Global economic growth will slow amid Trump tariffs, IMF warns – as it happened

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it expects much slower global growth – but not a recession – because of trade tensions amid Donald Trump’s tariff war.Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, said that the latest world economic outlook forecasts will include “notable markdowns, but not recession”, in a speech in Washington before its annual meeting starting on Monday.The forecasts will be closely scrutinised for judgments of Trump’s economic policy, after a fortnight of financial market chaos since his “liberation day” tariffs. Stock markets plunged after Trump raised tariffs on all goods imports, only to recover somewhat when he imposed a 90-day “pause” when turbulence spread to the bond market.The deep uncertainty over Trump’s plans have made it difficult for economists

BP suffers investor rebellion at first AGM since climate strategy U-turn

BP suffered an investor rebellion on Thursday after facing shareholders for the first time since abandoning its climate strategy at a meeting marred by protest.About a quarter of shareholders voted against the chair, Helge Lund, at the company’s annual meeting in Sunbury-on-Thames, on the edges of London, which attracted protest from several green campaign groups.The Guardian understands that five protesters were forcibly blocked from entering the meeting before the vote, which marked the first time in at least a decade that more than 10% of BP’s shareholders voted against the re-election of the chair.The activists from Fossil Free London and Energy Embargo for Palestine protested outside the venue, describing the board as “murderers, looters and genocide enablers”, before major institutional investors voted against the re-election of Lund.The shareholder meeting was held weeks after Lund, who presided over BP’s failed green agenda, promised to step down from the company by next year

Cheaper energy, more cash and a bit of scrap: how to save British Steel

The government has taken control of British Steel, so averting the closure within days of the UK’s last two blast furnaces. However, the takeover leaves a big question: what next?Steep losses at British Steel prompted its Chinese owner, Jingye, to decide last month to close its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, which would end the production of “virgin” steel in the UK. The government stepped in with emergency legislation, passed in a single day last Saturday, to prevent that.The legislation has given the industry, workers and politicians time to work out how to build a doubly sustainable UK steel industry: one that makes money, while minimising carbon emissions.The future for Scunthorpe, if it is to have a future, will almost certainly be the electric arc furnace (EAF)

Sainsbury’s expects supermarket price war and rising costs to hit profits

Sainsbury’s has warned that profits are not likely to rise this year as it braces for an expected price war among the UK’s supermarkets and faces rising costs from higher wages.The group joined Tesco, Next and Marks & Spencer as one of a handful of retailers who have made £1bn in profits in the year to 1 March, but it does not expect to beat that figure this year despite plans to cut costs with more automation and warehouse closures.Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, indicated that the group was ready to take on Asda, which has pledged to cut prices in an attempt to win back market share, saying his business was “committed, above all else, to sustaining the strong competitive position we have built – consistently giving customers the great value they have come to expect”.Roberts said there was “pressure in the system” from the national insurance and minimum wage rises that came in this month, as well as new regulations on packaging that would inevitably “feed through to inflation”. However, he said the group would continue to invest in keeping prices down after spending £1bn doing so over the last four years

Polish parcel locker network InPost buys UK delivery firm Yodel for £106m

The UK parcel delivery company Yodel has been snapped up by the Polish parcel locker firm InPost in a £106m deal that will create the third-largest independent delivery business serving online retailers in Britain.InPost, which placed its first locker in Kraków in 2009, said the takeover would combine its drop-off and collection network with Yodel’s home delivery capabilities, “seamlessly integrating out-of-home and to-door solutions” under a single brand.It follows a tumultuous period for Yodel, which was saved from collapse in February last year, but had to secure fresh funding from a new consortium of investors five months later after the deal soured. It had previously been owned by the Barclay brothers, the reclusive billionaire twins and former Daily Telegraph proprietors.The GMB union welcomed InPost’s takeover of Yodel, which employs about 10,000 people

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