Thursday’s UK headlines, like much of the rest of the world, are, of course, dominated by the latest from the escalating trade war between the United States and the rest of the world. Trump backs down in global trade war as he announced a 90-day pause on the highest tariffs, dropping them all down to 10% except for China, which was hit with 125% tariffs.
The stock markets have bounced back since the announcement, but the ball is very much back in China’s court, and all eyes are on Beijing to see how it responds. Everything that is coming out of China at the moment suggests they won’t back down and believe they can ride this out.
A little closer to home, there are a handful of royal headlines, including King Charles’s state visit to Italy, which is being viewed as Britain exercising the royal family’s soft powers to help reset Britain’s relationship with the rest of Europe, nine years on from the Brexit mess. Charles and Camilla met with politicians and the Pope during their visit, which also coincided with their 20th wedding anniversary.
Prince William and his son George were in Paris last night for Aston Villa’s Champions League tie with PSG. The sports pages look ahead to Lyon vs Man United tonight and report Mo Salah and Virgil Van Dijk are to sign new contracts with Liverpool.
Trump backs down in global trade war but slaps China with 125% tariffs
Trump backs down in global trade war
Donald Trump announced that every country hit with tariffs higher than 10% will see a 90-day pause and their levies rate dropped to the baseline 10%. The stock markets have reacted positively to the pause. But the tariff pause did not extend to China, which instead was hit with a 125% rate. Most of the global media sees it as Trump backing down after reports that US government bonds were being sold off.
- The Daily Telegraph sums up the pause as “Trump blinks first”, noting that the US stocks bounced back following Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause.
- The Daily Mirror reports “Great war of China” and shows an image of Donald Trump flexing his muscles. The paper notes that, whilst hitting China with a 125% levy, the 90-day pause is a massive “climbdown.” It says the move is “erratic” and a “new gamble”.
- The Daily Mail says, “Trump blinks”, adding the US president has doubled “down on China” after a week of stock market turmoil, global tariffs and the escalating trade war with China.
- Business newspaper, The Financial Times, asks “What lies behind the bond sell-off?”. The paper says that bond prices plunged this week “amid signs of poor demand at a Treasury action.”
- Metro looks at China’s likely response to the latest from the White House, saying that Beijing will “never accept this bullying” after Trump hit them with a “shock 125% tariff on Chinese imports” and mocked leaders who are “kissing my ass to negotiate deals.”
- The Guardian says Trump’s row-back comes after days of “market turmoil and recession warnings.”
- The i newspaper reports that the trade war could impact supply and push up prices of weight loss drugs in the UK.
- The Times reports that Trump wants “fair deals with everyone” as he “dramatically” backed down over tariffs “less than a day after they came into force.”
- The Independent suggests that whilst halting higher import fees for the countries that did not retaliate in the trade war, Trump has escalated the “tit-for-tat” measures against Beijing. The blanket 10% levy remains in place for all affected countries (including the UK).
- The Scotsman says the back down appears to “narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the US and most of the world to a showdown between the US and China.”
- Belfast Telegraph highlights that the UK has said it will “coolly and calmly” continue its negotiations following the latest announcement.
King Charles in Italy with Camilla
King Charles is using his soft powers to help reset the UK’s relationship with Europe, nine years after Brexit. The monarch gave a historic speech to both houses of the Italian parliament, met with the prime minister and president and also met with the Pope during the state visit. The King and Camilla have also celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.
- The Daily Telegraph features a large image of the King and Queen hosting a banquet in Italy – on what was their 20th wedding anniversary. Inside the paper, it argues that King Charles is using his soft power to charm the Italians, but the arrival of his youngest son in Britain highlights the huge gulf between the pair.
- The Times pictures Charles and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meeting on the third day of the state visit. The paper reports that Charles is the first British monarch to address both houses of Italy’s parliament.
- The Independent says Camilla wore a modified version of her 2005 wedding outfit to mark the pair’s anniversary yesterday when the royal couple visited Italy’s parliament. Elsewhere, the paper reports that during his historic speech in the Italian parliament, the monarch stressed the need for close ties between Italy and the UK, calling for unity in defense of common values at a time of war in Europe.