<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="4045" height="2697" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/6MSJZV4H5RNIDI4ITMOIPSV2ZE.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-603977"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">U.S. President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One, as he departs for Florida, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that reciprocal tariffs he is set to announce this week will include all nations, not just a smaller group of 10 to 15 countries with the biggest trade imbalances.



Trump has promised to unveil a massive tariff plan on Wednesday, which he has dubbed “Liberation Day.” He has already imposed tariffs on aluminum, steel and autos, along with increased tariffs on all goods from China.



“You’d start with all countries,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Essentially all of the countries that we’re talking about.”



White House economics adviser Kevin Hassett recently told Fox Business that the administration’s tariffs focus would be on 10 to 15 countries with the worst trade imbalances, though he did not list them.



Trump sees tariffs as a way of protecting the domestic economy from unfair global competition and a bargaining chip for better terms for the U.S.



However, concerns about a trade war are unsettling markets and creating fears of a recession in the U.S.



Trump has said he will impose a suite of reciprocal tariffs against nations that charge fees on U.S. exports, promising to match those countries’ duties.



In February, Trump signed a memorandum that directed U.S. trade officials to go country by country and put together a list of tailored counter-measures.



Last week, he suggested he might scale back his reciprocal plans, perhaps imposing tariffs in some cases at lower rates than countries charge the United States.

6MSJZV4H5RNIDI4ITMOIPSV2ZE

Trump says reciprocal tariffs will target all countries

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108123167-17431962612025-03-28t210936z_334592772_rc2jmdagkv1j_rtrmadp_0_usa-stocks-820x462.png" alt="" class="wp-image-603920" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108123167-17431962612025-03-28t210936z_334592772_rc2jmdagkv1j_rtrmadp_0_usa-stocks-820x462.png 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108123167-17431962612025-03-28t210936z_334592772_rc2jmdagkv1j_rtrmadp_0_usa-stocks-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108123167-17431962612025-03-28t210936z_334592772_rc2jmdagkv1j_rtrmadp_0_usa-stocks-160x90.png 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108123167-17431962612025-03-28t210936z_334592772_rc2jmdagkv1j_rtrmadp_0_usa-stocks-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108123167-17431962612025-03-28t210936z_334592772_rc2jmdagkv1j_rtrmadp_0_usa-stocks.png 1480w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., March 28, 2025. </figcaption></figure>



Global markets and U.S. stock futures fell early Monday as traders looked ahead to “Liberation Day” for clarity on President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. 



Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 145 points, or 0.35%. S&amp;P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.64% and 1.18%, respectively.



A slew of tariffs set to be enacted by the Trump administration will go into effect on Wednesday — what Trump has called “Liberation Day” — including a 25% levy on “all cars that are not made in the United States.” The president is also expected to announce his plan for reciprocal tariffs.



Uncertainty surrounding tariffs has been an overhang on equities, dragging stocks lower again on Friday to end the last full trading week of March. Trump did little to assuage fears over the weekend, with The Wall Street Journal reporting Sunday that the president had in recent days pushed his advisors to get more aggressive when it comes to tariffs. In a Saturday interview with NBC News, Trump said that he “couldn’t care less” if foreign automakers raise their prices due to these new tariffs.



On Wednesday, it is hoped investors will gain some clarity on which trading partners will be affected by the new duties, and by how much, wrote Emmanuel Cau, equity strategist at Barclays.



“Tariff risk has been well telegraphed and is largely priced in corners of the market. So liberation day may not be a complete shocker. However, no one wins from trade war, and clouds are gathering over the global growth outlook,” Cau wrote in a Friday note. “Negotiations will likely start after April 2, which leads to an extended period of uncertainty about the final scope, level and timing of tariffs.”



Against this backdrop of mounting trade and economic concerns, the three major averages are all on pace to end the month lower. The S&amp;P 500 is down 6.3% for the month, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is poised for a 5.2% loss. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has tanked 8.1%.



Investors will also be looking forward to a heavy slate of economic data this week, most notably the March jobs report, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, April 4.

108123167-17431962612025-03-28t210936z_334592772_rc2jmdagkv1j_rtrmadp_0_usa-stocks

Stock futures slip as a jittery Wall Street awaits ‘Liberation Day’: Live updates

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108121139-1742932113047-gettyimages-2206346050-AFP_37V49ZV-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-602394" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108121139-1742932113047-gettyimages-2206346050-AFP_37V49ZV-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108121139-1742932113047-gettyimages-2206346050-AFP_37V49ZV-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108121139-1742932113047-gettyimages-2206346050-AFP_37V49ZV-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108121139-1742932113047-gettyimages-2206346050-AFP_37V49ZV-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108121139-1742932113047-gettyimages-2206346050-AFP_37V49ZV-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108121139-1742932113047-gettyimages-2206346050-AFP_37V49ZV.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">US President Donald Trump meets with US Ambassadors in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2025. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



President Donald Trump said that tariffs will likely be more “lenient than reciprocal,” as the April 2 tariff deadline looms for a number of levies to go into effect.



“I’ll probably be more lenient than reciprocal, because if I was reciprocal, that would be very tough for people,” Trump said Tuesday in an interview with Newsmax.



“I know there are some exceptions, and it’s an ongoing discussion, but not too many, not too many exceptions,” the president added.



The White House later clarified the president’s remarks, saying the Trump administration will no longer take into account non-tariff barriers countries raise against the United States to determine the reciprocal tariff rate, as told to CNBC’s Eamon Javers.



Non-tariff barriers include factors such as a value-added tax (VAT) — which is a tax on the final consumption of a good or service based on the value added at each production stage — as well as wage suppression and currency manipulation.



The softening stance on tariffs from the Trump administration could soothe investors worried a global trade war will slow down the U.S. economy.



Already, consumer and corporate sentiment have taken a hit. On Tuesday, the Conference Board said its measure for consumer expectations on business, income and labor dropped to a 12-year low.



Stocks have struggled recently, with the S&amp;P 500 dropping 3% in the past month. The benchmark also dipped into correction territory amid the tariff pressures, briefly trading more than 10% below a record set in February.

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Trump says tariffs coming in April will ‘probably be more lenient than reciprocal’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="5000" height="3243" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/PMUHNUWJO5JCDIURCOV3C2CCAY.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-602355"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A used Mini Cooper electric car is seen for sale outside the showroom of a used car dealer in Manchester, Britain, October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, March 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will on Tuesday hear arguments to overturn a judgment that could cost Britain&#8217;s financial industry billions of pounds in fresh legal costs and potential customer compensation.



The Court of Appeal ruled in October that it was unlawful for lenders to pay commissions to motor dealers without a customer&#8217;s informed consent, triggering speculation about the nature and scale of possible remedies for affected borrowers.



Lloyds Banking Group, Close Brothers and Santander UK SANS have together already set aside more than 1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) to cover potential compensation claims.



Some analysts say the fallout could be the costliest for banks since they paid almost 40 billion pounds in compensation to customers for mis-selling payment protection insurance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-will-the-supreme-court-consider">WHAT WILL THE SUPREME COURT CONSIDER?</h2>



Reviewing three earlier claims &#8211; two against South African lender FirstRand and one against Britain&#8217;s Close Brothers &#8211; the Supreme Court will decide the extent of car dealers&#8217; legal responsibility to provide appropriate information to consumers when also acting as credit brokers.



