The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said on Friday that Donald Trump’s decision this week for a 90-day suspension on tariffs he had imposed on countries gave room for only a “fragile pause”.
Macron wrote on X: “The partial suspension of American tariffs for 90 days sends out a signal and leaves the door open for talks. But this pause is a fragile one.
"Fragile, because the 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles and the 10% tariffs on all other products are still in place. They represent 52 billion euros ($58.8 billion) for the European Union! Fragile, because this 90-day pause means 90 days of uncertainty for all our businesses, on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.”
Reuters also reports that Macron reaffirmed that France and the EU would present a united front in terms of negotiations aimed at reaching a deal and getting the American tariffs removed.
Global stocks fell and the US dollar sank further on Friday, while an intense bond sell-off took hold in a turbulent end to the week of the global tariffs that have fed fears of a deep recession and shaken investor confidence in US assets. The dollar sank to its lowest in 10 years against the Swiss franc and a six-month low against the yen, while the euro soared 1.7% to $1.13855, a level last seen in February 2022.
The S&P 500 index ended 3.5% lower on Thursday after getting a brief reprieve when Trump paused duties on dozens of countries for 90 days. Asian markets followed Wall Street on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei down 4.3%, South Korea falling nearly 1% and Hong Kong stocks heading towards the biggest weekly decline since 2008. Some rose, however, with Taiwan’s main index reversing earlier losses to trade nearly 2% higher and major sectors across India’s Nifty 50 rising in early trading.
Gold prices reached a record high amid safe haven flows. It was last up 1.1% at $3,210 an ounce.
The UK economy unexpectedly expanded by 0.5% in February, in a boost for Rachel Reeves before an expected downturn triggered by Trump’s tariff war.
Reversing a modest fall in January, the increase in gross domestic product in February could mark the last period of expansion before the threat of a global trade war dampens business investment and consumer spending.
A poll of City economists had expected the economy to grow by 0.1% in February.
This month, consumers face inflation-busting utility bill and council tax increases while employers must cope with £25bn of tax rises.
The Office for National Statistics recorded growth across all main sectors in February, marking an improvement on January, when there was no growth.
Services output increased by 0.3%, and was the largest contributor to the monthly growth in GDP, while production output rose by 1.5%, and construction output increased by 0.4%.
The agenda
• 10.45am BST: ECB's president, Christine Lagarde, speaks at a Eurogroup press conference in Warsaw
• 1.30pm BST: US PPI for March
We'll be tracking all the main events throughout the day … |
