Donald Trump Tariffs Live Updates: Donald Trump says India willing to remove 100 per cent tariffs on US goods

China announced on Monday that it will impose up to 75 per cent of anti dumping duties on plastic imports from the United States, European Union, Taiwan and Japan.

The decision comes following a probe by Beijing’s commerce ministry into alleged dumping practices involving polyformaldehyde copolymer, a widely used plastic in the automotive, medical, and household appliance industries.


The new tariffs, ranging from 3.8 percent to 74.9 percent, took effect on Monday, the commerce ministry said in a statement released on Sunday.

The dumping of polyformaldehyde copolymer is causing substantial harm to the domestic industry, as per the ministry.

According to the announcement on Sunday, the highest tax of 74.9% will be added to plastic imports from the United States, while imports from Europe will face a 34.5% tax.

China set a 35.5% tax on plastic imports from Japan, except for Asahi Kasei Corp, which got a lower rate of 24.5%. Imports from Taiwan were mostly taxed at 32.6%, but Formosa Plastics was given a 4% rate, and Polyplastics Taiwan was taxed at 3.8%, the lowest.

China has a history of using anti-dumping investigations as leverage in broader trade disagreements. In April, Beijing imposed similar duties on brandy imports from the European Union, giving a blow to France’s cognac industry, which is majorly export reliant.

The latest move signals that, despite temporary gestures of goodwill, China remains willing to flex its trade enforcement mechanisms in response to perceived unfair practices by key trading partners.

This development comes just days after the US and China agreed to a temporary 90-day reduction in broader tariffs as part of a tentative truce in their ongoing trade war. The trade dispute between the world's two largest economies has disrupted global markets and supply chains for over a year.

China factory output beats forecasts, weathering tariffs

Factory output in China grew at a faster rate than expected last month, official data showed Monday, weathering a brutal trade war with Washington.
Industrial production in the export powerhouse grew 6.1 percent on-year in April, according to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The reading was higher than the 5.7 percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey, but still lower than the 7.7 percent jump recorded for March.

"The national economy withstood pressure and grew steadily in April," the NBS said, acknowledging a "complex situation of increasing external shocks and layered internal difficulties and challenges".

China and the United States last week agreed to slash sweeping tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days, raising hopes the global economy can avoid a major downturn.

In addition to heightened trade tensions, Beijing has also been battling a persistent slump in domestic spending, threatening its official growth target for this year of around five percent.

Data on Monday showed retail sales, a key gauge of domestic demand, grew 5.1 percent year-on-year last month, short of the 5.8 percent growth forecast by Bloomberg.

The reading also marked a slowdown from March's 5.9 percent growth.

Meanwhile, China's surveyed unemployment rate edged down slightly to 5.1 percent, from 5.2 percent in March, according to the NBS.

"Economic activities softened only marginally in April as exports stayed resilient despite higher US tariffs," Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a note.

"Now that the tariffs have been cut significantly, I expect exports to remain strong," Zhang said, adding that "economic momentum in the second quarter will likely be stable".

Adding to woes is a years-long downturn in the once-booming property market, which previously represented a key engine for the country's economy.

April saw the price of new residential properties contract in 67 out of 70 surveyed cities, reflecting continued consumer caution, according to the data.

Canada pauses some counter tariffs against US

Canada has temporarily paused some counter tariffs against the United States, but Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne on Sunday pushed back against claims they have all been quietly lifted.
This came as Prime Minister Mark Carney and US Vice President JD Vance discussed trade in Rome after they attended the inauguration mass at the Vatican for Pope Leo XIV.

According to a readout from Carney's office, they spoke about "immediate trade pressures and the need to build a new economic and security relationship."

Vance in a brief statement called it "a casual meeting" about their two nations' shared interests and goals, "including fair trade policies."

Carney, who won Canada's April 28 election on a pledge to stand up to US President Donald Trump, had slapped counter tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from the United States in response to US tariffs on Canadian goods.

During the election campaign, automakers were offered a reprieve, provided they maintained production and investment in Canada.

This was outlined on May 7 in the Canada Gazette, the government's official newspaper, along with a pause on tariffs on products used in food and beverage processing and packaging, health, manufacturing, national security and public safety.

The moves went mostly unnoticed until Oxford Economics said in a report this week that the exemptions covered so many categories of products that the tariffs rate against the United States was effectively dropped to "nearly zero."

Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre pounced on the claim, cited in the media, to accuse Carney of having "quietly dropped retaliatory tariffs to 'nearly zero' without telling anyone."

Champagne called those assertions "falsehoods."

"To retaliate against US tariffs, Canada launched largest-ever response -- including $60B of tariffs on end-use goods. 70% of those tariffs are still in place," he said on X.

Canada's counter tariffs, his office told AFP, were "calibrated to respond to the US while limiting economic harm to Canada."

Tariff relief was provided for six months to give some Canadian companies "more time to adjust their supply chains and become less dependent on US suppliers," Champagne spokesperson Audrey Milette said.

Canada continues to charge tariffs on roughly Can$43 billion (US$31 billion) of US goods, she added.

The nation of 41 million people sends three-quarters of its exports to the United States, and the latest jobs report shows tariffs imposed by Trump are already damaging the Canadian economy.

The US president has slapped general tariffs of 25 percent on Canada as well as sector-specific levies on autos, steel and aluminum, but he has suspended some of them pending negotiations.

