Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Wall Street points to gains as global markets rebound on tariff roller coaster

World shares and U.S. futures advanced Tuesday, led by gains in Tokyo where the 225 shot up just over 6% as markets settled after the shocks from President Donald Trump ‘s tariff hikes.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would lead negotiations with the country, which as been buffeted by an escalating kicked off by Trump. Such negotiations are typically led by trade representatives, the Nikkei reported citing unnamed sources, hinting that currency imbalances may also be part of the reported talks.

Futures for the S&P 500 gained 1.7% before the bell, while futures for the Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.1%. Nasdaq futures climbed 1.5%.

Tuesday’s rebound followed a wild day on Wall Street, where stocks careened after Trump threatened to crank his double-digit tariffs higher.

On Tuesday, ‘s Commerce Ministry said it would “fight to the end” and take unspecified countermeasures against the United States after Trump threatened another 50% tariff on Chinese .

Among the early gainers was Levi Strauss, which climbed more than 10% after beating analysts’ profit targets and forecasting a strong 2025, despite the ongoing trade war and tariff threats.

CVS Health climbed more than 8% after the drugstore chain named a new chief financial officer, effective later this month.

Shares of health insurers like Humana, United Health and Elevance rose sharply after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a 5.06% increase in Medicare payments for next year, which was stronger than expected. Humana, a company with a capitalization of more than $30 billion, jumped nearly 15%.

Corporate earnings season kicks off this week with Delta Air Lines reporting on Wednesday and major U.S. banks offering up their latest results on Friday. The airline sector. which had been forecasting a strong 2025, has been one of the hardest hit during Trump’s tariff rollout.

Banks report their latest quarterly earnings on Friday, but most of the attention likely will be on their forecasts amid the rising global trade tensions ignited by Trump’s .

On Thursday, the government posts its latest inflation data, which could play into the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision. Many economists have raised their odds of a U.S. recession because of the tariffs and suggest the Fed may have to step in and cut rates to help spur economic growth.

Trump’s trade war is an attack on the globalization that’s shaped today’s world and helped bring down prices but also caused manufacturing jobs to leave for other countries.

He has said he wants to bring factory jobs back to the United States, a process that could take years. Trump also says he wants to narrow trade deficits with other countries, but it’s unclear how much room for negotiation there is on the U.S. side or among its trading partners.

Indexes swung between losses and gains Monday, partly because investors are still hoping negotiations may forestall actual implementation of the stiff duties on all imports.

In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX gained 1.9%, while the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.7%. Britain’s FTSE 100 shot up 2.5%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed a smidgen over 6% higher, at 33,012.58.

Hong Kong also recovered some lost ground, but nothing close to the 13.2% dive Monday that gave the Hang Seng its worst day since 1997, during the Asian financial crisis.

The Hang Seng gained 1% to 20,036.03. The Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.4% to 3,140.15 after the government investment fund Central Huijin directed state-owned companies to help support the market with share purchases.

‘s Kospi picked up 0.3% to 2,334.23, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 2.3% to 7,510.00.

Markets in Thailand and Indonesia tumbled, however, as they reopened after holidays. Trading was suspended briefly in Jakarta when the JSX index fell more than 9%. It was down 7.6% by midafternoon. Thailand’s SET lost 4.2%.

In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 4%, pulled lower by losses for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, the world’s largest computer chipmaker. Its shares fell 3.8% on Tuesday.

Hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel, the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil dipped below $60 on Monday for the first time since 2021. Early Tuesday, it was up 18 cents at $60.88 per barrel.

Brent crude, the international standard, gained 17 cents to $64.38 per barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 146.90 Japanese yen from 147.85 yen. The euro fell to $1.0931 from $1.0905.

The price of gold rose $53 to about $3,027.00 an ounce.

Bitcoin gained about 6% to $79,550. On Monday it sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January.

China says it will ‘fight to the end’ after Trump threatens to impose still more tariffs

BEIJING (AP) — said Tuesday it would “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese .

The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal ‘” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”

China, the world’s second-largest , has announced retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.

“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international order. They are completely legitimate,” the ministry said.

“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,” it added.

Analysts and traders worry about a global

Trump’s threat Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

Trump’s threat came after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs he announced last week.

“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!”

If Trump implements his new tariffs on Chinese products, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104%. The new taxes would be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34% tariffs announced last week. Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners, particularly the European Union.

Chinese people worry, but keep faith with their country

On the streets of Beijing, people said they found it hard to keep track of all the announcements, but expressed belief in their country’s ability to weather the storm.

“Trump says one thing today and another tomorrow. Anyway, he just wants benefits, so he can say whatever he wants,” said Wu Qi, 37, who works in .

Others were less sanguine. Paul Wang, 30, who sells stainless accessories, including necklaces, bracelets, and tongue studs to Europe, said the European market was now more important after the extra U.S. 50% tariffs and he would be watching to see which other firms in his field would be competing in that space.

Jessi Huang and Yang Aijia, whose companies import from the U.S., said the tariffs, including potential Chinese retribution, could force them to close up shop.

“It would be very hard and very likely to have a layoff, maybe even closing,” Huang said, “I might not be able to find another job if I get laid off.”

China isn’t out of options to retaliate

China still has a range of options to strike back at the Washington, experts said, including suspending cooperation on combating fentanyl, placing higher quotas on agricultural products and going after the U.S. trade in services in China such as finance and firms.

U.S. total goods trade with China was an estimated $582 billion in 2024, making it the top trader in goods with the U.S. The 2024 deficit with China in goods and services trade was between $263 billion and $295 billion.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian appeared to give short shrift to talk of dialogue with the Trump administration.

“I don’t think what the U.S. has done reflects a willingness for sincere dialogue. If the U.S. really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit,” Lin said.

In Hong Kong, where stocks were slightly higher Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee blasted the latest U.S. tariffs as “bullying,” saying the “ruthless behavior” has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.

Lee said the city would link its economy closer to China’s development, sign more free trade agreements, attract more foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support local enterprises in coping with the impact of the tariffs.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Megerian, Josh Boak and Fu Ting in Washington, Christopher Bodeen in Taipei, Taiwan, and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Roanoke ER doc seeks $20M in landmark whistleblower lawsuit

A Valley emergency room doctor’s $20 million goes to jury trial this week, with Dr. Thomas Bolton alleging that he was fired for complaining that HCA ‘s emphasis on shorter ER wait times at and its Cave Spring ER had a negative impact on patient safety.

The case is believed to be the first to be brought to trial under the Virginia Whistleblower Protection Law, which passed the General Assembly in 2020.

Bolton is seeking $20 million in damages in his lawsuit against his former employer, , a Glen Allen staffing and management services company that provides physician staffing for LewisGale Medical Center in Salem and the freestanding LewisGale Cave Spring ER in Roanoke County.

In Bolton’s original complaint, filed in 2023, Lewis-Gale Medical Center, Lewis-Gale Hospital and HCA Management Services were also listed as defendants, but in a January 2024 order, Judge James R. Swanson dismissed parties other than Lake Spring Emergency Group from the lawsuit. One of the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chains, Tennessee-based owns and operates about 2,400 health care sites, including the LewisGale facilities in the Roanoke area.

