PRESIDENT Trump will today pummel China with a 104 per cent tariff — sparking an all-out trade war with the US’s rival economic superpower.
The confirmation of the extra levy led to Wall Street giving up the gains it had made on another tumultuous day for shellshocked traders.
Stock markets, including London’s , had started to recover in the hope a deal could be reached to ease some of Trump’s tariffs.
But in a briefing last night, his press secretary insisted would be hit by an extra 50 per cent tariff from today, taking the total to 104 per cent.
She said: “Countries like who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers are making a mistake.
“President Trump has a spine of steel that he will not break and America will not break under his leadership.”;
China, under leader , is now expected to retaliate — with its rulers vowing to “fight to the end”;.
branded the White House’s midnight ultimatum “a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the American side’s blackmailing nature.”;
Retaliatory measures reportedly being drawn up include a ban on US films being shown in China, a market worth £438million last year.
It could see upcoming movies such as Jurassic World: Rebirth and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning miss out on the box office.
The economic row between the two countries escalated into a diplomatic spat after China hit back at Vice President for referring to “Chinese peasants”;.
Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian branded Mr Vance “ignorant and impolite”; for saying: “We borrow from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”;
The US President insisted China “wants to make a deal, badly but they don’t know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen!”;
Global markets had started the day mounting an astonishing early comeback after £8.6trillion had been wiped off the world’s biggest companies.
However, by the afternoon the biggest rally in three years had fizzled out as traders reacted to US companies’ cost of doing with Asia doubling overnight.
Ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers warned the trade war with China meant the US was now “more likely than not”; headed towards a which could put two million Americans out of work.
The Nasdaq had bounced by as much as four per cent, adding $2trillion back in value to the US stock market.
However, at the end of trading the S&P Index, Nasdaq and Dow had slumped again, wiping all the $2trillion gains back off US markets in a matter of hours.
One Wall Street trader had likened the early bounce to “a good day in a hospice”;.
Traders said the wild swings in markets highlighted how volatile and chaotic the situation is and signalled that a confident recovery was still someway off.
There are now fears that the stock market will face more turbulence today.
Asian markets had turned green yesterday morning. Traders felt encouraged by hopes that , and Taiwan were negotiating with Trump, and the optimism spilled into .
The FTSE 100 closed yesterday up by 2.71 per cent, or 208.45 to 7,910.53, as big banks such as bounced back.
Traders noted that the rebound was not enough to make up the 11 per cent plunge since Liberation Day which had wiped off £250billion from listed companies.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, called it a “magic bounce-back day”; that marked the end of a market bloodbath but there was already caution about how long it would last.
Trump has refused to water down his worldwide tariff blizzard despite warnings from top business execs.
Most nations will today be slapped with higher levies. The UK, already hit with a ten per cent tariff, has been spared additional charges.
