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China has announced new tariffs of 84% on the US, in a response to US president Donald Trump’s trade war that will raise fears of further escalation.

According to Reuters, the Chinese ministry of finance has declared that taxes on US imports will increase to 84% beginning Thursday, up from 34% previously announced.

On Wednesday, Trump imposed 104% tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. China's announcement describes Mr. Trump's tariffs as "a mistake on top of a mistake".

Stock markets fell further on China's announcement of retaliatory tariffs, Reuters reported.

The FTSE 100 is down 3.4%. The Stoxx 600 index, which monitors Europe's largest corporations, is now down 4.2%. Germany’s Dax has fallen 3.4% today, while France’s Cac 40 has dropped 3.4%.

Donald Trump's "explosive" tariffs are now in effect, including 104% on China, the world's biggest exporter. The list also includes 60 of the "worst offending" countries, who will face taxation ranging from 11% to 50%.

The extra tariffs on China kicked in after Beijing refused to meet Trump's deadline to drop its own retaliatory duties against the US, BBC reported.

Trump has stated that tariffs are necessary for his economic vision, but experts warn that a full-fledged trade war is possible. Some Americans support tariffs, while others fear a recession.

US financial markets recovered early on Tuesday, but then fell once again after the White House confirmed the extra tariffs on China, according to BBC.

While China prepares to impose a 104% tax on many of its exports to the United States, anti-Trump sentiment is growing on the Chinese internet.
 

Iran is ready to engage with the US at talks on Saturday over its nuclear programme "with a view to seal a deal", its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, BBC reported.

But US President Donald Trump must first agree there can be no "military option", Araghchi said, and added that Iran would "never accept coercion".

He also insisted the negotiations in Oman would be indirect, contradicting Trump's surprise announcement on Monday that they would be "direct talks".

Trump, who pulled the US out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers during his first term, warned that Iran would be in "great danger" if talks were not successful, according to BBC.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and two Russian crewmates arrived at the International Space Station on Tuesday on board a Russian spacecraft.

A Soyuz booster rocket launched as planned from Kazakhstan's Russia-leased Baikonur launch complex, putting the trio in orbit aboard the Soyuz MS-27. They arrived at the station slightly more than three hours later, Al Jazeera reported.

Kim and Russians Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky are expected to spend around eight months in the space station. NASA stated that Kim will undertake scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to assist train the crew for future space flights while also benefiting people on Earth, according to Al Jazeera.

Kim, a Los Angeles native, is a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy with dual designations as a naval aviator and flight surgeon.   Alongside Kim, Ryzhikov, and Zubritsky, the space outpost will also host Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Kirill Peskov; NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Anne McClain, and Nichole Ayers; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi.

Apple is shifting more of its iPhone shipments to the US from India in an effort to navigate the financial shockwaves caused by a fresh round of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

The computer giant's stock has dropped 19% in three trading days, the largest decline in over 25 years, due to investor concern about rising costs from new tariffs on Chinese imports, according to Firstpost.

With tariffs of up to 54% on Chinese shipments, Apple has turned to India, where the equivalent rate is 26%. The move is intended as a short-term hedge while Apple seeks tariff exemptions, but the company has not yet overhauled its China-centric manufacturing network, which is still critical to its worldwide supply chain, Firstpost reported.

The US and Iran will hold "direct talks" over a possible nuclear deal on Saturday, says Donald Trump, BBC reported.

The meeting has also been confirmed by Iran's foreign minister who said the talks would be "indirect" but could be "as much an opportunity as it is a test".

The US president on Monday said discussions between Washington and Tehran would be at "very high level" and warned it would be a "very bad day for Iran" if no agreement was reached.

Last month, Trump raised the prospect of military action against Iran after its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly rejected the offer of direct talks, according to BBC.

US President Donald Trump announced what he said were “kind” reciprocal tariffs against more than 180 countries on Wednesday, along with a baseline tariff against other countries, delivering the most sweeping tariff package the US has implemented in decades.

