Economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, said.- How might Beijing respond? -Beijing has yet to specify what exactly its “countermeasures” will involve.But the retaliation could see Beijing hike pre-existing tariffs imposed in response to previous measures.”China’s countermeasures should be reasonable, beneficial and measured,” Mei Xinyu, an economist at the state-affiliated Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, told AFP.”They need to be strong and precise, while also avoiding turning the countermeasures into a decoupling of China and the United States,” Mei added.China last month slapped tariffs of 15 percent in imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States. Crude oil, agricultural machinery, big-engined vehicles and pickup trucks also face 10 percent duties.Analysts say those moves are designed to hit Trump’s support base — those in America’s rural heartlands that voted him into office last year.Beijing has called for dialogue to resolve the dispute, but any deal will take time.”There are still chances for the two parties to resume talks in the following months,” Betty Wang at Oxford Economics told AFP.”But historical experience suggests that tariffs are typically quick to rise and slow to fall.”

Stock markets and the dollar tumbled Thursday after President Donald Trump’s latest worldwide tariff salvo fanned a trade war that many fear will spark recession and ramp up inflation.The dollar slumped by as much as 2.6 percent versus the euro, its biggest intraday plunge in a decade, and suffered sharp losses also against the yen and British pound.On stock markets, Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down more than five percent in midday trading.”The simultaneous decline in both stocks and the US dollar speaks volumes about investor confidence in Trump’s trade policy,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Shares in apparel companies, which rely on cheap labour in factories abroad, fell sharply with Nike sinking more than 11 percent and Gap tanking more than 20 percent.Across the globe shares in major sectors including auto, luxury and banking, also took big hits.Shares in Jeep-maker Stellantis fell 7.5 percent after it said it would shutter a Canadian factory for two weeks as 25 percent car tariffs came into force.Tokyo’s Nikkei briefly collapsed more than four percent. In Europe, both the Paris and Frankfurt stock exchanges finished the day with losses of more than three percent.Oil prices plummeted around seven percent to under $70 per barrel on concerns an economic downturn would hit demand.Gold, a safe haven asset in times of uncertainty, hit a new peak of $3,167.84 an ounce.Yields on government bonds fell as investors fled risky assets and piled into safe-haven treasuries.- Renewed rate cuts? -The panic came after the US president unveiled a blitz of harsher-than-expected levies aimed at countries he said had been “ripping off” the United States for years.The measures included a 34 percent tariff on world number two economy China, 20 percent on the European Union and 24 percent on Japan.A number of others will face specifically tailored tariff levels, and for the rest, Trump said he would impose a “baseline” tariff of 10 percent, including on Britain.”Markets, unsurprisingly have reacted badly,” noted Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at wealth manager Quilter. “(US) Treasury yields have fallen sharply, as investors take flight and look for safe haven assets. “This would suggest the Federal Reserve will need to put additional rate cuts on the table to look to prevent recession being triggered, but should it face inflation rising too, it is in somewhat of a bind,” Carter added.As world markets tumbled Trump acknowledged the shock brought by his tariffs onslaught, but said the US economy would emerge “far stronger”. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to rule out the possibility of Trump pulling back any of the tariffs before they are implemented over the coming weekend.”The president made it clear yesterday this is not a negotiation,” she said on CNN.Investors are bracing for retaliatory measures, but governments also left the door open for talks.China vowed “countermeasures” and urged Washington to cancel the tariffs, while calling for dialogue. European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was “preparing for further countermeasures” but she emphasised it was “not too late to address concerns through negotiations”.