US President Donald Trump slams Walmart

US President Trump's 5% tax on remittances to significantly impact Indian households

US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 5 per cent tax on international remittances sent by non-citizens will significantly impact Indian households, said Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a trade-focused research Group, in its latest report.

The proposed US legislative move has triggered alarm across the globe, particularly in India, which has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the US remittances.

These provisions are part of a major legislative package titled 'The One Big Beautiful Bill', introduced in the US House of Representatives on May 12.

If enacted, the legislation would target money transfers made by non-US citizens, including green card holders and workers on temporary visas like H-1B and H-2A. The proposed legislation exempts American citizens.

Donald Trump Tariffs Updates: 'Needs explicit answer from govt', Congress's Manish Tewari attacks Centre after Trump claims India offered zero tariff deal to US

After United States President Donald Trump claimed that India had offered the US a Zero-tariff deal on a reciprocal basis, Congress MP Manish Tewari questioned BJP-led central government's trade policy and demanded an explicit answer from the government.

In a social media post on X, Tewari said, "Is it a fact that India has offered a Zero Tariff deal to the United States? That needs an explicit answer from the Government?"

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has also raised questions on Trump's claims. He further questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on this issue.

"The Commerce Minister is in Washington DC and President Trump has made yet another grand announcement from Doha. There is total chuppi from our PM. What has he agreed to and what linkage is there between this and the stoppage of Operation Sindoor? Ramesh posted on X.

Earlier today, US President Donald Trump claimed that India offered a deal with "basically zero tariffs" on US goods, but didn't provide specifics.

"They have offered us a deal where we're basically they're willing to charge us no tariff literally," President Trump said while addressing a news conference in Doha.

The US had imposed a 26% reciprocal tariff on India, which was later suspended for 90 days as negotiations showed signs of progress. (ANI)

Donald Trump Tariffs Updates: Can't help economies of nations working against India, says Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said that people cannot help economies of nations, through import or travel, that are inimical to the interests of India. His remarks came amid trade and tourism boycott of Turkiye and Azerbaijan following their support to Pakistan in the conflict with India after Operation Sindoor.

Addressing an event here, the vice president said every individual is empowered to help the nation in security. Trade, business, commerce, and industry in particular can play a pivotal role in security issues, he observed.

"Can we afford to empower countries that are inimical to our interests? Time has come when each one of us must deeply think about economic nationalism," he said.

Dhankhar said, "We can no longer afford, by travel or import, to improve economies of those countries because of our participation. And those countries, in times of crisis, are positioned against us."

He said everything has to be reckoned on the fulcrum of unflinching commitment to nationalism. (PTI)

Donald Trump Tariffs Updates: US stocks add to weekly gains amid trade deal optimism

Wall Street stocks rose again Friday, adding to weekly gains fueled by deescalation of the China-US trade war and hopes for additional international trade deals.

Equity markets have enjoyed one of their best weeks since US President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff bazooka last month caused indices to slump.

FHN Financial's Chris Low also pointed to a "growing sense of relief" over benign US inflation data that has helped counter worries that Trump's tariffs will dramatically reignite pricing pressure.

The United States and China on Monday announced they would slash their tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks, but considerable levies remain in place.

Investors are now awaiting signals from the US president on progress in trade talks, as countries seek deals to avoid his steeper levies, as well as more information about their economic impact.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose for the fifth straight session, adding 0.7 percent. (AFP)

Donald Trump Tariffs Updates: India willing to remove 100 pc tariffs on US goods, says Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has claimed that India offered to remove all tariffs on American goods, but added that he was in no rush to finalise a trade deal despite the apparent breakthrough.

In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Donald Trump said India is a top example of a country with barriers he is determined to dismantle.

"They make it almost impossible to do business. Do you know they're willing to cut 100 per cent of their tariffs for the United States?" the President said.

But Trump also sent mixed signals on how close a deal could be, saying, "That'll come soon. I'm in no rush. Look, everybody wants to make a deal with us."

He added that he is not planning to "make deals with everybody."

However, reacting to Donald Trump's claim that India has offered a trade deal with "literally zero tariffs," External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Thursday said that the ongoing negotiations are complex and far from final.

"Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on. These are complicated negotiations. Nothing is decided till everything is. Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial; it has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation from the trade deal. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature," EAM Jaishankar said while speaking to reporters. (IANS)

Donald Trump Tariffs Updates: Don't raise prices due to my tariffs but do eat the costs from those taxes, Trump warns Walmart

President Donald Trump on Saturday ripped into Walmart, saying on social media that the retail giant should eat the additional costs created by his tariffs.

As Trump has jacked up import taxes, he has tried to assure a skeptical public that foreign producers would pay for those taxes and that retailers and automakers would absorb the additional expenses. Most economic analyses are deeply skeptical of those claims and have warned that the trade penalties would worsen inflation. Walmart warned on Thursday that everything from bananas to children's car seats could increase in price.

Trump, in his Truth Social post, lashed out at the retailer, which employs 1.6 million people in the United States. He said the company, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, should sacrifice its profits for the sake of his economic agenda that he says will eventually lead to more domestic jobs in manufacturing.

“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,” Trump posted. “Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, “EAT THE TARIFFS,” and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

The posting by the Republican president reflected the increasingly awkward series of choices that many major American companies face as a result of his tariffs, from deteriorating sales to the possibility of incurring Trump's wrath. Trump has similarly warned domestic automakers to not raise their prices, even though outside analyses say his tariffs would raise production costs. (AP)