Assuming a duty of care is owed, the court is also expected to rule whether commissions paid by lenders to car dealers were &#8220;secret&#8221; or insufficiently disclosed, and whether lenders are liable as accessories for procuring the credit brokers&#8217; breach of duty.



If lenders are considered liable, and the relationship between lender and consumer is considered &#8220;unfair&#8221; under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the court will decide what kind of remedy errant lenders have to make.



The Supreme Court&#8217;s judgment is expected in the summer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-might-be-impacted">WHO MIGHT BE IMPACTED?</h2>



The Financial Conduct Authority banned the payment of discretionary motor finance commissions in 2021, eliminating incentives for brokers to hike the interest rate customers pay on their motor finance loans.



But some customers say they were treated unfairly before the ban came into effect, prompting the FCA to launch a probe in January 2024 into historic potential misconduct.



If the Supreme Court rules lenders and brokers should have been more transparent about commissions, the regulator has said it will consult on the structure of a compensation scheme within six weeks.



More than 2 million people a year rely on the motor finance market to buy a car, FCA data shows.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-much-could-banks-have-to-pay">HOW MUCH COULD BANKS HAVE TO PAY?</h2>



Only a handful of UK lenders have motor finance businesses large enough to be materially concerned about the ruling.



These include Lloyds, Close Brothers and Santander UK, which have already made provisions of 1.15 billion pounds, 295 million pounds and 165 million pounds respectively.



But analysts say other types of commissions paid by banks to credit brokers could face scrutiny if the court decides customers must consent to such payments.



Total &#8216;worst case&#8217; industry costs could reach 30 billion pounds, ratings agency Moody&#8217;s said in November.



RBC Capital has estimated a &#8216;base case&#8217; impact on banks and non-banks of almost 18 billion pounds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-might-influence-the-supreme-court-decision">WHAT MIGHT INFLUENCE THE SUPREME COURT DECISION?</h2>



The outcome of another legal dispute, Expert Tooling vs. Engie Power on March 21, could have a bearing on the motor finance ruling.



That case involved Engie supplying electricity to Expert Tooling via an energy broker. The Court of Appeal found that the commission paid to the broker should have been disclosed. However, it did not find Engie an accessory to the broker&#8217;s breach of duty due to the lack of evidence of dishonesty.



Some lawyers say lenders will likely escape significant financial liabilities unless claimants can prove commission payments were concealed or hidden dishonestly.



Others are not so sure, citing key differences between the cases, including that the claimant in Expert Tooling vs Engie was a business, not a consumer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-next-for-the-banking-industry">WHAT NEXT FOR THE BANKING INDUSTRY?</h2>



Several major British banks have signalled an interest in recent months in mergers and acquisitions, but worries about a damaging consumer finance scandal have cast a pall over dealmaking.



Clarity over the ruling and any compensation scheme could unlock cash set aside to cover legal expenses and revive M&amp;A activity, analysts and bankers say.



($1 = 0.7738 pounds)



(Reporting by Sinead Cruise. Editing by Mark Potter)

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Is Britain on the cusp of another multibillion-pound consumer finance scandal?

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1080" height="782" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/KJPI5CCCKBMFFMGZUYUMW4RVBE.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-602002"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Duke of Sussex visits the Kasane Health Post, run by the Sentebale charity, in Kasane, Botswana, September 26, 2019. Dominic Lipinski/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, March 26 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Britain&#8217;s Prince Harry said he was &#8220;in shock&#8221; after quitting as a patron of Sentebale, a British charity he set up to help young people with HIV and Aids in Lesotho and Botswana, following a row between trustees and the chair of the board.



Harry, the younger son of King Charles, co-founded Sentebale in 2006 in honour of his mother Princess Diana nine years after she was killed in a Paris car crash. Sentebale means &#8216;forget-me-not&#8217; in the local language of Lesotho in southern Africa.



Co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, as well as the board of trustees, joined Harry in leaving Sentebale following a dispute with chair Sophie Chandauka, who has taken legal action to try to retain her position.



&#8220;It is devastating that the relationship between the charity&#8217;s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation,&#8221; Harry and Seeiso said in a joint statement published on Sky News on Wednesday.



Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan and two children, stopped working as a member of the royal family in 2020. He has been heavily involved in causes in Africa for many years and visited Nigeria last year.



The trustees had acted in the best interests of the charity in asking the chair to step down, the joint statement said.



&#8220;Although we may no longer be Patrons, we will always be its founders, and we will never forget what this charity is capable of achieving when it is in the right care,&#8221; it added.



Reuters has contacted Britain&#8217;s Charity Commission and Sentebale for comment.



(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

KJPI5CCCKBMFFMGZUYUMW4RVBE

UK’s Prince Harry ‘in shock’ after quitting his African Aids charity

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-601538" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Attendees pose for a group photo before the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2025 at the Diaoyutai Guesthouse on March 23, 2025, in Beijing. China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



BEIJING — China courted the executives of major U.S. businesses at an annual conference this week in a sign of how Beijing seeks to offset trade pressures, rather than retaliate forcefully.



China has long sought to attract foreign investment as a way to bolster growth, while tapping business interests for potential influence on the White House, particularly under U.S. President Donald Trump. The U.S. has twice increased tariffs across all Chinese goods since January, but Beijing has only announced targeted duties and restrictions on a handful of American companies.



Conversation on the sidelines of the state-organized China Development Forum this week in Beijing reinforced a more conciliatory stance than official rhetoric this month about how China is prepared to fight “any type of war” with the United States.



Chinese conference attendees weren’t that focused on what can be done to respond to U.S. tariffs, Stephen Roach, senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, told CNBC.



“The questions I’ve been getting more [are], why is Trump doing this? What is he trying to achieve? What does he think it takes to really make America great?” Roach said. He has attended the event since the early 2000s.



“My answer is this is an unprecedented period for America’s role in the world economy. We’re going back to a tariff regime that history tells us can be extremely destructive,” Roach said, adding he expects more policy uncertainty in the U.S. and around the world “for a long, long time.”



U.S. stocks have swung in recent weeks as investors try to assess the economic impact of Trump’s changing plans for tariffs on major U.S. trading partners. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week said tariffs could delay progress on lowering inflation in the U.S.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-message-of-reassurance"><a></a>A message of ‘reassurance’</h2>



At this week’s conference, China was trying to send a message of “reassurance” — on how it plans to boost consumption and how the country is headed in a “modestly positive direction” relative to what is happening in the U.S., said Scott Kennedy, senior advisor and trustee chair in Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.



If the U.S. imposes significantly large tariffs in early April, “then you go from managing costs and de-risking to possibly de-coupling,” Kennedy told CNBC. “And then that might mean the game is up. So I think the level of anxiety is pretty high. And that’s why China is trying to provide this message of reassurance.”



The Trump administration has threatened a swath of new tariffs on major trading partners starting early April. China has increased its trade with Southeast Asian countries and the European Union, but the U.S. remains Beijing’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis.



The China Development Forum ran Sunday and Monday. Apple CEO Tim Cook was among the executives who attended, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk was not.



