China turns around and vows to fight Trump's "blackmail" "to the end."

LondonDonald Trump's boasts have received an immediate response from China. Faced with the Republican president's threat to increase tariffs increased by 50%, reaching 104%, if Beijing did not withdraw those it had announced as a countermeasure to the war unleashed by the Americans, Xi Jinping's regime has promised to "fight to the end." The Ministry of Commerce also assured in a statement that it will never accept the "nature of blackmail" from the United States. The department itself commented on Tuesday that an additional 50% tax on products manufactured in China is "a mistake upon a mistake" and demanded that all tariff plans be scrapped and that differences between the US and China be resolved through dialogue.

The spokesperson for China's foreign ministry has insisted in the last few minutes that the Trump administration has resorted to "blackmail" to try to reorder global trade. Lin Jian also accused the United States of exerting "pressure and threats," adding: "Tariff wars have no winners and protectionism is no solution. We Chinese don't create problems, but we are not afraid of them. Pressure, threats, and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China."

Meanwhile, the main European stock market indices opened this Tuesday morning with a slight recovery after the hysteria of the previous three days. The Ibex 35 rose 1%, as did the FTSE 100 in the United Kingdom. In France, the CAC 40 rose 1.8%, and the German DAX was up 1.3%.

In any case, in a context of unstoppable escalation between the world's two largest economies, the main Asian markets traded unevenly this Tuesday, but the majority, such as the Japanese Nikkei, were making gains in contrast to Monday's widespread lossesThe Nikkei closed with a 6% recovery, only partially offsetting the losses of the previous three days, which amounted to as much as 18% since Trump announced his shock to global trade.

The Hong Kong and South Korean stock markets are also in the green, with 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively. In Australia, the market also rose (1.5%), while Singapore and Taiwan experienced falls of 2.2% and 3.8%. Analysts believe that the movements in the Asian stock markets represent a natural rebound after the catastrophe of the last 96 hours.

The most notable downward notes are the Indonesian stock market, which fell more than 9%, and also the Thai stock market, which experienced a 4% drop. Both markets had been closed on Monday for local holidays. In Bangkok, the stock exchange banned short selling this week in anticipation of the chaos that gripped global markets following Trump's announcements. The Shanghai Composite also experienced a slight drop of 0.2%.

Negotiations with Tokyo

While, as expected, Trump's push against China has no chance of intimidating Beijing, quite the contrary, other Asian capitals have begun to bend to the US president's will. The Japanese prime minister has appointed Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa to lead trade negotiations with the US.

The White House and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had agreed to begin bilateral talks during a telephone conversation yesterday. Trump has appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to lead these negotiations. Tokyo hopes to lower the 25% tariff on car imports from Japan and the so-called 24% reciprocal tariff on other products with which the United States has punished one of Washington's most traditional Asian allies since the end of World War II.

The willingness of some economies to negotiate with Trump—in addition to Japan, also Vietnam and Taiwan—has sparked a certain optimism in most of these markets.

Trading in futures in Europe and the United States also seems to be pointing upwards, and it could be a much less dramatic Tuesday than the three previous sessions.