Trump tariffs live: Asian stocks rebound and China vows to ‘fight to the end’ after Trump threatens new 50% tariffs

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 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.

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.

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.

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”.

Sir Keir Starmer will be questioned by senior MPs today amid turmoil in global markets caused by US tariffs, which Donald Trump has insisted he will not pause.

The prime minister is expected to hold a cabinet meeting of his most senior ministers in Downing Street this morning, before he heads to parliament, where he will appear before the Liaison Committee of senior parliamentarians.

The US president has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on US imports of British goods, along with the 25% tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.

Sir Keir warned the tariffs were “not a passing phase” as he visited Jaguar Land Rover’s West Midlands plant yesterday, but urged workers at the car maker to remain calm.

“This is a moment for cool heads, nobody wins from a trade war, you know that,” he said.

JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has warned that trade wars could have lasting negative consequences, days after he and other US bank bosses met with commerce secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the administration’s sweeping tariffs.

“The economy is facing considerable turbulence,” Mr Dimon wrote. “We are likely to see inflationary outcomes … Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”

Mr Dimon’s annual letter to shareholders followed a rout last week that wiped trillions of dollars off global stock markets in the wake of president Donald Trump’s new tariffs.

Mr Dimon and other bank chiefs reportedly met with Mr Lutnick in Washington on Thursday, a day after the tariffs were announced, to discuss the levies and ask questions.

ReadThe Independent’s breakdown of the countries most affected by the new levies and those that have been exempt.

China’s yuan fell to its weakest level in more than 18 months after the central bank slightly loosened its grip on the currency in what appears to be an attempt to counteract the blow to exports.

The People’s Bank of China set the fixing at 7.2038 per dollar today, the weakest since September 2023. Weakening the currency is seen as an option for China to make exports cheaper and alleviate some pressure on trade amid the escalating tariff spat between the world’s two largest economies.

US president Donald Trump has threatened to increase duties on Chinese imports by another 50 per cent, following their tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s goods last week.

“After the market saw China’s firm retaliation on Friday, expectation for China to eventually devalue the currency has jumped and the pressure won’t go away easily,” said Ju Wang, head of Greater China FX & rates strategy at BNP Paribas.