China reaches out to EU, ASEAN members to take on US tariffs

China is reaching out to other nations as the US layers on more tariffs in what appears to be an attempt to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat However days into the effort itrsquos meeting only partial success with many countries unwilling to ally with the main target of President Donald Trumprsquos trade warChina forging new tiesChina has thus far focused on Europe with a phone call between Premier Li Qiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ldquoChina is willing to work with the EU to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and the EU strengthen communication and exchanges and deepen ChinaEU trade investment and industrial cooperationrdquo the official Xinhua News Agency reported That was followed by a video conference between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Sefcovic on Tuesday to discuss the US ldquoreciprocal tariffsrdquoWang has also spoken with the 10member Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN while Li the premier has met with business leaders China has ldquoalready made a full evaluation and is prepared to deal with all kinds of uncertainties and will introduce incremental policies according to the needs of the situationrdquo Xinhua quoted Li as sayingTrump backs downFacing the cratering of global markets Trump on Wednesday backed off his tariffs on most nations for 90 days saying countries were lining up to negotiate more favourable conditions China has refused to seek talks saying it would ldquofight to the endrdquo in a tariff war prompting Trump to further jack up the tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 per cent China has retaliated with tariffs on US goods of 84 per cent which took effect on ThursdayAsia shares US stocks soarWorld markets soared on Thursday with Japanrsquos benchmark jumping more than 9 per cent as investors welcomed Trumprsquos decision Germanyrsquos DAX initially gained more than 8 per cent It was up 75 per cent at 2114153 a bit later while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 72 per cent to 736023 Britainrsquos FTSE 100 surged 54 per cent to 809002 Chinese shares saw more moderate gains given yet another jump in the tariffs each side is imposing on each othersrsquo exportsUS futures edged lower and oil prices also declined The future for the SampP 500 was down 04 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 02 per cent lowerEU backs US tariff pauseVon der Leyen has welcomed Trumprsquos pause of reciprocal tariffs for dozens of countries calling it a necessary move to help stabilise the global economy She also reaffirmed the EUrsquos commitment to open and fair trade ldquoEU is committed to constructive negotiations towards achieving frictionless mutually beneficial traderdquo she saidMexico Brazil to boost tradeThe leaders of Mexico and Brazil said they would work to strengthen trade between Latin Americarsquos two biggest economies as a counterweight to Trumprsquos shifts on global tariffs Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Brazilian President Luiz Inaacutecio Lula da Silva met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Honduras where leaders strategised how to respond Trumprsquos tariffs and escalating deportationsIran faces new sanctionsThe US has issued new sanctions targeting Iranrsquos nuclear programme days before senior American and Iranian officials are expected to hold talks in the Middle East sultanate of Oman Five entities and one person based in Iran are cited in the sanctionsTrumprsquos tip made money for investorsWhen Donald Trump offered some financial advice on Wednesday morning stocks were wavering between gains and losses But that was about to change ldquoTHIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY DJTrdquo he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social at 937 am Less than four hours later Trump announced a 90day pause on nearly all his tariffs Stocks soared on the news closing up 95 per cent by the end of trading on WednesdayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params