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China has “totally violated” its trade arrangement with the US, Donald Trump has claimed.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump blasted China in comments that threaten to further escalate the trade dispute between the two powers. “China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” Mr Trump said.
The US and China agreed earlier this month to reduce tariffs on each other after tit-for-tat measures lead to import duties on Chinese goods to he US of 145pc. Talks between the two sides saw America’s import tariffs cut to 30pc.
On Friday, Mr Trump said: “I made a FAST DEAL with China in order to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn’t want to see that happen. Because of this deal, everything quickly stabilised and China got back to business as usual.”
“The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” he added: “So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”
Asked about Mr Trump’s post on CNBC, Jamieson Greer, America’s chief trade negotiator, took aim at Beijing for continuing to “slow down and choke off things like critical minerals”.
He said that the America’s trade deficit with China “continues to be enormous”, and that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing’s behaviour.
China hit back at Mr Trump’s comments, urging the United States to end “discriminatory restrictions” against Beijing and for the two sides to “jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva”, according to China’s embassy in Washington.
On Thursday, Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, said talks between the two sides had become “a bit stalled” and suggested Mr Trump could intervene.
Read the latest updates below.
06:01 PM BST
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05:40 PM BST
Officials try to set up Trump and Xi call, CNN told
US and Chinese officials are discussing setting up a call between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to discuss trade, CNN has been told.
05:26 PM BST
London stocks close higher despite lingering US tariff uncertainty
British shares ended higher this afternoon, but trimmed back initial gains after Donald Trump accused China of violating a tariff agreement.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.6pc and the mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.1pc.
Despite continued concerns over Trump’s erratic tariffs, the benchmark index posted its best month in four.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 index posted its best month since July 2024.
Investors in Britain remained optimistic over easing trade tensions with Washington after the US and UK announced a limited bilateral trade agreement earlier this month,
04:32 PM BST
China urges US to stop selling arms to Taiwan
China has called on the US to stop selling arms to Taiwan, hours after Donald Trump claimed the world’s second-largest economy was failing to abide by a trade deal.
Liu Pengyu, the Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington, urged a change in US policy in a post on X.
04:29 PM BST
China urges US to stop ‘discriminatory’ restrictions
China has urged the United States to end “discriminatory restrictions” against Beijing and for the two sides to “jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva”, according to China’s embassy in Washington.
It came hours after Donald Trump lashed out at China, saying it had “totally violated” a preliminary agreement reached in Switzerland two weeks ago to defuse the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
An embassy spokesman said: “Since the China-US economic and trade talks in Geneva, both sides have maintained communication over their respective concerns in the economic and trade fields on various bilateral and multilateral occasions at multiple levels.”
04:01 PM BST
US economy now ‘very confusing’ to investors, says analyst
Donald Trump’s latest moves in his trade war are increasing uncertainty for investors, a market analyst has said.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, said: “We went from a place where it felt as though investors had a pretty good handle on the direction of trade and tariffs and now that picture has become very confusing.”
On Wall Street the S&P 500 has dipped 0.2pc, the Nasdaq has fallen 0.4pc and the Dow Jones is roughly flat. It comes after Donald Trump accused China of violating a tariff agreement, ramping up tensions in a trade war that has disrupted global markets and businesses.
Mr Trump did not specify how China had violated the agreement made in Geneva and what action he would take against Beijing.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Vix, rose as much as 7.1pc this afternoon before falling.
03:49 PM BST
FTSE 100 on track for weekly rise despite trade uncertainty
The FTSE 100 could end the week in positive territory if today’s gains hold.
The blue-chip index is currently up around 0.7pc today, with a weekly gain of less than 0.1pc.
It has been hit with jitters around Donald Trump’s trade war but is on track to end the month higher with three consecutive weeks of gains.
02:49 PM BST
Wall Street falls after trade war reheated
US stock markets have fallen this afternoon as traders mulled the latest developments in Donald Trump’s trade war and big companies warned that tariffs would hit their profits.
Clothing brand Gap slumped 19.6pc after saying tariffs on imports from China and other countries could add up to $300m (£223m) to its costs this fiscal year. The fall came despite beating Wall Street’s sales and profit targets.
The S&P 500 is down 0.5pc, the Nasdaq is down by 0.8pc and the Dow Jones is down by 0.1pc.
02:38 PM BST
Oil prices fall ahead of cartel meeting
The price of a barrel of oil has fallen as traders await a meeting of the Opec+ oil cartel on Saturday, which is expected to decide to boost output in July.
