THE WASHINGTON TIMES (USA): President Trump will not pause or postpone hefty tariffs that target dozens of countries, and massive new levies on China were to take effect at midnight Tuesday, the White House said, sending global markets and negotiations into uncertain territory. Mr. Trump’s blanket 10% tariff on all imports went into effect over the weekend. Larger levies against Asian and Latin American trading partners, European allies, and small African and island nations will start to bite Wednesday. “He’s not considering an extension or a delay,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “He expects that these tariffs are going to go into effect”. Ms. Leavitt confirmed that, as Mr. Trump threatened Monday, additional 50% tariffs on China will go into effect. The new tariffs will bring the tariff rate on China to 104%.

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT (GB): President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries took effect on Wednesday, including massive 104% duties on Chinese goods, deepening his global trade war even as he prepared for negotiations with some nations. Trump’s punishing tariffs have shaken a global trading order that has persisted for decades, raised fears of recession and driven worldwide stocks sharply downward. The S&P 500 has shed nearly $6 trillion in value since Trump unveiled the tariffs a week ago, the deepest four-day loss since the benchmark’s creation in the 1950s. The index is now nearing a bear market, defined as 20% below its most recent high. A sell-off across Asian markets resumed on Wednesday after a brief respite, with Japan’s Nikkei down over 3% and South Korea’s won currency sliding to a more than 16-year low.

THE GUARDIAN (NIGERIA): The military component of the globalisation wars began with the Russian swift incursion into, called a full scale invasion by most in the West, Ukraine’s Russian-speaking break-away republics in the east. The gains made since the collapse of the Soviet Union from 1991 ending the Cold War, and the swift inroads of Western finance and businesses were suddenly being detached as one company after the other left Putin’s Russia. Critical Russian gas pipelines to Germany transiting Ukraine and the Baltic Sea were sabotaged by yet to be identified actors placing underwater explosives. Russian gas started flowing to China a bit earlier, before the Ukraine war began. By this same period economic rumblings were being felt across Europe’s major economies: the British pound lost its value since 1985 levels against the U.S. dollar; a study found that 60 or more UK factories were at risk of shuttering due to high energy bills as Europe’s wider economy was said to face possible collapse in about three years from 2022. India and China have cashed in on buying heavily discounted Russian crude and gas which have placed both countries on the path of being leading global economic powerhouses. Trump’s ultimate aim is to bring back manufacturing back to the United States economy, he literally wants factories to move to the U.S., ushering a new Golden Era like never before. Globalisation wars as we can see is multi-phase involving tools of violent war to taxes on imported items at ports of entry of countries. The last man may just be at the threshold of a world of protectionist trade tariffs which is a direct threat to its founding ideology, an ideology that may after all, not be the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution.

THE TIMES OF INDIA: US President Donald Trump’s latest round of sweeping tariffs — now fully in effect — are expected to deliver a significant blow to China’s economy, with Goldman Sachs warning that the 104% total tariff on Chinese goods could slash Beijing’s growth by 2.4 percentage points. China, which has set a 5% growth target for the year, may fall short if the trade tensions intensify. Goldman Sachs is forecasting a lower 4.5% growth, cautioning that risks to this outlook remain tilted to the downside. The stiff tariffs took full effect just after midnight on Wednesday, following Trump’s April 2 announcement that nearly all US trading partners would face a minimum 10% import tax—with far steeper rates for countries running trade surpluses with the United States.

RENMIN RIBAO (CHINA): The United States’ recent unveiling of a so-called “reciprocal tariff” plan - a sweeping proposal to impose tariffs on all its trading partners - has drawn widespread backlash from the international community. Critics contend that beneath the veneer of “reciprocity”, the plan is little more than economic bullying - a stark retreat into power politics that seriously unravels the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core and places global economic stability in jeopardy. This policy is built on shaky grounds, relying on subjective judgments and unilateral assessments that severely infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of other nations. While American officials justify the move as a correction to so-called long-standing trade imbalances, this narrative of American “victimhood” rings hollow. It not only disregards the balanced outcomes achieved through multilateral trade negotiations but also ignores the fact that the U.S. has long benefited substantially from international trade. At its core, this tariff strategy is not about fairness - it is about force. It leverages the sheer size of the American economy to strong-arm weaker trading partners into compliance, sidelining the very principles of multilateralism. By targeting all trading partners without discrimination, the U.S. appears to be transforming “America first” into something even more insular: “America Only”.