Bolton is represented by a Roanoke County firm, Virginia . One of his lawyers, Thomas E. Strelka, stated in a December 2024 email to Virginia Business that the case will be the first trial under the Virginia Protection Act, which broadened the protection of employees  speaking out against wrongdoing or abuse by their employers.

Bolton’s attorneys and attorneys representing Lake Spring Emergency Group, as well as an HCA spokesperson, did not immediately respond to interview requests for this story.

Emergency room doctors at the two LewisGale facilities, according to Bolton’s 2023 complaint, receive alerts when management feels ER wait times are too long. Both facilities also have large digital signs that display the average length of time patients can anticipate waiting before being seen by medical staff.

Bolton, who was hired by Lake Spring in 2018 to work at the LewisGale facilities in Salem and Cave Spring, repeatedly complained to management about ER doctors receiving alerts when HCA determined wait times were too long. He also reported other concerns to management, including that patients who needed to be admitted to the hospital were being left in the emergency room and that there were slow responses for transporting critically ill patients in need of “emergent surgical intervention,” as well as inadequate numbers of medical staff.

Lake Spring Emergency Group denies the allegations in court documents.

In 2021, Bolton alleged in his lawsuit, management placed him on a performance improvement plan related to his complaints about wait time alerts, an action Bolton considered retaliatory. However, Lake Spring stated in court documents that the performance plan was implemented due to “among other things, clinical efficiency, timely communication and punctuality.”

In January 2023, Bolton complained to management that an 800-pound man had been at LewisGale Medical Center’s emergency room for 45 hours without any lab work being ordered. Bolton called an administrator at night to stress that the patient needed to be admitted to the hospital.

A month later, Bolton learned his physician agreement was terminated and he would not be scheduled to work at either LewisGale facility beyond May 2, 2023.

“The decision to terminate Bolton was made by defendants in retaliation for his whistleblowing activity of the negative effect of defendants’ management decisions on patient care,” the complaint stated.

However, his former employer, Lake Spring stated in court documents that its actions regarding Bolton’s employment “were based on legitimate business needs and were taken without regard to Dr. Bolton’s rights, entitlements, actions or inactions under law.”

A claim for retaliation under the state Whistleblower Protection Law does not hold up, Lake Spring said in court filings, because Bolton “did not engage in any conduct protected by the statute and did not suffer a retaliatory action that was casually connected to such protected conduct.”

Trump threatens more tariffs on China as global markets plunge

WASHINGTON (AP) — Undeterred by a panicked , President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on China on Monday, raising fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive .

Trump’s threat came after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs he announced last week.

“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!”

The U.S. president has shown few signs of backing down on tariffs despite the mounting pressure in the financial markets. His commitment to tariffs could have devastating effects for the global economy, even though Trump is banking that it will ultimately pay off with manufacturing jobs.

Asked Monday if he would consider a pause on his widespread tariffs, Trump said, “We’re not looking at that.” The U.S. president said he was open to negotiations “if we can make a really fair deal and a good deal for the United States.” Trump added that it’s possible to have both negotiated settlements with other countries and permanent tariffs.

Even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would take its tariffs against U.S. goods to zero, Trump was noncommittal about removing the new import taxes placed on an ally. The White House also said Monday that Trump would veto a Senate bill that would mandate congressional approval for new tariffs, a bet that the critical mass of lawmakers will loyally back him despite the economic and political risks.

However, there are signs of frustration even among Trump’s allies. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said he supports the president’s goals of better deals but worries about the economic uncertainty.

“We don’t know if the medicine will be worse than the disease,” Kennedy said, adding, “This is President Trump’s economy now.”

If Trump implements his new taxes on from China, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104%. The new taxes would be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34% tariffs announced last week. Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners.

The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. on Monday responded to Trump’s latest tariff threat by saying his bluster would not help him resolve any trade disputes.

“We have stressed more than once that pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage with us,” said Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesman. “China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

After sell-offs on the prior two days of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday fell 0.9%. The slumped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.

Trump frequently bragged about gains during his first term, and the threat of losses on was viewed as a potential guardrail on risky economic policies in his second term. But that hasn’t been the case, and Trump has described days of financial pain as necessary.

“I don’t mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end,” he said.

Trump officials have frequently appeared on television to make the case for his policies, but none of their explanations have calmed the markets. The only improvement came from a false report that top economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump was considering a pause on all tariffs except for China. spiked before the White House denied it was true by calling the post “fake news.”

The Republican president has remained defiant despite fears that he could be pushing the U.S. toward a recession, insisting that his tariffs are necessary for rebuilding domestic manufacturing and resetting trade relationships with other countries.

But his aggressive push has scrambled U.S. economic policy. Even though inflation remains elevated, Trump has called on the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rates that were increased to constrain price increases.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Friday that the tariffs could increase inflation, and he said, “There’s a lot of waiting and seeing going on, including by us,” before any decisions would be made.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union would focus on trade with other countries besides the United States, saying there are “vast opportunities” elsewhere.

Trump said he spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to start trade negotiations. He complained on Truth Social “they have treated the U.S. very poorly on Trade” and “they don’t take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs.”

Ishiba said he told Trump that he’s “strongly concerned” that tariffs would discourage investment from Japan, which has been the world’s biggest investor in the U.S. in the past five years. He described the situation as a “national crisis” and said his government would negotiate with Washington to urge Trump to reconsider the tariffs.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro suggested countries would need to do much more than simply lower their own tariff rates to reach deals, an indication that talks could be a drawn-out process.

“Let’s take Vietnam,” he said on CNBC. “When they come to us and say, ‘We’ll go to zero tariffs,’ that means nothing to us because it’s the non-tariff cheating that matters.”

Meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday, Netanyahu said his country would remove tariffs and other trade barriers in response to the U.S. placing 17% taxes on imports from Israel.

“Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same,” Netanyahu told the U.S. president.

Trump said he appreciated “very much” what Netanyahu had said. But when asked if he would remove the tariffs, Trump said “maybe not” because of the aid that the United States provides to Israel. The U.S. had a $7.4 billion trade deficit in goods last year with Israel, according to the Census Bureau.

Trump has strived for a united front after the chaotic infighting of his first term. However, the economic turbulence has exposed some fractures among his supporters.

Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager, assailed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday as “indifferent to the stock market and the economy crashing.”

On Monday, Ackman apologized for his criticism claiming that Lutnick, previously the head of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, could benefit from the tariffs because of its bond investments. But the hedge fund manager also reiterated his concerns about Trump’s tariffs.

“I am just frustrated watching what I believe to be a major policy error occur after our country and the president have been making huge economic progress that is now at risk due to the tariffs,” he wrote on X.

Billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump on overhauling the federal government, expressed skepticism about tariffs over the weekend. Musk has said that tariffs would drive up costs for Tesla, his electric automaker.

“I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally in my view to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” Musk said in a video conference with Italian politicians.

Navarro later told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that Musk “doesn’t understand” the situation.

“He sells cars,” Navarro said. “That’s what he does.” He added, “He’s simply protecting his own interests as any businessperson would do.”

