TikTok is restoring services in the US after Donald Trump pledged over the weekend to give the video app a reprieve on its US ban.When asked about this, China’s foreign ministry told a regular news briefing that it believed companies should “decide independently” about their operations and deals, Reuters reported.Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said:
TikTok has operated in the US for many years and is deeply loved by American users. We hope that the US can earnestly listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for firms operating there.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that after taking office on Monday he would sign an executive order allowing the Chinese-owned video app additional time to find a buyer before facing a total shutdown, and proposing that the US or an American firm take a 50% ownership stake.Chris Turner, ING’s global head of markets, has looked at potential US tariffs.
The big day has finally arrived. Financial markets are on tenterhooks to see what executive orders newly elected US President Donald Trump will enact on his first day. There’s a lot of focus on immigration controls and declaring a national energy emergency to allow more US oil and gas production. Currency markets are most interested in what he has to say about tariffs and what kind of pain the Oval Office plans to inflict on major trade partners. At last week’s nomination hearings, incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that tariffs would be needed to address unfair trade practices, support government revenue, and to be used as a negotiating tool.
In terms of what is currently priced for tariffs by financial markets, we find the online prediction websites quite useful, such as Polymarket and Kalshi. Polymarket is running a book on which countries will receive US tariffs in Trump’s first week. China is priced at 56%, Mexico at 54%, Canada at 45% and the European Union at just 7%. There is also the case – using Scott Bessent’s remarks about tariffs as negotiating tools – that the new administration goes in on tariffs hard at the outset. That is why after a near 10% rally from late September, the dollar today is less than one percent off its recent high.
Of course, there will be the risk of a correction in the dollar should it look like Trump will be more selective on tariffs after all – but that should probably come at a later stage.
Thursday could also be an important day for markets this week, when Trump is due to have a digital dialogue with leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Victoria Hasler, head of fund research at Hargreaves Lansdown, has looked at what Trump’s second presidency could mean for markets:
A new year, a new president. The lead up to Trump’s presidency has been noisy and, at times, divisive. Markets hate uncertainty though, and the simple fact of having the new president settled in the White House may prove to be a good thing for markets. Over the