LE FIGARO (FRANCE): La guerre commerciale déclenchée par Donald Trump le 2 avril contre l’ensemble de la planète marque, aussi, le début d’une escalade entre Pékin et Washington, confrontation d’ampleur sur le plan économique. Et la Chine communiste, autoritaire, et planificatrice a des atouts. L’escalade sino-américaine est désormais enclenchée. Il s’agit d’une confrontation programmée, dans son principe, de longue date. Xi Jinping est déterminé à faire de son empire la première puissance du monde. Donald Trump, pas plus que ses prédécesseurs et successeurs, ne peut lui laisser la voie libre. Le 47e président des États-Unis peut-il gagner ce bras de fer? Pour un homme réputé maître dans l’art du rapport de force, il est permis de s’interroger. La bataille engagée par Donald Trump va en effet se jouer sur le terrain de Xi Jinping. Car la Chine met en œuvre depuis plusieurs décennies une stratégie méthodique de sécurité économique, réduisant progressivement ses dépendances au reste du monde et construisant patiemment les dépendances des autres à son appareil productif

THE GUARDIAN (GB): China unlikely to blink first as Trump’s trade war enters uncharted new territory. Since Trump’s first trade war with China in 2018, Beijing has ramped up trade with other countries, making it less dependent on the US. The opening shots seem like a distant memory. Back in January, US president Donald Trump threatened to impose a tariff of 10% on Chinese imports. Less than three months later, the rate is now 104%. China has condemned the tariffs. As well as applying its own reciprocal tariff of 34% on US imports, Beijing has been fighting a war of words. “When challenged, we will never back down”, said China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian. The commerce ministry said: “China will fight to the end if the US side is bent on going down the wrong path”. Further countermeasures have been promised by Beijing. The tit-for-tat measures could spark fears of a race to the bottom, with ordinary people suffering as prices rise and a fears of a global recession grow.

LA RAZON (SPAIN): Bruselas está dispuesta a seguir negociando con Washington para evitar una guerra comercial, pero también comienza a enseñar los dientes. El Ejecutivo comunitario ha asegurado este miércoles que Bruselas va a presentar a principios de las semana que viene una nueva lista de aranceles que entrarían en vigor en el mes de mayo. Estos castigos serían la respuesta a las subidas anunciadas por Donald Trump a los coches del 25% y la tasa general del 20% a todos los productos. El Ejecutivo comunitario también repite una y otra vez que “todas las opciones están sobre la mesa”, lo que significa que Bruselas no descarta desempolvar el instrumento anti-coerción, una nueva herramienta creada en 2023 y que nunca ha entrado en vigor. En los pasillos comunitarios se considera el “botón nuclear” ya que permite una variada gama de opciones para castigar no solo los bienes sino aquello que más puede doler a Estados Unidos: los servicios. Esto podría incluir revocar licencias, atacar los derechos de propiedad intelectual o excluir a las empresas de las licitaciones públicas. Esta herramienta fue ideada para responder a China ante posibles chantajes geopolíticos y serviría para poner a Washington contra las cuerdas en sectores como los servicios financieros y los gigantes tecnológicos.

NIKKEI (JAPAN): Asian currencies outperform dollar amid U.S. recession fears. Chinese yuan likely to impact Asian currencies more than dollar: Goldman Sachs. The Japanese yen, a safe-haven asset, has strengthened more than 2% against the dollar since Thursday, when U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tougher-than-expected levies on trading partners.

THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE): How will Asean negotiate on US tariffs? With wares, weapons and the South China Sea, say analysts. South-east Asian countries, unexpectedly hit hard by the US’ sweeping tariffs, are scrambling to forge a united front, with officials and analysts saying that the region’s bargaining chips could range from more trade purchases to leveraging its geopolitical position on the South China Sea. Also being talked about is the possibility of a summit of Asean leaders and US President Donald Trump in Washington, which Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had broached recently.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): After failing in his own attempt, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba instructed his Cabinet ministers to call on the Trump administration to review its steep tariffs against Japan. In the first ministerial meeting on countermeasures against U.S. tariffs on April 8, Ishiba also called on the ministers to devise measures to support domestic industries that will be affected.

EL MOUJAHID (ALGERIA): Les récentes sorties palinodiques du Président Trump commencent à éroder sérieusement les grands équilibres commerciaux de la planète. Les retombées multiples qui, visiblement, touchent tous les pays ne seraient donc pas sans porter atteinte à la situation économique en Algérie, ce dont le gouvernement est pleinement conscient, s’agissant notamment des prix du pétrole qui semblent reprendre le cycle du yoyo. Notre économie, faut-il le rappeler, étant essentiellement tributaire de la manne pétrolière de ces hauts lieux de développement énergétique que sont les gisements du Sud, de telles surprises pourraient impacter de manière défavorable la dynamique de développement tous azimuts que connaît le pays.

THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): In 2016, running for president and pressed for details on how he would handle some of the world’s knottiest security issues, then-candidate Donald J. Trump had a simple formula for defanging the Iranian nuclear program. Barack Obama’s negotiating team, he said, should have just gotten up from the table and stormed out. The Iranians would have come begging. “It’s a deal that could’ve been so much better just if they’d walked a couple of times”, Mr. Trump told two reporters from The New York Times. “They negotiated so badly”. Now, at a moment the Iranians are far closer to being able to produce a weapon than they were when the last accord was negotiated — in part because Mr. Trump himself upended the deal in 2018 — the president has his chance to show how it should have been done. So far, the gap between the two sides appears huge. The Iranians sound like they are looking for an updated version of the Obama-era agreement, which limited Iran’s stockpiles of nuclear material. The Americans want to dismantle a vast nuclear-fuel enrichment infrastructure, the country’s missile program and Tehran’s longtime support for Hamas, Hezbollah and other proxy forces.

TEHRAN TIMES (IRAN): Saturday test for US: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is slated to visit Oman for indirect talks with Washington, offering U.S. President Donald Trump a chance to give fresh life to the nuclear deal he unraveled in 2018. Speaking to Iran’s national TV on the sidelines of an official trip to Algeria, Araghchi said the upcoming indirect negotiations could eventually lead to an agreement, contingent upon Washington demonstrating good will and seriousness. “Currently, we prefer that negotiations take place indirectly, and we have no plans to change this approach”, the top diplomat stated, adding, “It should be clearly stated: the ball is in America’s court. If there is a serious will, the path to an agreement is clear”. Trump’s actions during his first term, which he termed a “maximum pressure campaign”, took a heavy toll on Iran’s economy and the livelihoods of its citizens. However, the campaign fell short of impacting Iran’s nuclear, military, or regional activities. Over the past few years, Tehran has achieved unprecedented progress in its nuclear program, unveiled new state-of-the-art weaponry, and further deepened its commitment to supporting allied Resistance forces in West Asia.

GLOBAL TIMES (CHINA): In response to a media inquiry regarding the Iranian Foreign Ministry announcement that from April 7 to 8, China, Russia and Iran will have trilateral consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue in Moscow, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday, “Let me reiterate that China firmly believes that the only right choice for settling the issue is through political and diplomatic means”. We support Russia in hosting this trilateral expert-level consultation, which will further promote the political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue, Lin told the regular press conference on Tuesday. The three countries are currently engaged in consultations in Moscow to consider possible scenarios following the expiration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which formally governs Iran’s nuclear program, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which approved the plan.