Brent crude, the global benchmark price, dropped as much as 0.8pc today and is currently down 1.9pc since Monday.
02:22 PM BST
Trump’s trade negotiator says China not changing behaviour
Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, has said that China is being too slow at improving its behaviour on trade.
Asked on CNBC about Donald Trump’s latest criticism of China, Mr Greer took aim at Beijing for continuing to “slow down and choke off things like critical minerals.”
It came after Mr Trump claimed on Truth Social that China “HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US”.
Mr Greer added that the United States’ trade deficit with China “continues to be enormous”, and that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing’s behaviour.
He said the Trump administration has “been very focused on monitoring Chinese compliance, or in this case, non-compliance, with the agreement.”
02:16 PM BST
Canada’s economy boosted after America stockpiled goods
Canada’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter of the year, new figures show, as companies in the United States rushed to stockpile goods before Donald Trump’s tariffs were implemented.
The gross domestic product in the first quarter grew by 2.2pc (on a yearly basis), compared with 2.1pc growth posted in the previous quarter, Statistics Canada said.
This is the final economic indicator before the Bank of Canada’s rates decision on Wednesday and will help determine whether the central bank will cut or stay put on rates.
02:05 PM BST
US inflation dips amid rising uncertainty
The US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure cooled more than expected last month amid uncertainty caused by a trade war.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.1pc in the 12 months to April, down from 2.3pc a month earlier, the US Commerce Department said.
Mr Trump’s decision to roll out sweeping 10pc levies on most countries on April 2, and significantly higher duties on dozens of trading partners days later - since paused - has faced legal action.
The court battles threaten to undermine his administration’s plans to use tariffs to raise revenue and punish partners running large trade deficits with the United States.
This week, the US Court of International Trade ruled that Mr Trump had overstepped his authority, only for a federal judge to temporarily overrule their decision a day later to allow the tariff plans to continue, for now.
02:02 PM BST
US consumer spending slows down
US consumers put the brakes on spending in April in the latest sign that Donald Trump’s trade war is hitting the American economy
Consumer spending rose by 0.2pc last month, down from 0.7pc in March, when the expectation of imminent tariffs drove a surge in imports before price rises kicked in.
This was despite a significant jump in disposable income, which climbed by 0.8pc, up from 0.5pc growth in March, according to figures from the Commerce Department.
Mr Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs at the start of April, which he dialled down the following week, but charges on imports still remain far higher than before he took office.
01:37 PM BST
China has ‘totally violated’ trade deal, Trump claims
01:19 PM BST
Reform UK would ‘bring millionaires back to Britain’
A Reform UK government would reverse the exodus of wealthy Britons to places like Dubai and Singapore, the party’s chairman has vowed.
Zia Yusuf said policies such as lower capital gains on Bitcoin would lure back the entrepreneurs and super-rich who have either left the UK or have “one foot out the door”.
“There’s a big bear case on the UK at the moment that we’ve got a flight of entrepreneurs, a flight of wealthy people ... But the bull case on it is that as quickly as they left, they could come back.
“There’s no shortage of countries vying for those people’s attention: Singapore or Monaco, the UAE, so many places now, Portugal, Italy. So I think it’s very reasonable to say, we think capital gains tax in this country is too high,” he said.
Our International Economics Editor Hans van Leeuwen has the full story.
01:02 PM BST
Musk: SpaceX to build ‘1,000 Starships per year’
Elon Musk has claimed SpaceX will build “1,000 Starships per year” and construct the biggest building in the world to store his huge fleet of space rockets.
In a presentation at SpaceX’s Starbase headquarters, the billionaire laid out his plans for making life “multiplanetary”.
Mr Musk said the company would aim to build 1,000 Starships per year with a view to them launching multiple times per day.
The billionaire also announced plans for a “Gigabay” to house the 400ft tall spacecraft, which Mr Musk said would be “a truly enormous structure... by some measures the biggest structure in the world. It is designed for 1,000 Starships per year.”
He said the company would have two Gigabays, one in Texas and one in Florida.
His remarks came after SpaceX launched its ninth test flight of its Starship rocket earlier this week.
12:23 PM BST
US bosses’ confidence records sharpest drop in 50 years
US chief executives reported the sharpest drop in business confidence in almost 50 years, according to a survey of senior leaders.