_

Associated Press writers Didi Tang and Stephen Groves in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

UPDATED: Adjusts Nasdaq close to a slight increase,

Bechtel wins $242M contract modification for chemical weapons destruction

Reston-based National has been awarded a $242.28 million modification from the to address past contract overruns associated with the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in Colorado.

The plant is a destruction facility that destroyed the chemical weapons stockpile previously stored at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Pueblo, Colorado. The Bechtel Pueblo Team, which includes Bechtel as well as Amentum and Battelle Memorial Institute, was awarded a contract in 2002 to design, build, test and operate the plant.

Bechtel led the team that destroyed the chemical weapons stockpile. The company reports that between March 2015 and June 2023, the team destroyed more than 780,000 munitions containing 2,613 U.S. tons of chemical agents.

In June 2022, Bechtel was awarded a $759 million contract modification to close the facility. Work was to be performed in Pueblo and was initially expected to be completed on March 30, 2026. The plant’s closure will involve decontamination, rendering equipment safe for removal and demolition and transferring government personal property for reuse, sale, recycling or disposal. It will also involve the demolition of facilities not required for future use and closing environmental permits, contracts and interagency agreements and archiving records.

The $242 million contract modification announced on Thursday says that Bechdel will perform work in Pueblo with an estimated completion date of April 3, 2026. The Army Contracting Command of Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois obligated the money from the Army’s fiscal 2015 research, development, test and evaluation funds.

Headquartered in , Bechtel is a global , and project management company. Engineering News-Record in 2024 ranked Bechtel as the nation’s third largest construction company. Since its founding in 1898, the company has completed more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries.

The Latest: Stocks plummet as global markets feel the impact of Trump’s tariffs

U.S. stocks careened after President Donald Trump threatened to crank his  higher on Monday.

The was down 0.8% in late trading, but only after a day of heart-racing reversals as battered financial markets try to figure out what Trump’s ultimate goal is for his trade war. If it’s to get other countries to agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if it’s to remake the and stick with tariffs for the long haul, prices may need to fall further.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 563 points, or 1.5%, with a little less than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.

___

Here’s the latest:

US stocks end modestly lower after markets were reeling from tariff fight

Stocks ended another tumultuous day lower as markets reel from President Trump’s latest threats to escalate his tariff fight.

The S&P 500 sank 0.2% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%. The Dow was earlier down as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses worldwide on worries that Trump’s tariffs could torpedo the global economy.

It then surged to a gain after a rumor circulated that Trump may pause his tariffs. But the White House quickly called that fake news, and Trump then threatened to raise tariffs further on China.

Sell, baby, sell

President’s Trump promise to “drill, baby, drill”,” was expected to usher in happy days for fossil fuel companies. But it hasn’t worked out that way so far.

Oil and gas companies have been among the biggest decliners over the past few days as an escalating trade war raises fears of an economic downturn and a drop in demand for energy products.

Over the past three trading sessions, Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy and Halliburton have all declined by more than 20%. APA Corp., which operates in the U.S., Egypt and the U.K., has dropped more than 30%. The price of oil has declined from around $71 in the middle of last week to $61 Monday.

Trump says he won’t pause tariff plan

Despite hopes that he’ll back off his trade policies, the president said he’s not going to pause plans for tariffs.

“We’re not looking at that,” he said in the Oval Office. However, he also said foreign leaders were looking to cut new trade deals with the U.S.

“We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate with us,” he said.

Trump said there was no contradiction between implementing tariffs and holding talks.

“They can both be true,” he said.

Trump has lost more than a billion dollars in stock value

Trump’s stake in his social media company that runs Truth Social has fallen to $2.4 billion, a 40% plunge from when the began tumbling on tariff fears on February 19. The drop in percentage terms is twice that of the S&P 500.

The president’s heavy exposure to stocks through his Trump Media & Technology stake contrasts sharply from when he was last president and boasted regularly about stock market records.

Back then, before he took his social media public, he had just 0.1% of his wealth in stocks.

Just how much a backlash from Trump’s tariffs will hurt his overseas golf club and hotel and residential tower businesses is unclear because they are privately held. Before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, Forbes valued his holdings, including his Trump Media stake, at about $5 billion.

Experts worry of a possible bear market

Wall Street could soon be in the claws of another bear market as the Trump administration’s tariff blitz fuels fears that the added taxes on imported goods from around the world will sink the global economy.

A bear market is a term used by Wall Street when an index such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 20% or more from a recent high for a sustained period of time.

The last bear market happened from Jan. 3 to Oct. 12 in 2022. But this decline feels more like the sudden, turbulent bear market of 2020, when the benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled 34% in a one-month period, the shortest bear market ever.

The S&P 500, Wall Street’s main barometer of health, was down 1.2% in Monday afternoon trading. It’s now 18.4% below the all-time high it set on Feb. 19.

The Dow industrials fell 1.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, which already was in a bear market, dropped 0.9%.

UK and Singapore prime ministers agree to strengthen collaboration amid US tariffs

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed U.S. tariffs with his Singapore counterpart and they agreed there can be no winners in a trade war, his office said.

Starmer updated Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on his calls with other leaders over the weekend and both agreed to work to maintain global economic stability, according to a readout of the call.

The two agreed to strengthen collaboration through bilateral agreements and trading blocs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“On the wider bilateral relationship, the leaders committed to further collaboration on areas including technology, security and defense in the 60th year of bilateral relations,” Starmer’s office said.

Apple, Starbucks, Caterpillar among declining stocks

Apple tumbled again on Monday after President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs against China.

China is the iPhone maker’s second-biggest market and home to the vast majority of its production and assembly.

In afternoon trading, Apple fell 3.2%, to $182.34 per share. That follows a combined decline of more than 16% on Thursday and Friday. Its shares are down more than 25% this year.

Other notable decliners Monday included Starbucks (-2.8%); Tesla (-1.6%); Levi Strauss (-1.7%); and Caterpillar (-2.4%).

Much like the major stock indexes, many companies whipsawed back-and-forth between gains and losses.

Nvidia was down as much as 7% early before rebounding to a 5% gain in the afternoon, for instance.

US Secretary of State speaks with Pakistan’s deputy PM about economic cooperation

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken to Pakistan’s deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, days after the U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 29% tariffs on exports to his country from Pakistan.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that the two sides “discussed bilateral relations, regional security, and economic cooperation”.

The statement quoted Rubio as saying that the cooperation in economy and trade would be the hallmark of future relations between the two countries.

The latest development came hours after the Pakistan Stock Exchange fell rapidly, with Islamabad facing 29% tariffs from the U.S.

Beijing cites President Reagan to blast Trump’s tariffs and protectionism

Beijing has issued several strongly-worded rebukes to Trump’s tariffs, including one entirely in the words of late-President Ronald Reagan.

“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” the president said in a video clip dated 1987, as posted on the X social media site Monday by the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. The embassy wrote that the decades-old speech “finds new relevance in 2025.”

“The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trader barriers, and less and less competition,” Reagan said in the speech, in which he warned of the worst from tariff wars: markets should collapse, businesses shut down, and millions of people lose jobs.