- Key figures around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 3.4 percent at 40,796.96 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 4.1 percent at 5,440.33New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 5.2 percent at 16,679.94Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 3.3 percent at 7,598.98 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 3.0 percent at 21,717.39 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.6 percent at 8,474.74 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.8 percent at 34,735.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 22,849.81 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,342.01 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1066 from $1.0814 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3127 from $1.2985Dollar/yen: DOWN at 145.89 yen from 149.39 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.30 pence from 83.33 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 7.5 percent at $66.30 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 6.9 percent at $69.79 per barrelburs-rl/gv

The historic Lutetia hotel in Paris, which was occupied by the Nazis during World War II and after liberation served as a welcome centre for concentration camp survivors, was on Thursday taken over by luxury hotel group Mandarin Oriental.Situated in the centre of the Left Bank area of the French capital, the Art Deco institution was opened in 1910 and owes its existence to its neighbour Bon Marche, one of the first department stores in the world.Israeli real estate group Alrov, controlled by Alfred Akirov and his family, will retain ownership of the building. Originally baptised with the Roman name for Paris, the hotel will be renamed Mandarin Oriental Lutetia from Thursday.The Akirov family and Laurent Kleitman, chief executive of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, took part in an inauguration ceremony on Thursday, unveiling a plaque on the hotel’s facade in the colours of the Asian group.Jean-Pierre Trevisan, the hotel’s director, said the deal “will give us visibility in areas that we are not familiar with, such as Asia”.Financial details of the management contract were not disclosed. A source familiar with the matter said it was a “very long-term commitment”.Kleitman said no major changes to the recently renovated establishment were planned.”We are delighted to support and work closely with Mandarin Oriental for the sustainability of the Lutetia,” the Akirov family said in a statement.    The founders of Bon Marche had the hotel built to provide accommodation for their wealthy customers travelling up to Paris from the provinces for shopping trips.- ‘Ghosts of Nazis’ – With the Left Bank the heart of the French intellectual scene, the hotel became a hangout for celebrities including Charlie Chaplin, Ernest Hemingway and Antoine de Saint-Exupery.Famous guests also included James Joyce, who worked on his epic novel “Ulysses” at the Lutetia, and the future president of the republic, Charles de Gaulle, who spent his wedding night there.During the Nazi occupation of Paris, the hotel was requisitioned by the occupying forces and used to house the Abwehr, the German intelligence. The Nazi forces tortured their victims at the Lutetia.When Paris was liberated in 1944, de Gaulle ordered the hotel to take in thousands of deportees. One archive Agence France-Presse picture shows emaciated French deportees repatriated from Germany having a meal at the hotel in May 1945.Another shows freed prisoners consulting a bulletin board with lists of deportees.”The ghosts of Nazis, French resistance fighters and concentration camp survivors still inhabit the grand building on Paris’ famed Left Bank,” the Smithsonian Magazine said in 2019.Post-war, it swiftly regained its reputation as a place to see and be seen.The five-star hotel was awarded the prestigious “Palace” distinction in 2019, after four years of costly renovations. The work was financed by the Alrov group, which paid 145 million euros in 2010 to acquire the hotel, sources told AFP at the time.The 200-million-euro makeover allowed the hotel to spruce up its original frescos and stucco work, decking out the 184 rooms and suites in understated luxury.  Some of the suites have been inspired by celebrities such as Francis Ford Coppola and Isabelle Huppert.Prices are out of reach for all but the wealthiest, with rooms rates starting at 1,500 euros per night.

