| China announced it will raise tariffs from tomorrow on all US goods to 125%, and said it plans to ignore any further increases announced by the US, after the White House clarified that levies on Chinese goods have risen to 145%. Officials in Beijing are meanwhile signaling they may target US services exports as payback for Trump's record tariffs, putting at risk a lesser-known but sizable part of their trade relationship which has long been a bright spot for American companies. With Trump unleashing an all-out assault on global trade, the status of US Treasury bonds as a safe haven for investors during times of crisis is increasingly coming into question, while some analysts suggested China may have helped fuel the biggest surge in 30-year yields since the pandemic. The dollar emerged as the latest victim of market turmoil as the spiraling tensions with China and uncertainty over the 90-day tariff pause on dozens of other nations risk derailing US economic growth. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is among top European Union officials planning to travel to Beijing in late July for a summit with President Xi Jinping, the South China Morning Post reported. After talks with Xi today in the Chinese capital, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez repeated calls for the EU to deepen ties with China, brushing aside US warnings that it would be detrimental to do so.  Sanchez with Xi in Beijing today. Photographer: Andres Martinez Casares/AFP/Getty Images Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has vaulted to the front of the line in the US president's list of advisers in recent days, as the historic market selloff puts pressure on Trump to step back from his maximalist position on trade levies. The former hedge fund manager wasn't directly involved in setting the tariffs, but he's now in charge of negotiations to avert their implementation. The UK, Germany and Norway will help fund the delivery of hundreds of thousands of drones to Ukraine, as European allies seek to bolster the war-torn nation's position against Russia amid faltering progress toward a ceasefire. With Trump envoy Witkoff arriving today in Russia, the UK and France said they'll accelerate military planning of the "coalition of the willing" over the next two weeks to focus on ensuring Ukraine's air, sea and land security. The US will bolster the Philippines' arsenal and step up joint military exercises, as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalate, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told us. Support for South Korea's presidential-race frontrunner Lee Jae-myung rose to a three-month high, a sign his opposition Democratic Party could grab power in nationwide polls on June 3. A senior leader of Malaysia's biggest opposition party said he was under state surveillance and his phone was tapped, a claim the government downplayed as standard practice for security reasons. Prime Minister Mark Carney promised tougher policies to curb illegal guns and drugs flowing into Canada from the US, including more police at the border, as he courts votes ahead of an April 28 election. | 
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