“The increased optimism this year compared to last year at the CDF has been just so heart warming,” Ken Griffin, CEO of hedge fund Citadel, said during an official panel at the forum.



Trump “is committed to American companies having access to a global market,” Griffin said. “And the President is willing to use tariffs to seek to enforce this worldview.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-first-step-toward-xi-trump-meeting"><a></a>First step toward Xi-Trump meeting?</h2>



Also on Sunday, U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing — the first time a U.S. politician has visited China since Trump began his latest term in January.



“This was the first step to an important next step, which will be a meeting between President Xi and President Trump,” Daines told the Wall Street Journal. “When that occurs and where it occurs is to be determined.”



The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Li urged cooperation and said no one can gain from a trade war, according to state media.



FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, Boeing Senior Vice President Brendan Nelson, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Medtronic CEO Geoffrey Martha, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, UL Solutions CEO Jennifer Scanlon and U.S. China Business Council President Sean Stein were also present at Daines’ meeting with Li, according to a foreign media pool report.



China, the world’s second-largest economy, remains a significant source of revenue for many multinational corporations, not to mention a major part of their supply chains.



Despite its efforts to bolster international business ties, the country has warned of countermeasures on U.S. tariffs and taken incremental steps.



Following U.S. sanctions on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei during Trump’s first term as president, Beijing launched an unreliable entities list that restricts foreign business activity with China.



China added Calvin Klein parent PVH and a few other U.S. companies to the list after this year’s tariff increases. On Monday, China also said it would soon reveal new measures that would give it a legal basis for countering foreign pressure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-economic-factors"><a></a>Economic factors</h2>



For U.S. companies in China, the state of the economic recovery has also been an important factor for local business plans.



Since late September, China has stepped up efforts to support the economy. Top policymakers earlier this month affirmed stimulus plans and a recent effort to encourage private-sector tech entrepreneurs in the wake of DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence breakthroughs.



“This year, you feel a lot of positive momentum beginning in China. So I feel like recovery is underway,” Wendell P. Weeks, CEO of Corning, told CNBC.



However, China’s economy has struggled with deflationary pressure and a real estate slump, weighing on regional growth prospects for international businesses.



Even Beijing’s push to support high-tech manufacturing has so far only added an average 1.1 percentage points to gross domestic product growth in each of the last three years — not enough to offset the 1.7 percentage point drag from real estate during that time, according to Goldman Sachs estimates.



“We will remain optimistic because the role of technology is important, I think more than ever,” Qualcomm’s Amon told CNBC. “I think technology is going to be part of economic growth.”

108120681-1742877286599-gettyimages-2206472137-vcg111556724938

China invites U.S. business leaders to Beijing as it tries to decipher Trump’s trade plans

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/107077973-1655689250819-gettyimages-1402870855-vcg111387492036-1-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-544690" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/107077973-1655689250819-gettyimages-1402870855-vcg111387492036-1-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/107077973-1655689250819-gettyimages-1402870855-vcg111387492036-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/107077973-1655689250819-gettyimages-1402870855-vcg111387492036-1-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/107077973-1655689250819-gettyimages-1402870855-vcg111387492036-1-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/107077973-1655689250819-gettyimages-1402870855-vcg111387492036-1-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/107077973-1655689250819-gettyimages-1402870855-vcg111387492036-1.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">China’s central bank supplied 14-day cash to its banking system for the first time in months on Monday and at a lower interest rate, signaling its intent to further ease monetary conditions.
Jiang Qiming | China News Service | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



China kept its key lending rates unchanged on Thursday, as Beijing juggles propping up growth and stabilizing its currency amid mounting trade frictions.



The People’s Bank of China held the 1-year loan prime rate at 3.1% and the 5-year LPR at 3.6%, where they have been since a quarter-percentage-point cut in October.



The rate decision follows the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move to hold benchmark interest rates. Fed officials, however, indicated likely half a percentage point of rate cuts through 2025.



China’s LPRs — normally charged to banks’ best clients — are calculated monthly based on designated commercial lenders’ proposed rates submitted to the PBOC. The 1-year LPR influences corporate and most household loans in China, while the 5-year LPR serves as a benchmark for mortgage rates.



The PBOC has kept its 7-day rate, the country’s main policy rate, steady at 1.5% since a cut in October, as the central bank defends the yuan that faces downward pressure amid threats of higher tariffs.



“Policymakers recognize the country’s robust growth momentum while remaining cautious due to persistent pressures ahead,” said Bruce Pang, adjunct associate professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong, citing risks from trade tensions, Fed’s steady policy stance, and Chinese banks’ already-thin net interest margins.



China’s economy showed a modest pick up in the first two months of the year, with retail sales growing 4.0% from a year earlier, faster than the 3.7% rise in December. Industrial output also came in higher than expectations, expanding 5.9% on year.



Inflation data, however, underscored the need for more policy support for a sustainable economic recovery. Consumer price inflation in February fell into negative territory for the first time in over a year while producer price deflation persisted.



Beijing has made boosting domestic consumption a top policy priority this year to cushion the impact from an escalating trade war overseas.



“With the stronger call to support consumption, there is a growing chance that China will cut rates in the next meeting or so,” said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis. “If retail and home sales do not improve, especially if inflation stays weak, we may see a rate cut as early as April,” he added.



Following the rate announcement, the yuan was little changed, trading at 7.2280 against the greenback while yield on the 10-year government bonds fell more than 2 basis points to 1.932%.



Chinese offshore yuan has regained some ground in recent weeks after hitting a 16-month low in January. It has weakened nearly 1.8% since U.S. President Donald Trump’s election win in November.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-easing-ahead"><a></a>Easing ahead</h2>



China’s top officials have pledged to ramp up monetary easing measures this year, including interest rate cuts “at appropriate time,” as Beijing has set an ambitious growth target of “around 5%.”



Goldman Sachs economists in a note earlier this month maintained their forecast for two 20-basis-point cuts in the second and fourth quarter this year. The investment bank also expects two 50-basis-point cuts in the reserve requirement ratio, or RRR, which determines the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, in the first and third quarter.



Earlier this month, PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng reiterated that the bank wanted to maintain currency stability at “a reasonable and balanced level.” Preventing the yuan from weakening too quickly could be seen as a sign of goodwill in the lead up to any negotiation with Trump on a trade deal to put a ceiling on tariffs.



While the cuts are yet to materialize, analysts anticipate any policy measures by the PBOC are likely to hinge on Trump’s trade policy moves.



Trump has slapped new tariffs of 20% on Chinese imports and threatened more as early April. The fresh tariffs are seen straining China’s exports, a lone bright spot in the faltering economy.



Exports growth in the world’s second-largest economy slowed more than expected in January and February, while imports during the two months clocked their sharpest fall since July 2023.

