China Says U.S. Should Revoke Tariffs; Trump Approval Rating Drops
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Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Can we begin with the latest developments in the trade war this morning? China demanded that the U S revoke all unilateral tariffs. A spokesman for the Chinese ministry of commerce says there are no talks on reaching a trade deal. This comes less than 24 hours after president Trump said he would be willing to substantially pare back tariffs on China. We're dealing with a lot of countries right now and, uh,

Could be with China, but maybe we'll make a special, you know, a deal and we'll see what it will be. Right now, it's 145 percent. That's very high. It got there because of the fentanyl. They're sending, you know, massive amounts of fentanyl into our country. President Trump said he could announce tariff rates for countries including China over the next two to three weeks.

Well, Nathan, stocks are coming off back-to-back gains after President Trump eased off on two of his frequent punching bags, China and Jerome Powell. And sources say Trump turned down his aggressive rhetoric a day after meeting with executives from Walmart, Home Depot and Target, who said import taxes could disrupt supply chains and raise the prices of goods. Meanwhile, Citadel founder Ken Griffiths said the trade war has disrupted the ability of business leaders to focus on long-term growth. All

All of us were really looking forward to four years of having a chance to really grow our businesses. And unfortunately, the trade war, which has devolved into a nonsensical place, means that we're spending time now thinking about supply chains, thinking about strategically how we're going to source goods around the world. And I'll tell you what's not going to happen is people are not going to race to build manufacturing in America.

Citadel founder Ken Griffin made the comments at the Semaphore World Economy Summit. And Karen, the Trump administration is considering whether to reduce certain tariffs targeting the auto industry. We get the very latest on that now with Bloomberg's John Tucker. John. And Nathan, discussions are underway after auto executives warned tariffs would deal a severe blow to profits and jobs.

Sources tell us one proposal would spare automobiles and parts already subject to tariffs from facing additional duties from steel and aluminum imports. Another option being studied would fully exempt auto parts that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact.

But President Trump's tariff policies often change quickly, so nobody knows for sure. In the Oval Office yesterday, Trump was asked if he's considering changes to auto tariffs and indicated he was not, while also suggesting he might even increase levies on the Canadian auto sector.

In the meantime, President Trump plans to mark 100 days in office by visiting the car-making hub of Macomb County, Michigan. That's home to facilities tied to General Motors and Stellantis. In New York, I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. Well, there's at least one company saying tariffs will benefit its business going forward. Whirlpool says the long-term impact of tariffs will benefit its position in the U.S. home appliance market. We spoke with Whirlpool CEO Mark Bitzer.

No matter how you look at it, we're structurally a net winner of a tariff. Now, there's always two sides of the equation. In the short term, there are some what I would call manageable headwinds in the form of higher component costs. We also saw quite a bit of loading by competitors into the industry. But the long term, in particular one, a midterm, in particular, once the tariffs fully kick in, we are a net winner in this environment.

And Whirlpool CEO Mark Bitzer maintained the refrigerator maker's full-year forecast. Well, Karen, controversies over tariffs could be taking a slice out of President Trump's approval rating. The New York Times is reporting the rating has sunk to about 45%. That's down from 52% one week after the president took office.

Well, now, Nathan, let's get the latest on the war in Ukraine. Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones on eight regions overnight, including the capital, Kiev. At least nine people were killed, more than 70 others hurt. The latest assault came hours after President Trump accused Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of prolonging the war. I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelensky. And I hope that Zelensky, I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky. So far, it's been harder.

But that's okay. It's all right. President Trump spoke from the Oval Office as heard on Bloomberg, and President Zelensky is in South Africa, but now says he'll cut that visit short and return to Kiev following this latest attack. And back in this country, Karen, Harvard University is indicating it wants to move quickly on its legal fight with the Trump administration over more than $2 billion in federal funds. The university is telling a federal judge it will not ask for a temporary order to block the government's funding freeze.

Instead, it plans to seek a quick judgment on its central claim that the administration is threatening its independence and free speech. The White House froze $2.2 billion in research grants this month after Harvard refused to overhaul its governance, hiring, and diversity practices.

