TV News LIES

President Trump on Monday threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on imports from China, a massive escalation of a potential trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump’s threat is the latest tit for tat between the U.S. and China in the last week. The White House last Wednesday announced it would impose a 34 percent tariff on Chinese imports as part of “reciprocal” tariffs against dozens of countries.

Beijing responded by announcing a 34 percent tariff on American imports, leading to Trump’s warning on Monday.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that China made the move, “despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set.”

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President Trump has played down the shock impact of his tariff shift on markets, which kept spiraling downward on Friday as fears for the global economy grew.

US trading partners have vowed to retaliate after Trump ended months of suspense on Wednesday by revealing broad reciprocal duties on all countries, in what he has referred to as "Liberation Day." On Friday, China announced it will impose countermeasures against the US starting April 10, including a 34% tariff on US goods.

Trump's administration is imposing a baseline tariff of 10% across all countries beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. The US is upping those duties for various partners whom he described as bad actors starting next Wednesday, April 9.

Trump vowed to "never change" his policies on Friday, even as he touted progress with Vietnam, a country set to see one of the biggest US tariff hits.

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The White House on Thursday defended its decision to not include Russia, North Korea, Cuba or Belarus in the latest round of tariffs, which targeted dozens of global trading partners that were labeled the “worst offenders” when it came to trade barriers.

A White House official told The Hill in a statement that the four nations “are not subject to the Reciprocal Tariff Executive Order because they are already facing extremely high tariffs, and our previously imposed sanctions preclude any meaningful trade with these countries.”

The official added that Trump has “recently threatened to impose strong sanctions on Russia” to further explain leaving out Moscow.

U.S. stock losses closed sharply lower, with the blue-chip Dow losing nearly 1,700 points and the broad S&P 500 tumbling about 275 points, after President Donald Trump unveiled his tariff plan late Wednesday.

Trump announced sweeping tariffs of at least 10% on all countries, effective April 5, and even higher levies for some countries to start soon. Some of China's neighbors and biggest trading partners such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were slapped with the highest tariffs. Some multinational companies have moved their supply chains to these countries as they looked to diversify away from China.

Shares of companies like Walmart, Target, Five Below, Gap, Dollar Tree and Amazon that import a bulk of their goods from Asia dropped.

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A group of barren, uninhabited volcanic islands near Antarctica, covered in glaciers and home to penguins, have been swept up in Donald Trump’s trade war, as the US president hit them with a 10% tariff on goods.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which form an external territory of Australia, are among the remotest places on earth, accessible only via a two-week boat voyage from Perth on Australia’s west coast. They are completely uninhabited, with the last visit from people believed to be nearly 10 years ago.

Nevertheless, Heard and McDonald Islands featured in a list released by the White House of countries that would have new trade tariffs imposed.

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday: “Nowhere on earth is safe.”

TVNL Comment: A freaking moron is in charge of the global economy.

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Gold has reached a record high while the yen has strengthened against the dollar and stock markets have slumped after Donald’s Trump’s unexpectedly aggressive tariff announcement. Here’s the latest on the markets courtesy of Reuters:

The high-flying tech sector was pummelled as manufacturing hubs in China and Taiwan faced new tariffs above 30%, bringing the total new levy to an eye-watering 54% on imports from China.

“The US effective tariff rate on all imports look to be the highest level in over a century,” said Citi’s global rates trading strategist, Ben Wiltshire.

Nasdaq futures tumbled 4% and in after-hours trade some $760 billion was wiped from the market value of Magnificent Seven technology leaders. Apple shares, hit hardest as the company makes iPhones in China, were down nearly 7%.

S&P 500 futures fell 3.3%, FTSE futures fell 1.8%, while European futures fell nearly 2%.

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