The outlook of US chief executives fell by 34 points to its lowest level since 2022, according to a regular survey by the Conference Board. “This was the largest quarter-over-quarter decline in the history of the survey, which started in 1976,” the non-profit said.
Stephanie Guichard, senior economist at the Conference Board, said that confidence among senior leaders “collapsed” over the past three months as Donald Trump’s global trade war and flip-flopping on tariffs left markets in turmoil.
“CEOs’ views about current economic conditions led the plunge, registering the largest quarter-on-quarter decline in almost 50 years,” she said.
“Expectations for the future also plummeted, with more than half of CEOs now expecting conditions to worsen over the next six months, both for the economy overall and in their own industries.
“The vast majority of CEOs (83pc) said they expect a recession in the next 12-18 months, nearly matching the percentage who feared recession in late 2022 and early 2023. The US–China trade deal announced on May 12 seems to have eased, but not removed, concerns about the future.”
12:14 PM BST
Burberry boss handed £400,000 relocation package after layoffs
Burberry’s new chief executive has been handed a £380,000 allowance to help fund his move from New York to London, Luke Barr reports.
Joshua Schulman was given the perk as part of his joining package last July, when he was parachuted in to help revive the ailing luxury fashion retailer’s fortunes.
You can read the full story here
11:36 AM BST
Farage: I will make Bank of England hold Bitcoin
Nigel Farage is attempting to rerun Donald Trump’s Maga playbook, promising to make a UK reserve of Bitcoin and launch a “crypto revolution” in Britain.
Speaking at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas in front of legions of cryptocurrency fans, Mr Farage said: “We are going to launch in Britain a crypto revolution. We’re going to make London one of the major trading centres of the world. We’re deadly serious.
“What I want to do when we win the next election is bring us into the 21st century. Have a capital gains rate of 10pc. That means, if taxes are reasonable, people will pay them.
“We’re going to have a Bitcoin digital reserve in the Bank of England, and we are going to pass legislation that says that no bank can close your account because you’re trading in legal crypto or digital products.”
Melissa Lawford has the full story
11:02 AM BST
Foreign ‘revenge’ tax buried in Big, Beautiful Bill
A “revenge” tax buried in Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill threatens to spook investors and lump foreign businesses in the US with punitive taxes.
Within the 1000-page spending bill, the White House has called for measures to bring in “remedies against unfair foreign taxes”. This provision, Section 899, calls for increased taxes on individuals and companies from countries that impose “discriminatory” taxes on the US.
This could hit Britain thanks to measures such as the Digital Services Tax, a levy which hits American technology giants in the UK with a sales tax.
The measures would raise taxes on passive income in the US, such as interest and dividends, from countries in the crosshairs. The provision has been dubbed a “revenge” tax, prompting fears overseas investors could stay away from America.
Michael Brown, of Pepperstone Group, told Bloomberg: “If you’re now talking about massively unfavourable tax treatment, then it’s just another reason to stay away.”
10:22 AM BST
Trump is going to ‘stay his course’, says Commerce Secretary
Donald Trump is going to “stay the course” on tariffs despite a court challenge that threatens to block his global trade war, the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said.
In an interview on Fox News, Mr Lutnick said: “Our trade agenda is going forward, our policy is going forward.”
He said: “Does changing the world’s trade policies and take a little time and create a little uncertainty? Of course it does... But he [Mr Trump] is going to stay his course and get it done for America.”
The Commerce Secretary admitted, however, that Elon Musk, who is preparing to leave his role at the White House, was “disappointed” by the President’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”, the 1,000 page tax and spending bill Mr Trump is attempting to push through Congress.
Mr Lutnick said the Tesla billionaire was “disappointed” that some of his spending cuts from Doge had not been “codified” in the planned law.
Earlier this week, Mr Musk said: “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly.”
10:03 AM BST
UK business confidence climbs as trade fears ease
British business confidence climbed in May after trade fears eased following Donald Trump’s stunning “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2.
A business barometer from Lloyds Bank jumped 11 points to 50pc, a nine month high. “The rebound in business confidence suggests that firms might be in a stronger position for the next quarter,” said Hann-Ju Ho, an economist at the bank.
09:24 AM BST
Bank of England needs ‘path’ to lower interest rates
The Bank of England should press on with cuts to interest rates, a member of its monetary policy committee has suggested, despite inflation worries.
Alan Taylor, a member of the Bank’s ratesetting committee, told the Financial Times needed to stick to a “path” towards lower interest rates.