Experts don’t think China will back down in the face of Trump’s latest tariff threat

Experts say Beijing is unlikely to back down, after President Trump threatened to raise tariffs on China if Beijing does not withdraw its retaliatory tariffs.

“At this point, it is extremely unlikely for China to back down,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, adding any leadership summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping “doesn’t appear likely in the near future.”

“China is increasingly convinced that the tariff is not negotiable because Trump’s eventual goal is to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.,” Sun said.

Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at another Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called Trump’s threat from today “a blunt ultimatum to Beijing that sharply raises the takes in the U.S.-China tariff war.” He said Beijing’s rigid system and fear of looking weak prevent Xi from opening back channels with the Trump administration that could offer relief.

“This is not a contest of endurance so much as a collision course, where neither side intends to swerve,” Singleton said. “In other words, Trump and Xi are locked into escalation-as-strategy, and the risk now is a slow-motion spiral with no clear ceiling.”

Think twice before bailing out of the stock market, financial advisers say

The huge swings rocking Wall Street and the global economy may feel far from normal. But, for investing at least, drops of this size have happened throughout history.

Any kind of uncertainty around the economy will give Wall Street pause, but the trade war is making it more difficult for companies, households and others to feel confident enough to invest, spend and make long-term plans.

Anytime an investor sees they’re losing money, it feels bad. This recent run feels particularly unnerving because of how incredibly calm the market had previously been. The S&P 500 is coming off a second straight year where it shot up by more than 20%.

Selling may offer some feeling of relief. But it also locks in losses and prevents the chance of making the money back over time. Historically, the S&P 500 has come back from every one of its downturns to eventually make investors whole again. That includes after the Great Depression, the dot-com bust and the 2020 COVID crash.

Markets in Europe sink for a third day

European markets continued their recent descent Monday, logging a third straight day of major losses.

Germany’s DAX index, which briefly fell more than 10% at the open on the Frankfurt exchange, recovered some ground and closed down 4.1%. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 4.8%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 tumbled 4.4%.

Prior to last week, most indexes in Europe had enjoyed a resurgence after underperforming U.S. markets last year.

The EUs executive commission — which handles trade issues for the 27-country bloc — is set to impose tariffs on jeans, whiskey and motorcycles Wednesday in response to Trump’s increase in steel and aluminum tariffs.

EU commissioners haven’t cemented a response to Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff of 20% on European goods and a 25% tariff imposed on autos.

Betting on a Fed rate cut

Wall Street is increasingly betting that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at least four times this year.

That expectation has increased since the White House unleashed its sweeping tariffs on imported goods.

As of Monday, traders are betting on a 61.6% chance that the Fed will leave its rate unchanged at its next meeting of policymakers in May, according to data from CME Group. That’d down from 63.1% a month ago.

However, traders’ odds of rate cut announcements at Fed meetings in June, July, September and December are all up versus a month ago.

The Fed has been holding interest rates steady this year, after cutting them sharply through the end of last year.

Copper prices fall further

The price of copper fell nearly 4% Monday following sharp drops late last week. Copper prices were up as much as 30% for the year as of late March and nearly all of those gains have been erased.

Copper prices had hit record levels because of growing demand amid developments for artificial intelligence technology and a global shift to cleaner energy. A prolonged trade war threatens economies around the world. That makes investments in technology and energy infrastructure more difficult.

Much of the world’s technology wouldn’t work without copper. It goes into cords for electrical devices, transmission lines, batteries, LED lights and other electronics.

Gas price increase is likely short-lived

The average price for a gallon of gas is up for the third straight week in the U.S., but that’s likely to reverse course soon with oil prices in rapid retreat.

The average price for a gallon of gas hit $3.21 this week, up more than 10 cents, according to GasBuddy. That’s still more than 35 cents lower that last year at this time.

Oil prices on Monday briefly dipped below $60 for the first time since 2021 as a global trade war escalates.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said that if tariffs aren’t scaled back soon, the national average could fall below $3 per gallon in the coming weeks.

Heavy weights lead market shifts

Wall Street’s big swings are being led by the technology sector, which has an outsized impact on the broader market.

The sector is full of companies with pricey stock valuations, such as Nvidia, which tend to push and pull the market with greater force than less valuable stocks. Their heft means a big shift either way for a just handful of companies can sink or lift the S&P 500.

Technology companies, including chipmakers, have seen their values skyrocket over hopes for artificial intelligence advancements. Higher costs for chips and other technologies pose a risk to that development and the earnings growth prospects for companies like Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft.

British prime minister says tariffs are a challenge for the UK

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said President Trump’s tariffs were a “huge challenge” for the U.K. and could have “profound” consequences for the global economy.

“But this moment has also made something very clear — that this is not a passing phase,” he said. “And just as we’ve seen with our national security, particularly over recent months in relation to the war in Ukraine, now with our commerce and trade, this is … a completely new world, an era where old assumptions, which we’ve long taken for granted, simply don’t apply any longer.”

Speaking to workers at a plant in the West Midlands that makes Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles for the export market, Starmer said his government would continue to try to negotiate a trade deal with the United States while championing free trade around the world.

Jaguar Land Rover on Saturday announced that it was pausing shipments to the U.S. for the month of April as it works out how to respond to the 25% tax on imported cars that took effect last week.

Starmer announced some help for the British car industry, providing additional flexibility in meeting the government’s 2030 deadline for phasing out gasoline- and diesel-power cars, extending the deadline for hybrids to 2035 and offering tax breaks for buyers of electric vehicles.

Slide in oil prices deepens

Oil prices are falling Monday, extending their slide from last week, as investors anticipate that a trade war will chill global economic growth.

The price of benchmark U.S. crude oil is down 1.1% to $61.32 a barrel. Earlier in the day, it briefly dipped below $60 a barrel for the first time since 2021.

U.S. crude is down 14.2% so far this month.

Brent crude, the international standard, is down 1% to $64.88 a barrel.

Bitcoin and other cryptos see large price drops

After holding relatively stable during last week’s global market turmoil, cryptocurrencies have joined the sell-off.

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency dipped below $75,000 Monday morning before seeing a slight rebound.

Bitcoin’s prices haven’t been this low since just after President Donald Trump’s Election Day victory last year launched a bull run in crypto prices.

Bitcoin’s backers say it is a type of digital gold that can act as a hedge against volatility. But Garrick Hileman, an independent cryptocurrency analyst, said bitcoin’s price slide shows that thesis still hasn’t proven to be true.

“It’s just not there today,” he said. “(Bitcoin) trades like a risky tech stock.”

Other major digital assets, like ether, XRP and solana, saw even bigger one-day percentage drops on Monday morning.

Bond yields are mixed after brief rally

Treasury yields are mixed in Monday morning trading on the bond market after briefly rallying in the early going.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.09% from 4.01% late Friday. It had fallen as low as 3.88% overnight.

The yield, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, was nearing 4.8% in mid-January.

The two-year yield, which closely tracks expectations for action by the Federal Reserve, was steady at 3.68%.

A White House account on X says it was ‘fake news’ that Trump was considering a tariff pause

The account, @RapidResponse47, weighed in shortly after the market spiked, then dropped again.

