President Trump signaled he was open to negotiations with trading partners this week, even as the US took steps to escalate its fast-moving trade war with China. On Thursday, Trump struck an optimistic tone about negotiations with China, telling a reporter "we are going to make a very good deal with China." Later in the day, the president again touted talks with the country , adding that he is reluctant to keep raising tariffs on China and may even want them to be lower to protect consumer spending. Trump also claimed positive developments in talks with other countries. He said Japan talks saw "big progress," though Japan's Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato expressed concerns over the global economic fallout. He described a call with with Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum "very productive" and hosted Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House. China has shown openness to trade talks with the US, contingent on specific conditions , despite the White House clarifying that "China now faces tariffs of up to 245% on imports to the United States." The tit-for-tat between the world's two largest economies has intensified: China raised its duties on imports of US goods to 125% from 84%, while US tariffs on Chinese imports have ballooned — to "a 125% reciprocal tariff, a 20% tariff to address the fentanyl crisis, and Section 301 tariffs on specific goods, between 7.5% and 100%." The baseline 10% tariff that went into effect on April 5 remains in place for all affected imports into the US. Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world. Two "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks — Apple ( AAPL ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ) — highlight the diverging fortunes in Big Tech as investors battle erratic changes to trade policies and heightened volatility in the weeks since President Trump's "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariff announcement . Read more here. Last earnings season, corporations talked about tariffs constantly . We'll also hear about their plans for managing and mitigating an uncertain trade environment. The first indications suggest that many companies will pull their guidance , as Delta ( DAL ) did last week, while others, like Netflix, reassured investors that they will remain safe havens. Netflix ( NFLX ) co-CEO Gregory Peters: "We've certainly seen periods of challenging economic conditions historically in different countries. And we've generally been able to keep that positive flywheel spinning even in those situations. And I think that speaks to ... that we are, for many people, a very good value, even as they're being careful about where they spend." L'Oréal ( OR.PA ) CEO Nicolas Hieronimus : "Most of our [consumer] brands, CeraVe, are manufactured in North America. So what is exported is mostly luxury. ... We can take prices up. We have built inventory. And yes, we can relocate some of our productions. But of course, we don't want to ... take any measures on something that might be temporary. So we are watching carefully what's happening and trying to figure out what will be the end game." American Express ( AXP ) CEO Stephen Squeri: "I think small businesses are the ones that we would pay a lot more attention to just because ... they could be put in a situation and will not be able to compete effectively in the market." Squeri also told my colleague Brian Sozzi that so far, spending has been "as strong as it was last quarter, maybe slightly, slightly stronger, and credit still continues to look really good." Ryan Petersen, CEO of the logistics company Flexport, wrote a detailed X thread arguing that a wave of American small businesses "will go bankrupt this year if the tariff policies on China don’t change." Peterson, citing Flexport data, asserted that "around $1T" in economic activity has already been lost. Read more here. Read more here. (Bloomberg) — Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said his nation has a “unique bond” with the US as his government engages in trade talks with the Trump administration to avoid a large tariff on its products. Chinh, who earlier this week warmly welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Hanoi, said Vietnam’s relationship with the US is unlike ties with other countries, according to a post on the government’s website Friday. The premier made the comments in a meeting in the capital with Warburg Pincus Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Perlman, who is also chairman of the US-Asean Business Council. US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper also attended. Read more here. TOKYO (Reuters) — Toyota is considering producing the next version of its top-selling RAV4 SUV in the United States, three people familiar with the matter said, becoming the latest automaker to rethink supply chains to lessen the hit from US tariffs on imported vehicles. Read more here. Japan issued a monthly report on Friday that mentioned trade uncertainty amid new US policies. "The economy is recovering moderately, while uncertainty is arising from U.S. trade policies," the Japan Cabinet Office report stated. "It is necessary to be more vigilant than before about the impact on the domestic and international economies," an official at the Cabinet Office told Reuters . President Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, said that China had reached out to the US to negotiate on trade and that he viewed hiking tariffs on the country any further unfavorably. President Trump offered an update on negotiations with the US's trading partners during the 90-day pause on his additional reciprocal tariffs. "We're doing very well with negotiations, I think, with all countries," Trump said to reporters after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday. "We have a lot of countries that want to make a deal. Frankly, they want to make deals more than I do." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also chimed in, highlighting recent talks with Japan, the EU, South Korea, and India. "We're working on the big 15 economies," Bessent said. "First, we had a fantastic meeting with Japan yesterday. I believe there's been calls with the EU already, and then we have South Korea coming in next week, and I believe India is also talking. That's moving very quickly." Read more here. Businesses are continuing to report high levels of uncertainty in the weeks after President Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariff program. Read more here. Boeing ( BA ) planes in China are sitting in limbo after Beijing reportedly told Chinese airlines not to take further deliveries of the US jet maker's planes on Tuesday. It shows how some American companies are getting caught in the middle of the escalating US-China trade war. According to Reuters, tracking data showed four completed Boeing 737 Max planes awaiting delivery in Zhoushan, where Boeing installs interiors before delivering to Chinese customers. However, the first three of those aircraft may be recalled to the US, the aviation publication The Air Current reported. Sources told Reuters that the ban on Boeing deliveries had not been confirmed. During the first Trump administration, Boeing set up a plant in Shanghai in 2018. The confusion around whether China has targeted Boeing is just the latest problem for the planemaker, which has struggled to recover from a string of manufacturing and labor issues . Read more here. Read more here. Canadians poured a record $21.5 billion into US stocks in February, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, despite growing calls to boycott American goods and travel. At the same time, Canadians sold $1.45 billion worth of non-US. shares, signaling a strong preference for US markets even as public sentiment soured amid President Trump’s trade threats, the report explained. The surge in US investments stood in contrast to declining demand for southbound travel and growing 'buy local' movements in protest to Trumps tariffs. President Trump, searching for deals with key trade partners amid a broad pause in instituting his sweeping tariffs, hailed what he described as progress on several fronts. He posted on Truth Social that he had a "very productive call" with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday, and noted that he is set to meet with Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni today. Meanwhile, he also described a trade meeting with Japanese representatives yesterday as "very productive." Japan Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato has expressed concerns over the global economic fallout from the US levies. France's Hermes ( RMS.PA ) announced on Thursday that it will pass the full impact of tariffs onto its affluent US customers, following a first-quarter sales report that slightly fell short of market expectations that marked an unusual dip in performance. "We are going to fully offset the impact of these new duties by increasing our selling prices in the United States from May 1, across all our business lines," said Finance Chief Eric du Halgouet. The company flagged possible tariff-related price hikes in February. Read more here . As reported by CNN Business on Wednesday , Hong Kong’s postal service will stop handling shipments to and from the US in retaliation for President Trump's decision to eliminate the “de minimis exception,” which allowed goods worth $800 or less to be shipped to the US without tariffs. This move, effective April 27, impacts both sea and air shipments, forcing individuals and businesses to rely on private couriers like DHL, FedEx ( FDX ), and UPS ( UPS ), driving up costs. The US introduced new tariffs of up to 120% on goods previously covered by the exemption, further escalating trade tensions. Hong Kong’s government condemned the US actions as “unreasonable” and warned of rising costs for consumers. The city, long a key international trading hub, now faces the same 145% tariff on exports as mainland China, after the US revoked Hong Kong’s special trade status in 2020. Hong Kong's leader John Lee condemned the US move and announced plans to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization, a step China has already taken. As the trade war intensifies, Hong Kong’s economy and its businesses are grappling with new challenges and rising costs. The world’s top iron ore producers are off to a rocky start this year, with severe weather disrupting output and growing trade tensions weighing on demand from their biggest buyer, China. Japan's exports climbed for a sixth consecutive month in March, according to data released Thursday, as firms rushed to boost shipments ahead of potential US tariffs — raising fresh worries about the future of the country’s trade-driven economy.
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