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China’s central bank follows U.S. Fed in keeping rates steady as tariff threats pressure yuan

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="410" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108099964-1739192857747-gettyimages-1499178181-vcg111441609233-820x410.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-599301" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108099964-1739192857747-gettyimages-1499178181-vcg111441609233-820x410.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108099964-1739192857747-gettyimages-1499178181-vcg111441609233-300x150.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108099964-1739192857747-gettyimages-1499178181-vcg111441609233-160x80.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108099964-1739192857747-gettyimages-1499178181-vcg111441609233-768x384.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108099964-1739192857747-gettyimages-1499178181-vcg111441609233.jpeg 884w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Chinese national flag fluttering with the Lujiazui Financial District in the background. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



A rally in Chinese stocks since the start of the year is prompting investors to predict that mainland shares will outperform their American peers in a sign that attractive valuations are trumping the idea of American exceptionalism.



Last week, the S&amp;P 500 slipped into correction territory for the first time since 2023. In contrast, the MSCI China index has gained 19% since the start of the year, to Mar. 9, according to Goldman Sachs, marking its best start to a year in history.



The contrasting fortunes mark a swift turnaround from just a few months ago when many investors believed the U.S. was uniquely positioned to weather economic and political storms buffeting other countries. Chinese stocks were also languishing due to regulatory worries and concerns over the health of the Chinese economy.



A lot has changed since.



U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs policy has fanned speculation of an economic slowdown in the world’s largest economy.



Meanwhile, in China, optimism around the country’s artificial intelligence capabilities has intensified since the introduction of DeepSeek’s R1 model earlier this year.



“The U.S. has had a good period, and that’s coming to an end because Trump’s policies are very anti-economy. China has had a very bad period, but it looks as if it’s starting to recover,” Richard Harris, CEO of Port Shelter Investment Management, told CNBC.



“I call it the great pivot. Obviously, over the last 5 to 7 years, U.S. markets have been dominant. The Magnificent Seven have gone to the moon … [But] it seems difficult to see that there’s much more to go,” Harris said.



The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is also in correction territory, dragged by a selloff in Magnificent Seven shares, driven by recession concerns and trade war fears. The Magnificent Seven comprises Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.



“The U.S. stock market capitalization, relative to world stock market capitalization, made an all-time peak at the end of last year amidst the then prevailing talk of ‘American exceptionalism,’” said Chris Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies Hong Kong Global.



In the same vein, Eastspring Investments’ Asia equity portfolio specialist Ken Wong believes that the American exceptionalism trade ended earlier this year. Expected fiscal tightening and Trump’s tariff war are expected to slow U.S. economic growth to below 2% this year, Wong said, compared to consensus estimates of 2.2%.



The U.S. saw real GDP growth of 2.8% in 2024 compared to 2023. The U.S. debt and deficit situation became more severe during President Donald Trump’s first month in office, and since then, he has prioritized addressing the government’s fiscal issues.



Stagflation is a key risk in the U.S. as the tariff war could depress economic activity to the point of recession while simultaneously increasing inflation, Wong added.



That could mean the slump in U.S. equities may not be done.



“We see the selloff in U.S. equities as having further to go,” Deutsche Bank wrote in a note published over the weekend. “With trade policy uncertainty likely to continue to weigh, at least until April 2, we expect positioning to continue to unwind.”



“A move to the bottom of the positioning band which is where it went to in the last trade war, would take the S&amp;P 500 down to 5,250,” said the bank’s chief strategist Binky Chadha. That will mark a more than 7% slide from Monday’s close of 5,675.12.



On the other hand, China tech shares have been on a tear since DeepSeek’s breakthrough. The Chinese government has also actively signaled its support for its technology sector, with plans to increase funding in the cards. 



The Hang Seng Tech Index, which tracks some of the largest Chinese technology companies listed in Hong Kong, has risen over 30% since the start of the year, according to data from LSEG.



“Investors should be looking to sell rallies in the U.S. and buy corrections in Europe and China where there is the most evidence of improving fundamentals,” Wood told CNBC.



To be sure, the sheer pace of China’s rally could portend a correction soon, according to analysts at Bank of America.



“Performance of&nbsp;the&nbsp;HSCEI/MSCI China in the past 17mths trended closely to the trajectory a decade ago, making us worry that we might be approaching some correction&nbsp;soon,” analysts at the Bank of America wrote in a report published on Monday.



The bank’s analysts believe that there are “fundamental similarities” between the current cycle and 10 years ago in terms of the country’s policy stimulus and reforms, economic re-balancing and technological breakthrough.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-attractive-valuations"><a></a>Attractive valuations?</h2>



JPMorgan’s head of Asia Pacific equity research, James Sullivan,&nbsp;said valuations are extremely attractive relative to global counterparts in markets such as China, where investor positioning continues to be extremely low.&nbsp;



The MSCI China Index is currently trading at 13.38 times its projected one-year earnings, according to FactSet. This compares to the S&amp;P 500, which is trading at 20.72 times projected one-year earnings.



“I think China’s market is going to outperform the U.S. markets for the next four years, and I don’t think it has anything to do with Trump. I think it has everything to do with starting valuation,” said&nbsp;Michael Gayed, publisher of The Lead-Lag Report, attributing his bullish stance largely to a “tremendous underinvestment” in China.



“China has been not only from an investment standpoint, dead money, for a very long time, but it’s also become a source of anxiety and risk for financial advisors to even consider taking a contrarian bet for their own clients investing in China funds.”



Aside from cheaper valuations, other factors are also fueling the bullish momentum in Chinese markets. China’s A shares have been quite depressed for some time, while the U.S. has been on a tear for the last six years or so, Harris said.



“Of course, average valuations are going to show a difference like that,” he said.



“I’m not worried so much about valuation. It’s important, but it’s not the 100% factor. What is more important at the moment, is that there’s much more momentum in the Chinese market,” Harris said, adding that China’s government stimulus has trickled into the economy and markets.



In a report released last week, Citi Research upgraded China to overweight, while downgrading U.S. equities to neutral after being overweight since October 2023, expecting more negative data prints from the country’s economy.



However, Citi maintained that its neutral outlook is a three—to six-month view, emphasizing that the U.S. will remain one of the leaders of AI, even if jointly with China.



“In the bigger picture, we doubt that the AI bubble is already fully played out,” the investment bank’s strategists led by Dirk Willer wrote.

108099964-1739192857747-gettyimages-1499178181-vcg111441609233

China markets are set to outperform Wall Street as U.S. exceptionalism comes to a pause

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108117314-1742278295482-gettyimages-2198772571-_dsc2763-820x461.png" alt="" class="wp-image-598814" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108117314-1742278295482-gettyimages-2198772571-_dsc2763-820x461.png 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108117314-1742278295482-gettyimages-2198772571-_dsc2763-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108117314-1742278295482-gettyimages-2198772571-_dsc2763-160x90.png 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108117314-1742278295482-gettyimages-2198772571-_dsc2763-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108117314-1742278295482-gettyimages-2198772571-_dsc2763.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



The Wall Street adage to never bet against the U.S. consumer still holds true — to some degree. February’s retail sales, while lower than expected, still registered an increase. For the skeptics, that is like desperately squinting for a silver lining. It might very well be. But the dark clouds, in the form of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, are more ominous than usual.



Tariffs, after all, are a tax on imported goods that will likely be passed on to the consumer. That has weighed on consumer sentiment, as measured by surveys like those from the University of Michigan. Even U.S. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett acknowledged that Trump’s tariffs will cause some uncertainty.



