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    Lesotho, a Small African Nation, Expects a Big Hit From Trump’s Tariffs

    The amount of manufactured goods exported from Africa to the United States is minuscule. But for Lesotho, the impact of a stunning 50 percent tariff is enormous.The nation that the Trump administration slapped with the heftiest tariff this week is a small, rural, landlocked country in southern Africa that is among the world’s poorest.Lesotho, which makes denim that goes into American-branded jeans, was hit with a 50 percent tariff. It was among several lower-income countries on the continent that were shocked by levies high above the minimum 10 percent imposed on nearly all of America’s trading partners. Madagascar, where three-quarters of the population lives in poverty, now will be met with a 47 percent tariff when its apparel, vanilla and other exports enter the United States.Products from Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Libya and Mauritius all now have tariffs above 30 percent, as does South Africa, which has come under particular attack by the Trump administration.Mr. Trump has justified the across-the-board tariffs by declaring that the world trading system has played the United States for a chump who picked up the tab for the world’s moochers.But Lesotho is hardly a big player in global trade: It imported less than $3 million in goods from the United States and exported $240 million there last year.The tariffs come as much of the African continent is already reeling. Just weeks ago, the Trump administration ended billions of dollars in aid to Africa that undergirded many countries’ health care systems and disaster relief efforts.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    7 Americans Weigh In on Trump’s Sweeping Tariffs

    President Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs this week on dozens of countries, with some of the steepest tariffs levied on some of America’s biggest trading partners. The move, arguably the most far-reaching of his second term so far, sent stocks into a nosedive and substantially raised the prospect of a recession.Voters were bracing for the effects in their own lives, but some said they were, for now, waiting and watching to see how all of this plays out.— More

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    Republicans Like to Cut Taxes. With Tariffs, Trump Is Raising Them.

    President Trump’s tariffs are scrambling the Republican plan for the economy, long centered on tax cuts and growth.The Republican Party embarked this week on a haphazard experiment in economic policymaking, wagering that the United States can weather a monumental tax increase in the form of broad tariffs on imported goods as long as Congress also cuts taxes on income.It’s a mash-up that many investors, economists and even some G.O.P. lawmakers expect to be a failure.“I always think that with gambling, at least you have a chance of winning. This is worse than that,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a conservative economist who worked for former President George W. Bush, said. “This is betting with the mafia. You’re going to lose.”President Trump’s plan to charge at least a 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports into the United States — along with much higher rates on goods from many countries — is the culmination of his quest to force companies to manufacture domestically, even if it comes at the expense of a relatively strong economy. Because tariffs are a type of taxation, Mr. Trump’s plan is among the largest tax increases in decades, analysts say, a policy change that sent the stock market reeling, paralyzed corporate investment and shoved the economy closer to a recession.At the same time, Republicans on Capitol Hill are plowing forward with legislation that would lock in lower taxes for American individuals and companies. There’s diminishing hope among Republicans that those cuts can make up for drag created by the tariffs. Some of Mr. Trump’s allies and tax cut enthusiasts, like Stephen Moore, his former economic adviser, have been begging the president for “more tax cuts and less tariffs, please.”Of course, Mr. Trump and the White House argue that tariffs are not taxes on Americans, but rather on foreign companies that will have to lower their prices to maintain access to the U.S. market. Mainstream economists have consistently found that tariffs raise prices for American consumers and companies, including domestic manufacturers who import materials to turn into final products.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump Is Defiant as Tariff Moves Roil Markets a Second Day

    Two days after President Trump announced his expansive global tariffs, the United States confronted wide-ranging and painful blowback, as China retaliated against American goods and markets plummeted again on worries of a persistent, damaging trade war.No portion of the global economy appeared unscathed as the world braced for Mr. Trump to begin imposing his nearly across-the-board taxes on imports Saturday, marking the first salvo in a potentially costly trade conflict that the president has vigorously defended.China, which Mr. Trump has already hit with 20 percent tariffs, announced plans to retaliate. Beijing promised to impose a 34 percent tariff on American goods next week, including on agricultural products. China calibrated its tariffs to match Mr. Trump’s decision to add a 34 percent tax to Chinese imports.The tit-for-tat delivered a huge blow to financial markets, as Wall Street reckoned with the rising odds of an escalating global trade standoff. By the closing bell, the S&P 500 had fallen by almost 6 percent, pulling it closer into a bear market, a widely used Wall Street term for a decline of at least 20 percent from its peak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 5.8 percent, pushing it into bear market territory.As China took aim at the United States, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organization, warned on Friday against a “cycle of retaliatory measures that lead to further declines in trade.” In the United States, Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, struck his own downbeat note over the unpredictable trajectory of the economy.“While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected,” Mr. Powell said. “The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump to extend deadline for TikTok deal in the US

    Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldDonald Trump said he would sign an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to divest the popular video-sharing app’s US business and avoid a nationwide ban in America.The US president said on his Truth Social platform on Friday he would push back the deadline, which had been Saturday, by 75 days, adding the extension was designed to allow American companies trying to acquire TikTok more time to finalise a deal.“The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump wrote.Under a law passed by Congress last year, ByteDance had until January 19 to divest TikTok to non-Chinese entities, but that month Trump issued an order extending the deadline by 90 days. His latest order extends the deadline by another 75 days.The White House was this week close to establishing the parameters of a deal with US investors, although it would have needed more time to be fully executed, and approval from Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter.However, the process was derailed by Trump’s tariffs announcement, the people said. China would now seek to negotiate on tariffs before granting any approval, one of the people said. It is unclear if Beijing engaged in talks over the deal.A ByteDance spokesperson said in a statement: “ByteDance has been in discussion with the US government regarding a potential solution for TikTok US. An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.”Trump said he hoped to “continue working in Good Faith with China”, which he added was unhappy with duties he imposed on imports of Chinese goods on Wednesday as part of his “reciprocal tariffs”. China on Friday retaliated with a 34 per cent tariff on imports from the US. It is also unclear if Beijing will allow a divestment or let a US group secure control of the app’s algorithm.“We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark’,” Trump added. “We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.”Trump suggested earlier this week he could reduce tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing allowing ByteDance to divest TikTok. The president has been forced to balance the security concerns that are core to the US TikTok legislation — which have long been raised by China hawks in Congress — and the huge support for the video-sharing app among younger users and his own success on the platform.TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Alison Szalwinski, vice-president at The Asia Group, a consultancy, said any extension to the deadline would likely concern companies that offer cloud and app store services to TikTok, such as Apple, Google and Oracle for legal reasons. Without a sale of TikTok, companies that distribute or host the app risk a fine of $5,000 per user, according to the legislation. “Companies are going to continue to be quite anxious,” Szalwinski said.The White House has been weighing a proposal to spin off TikTok from ByteDance that would create a new US company that would receive fresh American investment to dilute the ownership stakes of Chinese investors, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times earlier this week.Under the terms of the proposal, a group of new investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Blackstone, Silver Lake and other big private capital groups would own about half of TikTok’s US business, the people said.These people added large existing investors in TikTok — including General Atlantic, Susquehanna, KKR and Coatue — would hold 30 per cent of the new US business.ByteDance would retain a stake at just below 20 per cent, which would satisfy a requirement in the TikTok legislation that no more than a fifth of the company be controlled by a “foreign adversary”.One crucial issue is who would control TikTok’s sought-after algorithm. One option under discussion involves ByteDance continuing to develop and operate the algorithm, which has been a central demand of China’s government, while the new US group could access it through a licensing agreement.But that could spark concern on Capitol Hill where many lawmakers insist China does not have control over the algorithm.The Republican lawmakers on the House China committee, which was instrumental in passing the TikTok legislation, on Friday said any deal must ensure that US law is followed, and that the Chinese Communist party “does not have access to American user data”. More

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    Cruz says Republicans face midterms ‘bloodbath’ if tariffs trigger recession

    Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldRepublican senator Ted Cruz warned of a potential “bloodbath” for his party in the 2026 midterm elections if Donald Trump’s tariffs send the US economy into recession.The senator from Texas also predicted a “terrible” fate for the world’s largest economy should a full-blown trade war erupt and Trump’s tariffs, as well as any retaliatory measures on US goods, stay in place long-term.Typically a Trump ally, Cruz’s comments on his Verdict podcast on Friday were the starkest warning from a member of the president’s party since his “liberation day” levies kicked off the global market rout. Republican lawmakers have begun to worry about the effects of Trump’s tariffs on the economy and their party’s prospects for keeping control of both chambers of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. Their concerns grew as Americans watched about $5.4tn of stock market capitalisation evaporate over a two-day Wall Street rout.On Thursday, Republican Chuck Grassley introduced a bill in the Senate, alongside a Democrat, to reassert Congressional control of tariff policy. Under the proposed law, new levies would expire in 60 days unless approved by Congress, and there would be a mechanism for lawmakers to cancel tariffs at any point.Support for the bill grew on Friday as Republican senators Lisa Murkowski, Mitch McConnell, Jerry Moran and Thom Tillis signed on as co-sponsors. The bill is likely more symbolic than anything, but points to increasing discord within the Republican party as lawmakers worry about the effects of the trade policy on constituencies reliant on exports — and on re-election hopes.There were already signs of voter discontent this week, when an Elon Musk-backed conservative lost a state supreme court seat in Wisconsin to the liberal candidate. Republicans also underperformed their 2024 results in two special House elections in Florida.If Trump’s and any retaliatory tariffs remain in place long-term and push the US into “a recession, particularly a bad recession, 2026 in all likelihood politically would be a bloodbath. You would face a Democrat House, and you might even face a Democrat Senate,” Cruz said.Despite the 53-47 Republican majority in the Senate, “if we’re in the middle of a recession and people are hurting badly, they punish the party in power”, Cruz said.The Canada-born Texan did not share the president’s assessment that the tariffs would usher in “a booming economy”. Instead, Cruz said there could be “an enormous economic boom” only if the US and any retaliating countries slash their duty rates.But if “every other country on earth” hits the US with retaliatory tariffs and Trump’s so-called reciprocal levies remain in place, “that is a terrible outcome”, the senator warned.If the confrontation between the US and its trading partners escalates into a full-blown trade war, “it would destroy jobs here at home, and do real damage to the US economy”, Cruz said. It would also “have a powerful upward impact on inflation”. More