Stock market spikes, reacting to White House report that president may pause tariffs

The stock market briefly spiked on a report that Kevin Hassett, a top White House economic adviser, said the president was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs.

The supposed remark from Hassett circulated on social media, but no one could pinpoint where it came from even as the market flashed from red to green.

Hassett had spoken to Fox News earlier in the morning, when he was asked about a potential pause. However, he was noncommittal.

“I think the president is going to decide what the president is going to decide,” he said.

The episode showed that traders were operating on a hair trigger and eager for any sign of encouraging news for the market.

Stocks are sharply swinging down, up, then down again on Wall Street

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly erased a morning loss of 1,700 points, shot up more than 800 points, then went back to a loss of 629 points.

The S&P 500 likewise made sudden up-and-down lurching movements and was down 0.7% in the first hour of trading. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.2% That followed sharp drops around the world as worries rise about whether Trump’s trade war will torpedo the global economy.

A big Tesla bull slams Musk, slashes stock price target

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says Elon Musk’s association with President Trump and his tariffs will turn off potential Tesla buyers in China, the company’s second largest market. Ives writes that Musk’s embrace of right-wing is destroying demand for his electric vehicles in the U.S. and Europe, too.

“This could be a brutal year ahead if Musk does not exit stage left or take a step back on DOGE in the coming month,” Ives writes, referring to the Tesla CEO’s leadership of the government cost-cutting group. “With major protests erupting globally at Tesla dealerships, Tesla cars being keyed, and a full brand crisis tornado turning into a life of its own, this has cast a dark black cloud over Tesla’s stock.”

Even before Trump’s tariffs, Tesla stock had plunged more than 40% from its mid-December high.

Ives’ new price target of $315 still assumes big gains. Tesla was trading Monday morning at $229, down more than 4%.

Japan’s prime minister told Trump he is concerned the tariffs will discourage investment from Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he spoke on the telephone with Trump on Monday night and told him he is “strongly concerned” that U.S. tariffs would discourage investment from Japan, which has been the world’s biggest investor in the United States in the past five years.

Ishiba said he urged Trump to seek a more mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, and that Japan will keep negotiating to get the U.S. government reconsider the measures.

The two leaders reaffirmed their efforts to resolve the issue, and agreed to appoint a team of representatives on each side for further negotiations.

Ishiba said his government will hold a first ministerial taskforce meeting to tackle what he called “a national crisis.”

The prime minister told a parliamentary session earlier Monday that he doesn’t think the problem can be resolved unless Japan makes a counter proposal and that Japan needs to propose how the two countries can make a new relationship as a package. Ishiba, however, said he is not considering a retaliatory measure because it only makes things worse.

Ishiba said the government will do everything it can to help the industries affected, especially small and medium sized business owners.

Wall Street opens sharply lower

Wall Street is sinking again, following other global markets, as worries deepen about whether Trump’s trade war will torpedo the global economy.

The S&P 500 fell 3.8% in early trading Monday, coming off its worst week since COVID began crashing the global economy in March 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,200 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 4% lower.

European markets saw losses of 4% or more. In Asia, stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. Japan’s index tumbled nearly 8%.

European Union will focus on global trade outside the US

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union is looking to do more business elsewhere in the world as President Trump’s tariffs hit international trade.

She said Monday that the EU is also is setting up a taskforce to monitor any dumping on its markets that might happen as trade patterns change.

“We will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the United States. Vast opportunities,” von der Leyen said. After deals already done with Mexico and Switzerland, she said, “we’re working on India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and many others.”

Von der Leyen says the taskforce will help to monitor any unexpected surges in and “protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion.”

The European Commission negotiates trade deals and disputes on behalf of the 27 EU member countries.

Von der Leyen insists the EU still wants a deal with the Trump administration, but that “we are preparing a potential list for retaliation, and other measures for retaliation, if this is necessary.”

JPMorgan CEO says tariffs will slow economy

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says the Trump administration’s trade policies will likely result in higher prices for both imported and domestic goods and services, weighing on an already slowing U.S. economy.

In his annual letter to shareholders, released Monday, Dimon said the U.S. economy already faced a number of challenges: sticky inflation, geopolitical tensions, Federal Reserve policy including still-high interest rates and high fiscal deficits. Dimon also said that many stocks in the market have been priced too high.

The outspoken and influential CEO often comments on both domestic and international issues.

“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” Dimon wrote, while also saying “I still have an abiding faith in America.”

Goldman Sachs says tariff announcement may have caused irreversible damage

The financial firm said a recession has become more likely even if Trump retreats from his trade policies.

Goldman Sachs also reduced its expectations for economic growth “following a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed.”

But even meeting those expectations “would now require a large reduction in the tariffs scheduled to take effect on April 9.”

Finger pointing as markets plunge

The dispute over tariffs has caused some fracturing within Trump’s political coalition.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said the president was “launching a global economic war against the whole world at once” and urged him to “call a time out.”

“We are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter,” he wrote on X on Sunday.

Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox News on Monday morning that Ackman should “ease off the rhetoric a little bit.”

Hassett said critics were exaggerating the impact of trade disputes and talk of an “economic nuclear winter” was “completely irresponsible rhetoric.”

Hong Kong stock market slumps but official warns against drastic action

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan says the current volatility in the market does not warrant any drastic measures to be taken, vowing the city will remain a free port.

After the city’s stock market slumped 13.2% on Monday, Chan told reporters that it was functioning in an orderly manner, with substantial selling and buying interests. But the U.S. tariffs will inevitably cause market fluctuations and retaliatory measures and interest rate policy from other countries will trigger more volatile capital flows.

He blasted the latest U.S. tariffs as “bullying and unreasonable,” saying they have disrupted global supply chains and severely impacted the global economic recovery process.

Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to China in 1997, enjoys semiautonomy that allows its policies and economic system to be different from mainland China’s.

German exports to the US grew in February as firms anticipated tariffs

Germany has reported a large increase in exports to the United States in February, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs.

Germany has Europe’s biggest economy and is a leading exporter. Last year, the United States was its biggest single trading partner for the first time in nearly a decade, displacing China.

The Federal Statistical Office said Monday that Germany’s exports to the U.S. were up 8.5% in February compared with the previous month, at 14.2 billion euros ($15.6 billion). German exports to the entire world, including other EU nations, were up 1.8% in the same period at 131.6 billion euros.

The head of Germany’s exporters association, the BGA, said the February increase “must not deceive us” as the rise in exports to the U.S. was due to “anticipatory effects.”

Dirk Jandura said in a statement that “U.S. firms bunkered and German firms moved deliveries forward.”

He added that “Germany and the EU must quickly find their role in the new world order” and “approach the global South with pragmatic offers.”

Jandura argued that “the sweeping U.S. blow offers a unique opportunity to position Europe as a reliable and trustworthy partner.”

German economy minister calls US tariffs ‘nonsense’

Germany’s economy minister says the premise of U.S. President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs is “nonsense,” and he is arguing that Europe is in a strong position.

Robert Habeck, who is also vice chancellor in Germany’s outgoing government, said as he arrived at a meeting of European Union trade ministers in Luxembourg Monday that he and his colleagues must act “calmly, prudently but also clearly and with determination.”

