Introduction: Asia-Pacific markets shrug off new Trump tariff threats
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The TACO trade is back! Many Asia-Pacific stock markets are rising today, despite Donald Trump’s decision to ramp up his trade war by announcing new tariffs on 14 US trading partners.
There’s relief that Trump has announced a new pause before these new levies kick in – a new three-week reprieve kicks the can down the road to 1 August, rather than tomorrow.
This delay will give countries to negotiate trade deals with the US.
Asked if 1 August deadline was firm, Trump indicated it wasn’t exactly concrete, saying last night:
“I would say firm, but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”
That has encouraged traders to conclude that Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO).
So while there were losses on Wall Street last night after the first tariff letters were released, markets across Asia are taking the news in their stride.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 2225 has risen by 0.3%, up 118 points to 39,705 points, even though Japan has been threatened with a new 25% tariff from 1 August (slightly higher than the 24% rate announced back in April, before Trump’s 90-day pause which expires tomorrow).
South Korea’s KOSPI has gained nearly 2%, even though Seoul has also received a letter announcing a new 25% tariff.
China’s CSI300 index has climbed by 0.8%. European markets are expected to open flat.
More letters are expected to be sent later this week.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, says traders are pricing in “delay, maybe even dysfunction”, rather than a resolution of the trade war. But that’s enough to keep them bidding.
Innes writes:
Markets didn’t lurch because they’ve seen this show before. Tariff hike, rhetoric spikes, and then—like clockwork—comes the sudden pivot: “We’re still open to talks.” This is policy by poker tell. And by now, investors are familiar enough with the bluff to call it and fade the fear.
However…Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, fears there is too much “unexplained optimism”, adding:
The deadline extension is not good news, per se. It simply adds to the uncertainty. It’s yet another sign that the deadline won’t be a line in the sand, and that tariffs set in the coming days and weeks won’t be carved in stone, either.
They will be constantly changed — raised, lowered — and used as a go-to threat in every situation.
The agenda
-
9.30am BST: UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility to release its latest Fiscal risks and sustainability report
-
10am BST: Marks & Spencer chair Archie Norman to face business and trade committee to discuss M&S’s cyber attack
-
11am BST: Office for Budget Responsibility press conference
-
12pm BST: Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry to release Volume 1 of its Final Report
Key events
Bangladesh to hold further trade talks
Bangladesh will hold further negotiations with the United States to push for deeper tariff cuts, even as US President Donald Trump slapped a 35% levy on goods from the South Asian nation.
Officials are scheduled to hold crucial trade negotiations with the Trump administration from July 9-10 to seek a solution, Commerce Adviser to the interim government Sk. Bashir Uddin said in an interview from Washington.
“We will give and try our best to find mutually win-win proposition,” he said, adding that the goal is to find a “common ground,” Bloomberg reports.
Bangladesh will hold further negotiations with the United States to push for deeper tariff cuts, even as Trump slapped a 35% levy on goods from the South Asian nation https://t.co/Cg06ZRJebr
— Bloomberg (@business) July 8, 2025
German exports to US tumble as tariffs frontloading ends
German exports fell sharply in May, new data shows, as the surge in demand to beat Donald Trump’s tariffs earlier this year faded.
Exports to the US from Germany fell by 7.7% on monthly basis in May, statistics body Destatis reports. On an annual basis, German exports to the US were 13.8% lower than in May 2024.
Overall, German exports fell by 1.4% in May compared to the previous month, while imports dropped by 3.8%.
Exports to China fell by 2.9% month-on-month, but sales to the UK jumped by 15.1% compared with April.
Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, explains that the frontloading reversal continued in May, fully wiping out the surge seen in February and March, saying:
Today’s data suggest that the boost to exports was almost exclusively driven by US frontloading. However, this effect has now dissipated.
Looking ahead, German exports are still facing rough headwinds. While the EU did not receive a new tariff letter from the White House yesterday, the risk of (more) tariffs hangs like a sword of Damocles over German and European exporters. And there is more: the strengthening of the euro, not only vis-à-vis the US dollar but also in nominal effective terms, is adding to exporters’ concerns.
China warns Trump on tariffs, and threatens retaliation on supply chain deals
China has fired a warning shot at the US over the Trump trade wars.
