Tariffs live: Global markets brace as US confirms China to be hit with 104% levies overnight

Asian markets appear to be making rebounds after a gut-wrenching few days for investors following US president Donald Trump’s tariffs on dozens of nations.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded strongly to rise 6.41 per cent during opening trade after Mr Trump and Japan prime minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to open trade talks in a phone call yesterday.

In South Korea, the Kospi rose 1.7 per cent and the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 2.35 per cent.China’s Shanghai Composite limped up to 0.8 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 3 per cent, recovering some of the massive losses it suffered on Monday when it plunged 13.2 per cent.

The Chinese foreign ministry has vowed its country will “fight till the end” in a trade war with the US, promising to “take necessary measures” in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs threats.

It also accused the US of “typical unilateralism and protectionist economic bullying”.

China’s state planner has said it has heard “measures and suggestions” to deal with additional US tariffs from companies such as Trina Solar, Didi and Goertek.

Tech-billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk made direct yet unsuccessful appeals to US president Donald Trump to reverse tariffs over the past weekend, Washington Post reported on Monday citing two people familiar with the matter.

This exchange marks the highest profile disagreement between the president and Musk, the report said. It follows Trump’s unveiling of a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all imports to the US along with higher duties on dozens of other countries.

The FTSE 100 is set to open in a few minutes after plummeting as trading began yesterday morning.

The UK benchmark closed down 4.38 per cent yesterday afternoon.

US tariffs create “another layer of challenge” for ensuring the supply of medicines, the UK health secretary has said.

Wes Streeting told Sky News: “Until this trade war erupted, we’d already had issues with medicines production and supply internationally.

“We are constantly watching and acting on this situation to try and get medicines into the country, to make sure we’ve got availability, to show some flexibility in terms of how medicines are dispensed, to deal with shortages.

“But whether it’s medicines, whether it’s parts for manufacturing, whether it’s … the ability of businesses in this country to turn a profit, this is an extremely turbulent situation.”

The steps the US has taken are “unprecedented in terms of global trade”, he said.

“As ever in terms of medicines, there’s a number of factors at play.

“There have been challenges in terms of manufacturing, challenges in terms of distribution, and if we start to see tariffs kicking in, that’s another layer of challenge, but we watch this situation extremely closely.”

“We work on a daily basis to make sure that we have the medicine supply this country needs.”

The FTSE 100 index has opened slightly up today.

The UK benchmark opened at around 0.9 per cent after closing down yesterday.

London’s FTSE 100 has risen in the first few minutes of trading on Tuesday, as a sense of optimism returned to the financial markets after several days of heavy losses.

The index, which tracks the UK’s top 100 listed companies, was up more than 1 per cent shortly after markets opened on Tuesday.

All other indexes on the London Stock Exchange were also in the green.

It follows a more positive session for Asian markets, with some indexes making gains after suffering from steep falls in previous days.