The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has already lowered its growth outlook for the U.S. because of that. While the Trump administration is confident that stocks will recover their footing, strategists may also start revising downward their market forecast if the outlook does not clear up.

108117314-1742278295482-gettyimages-2198772571-_dsc2763

Markets rise for the second day as U.S. consumers continue spending

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3-1-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-597297" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3-1-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3-1-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3-1-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3-1-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3-1.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People walk along Waterloo Bridge past the City of London skyline, the capital’s financial district. U.K.-focused equity funds saw record outflows in 2022. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The U.K.’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% month-on-month in January, official figures showed on Friday.



Britain’s Office for National Statistics said the fall was mainly due to a contraction in the production sector.



Economists polled by Reuters had expected the country’s GDP to grow by 0.1%.



At 7:35 a.m. in London, shortly after the data release, the British pound was down by around 0.15% against the dollar to trade at $1.293. Sterling was flat against the euro.



Meanwhile, long-term government borrowing costs, which spiked to multi-decade highs earlier this year, rose. The yield on 20-year U.K. government bonds — known as gilts — added 2 basis points, while 30-year gilt yields were up by 4 basis points.



Services output picked up by 0.1% month-on-month in January, but marked a slowdown from the 0.4% hike of December. Production output dropped by 0.9% on the month, after recording a 0.5% rise in the previous month. Monthly construction output meanwhile fell by another 0.2% in January, after also shedding 0.2% in December.



The U.K. economy grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, beating expectations, ONS data showed last month. It flatlined in the third quarter.



The monthly GDP data has been checkered since then, with a 0.1% contraction in October, a 0.1% expansion in November and a 0.4% month-on-month expansion in December thanks, to growth in services and production.



Friday’s GDP release will be the last data print before the U.K. Treasury’s “Spring Statement” on March 26, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves presents an update on her plans for the British economy.



The statement is released alongside economic forecasts from the&nbsp;Office for Budget Responsibility, the U.K.’s independent economic and fiscal forecaster, which gives its assessment on the likely impact of the government’s tax and spending plans.



There have been concerns that the Treasury’s fiscal plans, which were laid out last fall and which will increase the tax burden on British businesses, could weigh on investment, jobs and growth. Reeves has defended the tax rises, saying they’re a one-off measure and necessary to boost investment in public services.



The Bank of England made its first interest rate cut of the year in February, signaling further cuts were to come as it halved the U.K.’s growth forecast for 2025 from 1.5% to 0.75%.



Markets are widely expecting the Bank of England to hold rates steady at 4.5% at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting next week, LSEG data showed on Friday.



The central bank said it would judge how to balance the need to boost growth with the inflationary risk posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. The U.K. has not been targeted so far.



This breaking news is being updated.

107174540-1672936825177-gettyimages-1245949857-Vuk_Valcic_City_of_London_skyline_020123_3 (1)

UK economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% in January

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-596826" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are a major concern among U.S. and international business leaders, with industry titans warning of trouble ahead.



Speaking at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore, Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio warned of “fighting” between countries over the duties.



“Tariffs are going to cause fighting between countries … I’m not necessarily talking about military. But think about U.S., Canada, Mexico, China &#8230; There will be fighting, and that will have consequences,” he said, speaking to CNBC’s Sara Eisen on Wednesday.



Trump’s 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel imports took effect Wednesday, with the EU, Australia and Canada among the regions and countries affected. U.S. markets have been in turmoil over the duties this week.



Dalio said the current environment is “an extension of the patterns of history” — giving 1930s Germany as an example.



There was a hike in tariffs to boost revenue and a buildup of the country’s domestic base as well as a writedown of debt at the time, Dalio said. “Be nationalistic, be protectionistic, be militaristic. That is the way these things operate,” Dalio said. “The issue is really the confrontation of all of this,” he said.



Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff described reciprocity between countries as “good” if they treat each other the same way. But he said the “what and the how” are “very important.” “If you can’t put the what and the how in a consistent, clear and meaningful way, then you could end up with high levels of volatility and conflict,” Benioff said, speaking at CONVERGE.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-european-reaction"><a></a>European reaction</h2>



Europe quickly retaliated to the steel and aluminum tariffs with its own counter-tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28.33 billion) worth of U.S. goods starting next month.



“Tariffs are taxes, they are bad for business and worse for consumers, they are disrupting supply chains, they bring uncertainty for the economy,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen&nbsp;told reporters during a press conference Wednesday.



Trump appeared unimpressed, stating that additional duties would be imposed on Europe if it goes ahead with the tariffs in April. “Whatever they charge us, we’re charging them,” Trump told reporters.



Former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday said he was concerned about the simmering trade war.



“I’m worried about this because I’m a free trader. I believe that if you maximize free trade, it isn’t a one country wins and the other country loses, it can be a win-win situation and it normally is,” Cameron said at COVERGE LIVE.



“I fear that Donald Trump’s view of the world is he sort of looks at a country and says if you’ve got a surplus in trade with me, you’re ripping me off. That’s not the case. If every country in the world had a surplus, who would have the deficit? Mars, Jupiter? So, I don’t think that view of the world is right,” he continued.



“But, and it is an important but, as ever with Donald Trump, at the heart of what he is saying there is a real and understandable concern,” Cameron added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Risk of recession</h2>



Alec Kersman, managing director and head of Asia-Pacific at Pimco, warned of an increased risk of recession because of the tariffs. There is a “maybe 35% probability” that the U.S. will enter a recession this year, Kersman told CNBC’s Martin Soong at CONVERGE LIVE, up from Pimco’s December 2024 estimate of 15%.



Despite that, Kersman said, Pimco’s base case scenario is that the U.S. economy will grow 1% to 1.5%, “quite a significant decrease” from its earlier projections.



Kersman advised market participants to be “more patient” in terms of rebalancing investments. “There’s a lot of noise in the markets right now, and you want to give it three to six months before you make that action,” he said. Tariffs will create “more distinct winners and losers,” and added, “The trend of globalization is is being redirected, and there are no more universal laws of how capital will behave.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Consumer spending</h2>



However, Kamal Bhatia, president and CEO of Principal Asset Management, said trade wars caused by tariffs could in fact mean that consumers spend more at home.



Most people will underestimate this potential increase in expenditure because of a focus on the “external effects” on gross domestic product, Bhatia said at CONVERGE LIVE. Countries could “go back to being insular,” he said, leading to patriotism and better-than-expected gross domestic product growth.



The potential for increased domestic expenditure was also brought up by Alibaba’s Chairman Joe Tsai. China’s domestic consumption “needs a boost,” thanks to “tariffs and geopolitics,” Tsai said at CONVERGE LIVE — the average effective U.S. duty on Chinese goods is set to reach 33%, according to Nomura estimates.



“Look at the Chinese consumer. They’re very, very healthy. Household balance sheet is very, very strong. You’re looking at over $20 trillion of bank deposits by households. So, they’re standing on the sidelines waiting to spend,” Tsai said.



Tsai said he is “glass half full” about Trump’s trade policy. “The Trump administration will want to have more American companies doing business in China,” he said. “Eventually, you know, the tariffs being a negotiating tool maybe, but at some point things will sort of get better,” he added.



