Temu and Shein warn of US price hikes from next week due to Trump tariffs

Two of China’s largest fast fashion retailers, Temu and Shein, have warned US customers that they will face price increases from next week, as Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on Chinese imports come into force.Both companies will be hit by new import levies, which will mean taxes of up to 145% being applied to Chinese goods. They will also suffer from Trump’s cancellation of the “de minimis” exemption, under which shipments worth less than $800 (£600) could be imported duty-free.That exemption was crucial in helping the low-cost retailers make inroads into the US market, where they were able to send low-cost online purchases with few expenses. It will be removed as of 2 May

Ministers in ‘active conversation’ with UK drug firms over potential tariffs

Ministers are having an “active conversation” with UK pharmaceutical firms about the potential impact of US tariffs, amid calls for an emergency taskforce to make sure the supply of medicines is not disrupted.The UK government has been trying to head off the threat of tariffs to the pharmaceuticals industry, which exports about £7bn of goods to the US – just behind the £8.3bn of car exports.Ministers and negotiators are fighting to keep the exemption from tariffs for British drugmakers through a possible trade deal, but one Whitehall source said it was “impossible to read the runes” about whether the Trump administration would hit them with the levies.Government sources said ministers had been talking to industry bosses about the potential impact and what could be done to help pharmaceutical exporters if tariffs were brought in

Italian coffee pot maker Bialetti to be sold to Chinese business NUO Capital

Bialetti, the Italian manufacturer of the famed stove-top moka coffee pot, has struck a deal to sell the business to an investment vehicle owned by a Chinese tycoon.Founded in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti, an engineer who produced the first coffee pots from his workshop in Crusinallo, Piedmont, the company is being bought by Luxembourg-registered NUO Capital, which will pay €53m (£46m) for 78.6% of its shares.The deal is expected to close by the end of June before a tender for the remaining shares is launched, at a price of no less than €0.467 each, before the company is delisted from Milan’s stock exchange

Excuse my cynicism, but after 25 years of the same housing policies, could Australian leaders try something else? | Greg Jericho

This week, the housing affordability crisis was solved when both the Labor and Liberal parties discovered that the key was to give people more money so they can bid a higher price for a home. Phew. Our long national nightmare is over.Cripes. What a joke

US stock markets fall further after Trump curbs chip sales to China; gold hits new record high – as it happened

Stocks on Wall Street have fallen after the opening bell, joining the global rout.The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 323 points, or 1.9%, to 16,499 while the Dow Jones fell by 190 points, or 0.5%, to 40,179 and the S&P 500 slid by 61 points to 5,335, a 1.1% decline

Tariffs more likely to bring UK price cuts than inflation, says WH Smith boss

Donald Trump’s tariff war is more likely to lead to price cuts than inflation for many retailers in the UK, according to the boss of WH Smith, as east Asian suppliers seek alternatives to the US.Many economists including those at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have suggested that increased barriers to trade could fuel inflationary pressures across the globe.But Carl Cowling, the chief executive of the retailer, said: “I don’t think there is any logic in why there would be inflation. You could argue it would be the other way around and stock will free up, and it is more likely to be that than inflationary for the UK.”He said the company had not seen any disruption to deliveries from overseas suppliers owing to the rapidly changing news on tariffs