Markets plunged further after China retaliated against Donald Trump’s tariffs with an additional levy of 34% on all American imports. The S&P 500 slid by 6% on Friday, reaching its lowest level in nearly a year. The index has shed $5.4trn in value in the two days since Mr Trump’s announcement. In Europe the Stoxx 600 ended the week down 8.4%. Jerome Powell, chair of America’s Federal Reserve, warned that Mr Trump’s tariffs would spur inflation and slow economic growth.
Mr Trump extended by 75 days a deadline for the Chinese owners of TikTok to sell its American operations. The video-sharing app had faced shutdown as soon as Saturday. Mr Trump said he hoped to work in good faith with Chinese leaders, “who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs”.
The head of Taiwan’s national security council reportedly travelled to Washington for secret talks with the Trump administration. According to the Financial Times, Joseph Wu is leading a delegation for a meeting known as the “special channel”, which has been used to discuss security issues in the past. The visit comes days after China held large-scale military drills around the island.
Russia said there were no plans for Vladimir Putin to speak to Mr Trump again “for now”. The Kremlin’s comments came after Kirill Dmitriev, Mr Putin’s economic envoy, met American officials in Washington. NBC News reported that Mr Trump’s team told the president not to hold discussions with his Russian counterpart again until he agrees to a full ceasefire in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky said plans to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine would be finalised within a month. The Ukrainian president did not specify which countries would contribute to the contingent that will be tasked with patrolling Ukrainian land, sea and airspace. Earlier a Russian missile killed at least 18 people in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, according to local officials.
The Israel Defence Forces said it had ramped up ground operations in northern Gaza “to expand the security zone”. It claimed to have “eliminated numerous terrorists” and evacuated civilians. Israel’s defence minister had previously said the IDF planned to “seize large areas” of the enclave. Military leaders also confirmed that a Hamas commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon.
Nintendo halted pre-orders on its long-awaited Switch 2 console in America while it assessed “the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions”. The Japanese company said the console would still go on sale as planned in June. Nintendo unveiled the Switch 2, and its $449.99 price tag, hours before Mr Trump announced tariffs on Wednesday.
Word of the week: Mütterrente (“mothers’ pension”), a German benefit to compensate parents for years spent raising children rather than working. Read the full story.
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