Well, Nathan, let's turn back to the markets now and check out some stocks that are on the move this morning. Shares of IBM, they're down almost 8%. The company said the government's cost-cutting actions, led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, are having an effect. About 15 of IBM's contracts with the federal government have been canceled or postponed.

paused, amounting to about $100 million in future payments. And we're watching shares of Chipotle in the pre-market as well, Karen. They are down 4%. The fast food chain lowered its full-year outlook after quarterly sales declined for the first time in almost five years.

On the flip side, shares of Texas Instruments, they are up more than 5%. The biggest maker of analog semiconductors gave a better-than-anticipated forecast for the current period after demand for industrial and automotive components improved. And staying in tech, Karen, after the bell, we hear from one of the magnificent seven Google Parent Alphabet reports. We get a preview from Bloomberg's Tom Busby.

The key to Alphabet's Q1 results is growth in its Google Cloud unit, which will show whether the boom in AI technology and the company's investments in AI infrastructure are paying off, despite being an also-ran to Amazon and Microsoft. Investors also looking to see what the company says about the mounting regulatory pressures from the EU and the U.S. about alleged monopolies in search and ad tech.

Bloomberg Consensus calls for total revenue of just over $89 billion on earnings per share of $2.01. Tom Busby, Bloomberg Radio. And it's time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Many people lined up to see Pope Francis lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican decided to keep the doors open pretty much all night.

In the first eight and a half hours of public viewing, the Vatican said more than 20,000 people had paid their last respects yesterday. Some had waited six hours. Because of the respect that I have for him and the great person he was, it's worth the wait. Walking in there, it was...

so silent, but you could feel how much people really cared about him and how much love there was for this man. Francis, who died Monday after a stroke, is lying in a simple wooden coffin. Parts of New Jersey remain on fire. A wildfire continues to burn in Ocean County. The fire is expected to keep growing in size before rain is forecast on Friday. It has burned nearly 20 square miles and thousands at one point had to be evacuated. It's

State Environmental Protection Assistant Commissioner John Cecil says the fire is 40% contained. We had one commercial structure that was destroyed. There were a couple of smaller cabins, it appears, that were impacted and some vehicles. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Meanwhile, there are air quality alerts near the fire that will include New York City.

Testimony will resume today in Harvey Weinstein's retrial on rape and sexual assault charges. Opening statements began yesterday, including a newly added third claim from a former model, Kaja Sokola. The disgraced movie mogul is charged with forcing oral sex on her in 2006, but she also accused him in a civil lawsuit of groping her against her will four years earlier when she was 16. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty of the charges.

New York stopped court throughout Weinstein's 2020 conviction after the previous trial judge allowed prejudicial testimony about allegations separate from the case. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who is the number two Democrat and the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will be leaving Congress at the end of his term in 2026. Durbin made the announcement in a social media video. The people of Illinois have honored me with this responsibility longer than anyone elected to the Senate in our state's history.

I'm truly grateful. Global news 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg, Karen. All right, Michael Barr, thank you.

When you have bars in the sky, onboard showers and award-winning in-flight entertainment, it's no surprise that Emirates was recently named the best airline in the world. We fly you to over 140 destinations and with partners across the globe, we connect you to another 1,700 cities across six continents. So when we say we're also the largest international airline, what we really mean is...

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Time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update. Here's John Staschauer. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. The Mets are amazing. They keep getting great pitching. They keep winning at Citi Field. Even after the Phillies scored in the top of the 10th inning, Mets came back in the bottom. Another big hit for Pete Alonzo. His league-leading 26th RBI tied the game. Alonzo was then at second base. Starling Marte, who hasn't done much this season, was at the plate with two outs. And Marte dumps one. He's won it! Straight for New York!

Marte the hero. SNY the call. The Mets won 4-3 to complete the second best homestand in team history. They went 7-0. And in 18-7, the Mets have MLB's best record. The Yankees avoided getting swept in a three-game series in Cleveland. That still hasn't happened since 1970. Yanks won 5-1 behind Carlos Rodon, who went 7-8. Both the Mets and the Yanks today have their first day off in two weeks. At Fenway, Seattle beat the Red Sox 8-5. And D.C., Nationals again beat the Orioles.

home teams won in the NBA playoffs Celtics played without the injured Jason Tatum got 36 points from Jalen Brown 109-100 over Orlando Cleveland made 22 three-pointers in a 121-112 win over Miami both teams up two games to none Houston beat Golden State 109-94 that series tied at one as are the Knicks and Pistons with game three tonight in Detroit the Knicks

Simply need to score more than 98 points in the game to loss the fewest points they've scored in a game all season. The NFL draft is in Green Bay. Round one tonight with Tennessee expected to kick things off by taking quarterback Cam Ward. The Giants have the third pick. The Patriots the fourth. The Jets the seventh. Hall of Famer Steve McMichael has passed away. He was 67. He suffered from ALS.

