Trump makes major China tariffs concession as US-UK trade deal ‘days away’: Live

Japan will not use US Treasury holdings as a negotiation tool to counter US tariffs in talks scheduled between the two allies.

Both nations will negotiate tariffs on 17 April, days after the White House said it was prioritising Japan for trade talks.“As an ally, we would not intentionally take action against US government bonds, and causing market disruption is certainly not a good idea,” Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera told public broadcaster NHK today.

Mr Onodera stressed that Japanese carmakers would be among the biggest impacted by the 25 per cent blanket tariffs on automobiles.

“It’s important to stick to our guns” on this issue, he said, adding that the Japanese side should “strongly advocate” for the measures’ removal.

“It’s clear that the US is in trouble, so I think the conversation should start with us saying, ‘maybe it would be better to stop?’” he added.

Saturday Night Live once again skewered President Donald Trump over his tariffs policy, following on from last week’s “Liberation Day” cold open.

James Austin Johnson returned to Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza as the president in an Easter-themed sketch that began with Jesus, played by Mikey Day, casting the moneylenders out of the temple on his arrival in Jerusalem.

The Biblical tableau froze as SNL’s Trump appeared.

“Remind you of anyone?” he said to laughter. “I also got rid of money last week, but instead of one temple, I did a whole country. Maybe even the globe. The money’s gone.”

Oliver O’Connell reports.

US president Donald Trump said that he would provide an update on his administration’s approach to semiconductor tariffs on Monday.

“I’ll give you that answer on Monday,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“We’re taking in a lot of money. As a country, we’re taking in a lot of money,” he added.

US president Donald Trump’s administration granted exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs to smartphones, computers and some other electronics imported largely from China, providing a big break to tech firms like Apple that rely on imported products.

In a notice to shippers, the US Customs and Border Protection agency published a list of tariff codes excluded from the import taxes, with retroactive effect from 12:01am (local time) on 5 April.

It featured 20 product categories, including the broad 8471 code for all computers, laptops, disc drives and automatic data processing. It also included semiconductor devices, equipment, memory chips and flat panel displays.

The notice gave no explanation for the move, but the late-night exclusion provides welcome relief to major technology firms such as Apple, Dell Technologies and many other importers.

Mr Trump’s action also excludes the specified electronics from his 10 per cent “baseline” tariffs on goods from most countries other than China, easing import costs for semiconductors from Taiwan and Apple iPhones produced in India.