Mr Taylor previously voted for a steeper cut of half a point at the Bank’s last rates meeting, where ratesetters voted for a 0.25pc cut bringing the central bank rate down to 4.25pc.
However, Mr Taylor said: “I think I indicated in my dissent that I thought we needed to be on a lower policy path.”
He added he was not overly concerned by recent higher British inflation data, which he said appeared to be mostly down to “one-time tax and administered price changes”.
He said he expected Mr Trump’s trade policies would continue to be a “drag on growth” with the impact “building up over the rest of this year”.
09:08 AM BST
Volkswagen pledged ‘massive’ investment in US to ease import tax
The chief executive of German car giant Volkswagen has pledged to make a “massive” investment in the US in a bid to ease the pain caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In an interview with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Oliver Blume said the carmaker had held “fair, constructive” discussions with White House commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. He said: “I was in Washington myself and we have been in regular dialogue ever since.”
Mr Lutnick said the car giant “wants to invest further in the US” and was considering building on its past plans with “further, massive investments”.
The comments come as Volkswagen cuts tens of thousands of jobs in its home country Germany as it seeks to cut costs amid flagging demand for cars in Europe.
In December, it confirmed that it would reduce the size of its workforce by 35,000 people over the next five years as it seeks to save billions of euros.
08:58 AM BST
US-China talks ‘a bit stalled’
Trade negotiations between America and China have “stalled” and Donald Trump will have to “weigh in”, the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
In an interview with Fox News, Mr Bessent said Mr Trump and China’s president Xi Jinping may need to speak directly to move tariff talks forward.
He said: “I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other.”
“They have a very good relationship and I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President Trump makes his [preferences] known.”
US tariffs on China currently stand at 30pc after the two sides agreed to drop some of the most punishing reciprocal tariffs between the two nations.
Nasdaq and S&P futures were down overnight amid concerns the trade negotiations are not making progress.
08:44 AM BST
FTSE climbs despite tariff uncertainty
London’s blue chip index ticked up on Friday morning despite uncertainty over Donald Trump’s global tariff war.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.5pc in early trading, or 47 points. The FTSE 250 climbed 0.3pc.
Among the biggest climbers were British insurer M&G, after Japan’s Dai-Ichi life agreed to take a 15pc stake. Its shares were up 7pc. BT climbed 2.7pc and insurer Hiscox was up by a similar amount. The top faller so far this morning is Anglo American, down just over 1pc.
08:40 AM BST
Trump’s full reaction
08:15 AM BST
Asia stocks fall after Trump’s tariff appeal
Stocks in Asia have plunged as markets reeled from Donald Trump’s tariff court victory late last night.
A US appeals court ruled the Republican’s tariffs can remain in place while the court hears arguments over whether the president overstepped his power by imposing global duties.
The decision would have blocked baseline tariffs on global goods of 10pc, as well as steeper tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as the so-called “fentanyl” tariff on China of a further 20pc. However, the court of appeal granted a stay on the lower trade court’s decision. The court will hear initial arguments on June 9 for a longer pause.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped by 1.5pc, while Tokyo’s Nikkei fell by 1.1pc on the news. Shares in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce and tech giant, dropped by more than 4pc.
08:01 AM BST
Trump wins tariff reprieve ahead of appeal
Donald Trump has won a reprieve for his global trade tariffs after a New York trade court called them unlawful, sending markets in Asia tumbling. Here is what else you may have missed:
5 things to start your day
1) Bailey calls for closer EU ties to counter ‘negative effects’ of Brexit | Bank Governor urges Prime Minister to go further than recent reset deal with Brussels
2) How porn and gaming sapped young men of their desire to work | The rise of easy online entertainment means boys are disappearing into a digital world
3) Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary lands historic €100m bonus | Irishman defends mammoth payout saying he is delivering ‘exceptional value for shareholders’
4) ‘British bid’ to gatecrash Telegraph takeover is rejected | Move creates more obstacles for Dovid Efune’s year-long campaign to acquire the newspaper
5) Matthew Lynn: Losing this £50bn stock market listing is a humiliation for Reeves | Shein’s decision to float in Hong Kong should be a wake-up call for Britain
What happened overnight
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1pc, to 42,146.94, the S&P 500 rose 0.3pc, to 5,907.51, and the Nasdaq rose 0.5pc, to 19,192.11.
In the bond market, the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell to 4.436pc from 4.471pc late on Wednesday.