Trump tariffs: President vents at China over Boeing as Beijing denies claims of trade deal talks

A dozen states are suing the Trump administration over its “reckless” and “insane” tariff policies they say will hurt their states’ citizens.

Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes, who co-led the coalition of attorneys general in the lawsuit, said the case challenges four of the president’s executive orders that claim he has the power to increase tariffs without any action from congress.

“President Trump’s insane tariff scheme is not only economically reckless – it is illegal,” she said. “Arizona cannot afford President Trump’s massive tax increase. No matter what the White House claims, tariffs are a tax that will be passed on to Arizona consumers.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the president “does not have the power to raise taxes on a whim”.

“Donald Trump promised that he would lower prices and ease the cost of living, but these illegal tariffs will have the exact opposite effect on American families,” she said. “His tariffs are unlawful and if not stopped, they will lead to more inflation, unemployment, and economic damage.”

Donald Trump has threatened to reimpose higher tariffs on some countries within weeks, potentially re-escalating the global trade war.

Within hours of introducing so-called reciprocal tariffs as high as 50 percent on dozens of countries earlier this month, Trump said he would pause those duties for 90 days to allow time for negotiations.

But on Wednesday, the president said they could be reintroduced sooner.

“In the end, I think what’s going to happen is, we’re going to have a great deals, and by the way, if we don’t have a deal with a company or a country, we’re going to set the tariff,” Trump said in an Oval Office ceremony, reported by CNN.

“I’d say over the next couple of weeks, wouldn’t you say? I think so. Over the next two, three weeks. We’ll be setting the number.”

The president has yet again attacked the Federal Reserve chair, accusing him of keeping interest rates too high.

Donald Trump has repeatedly hit out at Jerome Powell and last week threatened to fire him soon, before walking those comments back on Tuesday.

Trump said he “might call him” during an Oval Office signing ceremony on Wednesday.

“I believe he’s making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, and I think, as well as we’re doing, we could do much better,” he said, according to CNN.

The Federal Reserve has not lowered interest rates this year, and Powell said in a speech last week that the central bank wanted to wait and see how the new aggressive trade policy affected the economy before moving rates again.

That angered Trump, who believes interest rates should be lower. He called Powell “Mr Too Late” after the European Central Bank lowered its interest rates last week.

A dozen states have sued the Trump administration over what their attorneys general claim are unlawful tariffs.

The office of the Connecticut Attorney General pointed out that studies found 95 per cent of the cost of Trump’s first-term tariffs were paid by Americans, and highlighted a recent study by Yale Budget Lab that found tariffs would increase costs by $4,900 a year for American households.

That research found US consumers face paying 87 percent more for shoes and 65 percent more for clothing in the short term because of the tariffs, which will also add $7,400 to the price of a new car.

Connecticut’s Attorney General William Tong said Donald Trump’s “lawless and chaotic” tariffs were a “massive tax” on families and a disaster for businesses and jobs.

“He is destroying our strong economy and robbing from working families to enrich his Mar-a-Lago billionaire cronies,” he said.

“The Constitution is clear-- Trump has no authority to wage this brainless trade war, and we are suing in the Court of International Trade to stop this.”

China’s Ministry of Commerce said there have been no trade talks with the U.S. yet, and any claims of progress were “groundless” and had “no factual basis”.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump told reporters the US and China were speaking “every day” about the tariffs, The Telegraph reports.

But China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong disputed that in a press conference on Thursday.

“As the competent department for foreign economic and trade relations, I would like to emphasise that there are currently no economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States,” he said.

“If the US truly wants to resolve the issue, it should heed rational voices from the international community and domestic stakeholders, completely abolish all unilateral tariffs on China, and find a solution through equal dialogue.”

Whether talks have started yet or not, there are several key reasons why China has reason to believe the U.S. will back down first.

Firstly, China can take more pain: partially because it isn’t a democracy and President Xi Jinping doesn’t have to worry as much about public sentiment, but also because its economy appears to be in better health going into the trade war.

Secondly, Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs allow Xi to position China as the stable, sensible alternative in global trade relationships, and China has already diversified its imports and exports away from overly relying on the U.S.

China also controls the lion’s share of global critical minerals, which are key components in everything from mobile phones and computers, to home appliances, vehicles, and military equipment.

Read the full run-down here

Donald Trump has threatened to lift tariffs on Canadian-made cars even higher.

Already, all cars imported to the U.S. face a 25 percent tariff, and before his “liberation day” of widespread tariff hikes Trump had already increase duties on all other Canadian goods to 25 percent.

On Wednesday, the president told reporters in the Oval Office that tariffs on Canadian cars could go even higher.

"When I put tariffs on Canada - they're paying 25 percent - but that could go up, in terms of cars," Trump said, according to Reuters.

"All we're doing is we're saying, 'We don't want your cars, in all due respect. We want, really, to make our own cars."

South Africa’s president has spoken with Donald Trump in a step towards a meeting after relations deteriorated earlier this year.

Cyril Ramaphosa said he spoke with Trump on the phone about the process towards peace in Ukraine, and the pair agreed the war should end “as soon as possible”.

“We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations,” he said on X.

“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries.”

Relations between South Africa and the U.S. fell apart after South Africa introduced new laws giving the government the power to take land from people without compensation in some cases.

Trump signed an executive order to cut all aid to the country for “rights violations” against Afrikaner farmers, and for taking a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice.

Trump’s condemnation of the country tracks closely with that of his close ally and adviser, South-African born billionaire Elon Musk, who has long criticized his homeland for its “openly racist policies”.

Donald Trump continued his attacks on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell yesterday.

“I believe he’s making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, and I think, as well as we’re doing, we could do much better,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

It is one of the milder hits from Trump, who has labelled Powell “Mr Too Late” and “a major loser” for not cutting interest rates in the central banks two meetings so far this year.

He has also threatened to fire the Federal Reserve chair, which spooked financial markets.

But on Tuesday, he backtracked, saying he had “no intention” of ousting the bank’s chair.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump had also directed aides to find ways to fire Powell, but that action was halted on the advice of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

They told the president that removing Powell would cause chaos in financial markets and raise legal issues, the Journal reported.