Trump admits ‘transition cost’ of tariffs as global markets sink again – business live

US stocks tumble once more after historic rally following US president’s shock retreat on ‘reciprocal’ tariffsUS stocks fall again after rally following Trump’s shock retreat on tariffsAustralian shares are poised to open sharply lower this morning, as concerns about Donald Trump’s unsettling policy shifts and deteriorating trade relations between the world’s two biggest economies take hold.Futures prices are pointing to a 1.6% fall in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 to 7,590 points when it opens later this morning, after a sell-off on Wall Street overnight.The Dow was down 2.5% by Thursday’s end after soaring on Wednesday afternoon. The Nasdaq Composite was down more than 4%, after posting its biggest gain in more than two decades on Wednesday, and the S&P 500 down 3.4%.Stocks seemed unresponsive to news on Thursday morning that the European Union announced it would suspend 25% retaliatory tariffs against US imports and new data showed inflation in the US cooled to 2.4% in March – both typically cause for optimism on Wall Street – reflecting the market’s apparent state of fatigue after a rollercoaster week, report Anna Betts and Lauren Aratani.The US president said he would “love” to make a deal with China, and that he believed he and Chinese president Xi Jinping would “end up working out something that’s very good for both countries”.China has said it will immediately restrict imports of Hollywood films in retaliation for the US president’s escalation of US tariffs on Chinese imports, targeting one of the most high-profile American exports. Beijing’s National Film Administration said Trump’s tariffs would further sour domestic demand for US cinema in China and it would “moderately reduce the number of American films imported”. The move comes after three decades during which China imported 10 Hollywood movies a year. Industry analysts said the financial impact was likely to be minimal, however, because Hollywood’s box office returns in China have declined significantly in recent years, Reuters reported.Trump is facing accusations of market manipulation over a Truth Social post on Wednesday where he said it was a “great time to buy” just hours before he made a dramatic U-turn on his trade war that led to big rises in stock markets around the world.The European Union and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to launch free trade talks. The EU is the UAE’s second-largest trading partner, accounting for 8.3% of the Emirati total non-oil trade. Continue reading...