The Trump administration has imposed a 10 percent tariff on Nepali products. The United States has granted trade preferential treatment to Nepal, but traders have not been able to benefit from it. 

America is a big trade partner of Nepal. Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act 2015 provides duty and quota free access to 77 Nepali products. Officials say, Nepal government now will have to talk with America to ensure the smooth export of Nepali products in American markets.

Over the past five years the exports of Nepal to the United States have increased at an annualized rate of 4.98 percent,  from $110m in 2018 to $140m in 2023. 

The United States and Nepal have signed a trade and investment framework agreement, providing a forum for bilateral talks to enhance trade and investment, discuss specific trade issues, and promote more comprehensive trade agreements between the two countries. Principal US exports to Nepal include agricultural products, aircraft parts, optic and medical instruments and machinery. US imports from Nepal include carpets, apparel and jewelry.

The following are the reciprocal tariffs Trump announced on Wednesday. Any countries not on the list will have a baseline 10 percent tariff on any products coming into the US, the administration said.

The tariffs charged to the US include currency manipulation and trade barriers, according to information provided by the administration—though the percentages could not be independently verified.

The Trump administration is using tariffs as a tool to dismantle levies imposed by other countries and create “truly free and open global trade,” a director with The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, told CNN. Richard Stern, director of Grover M Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at The Heritage Foundation, said other countries have deployed trade barriers, subsidized their products and committed intellectual property theft.

President Donald Trump’s historic tariff announcement will have a lasting impact on South Asia, where the US is a top export destination for many countries in the region, analysts say.

The region, which includes the world’s most populous country, India, as well as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, is “dealing with varying levels of economic stress,” he said. “There’s a lot of vulnerability, and the tariffs will hit hard,” said Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute Director at The Wilson Center, a US-based think tank.

President Donald Trump has said he is moving forward with 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico into the US, adding that time had run out to reach a deal, BBC reported.

US stock markets sank in response to the measures, which he has threatened since earlier this year and said would now go into effect on Tuesday.

An additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports is also expected to come into force, leaving all of America's top three trade partners facing significantly higher barriers than just a few weeks ago. 

"No room left for Mexico or for Canada," Trump said at the White House on Monday. "The tariffs, you know, they're all set. They go into effect tomorrow."

The U.S. slapped a 26% reciprocal tariff on India in a setback to the South Asian country's expectation of getting relief from President Donald Trump's global trade policy that has unnerved world markets for weeks, Reuters reported.

The reciprocal tariff will be effective from April 9, according to a statement from the White House.

Trump's Wednesday announcement on India was part of his wider plan to impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from April 5 and higher duties on certain other countries including 34% on China and 46% on Vietnam.

"They (India) are charging us 52% and we charge almost nothing for years and years and decades," Trump said at the White House while announcing the reciprocal tax.

The duty of 26% was based on tariff and non-tariff barriers including currency manipulation, the Trump administration said.

India imposed "uniquely burdensome" non-tariff barriers, the removal of which will increase U.S. exports by at least $5.3 billion annually, the White House said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The sweeping new tariffsannounced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump were met initially with measured reactions from key trading partners, highlighting the lack of appetite for a full-fledged trade war, Associated Press reported.

Trump presented the import taxes, which he calls “reciprocal tariffs” and range from 10% to 49%, in the simplest terms: the U.S. would do to its trading partners what he said they had been doing to the U.S. for decades.

“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”

The president promised that “Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.” He framed it not just as an economic issue, but a question of national security that threatens “our very way of life.”

Financial markets were jolted, with U.S. stock futures down by as much as 3% early Thursday and Tokyo’s market leading losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than $2 a barrel and the price of bitcoin dropped 4.4%, according to the Associated Press.

South Korea's Constitutional Court will issue its long-awaited ruling on President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment Friday, months after he was suspended for declaring martial law.

Yoon's December 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule plunged South Korea into political chaos, after he sent armed soldiers into parliament, Aljazeera reported.