CNBC’s Amala Balakrishner, Anniek Bao, Katrina Bishop, Holly Ellyatt and Sam Meredith contributed reporting.

108111007-17411428882025-03-05t024718z_970393539_rc2q6dapgzf5_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-congress

‘Volatility and conflict’: Business leaders sound warnings over Trump’s tariffs

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-596469" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Steel coils are pictured in the yards of the steelmaker Ternium plant. Daniel Becerril | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



The European Union has reacted swiftly to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that came into effect Wednesday, retaliating with their own punitive counter-measures that it said were needed to protect consumers and businesses.



The White House confirmed the duties — which will affect Canada, Australia, the EU and others — late Tuesday, but said that Trump no longer planned to raise tariffs on the metals from Canada to 50%.



The EU responded swiftly, saying it would impose counter-tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28.33 billion) worth of U.S. goods starting in April.



European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday told reporters that the EU “must act to protect businesses and consumers.”



“We deeply regret this measure [by the U.S.]. Tariffs are taxes, they are bad for business and worse for consumers, they are disrupting supply chains, they bring uncertainty for the economy, jobs are at stake, prices are up and nobody needs that, neither side needs that,” she said during a press conference.



Trade ties between the U.S. and EU “are the biggest in the world,” Von der Leyen said, and the relationship had brought “prosperity and security to millions of people” as well as job creation on both sides of the Atlantic, she noted.



The EU’s two-pronged approach will see previously suspended tariffs re-imposed on 8 billion euros of U.S. exports, and a slew of new countermeasures on 18 billion euros of goods in a move Von der Leyen had earlier described as “strong but proportionate.”



“We will always remain open to negotiation,” she added in a statement.



The EU said the tariffs will affect up to 26 billion euros (28.3 billion) worth of EU exports to the U.S. They&nbsp; apply to industrial-grade steel and aluminum, other steel and aluminum semi-finished and finished products, and also their derivative commercial products, such as machinery parts and knitting needles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rising-tensions"><a></a>Rising tensions</h2>



The tit for tat action marks the latest development in a simmering trade war that has been marked by bold promises of tariffs — and subsequent reversals and delays — by Trump.



The trade tensions have hit markets in recent days amid growing concerns that the duties could push the world’s biggest economy toward a recession.



Unlike Mexico, Canada and China, EU-origin products had not been hit by Trump’s tariffs until the steel and aluminum duties came into effect Wednesday.



Tensions between Washington and Brussels have been simmering since Trump’s inauguration in January, when the White House leader immediately signaled his intention to impose tariffs on the bloc.



“They’ve really taken advantage of us,” Trump said in a Cabinet meeting on Feb.26, adding: “They don’t accept our cars, they don’t accept, essentially, our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not. And we accept everything of them.”



One of Trump’s biggest bugbears is the U.S.′ trade deficits with a number of key trading partners, including Canada and the EU.



European Commission data show that the EU had a trade surplus of 155.8 billion euros ($159.6 billion) with the U.S. for goods in 2023, but ran a 104-billion-euros deficit on services. Overall, EU-U.S. trade in goods and services in 2023 was worth 1.6 trillion euros ($1.68 trillion), according the to EU.



Machinery and vehicles make up the largest chunk of EU exports to the U.S. by product group, followed by chemicals, other manufactured goods and medicinal and pharmaceutical products.&nbsp;



— CNBC’s Katrina Bishop and Amala Balakrishner contributed reporting to this story.

108100870-17393003382025-02-11t173028z_1368012250_rc2dscayok3b_rtrmadp_0_usa-trump-tariffs-mexico

We ‘must act’: Europe retaliates against Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="480" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/COY2BEOYYZNMNCJM4URY33M2AY.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-594609"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A logo of Alstom is seen at the Alstom&#8217;s plant in Semeac near Tarbes, France, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



RABAT, March 7 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;France will lend Morocco 781 million euros to finance the purchase of 18 high-speed trains made by Alstom&nbsp;ALSO.PA, the French embassy in Rabat said on Friday.



The trains are part of a plan to extend the high-speed rail network from Kenitra on the western coast to Marrakech before the 2030 World Cup that Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.



Alstom will supply Moroccan state-owned rail operator ONCF, with Avelia Horizon double-decker trains that can carry 640 passengers with a speed of 320 km/h, the embassy said in a statement.



ONCF also aims to expand its network to double the number of cities it serves to 43, or 87% of the Moroccan population, by 2040.



In February, ONCF said it will also buy 150 trains under concessional loans from Spain and South Korea as it expands urban, intercity and high-speed rail networks.



South Korea&#8217;s Hyundai Rotem&nbsp;064350.KS&nbsp;will supply 110 urban trains worth $1.5 billion, while Spain&#8217;s CAF will build 40 intercity trains for $813 million.



The deals include investments in the country&#8217;s nascent rail industry, ONCF said last month.



(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Marrakech Express upgrade – French loan to help Morocco buy 18 fast trains ahead of World Cup

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111301-1741188979477-gettyimages-2203436333-markets595936_cby69c3q-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-594202" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111301-1741188979477-gettyimages-2203436333-markets595936_cby69c3q-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111301-1741188979477-gettyimages-2203436333-markets595936_cby69c3q-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111301-1741188979477-gettyimages-2203436333-markets595936_cby69c3q-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111301-1741188979477-gettyimages-2203436333-markets595936_cby69c3q-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111301-1741188979477-gettyimages-2203436333-markets595936_cby69c3q-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108111301-1741188979477-gettyimages-2203436333-markets595936_cby69c3q-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Traders across the globe are monitoring updates to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy. Spencer Platt | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Government borrowing costs rose across the globe on Thursday, with German bonds resuming the sell-off that sparked the biggest daily jump in yields since the country’s reunification 35 years ago.



Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions, meaning that yields tick higher when the value of the asset declines.



Yields on German government bonds — known as bunds — skyrocketed on Wednesday, with the yield on the 10-year debt instruments adding around 30 basis points. The sell-off came after lawmakers from parties widely expected to form Germany’s next coalition government agreed to plans to reform historic debt policy rules to allow an increase in national defense spending.  



German government borrowing costs continued to rise on Thursday across the board. The yield on the 10-year bund, seen as a benchmark for the wider euro zone, was 7 basis points higher at 12:28 p.m. London time, paring earlier highs. The yields on 5- and 20-year bunds were up by 4 basis points and 6 basis points, respectively. Simultaneously, the DAX index — home to Germany’s biggest companies — touched on a record high.



Deutsche Bank Research Strategist Jim Reid said in a note to clients on Thursday morning that Germany’s political gear shift had helped fuel a greater appetite for riskier assets in Europe.



“In terms of reactions, the rise in the 10-year bund yield was the biggest daily jump since German reunification in 1990,” he said, noting that the euro and Germany’s DAX index had jumped in the wake of the news. “There’s no doubt that markets are pricing in a once-in-a-generation policy regime shift, which has brought about a huge risk-on move for European assets.”



“In terms of the drivers behind the sell-off, anticipation of a fiscal boost to demand was front and center as evidenced both by the outperformance of German stocks and the rise in inflation expectations,” analysts at RaboBank said in a note out on Thursday morning, pointing to 10-year euro zone inflation swaps jumping by 14 basis points in the wake of political news out of Germany.



