China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.
While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin on Saturday.
Here’s the latest:
Wall Street opens lower as Trump’s trade war with China escalates
U.S. stocks are shaky as Wall Street’s monstrous week heads toward its close.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7% in early trading Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 306 points, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.4%.
The drops erased more of the huge gains stocks made in the middle of the week after Trump paused tariffs on many countries outside of China. The rising price of gold, falling value of the U.S. dollar and moves in other financial markets indicate more fear after China’s latest escalation in the trade war.
Senate confirms Trump nominee Caine for chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff in overnight vote
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine was confirmed on Friday, almost two months after Trump fired Caine’s predecessor.
Trump nominated Caine to become the top U.S. military officer in February after abruptly firing Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the second Black general to serve as chairman, as part of his Republican administration’s campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.
The Senate confirmed Caine 60-25 in an overnight vote before heading home for a two-week recess.
Caine is a decorated F-16 combat pilot who served in leadership in multiple special operations commands, in some of the Pentagon’s most classified programs, and in the CIA.
But he does not meet prerequisites for the job set out in a 1986 law, such as being a combatant commander or service chief.
▶ Read more about Caine’s confirmation and background
Trump administration to refer Maine to DOJ over transgender participation in sports
The deadline arrived Friday for Maine officials to reach a resolution with the U.S. Education Department over a finding that the state violated antidiscrimination laws by allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports.
The Education Department said in March that an investigation concluded the Maine Department of Education violated the federal Title IX law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ teams. The investigation followed a public disagreement between Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Trump at a February meeting of governors.
The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights issued a final warning on March 31 telling the state it needed to comply with the law within 10 business days or face enforcement from the U.S. Justice Department. That deadline arrived Friday.
Maine officials have not responded to requests for comment on the investigation.
US wholesale inflation fell last month as price pressures eased, but trade war clouds outlook
The Labor Department said on Friday that its producer price index, which tracks inflation before it hits consumers, fell 0.4% from February.
Compared with a year earlier, producer prices rose 2.7% — down from a 3.2% year-over-year gain in February and much lower than the 3.3% economists had forecast.
The report comes a day after the Labor Department delivered good news on inflation at the consumer level.
Its consumer price index rose just 2.4% last month from March 2024, the smallest year-over-year gain since September. Core consumer prices posted the smallest year-over-year increase in nearly four years.
The inflation outlook is muddied by Trump’s trade wars. He’s imposing a 145% tax — a tariff — on Chinese imports and is hitting most of the rest of the world’s imports with a 10% levy that might increase after 90 days.
The trade barriers are widely expected to raise prices as importers attempt to pass along their higher costs.
Space Force Base commander in Greenland fired after Vance visit
In a statement late Thursday, the U.S. Space Force said Col. Susan Meyers, who served as commander of Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, was removed due to “loss of confidence in her ability to lead.”
In a rare follow-up statement, the Space Force said, “Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties.”
Military.com reported that Meyers sent a base-wide email following Vice President JD Vance’s March visit, defending the base’s relationship with Denmark and Greenland. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the contents of that email.
“Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump’s agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a separate statement posted to the social platform X.
States sue over Trump administration’s sudden halt of pandemic relief aid for schools
Public officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Thursday to restore access to pandemic relief aid for schools, saying the Education Department’s abrupt halt of hundreds of millions of dollars of promised funding will force cuts to vital services.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by a coalition of 16 Democratic attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James, plus Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat. It claims the administration’s refusal to release the aid violates federal law because it reversed a prior decision to allow states to access the money through March 2026.
States were notified late last month that the Education Department would not honor deadline extensions granted by the Biden administration to spend the remainder of COVID relief aid approved by Congress to help schools and students recover from the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Schools were supposed to spend the last of the relief by January but many sought, and were granted, more time.
▶ Read more about the lawsuit
Trump will undergo his annual physical Friday after years of reluctance
Trump is undergoing his annual physical on Friday, potentially giving the public its first details in years about the health of a man who in January became the oldest in U.S. history to be sworn in as president.
Despite long questioning predecessor Joe Biden’s physical and mental capacity, Trump has routinely kept basic facts about his own health shrouded in secrecy — shying away from traditional presidential transparency on medical issues.
If history is any indication, his latest physical is likely to produce a flattering report that’s scarce on details. It will be conducted at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will be the first public information on Trump’s health since an assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July.
Rather than release medical records at that time, Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson — a staunch supporter who served as his White House physician and once joked in the White House briefing room that Trump could live to be 200 if he had a healthier diet — wrote a memo describing a gunshot wound to Trump’s right ear.
▶ Read more about Trump’s upcoming annual physical
Where things stand for Trump in global tariff battle
In the aftermath of this week’s tariff whiplash, Trump is deciding exactly what he wants out of trade talks with as many as 75 nations in the coming weeks.
Trump is also figuring out next steps with China. He upped his tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% after China placed retaliatory taxes of 84% on imports from the U.S. While his 90-day pause on other tariffs caused the stock market to rally on Wednesday, countries still face a baseline 10% import tax instead of the higher rates announced on April 2.
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” on Thursday that the administration already has “offers on the table from more than 15 countries.”
Hassett said the next step will be determining exactly what Trump wants out of the negotiations.
▶ Read more about where Trump’s tariffs showdown stands
China hits back at US and will raise tariffs on American goods from 84% to 125%
China announced on Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.
While Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.
China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. tariffs.
Trump’s on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the U.S. could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries, but concerns remain since the U.S. and China are the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.
▶ Read more about China’s retaliatory tariffs