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs were “highly unreasonable” and the government planned to start “serious negotiations” with Washington, Taipei said Thursday.Taiwan had sought to avoid Trump’s threatened levies by pledging increased investment in the United States, more purchases of US energy and greater defence spending.But Trump’s sweeping new tariffs announced overnight included a hefty 32 percent tax on Taiwanese imports, which Taipei described as “unfair”.”The Executive Yuan found the decision highly unreasonable and deeply regretted it, and will initiate serious negotiations with the United States,” cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee said.Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States is the seventh highest of any country, reaching US$73.9 billion in 2024.Around 60 percent of Taiwan’s exports to the United States are information and communications technology products, or ICT, which includes semiconductor chips.Lee said the surplus reflected soaring US demand for Taiwan’s semiconductors and other tech products that was further driven by the tariffs and export controls targeting China that Trump imposed during his first term.”The surge in US demand for Taiwan’s ICT products reflects Taiwan’s significant contribution to the US economy and national security, yet Taiwan is now being hit with high tariffs,” Lee said.”The proposed tariff does not accurately reflect the actual state of Taiwan-US trade relations and is unfair to Taiwan.”- ‘Spillover effect for chips’ -President Lai Ching-te said later that the government would announce measures in response “as soon as possible”.The government aimed to offer “the strongest possible support to industry” and ensure “economic stability”, Lai said in a post on Facebook.Semiconductor chips, a sector that Taiwan dominates and has been a source of friction between Washington and Taipei, were excluded from the levies.However, analysts warned that tariffs on components would have a knock-on effect for the critical chip industry that is the lifeblood of the global economy.”Although TSMC has somewhat escaped from these trade tariffs, the components supply chain, as well as other upstream, downstream companies with a lower margin… could be hard hit, and there could be spillover effect writ large to the entire (semiconductor) industry,” said Jason Hsu, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, referring to Taiwan’s chipmaking titan TSMC.”So, the government must figure out a supplementary package to help businesses sustain the next four years,” said Hsu, who is also a former legislator for Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang party.Taiwan had drawn up plans to help its industries hit by possible US tariffs, Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Jyh-huei said on Tuesday.There had also been hopes that TSMC’s plan to invest $100 billion in the United States would shield the island from Trump’s tariffs.Taiwan has also pledged to increase investment in the United States, buy liquefied natural gas from the US state of Alaska, and raise its defence spending to more than three percent of GDP.Trump has accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip industry and recently threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on semiconductor imports from the island.

At a garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City that exports T-shirts and underwear to the United States, staff were alarmed by “shocking” trade tariffs imposed on Vietnam that could severely impact their business.A manufacturing powerhouse that counted the United States as its biggest market last year, the Southeast Asian nation was hammered with a thumping 46 percent tariff in President Donald Trump’s global trade blitz.Despite widespread fears it could be a key target over its huge trade surplus with Washington — the third-largest after China and Mexico — the size of the levies came as a bombshell for businesses and factory workers on Thursday.”It’s truly shocking,” said Tran Nhu Tung, board chair at Thanh Cong, a factory in Ho Chi Minh City that makes clothes for DKNY and Walmart, among others.”Especially in the textile industry, we did not anticipate (this). I thought that since Vietnam is a smaller country, the US would not impose such (high) tariffs,” said Tung.About 25 percent of his exports currently go to the United States, he added.During the trade war between Beijing and Washington in Trump’s first term, Vietnam took advantage of its geographic location and cheap skilled labour to position itself as an alternative manufacturing hub in Asia. Many companies shifted parts of their supply chain, and Vietnam’s trade surplus with the United States doubled between 2017 and 2023.Now, big brands such as Nike — which produced 50 percent of its footwear and 28 percent of its apparel in Vietnam in the 2024 financial year — face vastly higher costs, which they will have to absorb or pass on to customers, and their shares dropped sharply Thursday.The tariffs could force many to look elsewhere for manufacturing, analysts said.”These products are low margin and price sensitive, prompting major companies to switch orders to countries with lower reciprocal tariffs,” said Sayaka Shiba, senior country risk analyst at research firm BMI.The tariffs would “significantly damage” Vietnam’s current export-based growth model, which heavily relies on exports to the United States, she said, adding in the worst-case scenario there could be a three percent hit to GDP this year.According to data from the US Trade Representative website, the United States imported $136.6 billion worth of goods from Vietnam last year, representing nearly 30 percent