Stock markets regained some ground on Tuesday, even as trade tensions between the United States and China escalated sharply after days of turmoil over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs offensive.Trump has upended the world economy with sweeping tariffs that have raised the spectre of an international recession, but has ruled out any pause in his aggressive trade policy despite a dramatic market sell-off.Steep tariffs come into effect against goods from a raft of nations on Wednesday, with Chinese products facing a 34-percent levy that Beijing will counter with a similar duty on Thursday.Trump has warned he would impose additional levies of 50 percent if Beijing refused to stop pushing back against his tariffs.”I have great respect for China but they can not do this,” Trump said at the White House.China swiftly hit back, blasting what it called “blackmailing” by the United States and vowing “countermeasures” if Washington imposes more tariffs.”If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight it to the end,” a spokesperson for Beijing’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday.- ‘Ignorant, impolite’ -In a mounting war of words, China’s foreign ministry also condemned “ignorant and impolite” remarks by US Vice President JD Vance in which he complained the United States had for too long borrowed money from “Chinese peasants”.The ministry said that “pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China”.The European Union sought to cool tensions, with the bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen warning against worsening the trade conflict in a call with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.She stressed the “vital importance of stability” for the world’s economy as well as “the need to avoid further escalation,” according to a readout from EU officials.The Chinese premier told von der Leyen that the world’s number two economy has the “tools” necessary to weather economic headwinds.”China can fully hedge against adverse external effects, and is fully confident of maintaining sustained and healthy economic development,” he said, according to state news agency Xinhua. The EU said Tuesday that it expects to present as soon as next week its response to the 20-percent levies it is facing under Trump’s latest tariff wave, with Germany and France advocating a tax targeting US tech giants.But Brussels has also proposed an exemption from tariffs on industrial products, including cars, which Trump said was not enough to resolve the US trade deficit with the EU.”The European Union has been very, very bad to us,” Trump said.In retaliation for US levies introduced in mid-March on steel and aluminium, the EU plans tariffs of up to 25 percent on US goods ranging from soybeans to motorcycles and make-up, according to a document seen by AFP.But US bourbon was spared after Trump threatened to hit European wine and spirits with massive retaliatory duties.A 10 percent “baseline” tariff on US imports from around the world took effect Saturday.Trump’s tariffs have roiled global markets, with trillions of dollars wiped off combined stock market valuations in recent sessions.But Wall Street stocks surged at the open Tuesday, with all three major US indices up more than three percent as Trump reported a “great call” with South Korea’s leader while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Japan had sought quick negotiations. Europe’s main stock markets were up around three percent in afternoon trade while Asia’s leading indices also rose after suffering particularly heavy falls on Monday. Trump believes the tariffs will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing foreign companies to relocate to the United States, rather than making goods abroad.But most economists question that and say his tariffs are arbitrary.Despite the turmoil, Trump said Monday he was “not looking” at any pause in tariff implementation.He also scrapped any meetings with China but said Washington was ready for talks with any country willing to negotiate. More than 50 nations have sought reach out to the US leader, according to the White House. While meeting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first leader to lobby Trump in person over the levies, Trump said: “There can be permanent tariffs, and there can also be negotiations, because there are things that we need beyond tariffs.”burs-sr/lth

A raucous group of elderly investors held court at a Shanghai securities company on Tuesday, chatting loudly about the stock prices flickering on LED boards as Chinese markets stutteringly recovered from the brutal day before.Asian and European equities collapsed on Monday after China retaliated to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs against US trading partners, as fears grow that the trade war could cause a global recession.Shanghai lost over seven percent, and on Tuesday the pensioners sat on plastic orange chairs in front of the screens, sipping tea from flasks and enthusiastically discussing the mauling.”Yesterday I lost 50,000 yuan ($6,833) all at once,” retired factory worker Jin told AFP.With the Chinese monthly urban pension around $460, that is no small sum.”It’s very depressing,” he said, but added that “investing in the stock market is like this”.China’s government has taken steps to stabilise the market, announcing the central bank would support a major state-backed fund’s share buy-back programme.”I saw the news on TV yesterday… Then I had faith in the government, you know? Today is really good, it’s stable,” said Jin.Shanghai advanced 1.6 percent on Tuesday.A woman in her 80s who gave her surname as Lu said she had come to invest more after hearing about the government measures, though she said she was still “very worried”. “I think this time after (making some gains) I’ll take it out, I can’t believe it went down so fast,” she said. – ‘Seen it all before’ -The branch of Hongta Securities that AFP visited is somewhat of an anomaly, a relic of the days when most small trading was done at in-person terminals. It was used as a filming location for popular series Blossoms, which portrayed the city’s breathless boom years after the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened in 1990. Now-defunct stock screens covering both main walls hint at busier times. These days, most visitors are pensioners, who prefer in-person trading to the new norm of doing so online. Some stayed from market opening until close on Tuesday, forming a core — and vociferous — posse in the best seats under the screens. Their age means they take a long view of current events. “We’ve seen it all before, it’s happened before,” scoffed one woman, who did not give her name.”We’re indifferent!” her friend chimed in. Wang, a retiree in his 70s, said his portfolio had suffered over the last few days, but that he was not too worried. “It won’t affect the average Chinese person’s life,” he said, adding he thought Americans would ultimately suffer more from the trade war.”Ordinary people, or ordinary stockholders, have confidence in the country,” said another man surnamed Wang. Jin, the retired factory worker, said he expected the market to continue to fall for the time being if Trump did not change course. But he saw a potential opportunity in that. “Looking at the situation, you don’t buy, you wait for the country’s market to fall almost, then find a way in.”