THE JERUSALEM POST (ISRAEL): Had Obama or former president Joe Biden announced direct talks with Iran, Netanyahu and his allies would have slammed the move. US President Donald Trump opened up his comments to the press with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Monday by patting himself on the back for his friendship toward Israel. In a statement that many Israelis would agree with, he said, “We are a friend of Israel, as you know. I would say that I am by far the best president that Israel has ever even thought of seeing”. Trump said Israel is in a very difficult neighborhood and added, “We are helping them, and, likewise, they have been helping us very much”. That acknowledgment of reciprocity – too often overlooked – is welcome.

KOMMERSANT (RUSSIA): Война нервов между США и Ираном связана с приближением 100-дневного срока правления президента Трампа, которому необходим крупный международный успех. Учитывая, что эта дата станет днем подведения промежуточных итогов правления 47-го президента США, глава Белого дома испытывает растущую потребность в крупном международном успехе, который можно было бы предъявить в качестве доказательства эффективности его внешней политики. Так и не успев подписать стратегическое соглашение по ресурсам с Украиной, не добившись серьезного продвижения в украинском урегулировании и резко обострив отношения с западными союзниками, Дональд Трамп теперь спешит разыграть “иранскую карту”. Впрочем, вместо обещанной им в рекордные сроки “исторической” ядерной сделки с Тегераном, которую он рассчитывает подписать в одиночку, без участия России, Китая и “евротройки” мировых держав, президент Трамп рискует потерпеть еще одну неудачу.

DAILY SABAH (TURKEY): Russia and the United States are preparing for a second round of high-level talks in Istanbul, set for April 10, aimed at easing long-standing tensions and addressing key points of friction in their bilateral relationship, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Tuesday. The upcoming discussions follow expert-level talks held between Russian and American delegations in Istanbul on Feb. 27, during which the sides discussed the normalization of diplomatic missions, ensuring uninterrupted operations, and improving working conditions for diplomats.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): Panama casts doubt on BlackRock Canal ports deal touted by Trump. Top auditor says CK Hutchison owes $300 million in unpaid fees linked to two Panama Canal ports at center of U.S.-China standoff. Panama’s top auditor said Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison 1-2.61% decrease; red down pointing triangle owes hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid fees and failed to get necessary clearances for two key Panama Canal ports, dealing a blow to plans by U.S. asset manager BlackRock BLK -0.62%decrease; red down pointing triangle to buy the ports as part of a $22.8 billion transaction. BlackRock’s acquisition of the ports situated at each end of the Panama Canal, along with some 40 other ports around the world, has become a flashpoint between the U.S. and China as the two superpowers are also squaring off in an escalating trade war.

THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): What ‘special relationship’? U.S. image sours in Britain and Europe. Under President Trump, attitudes toward the United States are shifting in ways that pollsters say they haven’t seen before. For 15 straight years, Veronica Clarke has made a “sacred pilgrimage” to honor the King — at Graceland. But not this year. The London-based writer canceled her annual August trip to mark Elvis Presley’s death in Memphis because, honestly, she just doesn’t feel so great about the United States right now. The usually pro-American Elvis superfan says the onslaught of upheaval flowing from Washington — the tariffs, the mass deportations — is taking a toll. “We’re all feeling a little bit hurt by our American cousins”, said Clarke, 67. “It breaks my heart”. A growing number of polls, pop-up boycotts and satirical web campaigns suggest that Clarke is not alone in downgrading the United States’ once-loftier status in the tumultuous months since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

FOLHA DE S.PAULO (BRASIL): Trump tem a imagem negativa para 43% e positiva para 22% da população brasileira, diz Quaest. Números confirmam sondagem do Ipespe, que indica que 54% desaprovam o americano.