Dampened appetite to lend to governments was seen across Europe on Thursday, with yields edging higher on bonds across the region.



The upward move in European borrowing costs also come ahead of the latest monetary policy update from the European Central Bank. Markets are anticipating a quarter-point rate cut when the central bank announces its decision later on Thursday, which would bring the euro zone’s core interest rate down to 2.5%.



Italian 10-year bond yields jumped 8 basis points by 12:29 p.m. in London, while French 10-year bond yields were up 7 basis points, and Swiss 10-year yields jumped by around 5 basis points during early afternoon trade.



The yield on U.K. 10-year government bonds – known as gilts – was up by around 6 basis points. Earlier this year, U.K. government borrowing costs hit multi-decade highs amid rising economic uncertainty.



Further afield, the bond sell-off extended into Japanese markets, with the yield on Japan’s 10-year government bonds gaining 7 basis points during Thursday trading hours.



Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at London’s Zaye Capital Markets, told CNBC that traders should monitor bond yields in Japan, some of which came near 16-year highs on Thursday.



“Watch Japan’s rising yields despite capped rates — [they] could signal broader market tension,” he said in emailed comments.



In the U.S., the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was last seen trading 4 basis points higher at around 4.311%.



Marc Ostwald, chief economist and global strategist at ADM Investor Services, told CNBC on Thursday that he saw two main drivers behind the global bonds sell-off.



“One is the fear that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/05/trump-tariffs-live-updates-china-says-its-ready-to-fight-any-type-of-war-us-wants-till-the-end.html">Trump’s tariff wars</a>&nbsp;will be inflationary,” he said in emailed comments.



He added that the ″‘whatever it takes’ 2.0″ approach to European defense of Friedrich Merz, who is likely to become Germany’s next chancellor, was also piling pressure on bond prices.



″[This], which along with EU commitment to ramp up defence spending by [around] 800 billion euros ($864 billion), implying a big increase in government borrowing, [comes] at a time where debt loads outside of Germany are at record levels, Ostwald said.



Ralf Preusser, global head of G10 rates and FX strategy at Bank of America Global Research, told by email on Thursday that markets were struggling with three areas of uncertainty globally: tariffs, geopolitics and U.S. fiscal policy.



“While the details of all of these matter, for now the uncertainty shock dominates, in a way the rates market is finding difficult to price,” he said. “The Fed may struggle to deliver quick cuts given inflation risks, Europe is no longer funding the U.S. fiscal expansion, but its own, [and] tariffs and geopolitics are still more damaging for the rest of the world than the U.S.”



In Europe specifically, Preusser said Germany’s new political footing was challenging Bank of America’s outlook.



“Germany is delivering a paradigm shift in its fiscal stance,” he said. “We believe 10y bund [yields] could reach 2.75% in response. This considerable departure from our base case is not the only challenge to our assumptions for 2025: the correction in U.S. equity markets and the rally in front-end U.S. rates suggest we may need to rethink the risks around our forecasts more broadly.”



Emmanouil Karimalis, rates strategist at UBS Investment Bank, also said that the market had “clearly” responded to Germany’s proposed fiscal reforms, as well as the EU’s ReArm Europe plan.



&nbsp;“These plans suggest a significant increase in issuance patterns due to the urgent need to boost defence spending in Europe,” he said in emailed comments on Thursday. “Consequently, investors demand higher premia to absorb the expected increase in supply. While there are also implications for growth and inflation, we believe that the fiscal news and supply considerations have dominated this week.”

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Global bonds sell off as investors react to Trump’s tariffs and a German ‘paradigm shift’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108097320-1738700553733-gettyimages-2195560127-_90a7946_arseoghy-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-593456" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108097320-1738700553733-gettyimages-2195560127-_90a7946_arseoghy-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108097320-1738700553733-gettyimages-2195560127-_90a7946_arseoghy-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108097320-1738700553733-gettyimages-2195560127-_90a7946_arseoghy-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108097320-1738700553733-gettyimages-2195560127-_90a7946_arseoghy-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108097320-1738700553733-gettyimages-2195560127-_90a7946_arseoghy-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108097320-1738700553733-gettyimages-2195560127-_90a7946_arseoghy.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">David Sacks, U.S. President Donald Trump’s “AI and Crypto Czar”, speaks to President Trump as he signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The Trump-tech alliance is showing its first real sign of distress. And it’s because of crypto.



President Donald Trump counted on crypto execs and investors for a hefty portion of his 2024 campaign funds. He promised to reward them handsomely if elected by slashing regulations and by turning the U.S. into “the crypto capital of the planet and the bitcoin superpower of the world.”



The president got off to a quick start, signing an executive order calling for the establishment of a working group on digital assets and pardoning Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. The SEC also dropped its years-long probe into Coinbase.



While those moves were lauded by the most vocal techies who backed Trump’s candidacy, over the weekend the president took it a step too far in their view. In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump announced the creation of a strategic crypto reserve for the U.S. that would include not just bitcoin but several other digital currencies — ether, XRP,  Solana’s SOL token and Cardano’s ADA.



For the most part, Trump’s crypto backers all wanted a strategic bitcoin reserve. Such a move would entail using cash to buy bitcoin, which is widely viewed by crypto enthusiasts as a smart way to deploy capital into a decentralized currency that’s an alternative to hard money. As Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote on X, bitcoin offers a “clear story as successor to gold.”



By going well beyond bitcoin, the critics say, Trump would be using U.S. taxpayer money to buy much riskier assets that have unproven value and have the potential to bolster the net worth of a select few investors who own the coins. That’s all the more problematic to those who want to axe government spending by trillions of dollars, in support of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting mission at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.



“Taxation is theft,” wrote Joe Lonsdale, founder of venture firm 8VC and a vocal Trump supporter, in a post on X. “It should be kept to a minimum. It’s wrong to steal my money for grift on the left; it’s also wrong to tax me for crypto bro schemes.”



David Sacks, the venture capitalist who was tapped by Trump to be the “White House AI and crypto czar,” took exception to Lonsdale’s comment, suggesting it’s premature to jump to any conclusions. Sacks and Lonsdale are part of the same conservative circle in the tech world, with Musk and Peter Thiel at the center.



“Nobody announced a tax or a spending program,” Sacks wrote, in response to Lonsdale’s post. “Maybe you should wait to find out what’s actually being proposed.”



The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.



But Lonsdale was far from alone.



Naval Ravikant, a longtime tech investor and early crypto evangelist, wrote after the announcement that, “The US taxpayer should not be exit liquidity for cryptocurrencies that are decentralized in name only.” And Vinny Lingham, creator of blockchain startup Civic and a big crypto influencer, wrote, “Call me old fashioned but I don’t think the government should be pumping our crypto bags with taxpayer money while we are running a near $2trn deficit.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-agreement-across-the-industry"><a></a>Agreement across the industry</h2>



A major Trump supporter and big name in crypto joined the chorus on Monday. Billionaire bitcoin investor Tyler Winklevoss, who wrote just before the November election that you should vote for Trump “if you care about the future of crypto, free speech, justice, liberty, and democracy,” came out against the president’s crypto reserve plan.