He said that means “being clear that we are in a strong position — America is in a position of weakness.” He argued that “we don’t have time pressure now,” but the U.S. does.

Habeck said it’s important for the EU to stick together, arguing that attempts by individual countries to win exemptions haven’t worked in the past. He stressed the importance of trade agreements and contacts with other regions of the world, such as South America, Asia and the Pacific.

The German minister said of Trump’s tariffs that “even the basis of the calculation is nonsense: The assumption that a trade budget surplus or deficit is a problem in itself is a wrong estimation.”

Indonesia says it won’t retaliate against Trump’s tariffs

Indonesia says it won’t retaliate against Trump’s 32% tariff but will pursue diplomacy and negotiations to seek mutually beneficial solutions.

Indonesia, which had an $18 billion trade surplus with the U.S. last year, will gather input from business leaders to create a strategy for addressing the tariffs and find ways to reduce the deficit, Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said Monday.

“We will increase the volume of purchases so that the $18 billion trade deficit can be reduced,” Hartarto said.

China accuses US of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying

China on Monday accused the United States of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying with tariffs.

“Putting ‘America First’ over international rules is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters.

Last week, Trump put an additional 34% tariff on Chinese goods, on top of two rounds of 10% tariffs already declared in February and March, which Trump said was due to Beijing’s role in the fentanyl crisis. China and other governments retaliated quickly. China announced its own 34% tariff rate on U.S. goods.

Lin said the new tariffs harmed the stability of global production and supply chains and seriously impacted the world’s economic recovery.

“Pressure and threats are not the way to deal with China. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” Lin added.

European shares plunge in early trading

European shares dropped in early trading, with Germany’s DAX falling 6.5% to 19,311.29. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 5.7% to 6,861.27, while Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 4.5% to 7,694.00.

‘s top trade negotiator will visit Washington

South Korea’s top trade negotiator will visit Washington this week to express Seoul’s concerns over the Trump administration’s increased tariffs and discuss ways to mitigate their negative impact on South Korean businesses.

South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Monday that its minister of trade, Inkyo Cheong, plans to meet with various U.S. officials, including U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

The ministry says Cheong aims to gather detailed information on the Trump administration’s trade policies and engage in discussions to reduce the 25% tariffs placed on South Korean products.

 UPDATES: with new headline and top paragraphs and item

In conservative Alabama, Republicans are cheering for Trump – with some quiet concerns and caveats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — On a day when markets around the world dropped precipitously, Party Chairman John Wahl led a celebration of the president whose global tariffs sparked the selloff.

With no mention of the rollercoaster and global economic uncertainty, Wahl declared his state ‘s “Trump Victory Dinner” — and the broader national moment — a triumph. And for anyone who rejects President Donald Trump, his agenda and the “America First” army that backs it all, Wahl had an offer: “The Alabama Republican Party will buy them a plane ticket to any country in the world they want to go to.”

Wahl’s audience — an assembly of lobbyists and donors, state lawmakers, local party officials and grassroots activists — laughed, applauded and sometimes roared throughout last week’s gala in downtown Birmingham, the rare Democratic stronghold in one of the nation’s most Republican states. The president’s son Donald Trump Jr. elicited perhaps the most enthusiasm with an unapologetically partisan pitch, even repeating the lie that his father won the 2020 election over Democrat Joe Biden.

Yet beyond the cheerleading, there were signs of a more cautious optimism and some worried whispers over Trump’s sweeping , the particulars of his deportation policy and the aggressive slashing of his Department of Government Efficiency.

That doesn’t mean Trump or Republicans are in danger of losing their grip in Alabama, where the GOP holds all statewide offices, dominates the Legislature and has won every presidential electoral vote since 1980. But it’s a notable wrinkle in a place where there has long been tension between relying on the federal government for funding and jobs, and an embrace of the kind of anti-Washington, anti-establishment populism that has twice propelled Trump to the Oval Office. And any cracks for Trump in Alabama — where he got 65% of the vote in 2024 — could portend trouble elsewhere, as the effects of a seismic shift in U.S. policy reach across the and society.

“There are some concerns, some conversations,” said John Merrill, a former secretary of state, over just what Trump’s agenda will mean on the ground. Alabama, he acknowledged, has “been a net recipient” of the very federal government and economic model Trump is upending, meaning it receives more money back from Washington than its taxpayers send the federal government.

“It’s a big risk,” said Merrill, who sported a Trump 45-47 pin on his lapel, a nod to the president’s two terms.

Federal funding is a lifeblood in Alabama

Blocks to the south of the complex where Republicans convened sits the multibillion-dollar University of Alabama at Birmingham health system, a regional gem where research depends on grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, listed as a “Silver Sponsor” of the gala, did not join the Democratic attorneys general suing the Trump administration to stop the cancellation of certain research funding streams Congress already has approved.

Most of the medical services provided at UAB and many other hospitals throughout the state are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, two of the largest federal outlays. Alabama, because its per capita income ranks among the lower tier among states, has one of the most generous federal match rates for Medicaid funding.

A short drive west toward Tuscaloosa sits a gargantuan Mercedes-Benz complex, one of the earliest examples of foreign auto manufacturers coming to the American South, where state laws are hostile to organized labor. The plants have provided jobs at wages higher than the local norms but in some cases lower than in union shops of the Great Lakes region around Detroit. Many suppliers have followed in the South, but not so many that the assembly plants don’t still import many parts that now will be subject to Trump’s tariffs.

Terry Martin, a county GOP committeeman in Tallapoosa County, said he supports the tariffs as leverage. Trump has “something to bargain with,” Martin said. But, “the parts that are coming from overseas … it’s going to pop it up” in price, he said, at least in the short term.

Agriculture, meanwhile, is still a dominant Alabama industry. Meat processing plants in the North and row crop farms in the South depend on migrant that Merrill, the former secretary of state, said involves both workers who are in the United States legally and those who are not. Alabama, he recalled, passed its own strict immigration bill during Barack Obama’s presidency only to roll it back after industry leaders complained of a depleted workforce.

Wahl, in an interview after the gala, took a more nuanced approach than he did at the podium.

“It is possible to secure our border and still take into account migrants who deserve to be here,” he said. “This has to be a two-pronged approach.”

Interstate project and Medicaid funds could be at risk

Back in Birmingham, Interstate 65 splits the city. The aging, increasingly congested artery is a local priority for widening. The proposal has support from Alabama’s two Republican senators, Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt. U.S. interstate projects, though, are typically a 90-10 split, meaning 90% of the money comes from Washington, 10% from the state.

That funding — along with money for schools, Medicaid and other areas — could be at risk with Trump adviser Elon Musk and DOGE carrying Trump’s blessing to slash spending. GOP lawmakers who control Congress have supported Trump’s agenda, which also includes dismantling the Education Department.

Tallapoosa County GOP chair Denise Bates said “absolutely” there is a possibility that DOGE could go too far. “I hope there are guardrails,” she said, noting she was once a local school board member.

“Am I 100% for getting rid of the Department of Education? I can’t say that I am,” she said, adding a phrase similar to Merrill’s description of the state as a whole. “You know, we’re a net receiver.”

