Trump tariffs live: stock markets roiled by global trade war fears as Canada, Mexico and China retaliate 

​There has been much analysis on China’s rather muted response to Trump’s tariff threats both in the lead in to and aftermath of Saturday’s announcement. Some have put it down to the weakness of China’s domestic economy and it’s eagerness to get to the negotiating table and ward off Trump’s earlier election campaign threats of 60% tariffs.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that China’s initial proposal to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump’s administration will centre on restoring the “phase one” trade deal signed in 2020 during Trump’s first term.
As part of its effort to prepare for negotiations … China’s initial proposal will center on restoring a trade agreement Beijing signed in early 2020 with the first Trump administration but didn’t implement.
The so-called Phase One deal required China to increase purchases of American goods and services by $200bn over a two-year period. While Trump himself has described Phase One as the “greatest deal” ever made, many trade experts and business executives called it unrealistic to begin with.
Having failed to deliver on its pledge under the deal to increase US purchases, Beijing now is preparing to talk to the Trump administration about areas where China can buy more from the US, the people said.
Bloomberg, meanwhile, reports that with Trump’s levies set to take effect just after midnight on Tuesday, Xi has a range of tools to respond beyond reciprocal tariffs. Options include export controls on critical minerals and market access restrictions to some American firms, according to Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis SA. A series of laws passed since Trump’s first term give China greater sway over domestic business deals in the name of national security.Even so, the situation is also more complicated for China compared with the first trade war, both at home and abroad.
Bloomberg Economics estimates Trump’s initial levy could knock out 40% of Chinese goods exports to the US, jeopardizing 0.9% of China’s gross domestic product. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the additional 10% tariff would weigh on real GDP growth by 50 basis points this year, though it noted that Trump’s action “is less severe than market participants and Chinese policymakers feared.”
“If Chinese policymakers were indeed preparing for worse, then they are likely to react in a restrained manner for the time being and to adjust course later if needed,” Goldman Sachs economists said in a note on Monday.Bloomberg has characterised the rapid escalation in trade tensions as “the most extensive act of protectionism taken by a US president in almost a century, given its knock-on effect on everything from inflation to geopolitics and economic growth.”“He seems to be like a poker player who’s betting his whole stash on the first hand,” Steven Englander, global head of G-10 FX research at Standard Chartered plc, told Bloomberg on Monday. “The market just wasn’t prepared for