“I have nothing against XRP, SOL, or ADA but I do not think they are suitable for a Strategic Reserve,” Winklevoss wrote. “Only one digital asset in the world right now meets the bar and that digital asset is bitcoin.”



David Marcus, the former head of Facebook’s failed crypto project, suggested that the majority of his peers in the crypto community have the same view.



“Most—if not all—of the non-conflicted industry leaders are agreeing about this,” Marcus wrote, in reposting Winklevoss’ comment.



Marcus, who’s now CEO of payments infrastructure startup Lightspark, declared in July that he was “crossing the Rubicon” and shifting his support to Trump and away from Democrats.



Anthony Pompliano, a loud pro-Trump voice in crypto investing, committed over 1,500 words in his newsletter on Monday to the topic. He says Trump is willing to propose an agenda of buying risky tokens on behalf of the U.S. because the wrong people got to him.



“We watched crypto projects, lobbyists, and special interest groups co-opt the President of the United States,” Pompliano wrote. “They told the President that any crypto-related reserve should hold tokens that were ‘made in America.’ This pitch was the perfect trap for a President who ran on the America First agenda.”



Some of the wrath online was directed specifically at Sacks, who touted and backed various cryptocurrencies as a VC prior to joining the Trump administration, and whose firm, Craft Ventures, is an investor in crypto index fund manager Bitwise.



Sacks wrote in a post on X that he sold all of his crypto, including bitcoin, ether and SOL, before taking on his new role and “will provide an update at the end of the ethics process.”



By late afternoon Monday, crypto prices had staged a dramatic reversal from their weekend rally that followed Trump’s announcement. Bitcoin fell about 9%, while ether slid 15%. XRP and SOL dropped even more.



The slide appeared tied to President Trump’s confirmation of forthcoming tariffs, which hammered risky assets across the board and sent the Nasdaq down almost 3% at the close of trading.



There were some voices in crypto who were less willing to publicly slam Trump’s reserve plan.



Michael Saylor, the chairman of Strategy, which has effectively emerged as a bitcoin proxy due to its roughly $43 billion stash, told CNBC on Monday that he wasn’t surprised about Trump’s decision to include additional cryptocurrencies.



“There’s no way to interpret this other than this is bullish for bitcoin and bullish for the entire U.S. crypto industry,” Saylor said. “I believe the best thing for the country is to move forward with an enlightened progressive policy toward digital assets.”



Jonathan Jachym,&nbsp;global head of policy and government relations&nbsp;at Kraken, told CNBC that the crypto exchange is “encouraged to see that announcement” and that it shows the president is “staying true to commitments.”



Even among the skeptics, Trump doesn’t appear to be losing broader support for his agenda just because of this one announcement. Backers like Lonsdale have been quick to post about other matters, complimenting actions taken by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump for pressuring Mexican drug cartels.



But coming just six weeks into Trump’s second administration, the reaction shows how quickly the outrage machine can activate when a proposal touches the nerve of a critical group of supporters. The debate adds interest to Trump’s first White House Crypto Summit on Friday, when investors will eagerly be awaiting more details.



As Sacks wrote on March 2, in his first post about the announcement of the strategic reserve, “More to come at the Summit.”

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Pro-Trump techies enraged by president’s crypto reserve announcement, causing early rift

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="553" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108068402-17326458972024-11-26t182452z_1141394992_rc2vcba0jnfu_rtrmadp_0_mexico-usa-820x553.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-593453" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108068402-17326458972024-11-26t182452z_1141394992_rc2vcba0jnfu_rtrmadp_0_mexico-usa-820x553.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108068402-17326458972024-11-26t182452z_1141394992_rc2vcba0jnfu_rtrmadp_0_mexico-usa-300x202.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108068402-17326458972024-11-26t182452z_1141394992_rc2vcba0jnfu_rtrmadp_0_mexico-usa-133x90.jpeg 133w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108068402-17326458972024-11-26t182452z_1141394992_rc2vcba0jnfu_rtrmadp_0_mexico-usa-768x518.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108068402-17326458972024-11-26t182452z_1141394992_rc2vcba0jnfu_rtrmadp_0_mexico-usa-1536x1036.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/108068402-17326458972024-11-26t182452z_1141394992_rc2vcba0jnfu_rtrmadp_0_mexico-usa-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks after reading a letter to be sent to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, warning that tariffs would cause inflation and job losses in both countries, at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, November 26, 2024.  Presidencia De Mexico | Via Reuters</figcaption></figure>



President Donald Trump went forward with sweeping&nbsp;tariffs&nbsp;at midnight on goods imported from&nbsp;Canada&nbsp;and&nbsp;Mexico, while doubling down on punitive duties on China.



Just now Mexico’s president said retaliatory tariffs are coming Sunday.



Starting Tuesday, 25% tariffs on two U.S. neighbors — Canada and Mexico — went into effect. The president also imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports, doubling the 10% duty he had slapped on Beijing in early February.



Economists have warned that the president’s aggressive moves could cause negative consequences globally, including triggering inflation that could hurt consumers. The stock market suffered a dramatic sell-off after Trump’s announcement. The S&amp;P 500 dropped 1.8%, its worst day since December, falling into negative territory for the year. Futures were under pressure yet again Tuesday.

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Mexico president says retaliatory tariffs coming Sunday

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1080" height="604" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/4DD3KSJUWZJVRLWSLRI4HQBDVE.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-593025"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A logo of the World Food Program is seen at their headquarters after the WFP won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, in Rome, Italy October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, March 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The United Nations&#8217; World Food Programme, which gets much of its funding from the United States, is closing its southern African bureau, a&nbsp;communications officer&nbsp;said on Monday.



The&nbsp;WFP&#8217;s decision&nbsp;was communicated to staff around the world in an email on Friday from Global Executive Director Cindy McCain.&nbsp;The email said, &#8220;We have reached the difficult decision to close WFP&#8217;s regional bureau for southern Africa in Johannesburg,&#8221;according to Bloomberg News.



A WFP communications officer in Johannesburg told Reuters in a text message, &#8220;Yes the bureau is closing,&#8221; but did not respond to questions about why, or whether this was related to sweeping U.S. foreign aid cutsordered by President Donald Trump.



Southern Africa is still reeling from its worst drought in years, which caused countries including Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia to declare a national disaster.



WFP has been providing food and cash assistance to those affected and was aiming to reach more than 7.2 million people by this month, it said on its website.



(Reporting by Nellie Peyton in Johannesburg, Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich)

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International

Trump says reciprocal tariffs will target all countries

Stock futures slip as a jittery Wall Street awaits ‘Liberation Day’: Live updates

Trump says tariffs coming in April will ‘probably be more lenient than reciprocal’

Is Britain on the cusp of another multibillion-pound consumer finance scandal?

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‘Volatility and conflict’: Business leaders sound warnings over Trump’s tariffs

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Global bonds sell off as investors react to Trump’s tariffs and a German ‘paradigm shift’

Pro-Trump techies enraged by president’s crypto reserve announcement, causing early rift

Mexico president says retaliatory tariffs coming Sunday

UN’s food agency WFP closes southern African bureau

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