Yet for all the caveats offered in one-on-one conversations, the GOP crowd cheered when Tuberville, the former football coach turned Trump acolyte on Capitol Hill, offered a plainspoken of Musk and his pop-up agency, telling the crowd, “We’re dead broke.” And they roared as he addressed tariffs.

“It’s past time we level the playing field and tell the rest of the world to get off their ass and start paying their fair share,” Tuberville said.

Trump remains popular

Bates argued that Alabama’s embrace of Trump’s “America First” push is not simply loyalty to the president. She said it reflects generations of voters watching the steel industry decline in Birmingham and, after the North America Free Agreement was enacted in 1994, the textile industry leaving for Mexico and, eventually, southeast Asia.

“We just want jobs,” she said.

Still, state Sen. Jabo Waggoner, the longest-serving member of the Alabama Legislature, made clear Trump’s visceral appeal, declaring him “the most popular president here since Ronald Reagan, hands down.”

Wahl recalled Trump’s first massive outdoor rally as a presidential candidate: 30,000 people at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, in August 2015.

Wahl, who owns a butterfly farm outside Huntsville, said perhaps the best way to understand Trump and Alabama and this moment of uncertainty is to see a president who, at least to his supporters in the state, has earned the benefit of the doubt.

“He’s going to let everybody know he’s serious,” the chairman said. Trump is “going to bring people to the bargaining table. We’re actually going to see the negotiator conduct business.”

As markets implode, US trading partners puzzle over whether there’s room for negotiations

BRUSSELS (AP) — America’s trading partners wrestled with responses to U.S. ‘s blast of tariff hikes and some planned to send negotiators to Washington, while the head of the European Union’s executive commission offered mutual reduction of – while warning that retaliation was an option too.

“We stand ready to negotiate with the United States,” said commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Indeed, we have offered zero for zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. Because Europe is always ready for a good deal.”

But she warned that “we are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests.”

has already hit back against the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs and similar actions from Europe and elsewhere remain a significant possibility.

The U.S. and the EU had a zero-for-zero deal on wine and spirits from 1997 to 2018, and reducing many tariffs to zero was a goal of complex negotiations for a US-Europe free- deal before negotiations stalled in 2016.

Yet there was little indication Trump is ready to deal. The EU trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, spoke for two hours with Trump administration Friday and would say only that “we stay in touch.”

And White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNBC on Monday that an offer by Vietnam to eliminate tariffs on U.S. would not lead to a pullback on the the newly announced 46% levy on its imports to the U.S.

“Let’s take Vietnam. When they come to us and say ‘we’ll go to zero tariffs,’ that means nothing to us because it’s the non-tariff cheating that matters,” Navarro said on CNBC

Major trade partner China was taking a tougher line and accused the U.S. of “bullying” after imposing a 34% tariff on Friday on all US goods, the exact same rate Trump slapped China with in his latest round of new import taxes.

Several other countries said they were sending trade officials to Washington to try to talk through the crisis, which has cast uncertainty over the global economic outlook, hammered markets and left U.S. allies wondering about the value of their ties with the world’s largest .

European Union trade ministers were closeted Monday in Luxembourg to weigh possible steps that could include taxes on U.S. tech companies like Google, Apple and Amazon. The European Union’s executive commission – which handles trade issues for the 27-country bloc – is set to impose tariffs on Jeans, whiskey and motorcycles on Wednesday in response to Trumps increase in steel and aluminum tariffs.

But it hasn’t decided a response yet to Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff of 20% on European goods announced Wednesday and a 25% tariff imposed on autos from everywhere. French officials have raised imposing tariffs on services like internet commerce or financial services, where the U.S. sells more than it buys from Europe and is in theory more vulnerable than in goods trade.

Germany’s economy minister, Robert Habeck, was defiant as he arrived, saying the premise of the wide-ranging tariffs was “nonsense” and that attempts by individual countries to win exemptions haven’t worked in the past.

It’s important for the EU to stick together, he said. That “means being clear that we are in a strong position — America is in a position of weakness.”

So far the European approach has been to selectively target politically sensitive goods rather than impose sweeping retaliation since like most economists officials they view tariff wars as a lose-lose game.

China, which hit back Friday at Washington with 34% tariffs on U.S. products and other retaliatory moves, sharply accused the U.S. of failing to play fair. “Putting ‘America First’ over international rules is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters.

The ruling Communist Party struck a note of confidence even as markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai crumpled. “The sky won’t fall,” declared The People’s Daily, the party’s official mouthpiece. “Faced with the indiscriminate punches of U.S. taxes, we know what we are doing and we have tools at our disposal.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said officials met with representatives of 20 American businesses including Tesla and GE over the weekend and urged them to take “concrete actions” to address the tariffs issue.

During the meeting, Ling Ji, a vice minister of commerce, promised that China will remain open to foreign investment, according to the readout by the ministry.

Other Asian nations seek negotiations

‘s Trade Ministry said its top negotiator, Inkyo Cheong, will visit Washington this week to express Seoul’s concerns over the 25% tariffs on Korean goods and discuss ways to mitigate the damage to South Korean businesses, which include major automakers and steel makers. Asian countries are among the most exposed to Trump’s tariffs ranging from a baseline 10% to 50% since their export-oriented economies send a lot of goods to the U.S.

Pakistan also planned to send a delegation to Washington this month to try negotiate over the 29% tariffs on its to the U.S., officials said. The prime minister ordered Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb to assess the tariff’s potential impact on Pakistan’s fragile economy and draw up recommendations.

The U.S. imports around $5 billion worth of textiles and other products each year from Pakistan, which heavily relies on loans from the International Monetary Fund and other lenders.

In Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s Trade Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz said his country will seek to forge a united response from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

As chair of the 10-nation body this year, Malaysia will lead a meeting Thursday in its capital Kuala Lumpur to discuss broader implications of the trade war on regional trade and investment, Zafrul told reporters.

“We are looking at the investment flows, macroeconomic stability and ASEAN’s coordinated response to this tariff issue,” Zafrul said.

He said that he had met with the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia to try to clarify how the U.S. came up with its 24% tariff.

Indonesia plans to increase imports from US

Indonesia, one of the region’s biggest economies, said it would work with businesses to increase its imports of U.S. wheat, cotton, oil and gas to help reduce its trade surplus, which was $18 billion in 2024.

Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto told a news conference that Indonesia will not retaliate against the new 32% tariff on Indonesian exports, but would use diplomacy to seek mutually beneficial solutions.

Some Southeast Asian neighbors, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, face tariffs of over 40%, giving Indonesia a slight advantage, he noted.

“For Indonesia, it is also another opportunity as its is huge in America,” Hartoto said. He said Indonesia would buy U.S.-made components for several national strategic projects, including refineries.

___

Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.

Panic Monday: World stock markets plunge again as Trump doubles down on tariffs

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Global markets extended a severe plunge Monday, fueled by fears that U.S. tariffs would lead to a global economic slowdown. European and Asian shares saw dramatic losses, the leading U.S. index flirted with bear market territory in pre-market trading, and oil prices sagged.