of its GDP. In the wake of the announcement, Hanoi shares tumbled, with its main index closing down 6.7 percent on Thursday, its biggest drop since 2001 according to Bloomberg. – ‘Can’t eat, can’t sleep’ -The tariffs have left workers in Vietnam fearing for their futures.”I can’t eat or sleep well because I keep worrying about losing my job,” said 38-year-old Cao Thi Dieu, a worker at a factory in Ho Chi Minh City that makes shoes for brands such as Nike and Adidas.”How will I manage if I lose my job? How will I continue earning money each month to take care of my two children’s education?” she told AFP.Hours after the announcement, Vietnam’s prime minister requested the immediate establishment of a “rapid response team” and said Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc would head to the United States for a “working visit”.”Many here believe (the tariff figure) is more of a negotiation tool than a final position,” said Dan Martin of business advisory firm Dezan Shira & Associates in Hanoi.Although Vietnam may hope that it can clinch a reduction, previous charm offensives have not worked.Earlier this week, Vietnam cut import duties on a wide range of goods from liquefied gas and some agricultural products to cars in what appeared to be a pre-emptive attempt to blunt the tariffs.It also announced that it would allow Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch its Starlink satellite internet service in a pilot programme running to 2030.But it appears the Trump administration was too angered by what it sees as Vietnam’s role in attempts to get around tariffs imposed on China.”The way the game works with Vietnam….” a White House official told reporters, “they’ll set up these facilities, which look like from the air that they’re manufacturing facilities, but all China does is ship in Chinese products into these warehouses and off they (Vietnam) send it to us.”But a 2024 report by the International Monetary Fund said there was “no clear evidence” of Vietnam’s role in facilitating Chinese exports to the United States.”Most manufacturers are not here to game the system,” said Martin. “They’re here because Vietnam makes strategic and operational sense.”

The dollar and equity markets tumbled Thursday after President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs salvo against countries worldwide, fanning a trade war that many fear will spark recession and ramp up inflation.The dollar slumped by as much as 2.6 percent versus the euro, its biggest intraday plunge in a decade, and suffered sharp losses also against the yen and British pound.On stock markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei briefly collapsed more than four percent and US futures plunged, with major sectors, including auto, luxury and banking, taking big hits.The Paris stock market led losses in Europe, with falls capped in London as Trump hit Britain less hard than the EU.Oil prices plummeted around 4.5 percent, while safe-haven gold hit a new peak of $3,167.84 an ounce.- Renewed rate cuts? -“Markets, unsurprisingly have reacted badly,” noted Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at wealth manager Quilter. “(US) Treasury yields have fallen sharply, as investors take flight and look for safe haven assets. “This would suggest the Federal Reserve will need to put additional rate cuts on the table to look to prevent recession being triggered, but should it face inflation rising too, it is in somewhat of a bind,” Carter added.The panic came after the US president unveiled a blitz of harsher-than-expected levies aimed at countries he said had been “ripping off” the United States for years.The measures included a 34 percent tariff on world number two economy China, 20 percent on the European Union and 24 percent on Japan.A number of others will face specifically tailored tariff levels, and for the rest, Trump said he would impose a “baseline” tariff of 10 percent, including on Britain. Auto tariffs of 25 percent meanwhile kicked in Thursday.Investors are bracing for retaliatory measures, with governments making their anger clear.China vowed “countermeasures” and urged Washington to cancel the tariffs, while calling for dialogue. Japan said the move was “extremely regrettable” and could contravene World Trade Organization rules, while Taiwan described the levies as “highly unreasonable”. European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen called Trump’s announcement a “major blow to the world economy” but vowed the bloc was “prepared to respond”. And France said Brussels was “ready for a trade war” and plans to target online services in response.Thailand said it had a “strong plan” to handle the new US measures and hopes to negotiate a reduction, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned “we are going to fight these tariffs with counter measures”.Tokyo’s stock market pared its hefty drop but still ended down 2.8 percent, while Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore also fell. However, Wellington managed to eke out a small gain as New Zealand faced smaller tariffs.Vietnam’s stock exchange dived 7.8 percent after the country was hit with levies of almost 50 percent.Wall Street futures were also battered, with the Dow dropping two percent, the Nasdaq plunging more than three percent and the S&P 500 off 2.8 percent off.Treasury yields hit five-month lows — yields and prices go in opposite directions.- Key figures around 1045 GMT -Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 2.5 percent at 7,663.46 pointsFrankfurt – DAX: DOWN 2.2 percent at 21,893.87 London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.5 percent at 8,481.92 Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.8 percent at 34,735.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 22,849.81 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,342.01 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 42,225.32 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1070 from $1.0814 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3171 from $1.2985Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.69 yen from 149.39 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.09 pence from 83.33 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.6 percent at $68.40 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 4.4 percent at $71.67 per barrel