ASIA TIMES (HONG KONG, CHINA): China just delivered a warning shot from the Gobi Desert — combining mass ballistic missile firepower, precision radar tracking and a clear message of strategic intent. The exercise involved the simultaneous launch of 16 ballistic missiles toward a single target, testing a new dual-band (S/X) phased-array radar system designed to counteract saturation attacks, according to a PLA Unit 63623 study. This radar system, achieving 100% detection and tracking success, demonstrated its ability to differentiate between warheads and decoys while maintaining precise threat prioritization. Analysts note that this achievement marks a significant leap in China’s ability to counter sophisticated threats, such as hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) and missiles equipped with countermeasures. The large-scale test, unparalleled outside of wartime scenarios, underscores China’s commitment to bolstering military readiness.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES (INDIA): Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister slammed US-led efforts to take away North Korea’s nuclear weapons, saying the idea of denuclearising the country was a “daydream”. In a statement published Wednesday by the official Korean Central News Agency (KNCA), the sister of ruler Kim Jong Un said that any discussion of convincing the North to give up its nuclear weapons is “nothing but a daydream that can never come true”.

THE JAKARTA POST (INDONESIA): Rearm Europe: More of a political move than a military one Europe’s. Rearm Europe initiative faces hurdles in achieving its military goals but signals a clear political message to the US and Russia. Since her first speech as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has taken a bold stance on military issues. On March 3, von der Leyen unveiled an ambitious plan originally called Rearm Europe, later rebranded as Readiness 2030 following objections from Italy and Spain.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA (RUSSIA): Назначена дата президентских выборов в Южной Корее – 3 июня. Вероятным победителем на них станет представитель либеральной Демократической партии Ли Джэ Мён. Учитывая, что его однопартийцы преобладают и в парламенте, это значит, что в политике страны, как во внешней, так и во внутренней, ожидается поворот влево. Не исключено, что новые власти попробуют несколько улучшить отношения с Россией и с Китаем, хотя, конечно, крепкие союзнические связи страны с США никуда не исчезнут.

LA NACION (ARGENTINA): El Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) informó que llegó a un acuerdo técnico con las autoridades argentinas por US$20.000 millones en un período de 48 meses. Según el comunicado, el Staff Level Agreement está sujeto a la aprobación del directorio, que se reunirá el viernes para tratar este tema.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (HONG KONG, CHINA): Chinese researchers say they have achieved a global first in using a real quantum computer to fine-tune an artificial intelligence (AI) model with 1 billion parameters, showing the potential of quantum computing to help better train large language models. Using Origin Wukong, China’s third-generation superconducting quantum computer with 72 qubits, a team in Hefei has achieved an 8.4% improvement in training performance while reducing the number of parameters by 76%, state-owned Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday. “This is the first time a real quantum computer has been used to fine-tune a large language model in a practical setting. It shows that current quantum hardware can begin to support real-world AI training tasks”, said Chen Zhaoyun, a researcher at the Institute of Artificial Intelligence under the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Centre.

THE TIMES (GB): London is no longer one of the top five wealthiest cities in the world after losing a higher proportion of millionaires than anywhere other than Moscow. An annual report on global wealth says the UK’s capital has lost 11,300 dollar millionaires over the past year, including 18 centimillionaires and two billionaires. A centimillionaire is someone who has at least $100 million, while a billionaire has more than $1,000 million. The study, conducted for the advisory firm Henley & Partners by New World Wealth, defines wealth as “liquid investable” assets, which means cash, bonds and shares but excludes property wealth.

LA LIBRE (BELGIUM): Un premier cas de décès par grippe aviaire H5N1 a été rapporté mardi au Mexique, ont annoncé les autorités sanitaires régionales. Il s’agit d’une petite fille de trois ans décédée dans l’État du Coahuila (nord), ont-elles précisé. Elle était le premier et le seul cas reporté de grippe aviaire chez l’humain au Mexique. L’enfant a succombé à la défaillance de plusieurs organes, a détaillé le secrétaire de la Santé du Coahuila, Eliud Aguirre. “Personne n’a été testé positif” au virus dans l’entourage et parmi le personnel médical ayant été en contact avec la jeune fille, a-t-il confirmé. Aucun autre cas suspecté de grippe aviaire n’a été détecté au pays, selon Aguirre.

THE MAINICHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): The Japanese government will release additional stockpiled rice every month until the end of July to stabilize soaring prices, farm minister Taku Eto said Wednesday. The announcement comes as price rises have continued unabated even after 212,000 tons of stockpiled rice was already released in two tranches.