McMichael played 13 seasons on the defensive line in Chicago in 1985. He was a big part of the Bears' only Super Bowl winning team. John Staschauer, Bloomberg Sports, Karen and Nathan.

Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio. Nationwide on Sirius XM. And around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. The back and forth continues at the White House over tariffs and trade. After slapping China with duties totaling 145%, President Trump now says he's looking forward to a deal.

We're going to have great deals. And by the way, if we don't have a deal with a company or a country, we're going to set the tariff. We just set the tariff. It's something that we think that will happen, I'd say, over the next couple of weeks, wouldn't you say? I think so. Over the next two, three weeks. That was the president speaking from the Oval Office, as heard on Bloomberg. But this morning, China is saying there are no talks on a trade deal and that the U.S. should revoke all unilateral tariffs.

For the very latest, we are joined by Bloomberg News Senior Editor Bill Ferrys. And Bill, this latest rhetoric out of Beijing is coming after President Trump said he planned to be very nice with China. Does it seem like the pendulum is swinging when it comes to the rhetoric around trade between these two superpowers? Good morning.

Good morning. I think absolutely it does look like the rhetoric is kind of shifting here. President Trump kind of, I think, offering a fig leaf here to Olive Branch to China to try to perhaps get

that really haven't begun started here. For a while, he was saying he just wanted to hear from Xi Jinping and get a call. There's been no call. China has kind of stuck to its guns so far and is now saying that the U.S. needs to dial back all of its unilateral tariffs

as basically a precursor to getting talks going. And interestingly enough, that comes with a lot of Xi Jinping's economic aids actually in Washington this week for all of those IMF World Bank meetings that are going on. How long can China hold out around a deal with the U.S., given the economic challenges that the country has been facing for really a couple of years now?

Yeah, they've had their own issues, a real estate crisis, kind of a lack of domestic consumption. They seem to be willing to let things continue to unfold. And I think they're betting that Donald Trump hits his pain point before Xi Jinping does. There may be some opportunities for lower level staff to engage in some informal talks. I mean, there's still time for things to happen in Washington.

But right now, you know, I think Beijing is trying to take a longer view. They do have the ability to unleash domestic stimulus to try to kind of overcome some of the barriers that are popping up from the lack of trade that's taking place.

But I think Donald Trump's comments also signal a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel in the sense that 145 percent tariffs are probably what we're not going to be staring at indefinitely. Yeah. And while these talks continue, Bill, at least this rhetoric goes around. We're getting some more insight, aren't we, into what the president's potential pain point might have been that they could have led him to sort of dial back this rhetoric around not just China, but Fed Chair Powell.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, the week started with the markets again taking a beating over the comments about both Powell and the lack of agreement with China and other countries. We've seen him dialing back the rhetoric on both of that. It's interesting. Some of that came after he met with the heads of companies like Walmart, Home Depot and Target.

Obviously, just like bread and butter retailers in the American economy who have been warning that the China tariffs and really the lack of trade taking place between the two countries was going to be a big problem. And that potentially you could be in a situation with empty store shelves in a few months after stores work through the inventory.

work through their inventories. That seems to have had an impact. We also think that he's continuing to hear from a lot of people on Wall Street, channeling perhaps through Scott Bessett, Howard Lutnick, people with really strong Wall Street ties. Just 30 seconds left, Bill. But while the president's dialing back with China, it's really fascinating to see him sort of ramping up the rhetoric and the pressure on Ukraine's president as Ukraine continues to come under fire from Russia.

Yeah. Donald Trump saying that he he thinks Zelensky has been a barrier to peace so far. He's been harder to deal with than Putin. The Zelensky and the Ukrainians coming back saying, listen, we agreed to a ceasefire 44 days ago. It hasn't happened. Russia hasn't complied. Russia overnight sending more than 70 missiles of various types and a drone swarm.

into Ukraine.

Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.