Donald Trump threatens Japan and South Korea with steep tariffs

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Good morning and welcome again to FirstFT Asia. In in the present day’s publication:

• Trump threatens Asian allies with steep tariffs

• Wall Avenue buying and selling agency fights India ban

• Hong Kong’s listings pipeline hits file excessive

• Dishoom’s information to eating in Mumbai

Donald Trump has renewed his risk to hit main buying and selling companions with steep “reciprocal” tariffs whilst he granted a three-week reprieve for nations to barter commerce offers with the US.

What occurred: Trump sent letters to Japan and South Korea, each among the many US’s largest buying and selling counterparts, saying the nation would impose 25 per cent levies starting on August 1. The president additionally introduced large levies on Malaysia, South Africa and several other different nations. The tariffs have been roughly on a par with these Trump unveiled throughout his “liberation day” announcement on April 2.

Within the letters, addressed to Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s prime minister, and Lee Jae-myung, South Korea’s president, Trump mentioned that if both nation elevated its tariffs in retaliation “then, regardless of the quantity you select to lift them by, shall be added on to the 25 per cent that we cost”. However he indicated that the proposed tariffs could possibly be negotiated down if the nations opened their markets

Market response: The dimensions of Trump’s tariff threats yesterday pressured markets regardless of the delay of their implementation. The S&P 500 ended Monday down 0.8 per cent. In the meantime, the Japanese, South Korean and South African currencies all declined about 1 per cent in opposition to the US greenback.

Right here’s what else we’re retaining tabs on in the present day:

• Financial knowledge: Taiwan publishes June inflation and commerce figures.

• Financial coverage: The Reserve Financial institution of Australia is predicted to cut rates of interest. (The Guardian)

• Asean assembly: Overseas ministers from the south-east Asian bloc collect in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for conferences persevering with till Friday. US secretary of state Marco Rubio is predicted to be in attendance.

5 extra prime tales

1. Jane Avenue plans to contest a discovering by India’s monetary regulator that the Wall Avenue buying and selling agency engaged in “an intentional, effectively deliberate, and sinister scheme” to control the nation’s markets. The Securities and Trade Board of India banned Jane Avenue from dealing securities within the nation and ordered the agency to return more than $550mn of “illegal gains”. 

2. Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has mentioned that Israel tried to assassinate him throughout final month’s 12-day struggle between the 2 nations. Pezeshkian made the declare in a video interview with American conservative media persona Tucker Carlson, throughout which he additionally signalled that Iran stays open to renewed diplomacy with the US over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme. Read the full story.

3. Russia’s state investigative authority mentioned yesterday that the nation’s transport minister had died from a suspected suicide, on the same day he was fired by President Vladimir Putin. Roman Starovoyt’s loss of life got here amid a corruption probe into the development of defensive fortifications in Kursk, which he ruled till Could 2024.

4. Italian authorities have arrested a Chinese language citizen suspected of being linked to a state-sponsored hacking group that sought to steal Covid-19 vaccine secrets and techniques from the US on the top of the pandemic. The Beijing-backed group was accused of penetrating Microsoft email software in 2021 in a mass espionage marketing campaign, an individual conversant in the matter mentioned.

• EU-China local weather stand-off: The EU is holding back on signing a joint declaration on local weather motion with China at a leaders’ summit this month, except Beijing pledges larger efforts to chop its greenhouse fuel emissions.

5. Tesla shares tumbled after the electric-car maker’s chief govt Elon Musk mentioned he would kind a brand new political social gathering, escalating a feud with Trump that could imperil the billionaire’s business empire. A return to political activism is opposite to what Musk promised shareholders in late April.

The Massive Learn

​Because the world prepares to mark the anniversary of the Srebrenica bloodbath three a long time in the past this week, Bosnia and Herzegovina is dealing with a dangerous second of political upheaval. Learn why trouble is brewing again within the ethnically riven Balkan state.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Immigration crackdown: Trump has catapulted ICE into America’s best-funded legislation enforcement company — and more and more beyond accountability, writes Edward Luce.

• Loss of life of the apprenticeship mannequin?: As hybrid working and AI upend on-the-job studying, employers must be more deliberate within the coaching they provide junior employees, writes Emma Jacobs.

• BlackRock’s HPS takeover: The general public markets big tried personal credit score as soon as earlier than. Will its newest large foray fare better?

Chart of the day 

The variety of corporations making use of for a list in Hong Kong this yr has hit an all-time excessive, because the territory tries to regain its status as a top financial hub.

Take a break from the information

. . . and take a look at Dishoom’s guide to dining in Mumbai. The cousins behind the cult Indian restaurant chain share the place they eat and drink within the megalopolis that conjures up their delicacies.