The US will impose a 104% tariff on some Chinese imports from tomorrow, the White House has confirmed. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has branded the president’s tariff adviser “a moron” – and UK markets closed up. Watch live below as Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office.
Tuesday 8 April 2025 20:27, UK
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Earlier, Karoline Leavitt pointed out that opposition politicians “have long said that the United States has been ripped off” by countries around the world – and Donald Trump was finally answering their call (see post at 6.53pm).
One of the people she referenced was the US senator Chuck Schumer, who in 2007 said this about the country’s trade deficit…
These are the kind of records the American people don’t want us to be breaking. The administration needs to move beyond words, take action now to reverse a trend that threatens our prospects for future economic growth
Fast forward around 17 years and Schumer said this on Trump’s sweeping policies on the senate floor yesterday…
Donald Trump is teeing up a nationwide recession. If a recession does happen, it will be known as the Trump recession. I urge the president to back off from his disastrous tariffs immediately.
He should put down the golf clubs and pick up the papers, because the disaster he has created is anything but great. On the contrary, liberation day is quickly turning into Donald Trump’s infamous mission accomplished moment.
He also said Trump had “started the largest, dumbest trade war in American history”, and “all the signs say America is heading towards calamity”.
Elon Musk has thrown more shade at Peter Navarro, Donald Trump’s tariffs adviser…
The pair have been arguing publicly over Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on most of its trading partners.
But the row between them has been dismissed by the White House, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying a short while ago: “Boys will be boys.”
Navarro is widely seen as the architect of Trump’s wide-ranging tariff plans.
The policy is intended to revive US manufacturing and shore up national security but it has hammered markets.
We’ve just had it confirmed by the White House that China faces a 104% tariff on US imports from tomorrow.
How did we get here?
Last Wednesday, dubbed “liberation day” by Donald Trump, the US president unveiled an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese goods imported into the US.
That brought duties on all Chinese imports to the US to more than 54%.
China hit back with 34% retaliatory tariffs on imports of US goods.
In response, Trump threatened Beijing with additional 50% tariffs if it did not withdraw the retaliatory tariff today.
China did not…
The White House press briefing ends – after Karoline Leavitt spent most of it defending Donald Trump’s tariffs, our US correspondent David Blevins says.
“She defended the paradoxical position of the president saying the tariffs are non-negotiable but also him encouraging people to pick up the phone and talk to him,” he says.
“Certainly another lively news briefing from Karoline Leavitt.”
Karoline Leavitt says “everyone in Washington knows that the president is right when it comes to tariffs and trade” – even Democrats.
She says opposition politicians “have long said that the United States has been ripped off” by countries around the world – but just don’t want to admit it now.
Leavitt reads this quote from Nancy Pelosi from 1996 when she urged her colleagues “fight against the status quo” policies that had contributed to the trade deficit with China:
How far does China have to go? How much more oppression? How big a trade deficit? How many jobs have to be lost for the American workers? How much dangerous proliferation has to exist before members of this House of Representatives will say ‘I will not endorse the status quo’?
“Trump is finally answering her call 27 years later,” Leavitt says. “Nancy Pelosi can thank President Trump today.”
She also quotes senator Chuck Schumer from 2007 when he spoke about the US’s “crippling trade deficit”…
These are the kind of records the American people don’t want us to be breaking. The administration needs to move beyond words, take action now to reverse a trend that threatens our prospects for future economic growth.
A question is now put to Karoline Leavitt on Donald Trump’s threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on China, which would take the total levy for some Chinese goods to 104%.
Confirming a significant escalation between the world’s two biggest superpowers, Leavitt says: “It will be going into effect at 12.01am tonight. So effectively tomorrow.”
That is 4am UK time tomorrow.
Leavitt is also asked if Trump would consider doing a deal with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.
Trump “believes that China wants to make a deal with the US”, she says. “China has to make a deal with the US.
“It was a mistake for China to retaliate. When America is punched he punches back harder.”
By David Blevins, US correspondent in Washington DC
Karoline Leavitt responds to a question about the apparent split in the president’s inner circle with a broad smile.
She says it’s “no secret” that Trump’s advisers Elon Musk and Peter Navarro have “very different views on tariffs and trade”.
Earlier, Musk branded Navarro, the president’s economic adviser, “truly a moron” for suggesting he was an “assembler” of cars, not a car maker.
Laughing off the spat, Levitt says: “Boys will be boys and we will let the sparring continue” and tells reporters they should be “grateful” that the president leads “the most transparent administration in history”.
She also claims it shows Donald Trump’s willingness to hear from all sides and consider all points of view.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says nearly 70 countries have approached the US for tariff talks since Donald Trump’s historic “liberation day” last Wednesday.
The “error of American economic surrender is over”, she says: “These countries greatly respect the president.”
Phones have been “ringing off the hook”, she says, but Trump will only make deals with these countries if they benefit American workers.
She points to Israel after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House yesterday and said he would eradicate the country’s trade deficit with the US, saying its “proactive approach should act as a model for the rest of the world”.
“Countries are falling over themselves. Why? It’s because these countries greatly respect the US and the sheer power of the American market,” Leavitt says.
By focusing on super-charging American manufacturing Trump is “already delivering his promise to usher in a golden age for our country”.
She adds: “The president is no longer going to allow American companies to be ripped off at the hands of foolish trade practices.
“It’s America first all the way.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is giving a regular news conference.
Watch it live in the stream at the top of the page – and we’ll bring you the latest on any tariffs updates.
China’s offshore yuan has hit a record low today – after Donald Trump threatened Beijing with additional 50% tariffs, taking the total levy to 104% – yesterday.
The yuan hit its lowest level since it started trading in 2010 at 7.3815.
Markets are braced for what could become a trade war between the US and China.
Beijing has refused to bow to what it calls “blackmail” and has vowed to “fight to the end”.
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