US imposes China centric global trade war

US President Donald Trump's stunning decision to pause the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries sent battered global stock markets surging on Thursday, even as he ratcheted up a trade war with China.

Trump's turnabout on Wednesday, which came less than 24 hours after steep new tariffs kicked in on most trading partners, followed the most intense episode of financial market volatility since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The upheaval erased trillions of dollars from stock markets and led to an unsettling surge in US government bond yields that appeared to catch Trump's attention.

"I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line, they were getting yippy, you know," Trump told reporters after the announcement, referring to jitters sportspeople sometimes get.

US stock indexes shot higher on the news, with the benchmark S&P 500, opens new tab index closing 9.5% higher, and the relief continued into Asian trading on Thursday with Japan's Nikkei index surging 8%.

European futures also pointed to big gains, but there were already signs the rally may be short-lived with US stock futures trading lower. Oil prices also fell around 1%, extending a grim spell fuelled by fears that the trade tensions could push the global economy towards recession

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly threatened an array of punitive measures on trading partners, only to revoke some of them at the last minute. The on-again, off-again approach has baffled world leaders and spooked business executives.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asserted that the pullback had been the plan all along to bring countries to the bargaining table. Trump, though, later indicated that the near-panic in markets that had unfolded since his April 02 announcements had factored in to his thinking.

Despite insisting for days that his policies would never change, he told reporters on Wednesday، "You have to be flexible."

But he kept the pressure on China, the world's second economy and second biggest provider of US imports. Trump immediately hiked the tariff on Chinese imports to 125% from the 104% level that kicked in on Wednesday.

Chinese companies that sell products on Amazon are preparing to hike prices for the US or quit that market due to the "unprecedented blow" from the tariffs, the head of China's largest e-commerce association said.

Beijing may again respond in kind after slapping 84% tariffs on US imports on Wednesday to match Trump's earlier tariff salvo. It has repeatedly vowed to "fight to the end" in the escalating trade war between the world's top two economies.

"The US and China are currently in a powerplay game of brinkmanship," said ING global head of markets Chris Turner.

Beijing said it had held talks with the European Union and Malaysia on strengthening trade in response to the tensions, although Australia said it had rebuffed an offer from China, its top trading partner, to work together to counter the tariffs.

"We are not going to be holding hands with China in respect of any contest that is going on in the world," Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Sky News.

Hopes of state support helped prop up Chinese stocks on Thursday, even as its yuan currency fell to its weakest level since the global financial crisis.