Countries vowed Thursday to hit back at US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs onslaught but left the door open to negotiations, as markets tumbled over fears his trade war would damage the world economy.Trump spared almost no nation on his “Liberation Day”, hitting friends and foes alike and reserving some of the harshest tariffs for major trade partners, including the European Union and China.Holding up a chart of the sweeping measures in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, Trump called it “our declaration of economic independence”.”For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said, promising the move would restore a lost economic “Golden Age”.Nations around the world reacted swiftly, with China vowing “countermeasures” while France and Germany warned that the EU could hit US tech firms operating in Europe with a tax.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed Europe was “prepared to respond” to the tariffs, calling them a “major blow to the world economy”.But the 27-nation EU and other countries also showed willingness to negotiate, while Beijing said it was “maintaining communication” with Washington over trade issues.The tariff announcements rattled stock markets while safe haven gold hit a new record high and the dollar slumped against other major currencies.In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 2.8 percent lower after paring back bigger losses. Hanoi shares dropped more than seven percent after Vietnam was targeted with tariffs of 46 percent.Europe’s main stock markets were all in the red nearing midday trading, while US futures plummeted.”Stocks are down around the world but these are not traditional panic moves, suggesting that there is still some expectation that deals can be cut to reduce some of the impact from tariffs,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform.Trump reserved some of the heaviest blows for what he called “nations that treat us badly.” That included an additional 34 percent on goods from China — bringing the new added tariff rate there to 54 percent.  The figure for the European Union was 20 percent, and 24 percent on Japan, whose trade minister called the tariffs “extremely regrettable”.For the rest, Trump said he would impose a “baseline” tariff of 10 percent, including another key ally, Britain, which will come into effect on Saturday while the higher duties will kick in on April 9.Separate tariffs of 25 percent on all foreign-made cars and light trucks also went into effect, with auto parts due to be hit by May 3.- ‘Catastrophe’ for economy -US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned against countermeasures, saying on Fox News: “If you retaliate, there will be escalation.”Germany said “everything was on the table” as it joined France in saying the EU could tax US tech giants.But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country is a major exporter of cars to the United States, said Europe was open to further talks to end the trade war. He called the US tariffs “fundamentally wrong”.Britain escaped relatively lightly after a diplomatic offensive, though Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned there would still be an “economic impact” from the 10 percent tariff on UK goods.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tariffs are “not the act of a friend” but he said his country, which was also hit with the lower end of duties, would not retaliate.Some of the worst-hit trading partners were in Asia, including 49 percent for Cambodia, 46 percent for Vietnam and 44 percent for military-ruled Myanmar, recently hit by a devastating earthquake.Russia was not affected because it is already facing sanctions over the Ukraine war “which preclude any meaningful trade”, a White House official said.Certain goods like copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber and gold will not be subject to the tariffs.Canada and Mexico are not affected by the new levies as Trump has already punished them for what he says is their failure to stymie drug trafficking and illegal immigration.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to “fight” the existing levies.- ‘Make America wealthy again’ -Trump’s announcement is the culmination of a long love affair with tariffs, which he has seen for decades as a cure-all for America’s trade imbalances and economic ills.A hand-picked audience of cabinet members, as well as workers in hard hats from industries including steel, oil and gas, whooped and cheered as Trump promised tariffs would “make America wealthy again”.Trump labelled Wednesday’s tariffs “reciprocal” but many experts say his administration’s estimates for levies placed on US imports by other countries are wildly exaggerated.The US president had telegraphed the move for weeks, sparking fears of a recession at home as costs are passed on to domestic consumers.French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the tariffs were a “catastrophe” for the world economy but also “for the United States and for American citizens”.burs-lth/phz