Trump faces backlash from business after launching trade war – Go Health Pro

Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. Markets are set for turmoil today after Donald Trump launched a global trade war over the weekend. Much more on that below, plus:

• India readies for a blockbuster IPO year

• US secretary of state visits Panama amid canal tensions

• The secretive world of sober coaches

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Donald Trump faced a backlash from business groups and some in his own Republican party after kicking off a trade war against three of the US’s largest trading partners.

Trade associations representing consumer goods, oil, groceries and automakers lined up to warn that Trump’s new tariffs — which included 10 per cent tariffs on imports from China, 25 per cent on all imports from Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10 per cent levy for Canadian energy — would push up prices for ordinary Americans and cause chaos in supply chains. 

“The president is right to focus on major problems like our broken border and the scourge of fentanyl, but the imposition of tariffs . . . won’t solve these problems, and will only raise prices for American families,” said John Murphy, senior vice-president of the US Chamber of Commerce, the US’s largest business group. 

Kim Clausing, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute, said the tariffs would represent “the largest tax increase since the 1990s”.

“We’re used to having frictionless trade in North America,” Clausing said. “So going from free trade to 25 per cent is really pretty dramatic and I think it’s going to lead to a huge shock to the US economy.”

The aggressive new trade measures were also criticised by US lawmakers across the political spectrum. Read more about the fallout from Trump’s tariffs.

These stories will help you understand the potential economic damage from the trade war:

• Explainer: Trump’s trade war sets the stage for economic warfare that will shake markets and industries. These areas will probably be hit the hardest.

• Trade war ‘on steroids’: The magnitude of Trump’s first steps — if fully implemented — appeared far greater than the more limited trade wars during his first term in office.

• China’s response: Beijing has hit out at new 10 per cent tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese exports, saying it will “take necessary countermeasures to defend its rights and interests”.

• The view from Europe: The EU said it would respond firmly if Trump’s threat to expand the trade measures to Europe were fulfilled. “There is a lot at stake,” a spokesperson for the EU’s executive said.

• Canadian anger: A wave of exasperation and economic nationalism has swept across a country famous for its politeness.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: January manufacturing PMI by S&P Global is due for China, India and Japan. Hong Kong reports advance GDP for the fourth-quarter.

• Results: Central Japan Railway, East Japan Railway and Mizuho Financial Group report earnings.

Five more top stories

1. India is gearing up for a torrent of mega listings this year that could propel the value of initial public offerings beyond 2024’s blockbuster performance, even as the country’s economy weakens. At least seven companies are preparing to raise at least $1bn each this year, according to investment bankers working on the listings.

• India budget unveiled: Narendra Modi’s government announced tax breaks for the middle classes alongside measures aimed at reinvigorating the world’s fifth-biggest economy.

• Have questions about the budget? Send them to us and we’ll answer them in a special weekend edition of the newsletter. Hit reply or email firstft@ft.com

2. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino to reduce China’s influence over the Panama Canal or face immediate consequences. Mulino has described a previous Trump claim that Chinese soldiers were operating the canal as “nonsense” and has insisted the waterway “is and always will be Panama’s”. Here’s what happened during their meeting yesterday in Panama City.

3. The future of the main US agency for foreign aid is in doubt after its website went dark, two top security officials were put on leave and Trump ally Elon Musk labelled it “a criminal organisation” that should “die”. Here’s what we know about a series of ominous developments at the US Agency for International Development.

4. EU governments are exploring ways to include the UK and Norway in a “coalition of the willing” dedicated to expanding the continent’s defences, while circumventing militarily neutral and Russia-friendly capitals. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte will join EU leaders in Brussels today to deliberate how to share the vast costs of rearmament.

5. Global demand for oil will not fall until at least 2040, according to a new forecast by the world’s largest independent energy trader, in the latest signal that economies will struggle to break their dependence on petroleum.

News in-depth

When Xu Zaoxia moved to Shanghai from southern China in the early 2000s to work in a hospital, she was struck by the poor living conditions of her fellow migrants, the workers powering the country’s economic transformation. The experience inspired her company Anxin, which provides dormitory homes for an estimated 150,000 migrants across China. Xu’s business is an example of how China’s vast property market still offers pockets of growth even as a nationwide slowdown enters its fourth year.

We’re also reading . . . 

• US-China tech war: DeepSeek’s success dismantles the barriers that have been created in the AI race between the two countries, writes Jennifer Zhu Scott.

• Israel-Hamas war: Will Benjamin Netanyahu really end the war in Gaza? The day of reckoning may be near as the Israeli leader prepares to meet Trump this week.

• Covid lab leak theory: The CIA’s claim that the Covid-19 virus probably emerged from a Chinese laboratory leak has revived a battle over the pandemic’s origins.

Chart of the day

India aims to mirror the success of Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX by turning to the private sector to build rockets and satellites, according to the head of a government space agency.

Take a break from the news . . . 

This fascinating FT Magazine profile of Tony Dominguez, a sober coach for the rich and famous, dives into the secretive world of recovery and the idea that you can buy your way out of crippling addiction.