An editorial in the People’s Daily newspaper warned Washington not to reignite trade tension by restoring tariffs on its goods next month (when the deadline for a US-China trade deal expires)
It declared:
“One conclusion is abundantly clear: dialogue and cooperation are the only correct path.”
Reiterating Beijing’s view that Trump’s tariffs amount to “bullying”, the paper added:
“Practice has proven that only by firmly upholding principled positions can one truly safeguard one’s legitimate rights and interests.”
The article was signed “Zhong Sheng”, or “Voice of China”, a term the paper uses to express views on foreign policy.
It also threatened retaliation against nations that strike deals with the United States to cut China out of supply chains.
Japan and South Korea to continue trade talks with the US
Japan and South Korea have both said they will continue talks with the US to agree trade deals.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said today that Japan would continue negotiations with the United States to seek a bilateral trade deal that benefits both countries.
Japan has received a proposal from the United States to continue trade discussions until the newly set August 1 deadline, Ishiba said in a meeting with cabinet ministers to discuss Japan’s strategy in dealing with U.S. tariffs.
South Korea said it planned to intensify trade talks with the United States and considered U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for a 25% tariff from August 1 as effectively extending a grace period on implementing the levies.
President Lee Jae Myung’s office said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had indicated the new deadline, which extends a previous July 9 date, meant there was still time to reach an agreement. Reuters reports.
South Korea’s Industry Ministry said Seoul would “step up negotiations during the remaining period to reach a mutually beneficial result,” adding”:
“We also plan to use it as an opportunity to improve domestic systems and regulations to resolve the trade deficit that is a major interest of the United States.”
Donald Trump’s new tariff rates
If you missed it last night, here are the new tariffs which Donald Trump announced in a flurry of letters to world leaders:
Reminder: These rates will be charged on imports into the US from these countries, and paid by the importer.
Introduction: Asia-Pacific markets shrug off new Trump tariff threats
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The TACO trade is back! Many Asia-Pacific stock markets are rising today, despite Donald Trump’s decision to ramp up his trade war by announcing new tariffs on 14 US trading partners.
There’s relief that Trump has announced a new pause before these new levies kick in – a new three-week reprieve kicks the can down the road to 1 August, rather than tomorrow.
This delay will give countries to negotiate trade deals with the US.
Asked if 1 August deadline was firm, Trump indicated it wasn’t exactly concrete, saying last night:
“I would say firm, but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say we’d like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”
That has encouraged traders to conclude that Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO).
So while there were losses on Wall Street last night after the first tariff letters were released, markets across Asia are taking the news in their stride.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 2225 has risen by 0.3%, up 118 points to 39,705 points, even though Japan has been threatened with a new 25% tariff from 1 August (slightly higher than the 24% rate announced back in April, before Trump’s 90-day pause which expires tomorrow).
South Korea’s KOSPI has gained nearly 2%, even though Seoul has also received a letter announcing a new 25% tariff.
China’s CSI300 index has climbed by 0.8%. European markets are expected to open flat.
More letters are expected to be sent later this week.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, says traders are pricing in “delay, maybe even dysfunction”, rather than a resolution of the trade war. But that’s enough to keep them bidding.
Innes writes:
Markets didn’t lurch because they’ve seen this show before. Tariff hike, rhetoric spikes, and then—like clockwork—comes the sudden pivot: “We’re still open to talks.” This is policy by poker tell. And by now, investors are familiar enough with the bluff to call it and fade the fear.
However…Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, fears there is too much “unexplained optimism”, adding:
The deadline extension is not good news, per se. It simply adds to the uncertainty. It’s yet another sign that the deadline won’t be a line in the sand, and that tariffs set in the coming days and weeks won’t be carved in stone, either.
They will be constantly changed — raised, lowered — and used as a go-to threat in every situation.
The agenda
-
9.30am BST: UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility to release its latest Fiscal risks and sustainability report
-
10am BST: Marks & Spencer chair Archie Norman to face business and trade committee to discuss M&S’s cyber attack
-
11am BST: Office for Budget Responsibility press conference
-
12pm BST: Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry to release Volume 1 of its Final Report