The massive sell-off in riskier assets at the start of the trading week follows ‘s announcement of sharply higher U.S. import taxes and retaliation from China that saw markets fall sharply Thursday and Friday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 8% shortly after the market opened and futures trading for the benchmark was briefly suspended. It closed down 7.8% at 31,136.58.

European shares followed Asian markets lower, led by Germany’s DAX index, which briefly fell more than 10% at the open on the Frankfurt exchange, but recovered some ground to move down 5.8% in morning trading. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 5.8%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 4.9% in the European morning.

U.S. futures signaled further weakness ahead. For the S&P 500, they lost 3.4%, while for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, they shed 3.1%. Futures for the Nasdaq lost 5.3%. If the pre-market futures losses materialize when the U.S. market opens, the S&P 500 will enter bear market territory — defined as a fall of more than 20% from the peak. The index was off 17.4% as of the end of last week.

On Friday, the worst market crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic shifted into a higher gear as the S&P 500 plummeted 6% and the Dow plunged 5.5%. The Nasdaq composite dropped 3.8%.

“There’s no sign yet that markets are finding a bottom and beginning to stabilize,” wrote Deutsche Bank analysts in a research note.

Late Sunday, Trump reiterated his resolve on his decision to introduce of 10% to 50% on goods imported into the U.S., a move seen as massively disrupting world and supply chains across borders. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he said he didn’t want global markets to fall, but also that he wasn’t concerned about the massive sell-offs, adding, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

Heavy selling kicked in after on Friday matched Trump’s tariff, upping the stakes in a that many fear could end in a global recession. Even a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market, usually the economic highlight of each month, wasn’t enough to stop the slide.

“The idea that there’s so much uncertainty going forward about how these tariffs are going to play out, that’s what’s really driving this plummet in the ,” said Rintaro Nishimura, an associate at the Asia Group.

Chinese markets often don’t follow global trends, but they also tumbled. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 13.2% to 19,828.30, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 7.3% to 3,096.58. In Taiwan, the Taiex plummeted 9.7%.

‘s Kospi lost 5.6% to 2,328.20, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 4.2% to 7,343.30, recovering from a loss of more than 6%.

Asian economies are heavily exposed to Trump’s tariffs since they are dependent on , and a large share go to the United States.

“Beyond the market meltdown, the bigger concern is the impact and potential crises for small and trade-dependent economies, so it’s crucial to see whether Trump will reach deals with most countries soon, at least partially,” said Gary Ng of Nataxis.

Oil prices also sank further, with U.S. benchmark crude down $2.30 to $59.69 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up $2.33 to $63.25 a barrel. As with the larger sell-off, the drop was fueled by fears that the tariffs would slow economic growth. That would hit demand for fuel, and the drop comes after moves to increase production by the OPEC+ producers’ alliance.

Exchange rates also gyrated. The U.S. dollar fell to 146.24 Japanese yen from 146.94 yen. The yen is often viewed as a safe haven in times of turmoil. The euro rose 0.3% to $1.0992.

Nathan Thooft, chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management, said more countries are likely to respond to the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs. Given the large number of countries involved, “it will take a considerable amount of time in our view to work through the various negotiations that are likely to happen.”

“Ultimately, our take is market uncertainly and volatility are likely to persist for some time,” he said.

The Federal Reserve could cushion the blow of tariffs on the U.S. by cutting interest rates. That can encourage companies and households to borrow and spend. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that the higher tariffs could drive up expectations for inflation and lower rates could fuel still more price increases.

Much will depend on how long Trump’s tariffs stick and how other countries react. Some investors are holding onto hope he will lower the tariffs after negotiating “wins” from other countries.

Stuart Kaiser, head of U.S. equity strategy at Citi, wrote in a note to clients that earnings estimates and stock values still don’t reflect the full potential impact of the trade war. “There is ample space to the downside despite the large pullback,” he said.

5 Virginia companies among 27 firms targeted by China for further trade constraints

BANGKOK (AP) — announced Friday that it will impose a 34% tariff on imports of all U.S. products beginning April 10, part of a flurry of retaliatory measures following U.S. ‘s “Liberation Day” slate of double-digit .

The new tariff matches the rate of the U.S. “reciprocal” tariff of 34% on Chinese that Trump ordered this week.

Additionally, the Chinese government said it had added 27 firms to lists of companies subject to sanctions or export controls. Five companies listed are federal contractors in .

One, RapidFlight, is a designer and manufacturer of unmanned aircraft based in Manassas. Mike Smith, a spokesman for the company and PR counsel from Falls Church’s GreenSmith Public Relations firm, said Friday the company considers its naming to the Chinese list “a badge of honor.”

He added that RapidFlight, which won a $10 million Air Force to develop 3D-printed autonomous drones in June 2024, has among its clients a Taiwanese drone company, Thunder Tiger Group, which it signed a memorandum of understanding with in July 2024 to investigate 3D printing of drones for Taiwan’s national .

RapidFlight also has connections to , and Smith said he suspects the ties to both South Korea and Taiwan, with which China has historical conflicts, landed the company on the list of 27 businesses with additional sanctions. Nonetheless, Smith says the company doesn’t expect to suffer financially from China’s action.

The other Virginia companies listed are: Act1 Federal, an aerospace business in Arlington County; Synexxus, an electronics design, manufacturing and engineering services company in Arlington; DTC, an Ashburn-based communications business owned by Australian electronics conglomerate Codan; and TextOre, a Fairfax company that specializes in open-source intelligence (OSINT) solutions.

In addition to the other sanctions against the U.S., the Commerce Ministry in Beijing said in a notice that it will impose more export controls on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries.

Included in the list of minerals subject to controls was samarium and its compounds, which are used in aerospace manufacturing and the defense sector. Another element called gadolinium is used in MRI scans.

China’s customs administration said it had suspended imports of chicken from some U.S. suppliers after detected furazolidone, a drug banned in China, in shipments from those companies.

Separately, it said had found high levels of mold in the sorghum and salmonella in poultry meat from some of the companies. The announcements affect one company exporting sorghum, C&D Inc., and four poultry companies.

Beijing also announced it filed a with the World Trade Organization over the tariffs issue.

“The United States’ imposition of so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ seriously violates WTO rules, seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of WTO members, and seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic and trade order,” the Commerce Ministry said.

“It is a typical unilateral bullying practice that endangers the stability of the global economic and trade order. China firmly opposes this,” it said.

Other actions include the launch of an anti-monopoly investigation into DuPont China Group Co., a subsidiary of the multinational chemical giant, and an anti-dumping probe into X-ray tube and CT tubes for CT scanners imported from the U.S. and India.

In February, China announced a 15% tariff on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas products from the U.S. It separately added a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars.

Dozens of U.S. companies are subject to controls on trade and investment, while many more Chinese companies face similar limits on dealings with U.S. firms.

The latest tariffs apply to all products made in the U.S., according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance’s State Council Tariff Commission.

While friction on the trade front has been heating up, overall relations are somewhat less fractious.

U.S. and Chinese military officials met this week for the first time Trump took office in January to shared concerns about military safety on the seas. The talks held Wednesday and Thursday in Shanghai were aimed at minimizing the risk of trouble, both sides said.

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this article.