Lawmakers disobeyed the army by voting against the measure and impeaching Yoon shortly after, but months of political unrest have harmed South Korea's economy and put the country in leadership uncertainty, even as US President Donald Trump targets the region with tariffs.
 
The court convened weeks of impeachment proceedings to decide whether to officially remove Yoon from office, and then spent weeks to deliberate on the matter, sparking speculation that the justices were in deep disagreement, according to Aljazeera.

Yoon, who was elected in 2022 despite having no prior political experience, is also facing criminal charges for rebelling over the edict.
Despite the fact that a number of South Korea's democratic-era leaders have been imprisoned for crimes committed after their terms ended, Yoon is the first president to face charges while in office.

US President Donald Trump claimed Friday that he had a “extremely productive” first discussion with Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney, despite rising tensions over tariffs and Trump’s desire to conquer his northern neighbor, Firstpost reported.

Trump added that the two planned to meet shortly after Canada's general election on April 28, where Carney, who took office two weeks ago, has made opposing the US president a key component of his campaign.The call marked their first communication since Carney was elected leader of Canada's ruling Liberals on March 9, according to the Firstpost.

Carney believes Trump's proposal of tariffs is a betrayal of a once-close economic and security partnership.
Trump has also warned Canada against working with the European Union against US reciprocal tariffs that he is expected to announce soon.

United States President Donald Trump says he would be willing to reduce tariff rates on China to secure a deal with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the social media app used by 170 million Americans, Reuters reported.

Trump's proposal came as he proposed a 25% tariff on imported autos and auto parts, the latest salvo in a deepening trade war that has strained relations with allies and partners.Earlier this month, Trump boosted additional duties on all Chinese imports to 20%, up from 10% in February, according to Reuters.

Under US law, ByteDance was obligated to withdraw from TikTok by January 19 or face a ban.  However, Trump allowed a 75-day grace period, which will end on April 5.

Trump has stated that he is open to extend the deadline if an agreement on the social media app is not achieved.
 

US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for a group chat in which high-ranking officials planned military strikes in Yemen in the company of a journalist who was inadvertently added, BBC reported.

"I accept full responsibility. "I built the group," Waltz told Fox News on Tuesday, adding that it was "embarrassing."

President Donald Trump and US intelligence leaders have played down the security threats, claiming no confidential information was provided.
However, Democrats and some Republicans have called for an investigation into what several senators have described as a significant breach, according to BBC.

Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of Atlantic magazine, stated that he was unintentionally joined to the Signal chat by a user named Mike Waltz.

NATO countries are attempting to avoid potential upheaval if the United States withdraws from the transatlantic military, alliance according to Aljazeera.

According to a new report, Europe's major military forces are developing plans to assume increased responsibility for the continent's defense from the United States, including a pitch to President Donald Trump's administration for a managed handover over the next five to ten years.

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Nordic nations are among those involved in informal but organized conversations aimed at reshaping the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) security bloc, according to The Financial Times, citing four European officials, Aljazeera reported.

The announcement coincides with a report by Bloomberg News on Friday that, in the face of Trump's repeated threats to leave the organization and NATO's political infighting with the US, the alliance will ask Europe and Canada to increase its weapons and equipment stocks by 30%.

A chartered plane carrying Nepalis deported from America landed in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

According to Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Spokesperson, Rinji Sherpa, the chartered aircraft with 14 people onboard including the crew members landed at TIA at 10:15 am.

The aircraft from the Portsmouth International Airport in New Hampshire State of the US made a technical stop in the middle before landing directly in Kathmandu, it is said.

The aircraft will return to the US via Albania at 3 pm tomorrow. 

With US President Donald Trump assuming his office for the second term, the US has continued the deportations of the immigrants found without official documents back to home.

Meanwhile, they have been handed to the Nepal Police for further investigation. 

According to the TIA- based Office of the Immigration, they were handed to the police following the completion of immigration procedures.

Immigration Officer Yagya Raj Aryal also confirmed that one more Nepali was deported from the US via the regular flight of Qatar Airways today itself.

Prior to this, the US had deported 27 Nepalis.