Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. We’ve woken up to news that the UK will, for now, be spared the 50% steel and aluminium tariffs on shipments to the US which come into effect today. In a statement, Donald Trump, said he had decided to “provide different treatment” to the UK after a trade agreement was struck between Washington and London last month. Meanwhile, US levies on steel and aluminium imports from other countries are doubling to 50%. Levies will remain at 25% for imports from Britain but the higher 50% rate could kick in from 9 July if the administration “determines that the United Kingdom has not complied with relevant aspects” of the deal. The ongoing uncertainty is not good for businesses, said Rowan Crozier, chief executive of the Birmingham-based Brandauer, a metal pressing and stamping specialist that produces millions of parts that are sent around the world. It’s good news because we’re not seeing the same import tariffs as all our competition all over the globe. However, the more damaging element of it is the uncertainty created. And that’s one thing that the Trump administration continues to do, is to create confusion with the hope of getting a deal. I think the government have done well to keep us out of it for now, but there’s a definite deadline that they’ve got to work to now to take away this uncertainty and get those tariffs to zero. Asian stocks have risen, with South Korea’s Kospi rallying by 2.5% as the election victory of the liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung raised hopes of swift economic stimulus. Japan’s Nikkei added nearly 1% while the Taiwanese stock market jumped by 2.3% after technology stocks were boosted by US artificial intelligence giant Nvidia. It overtook Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company again yesterday, when its shares rose by 3%. Stock futures are pointing to a modestly higher open in European markets. Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore, told Reuters: Markets may be desensitised to trade headlines but Trump-Xi talks remain in focus. A grand deal looks unlikely, yet any escalation could still spark a bout of risk aversion. The Agenda 9am BST: Eurozone Services and composite PMIs final for May 9.30am BST: UK Services and composite PMIs final for May 2.45pm BST: Bank of Canada interest rate decision 3pm BST: US ISM Services PMI
Author: Julia Kollewe