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    Ted Cruz and Other Senate Republicans Question Trump’s Tariffs

    Some Republican senators on Capitol Hill, including one of President Trump’s most ardent supporters, have signaled their uneasiness to the sweeping global tariffs that the president announced this week and that sent global markets reeling.Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, warned on Friday that a future where other countries slap retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, as China has already done, was a “very real possibility” and would be a “terrible outcome” for the country.“It’s terrible for America,” Mr. Cruz said on the latest episode of his podcast. “It would destroy jobs here at home and do real damage to the U.S. economy if we had tariffs everywhere.”Mr. Cruz also said that a trade war would likely push inflation up and burden consumers with higher costs.“I love President Trump. I’m his strongest supporter in the Senate,” Mr. Cruz said. “But here’s one thing to understand: A tariff is a tax, and it is a tax principally on American consumers.”Mr. Cruz’s comments came just two days after the Senate, in a largely symbolic move, voted to halt planned 25 percent levies on Canada. However, the bill is almost certain to die in the House — and even if it does not, Mr. Trump would be unlikely to sign it.Mr. Cruz was not among the Republican senators who joined all Democrats in pushing the bill through. They were Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, and Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, both of Kentucky.On Thursday, another top Republican senator — Chuck Grassley of Iowa — teamed up with a Democrat to introduce a bill aiming to reclaim congressional authority over the implementation of tariffs.The bill, which Mr. Grassley co-sponsored with Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, would require the president to give Congress 48 hours notice of any new tariffs. Congress would then have to approve those tariffs within 60 days, or they would expire. Mr. Cruz was not a co-sponsor. More

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    Companies pause US IPO plans as Trump tariffs tank markets

    Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A number of upcoming US initial public offerings, including $15bn fintech Klarna and $50bn medtech company Medline, have been postponed as Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs roil global financial markets.“Buy now, pay later” company Klarna, private equity-backed surgical products company Medline and ticket company StubHub intended to go public but those plans have been put on hold because of market turbulence, said people familiar with the matter. All the companies had confidentially filed plans to list shares in recent months. Once a company publicly files their IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission, they put themselves on a footing to launch an investor roadshow after 15 days. Klarna was planning to start the investor roadshow for its $15bn listing next week, while Medline, which is backed by Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman, planned to file publicly earlier this week, aiming at a near-$50bn valuation, but both listings have been delayed indefinitely.Ticketing company StubHub and virtual physical therapy company Hinge Health publicly filed their paperwork last month and were planning to start their investor roadshows early in April, but were now holding off before starting talks with potential investors, people said. The companies were under no obligation to float within a specific timeframe and the listing could still happen in the weeks ahead, the people added. Bloomberg late on Friday reported Israel-based trading platform eToro had also paused plans for a US public offering that it filed paperwork to pursue last month. The US IPO market had begun to show some signs of life in recent weeks following a three-year dry spell induced by higher interest rates, with data centre operator CoreWeave earlier this month tabling the biggest tech offering since Arm Holdings in 2023.But market volatility unleashed by Trump’s tariffs has knocked equity markets and forced many companies that were hoping to go public to hold off. That marks a stark turnaround from the start of the year, when many bankers had said they expected the IPO market to boom under an ostensibly pro-business Republican administration.Global markets have plunged since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US trade partners this week. The losses were extended on Friday as China announced retaliatory measures and investors took fright at the prospect of a full-blown global trade war.The S&P 500 ended Friday’s session down 6 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 5.8 per cent.Klarna declined to comment. Medline, Hinge Health and StubHub did not immediately respond to request comments. More