Tommy Lumby
Business data journalist

Global trade tariffs continued to rock UK and European markets this week, although losses were smaller than the first week after Trump’s announcements.

The FTSE 100, which tracks the UK’s largest listed companies, finished down 1.1% over the week on Friday, compared with 7.0% the previous week.

The share index had closed well down on Monday after Trump’s 10% baseline tariffs came into effect over the weekend.

It partially recovered later in the week, helped by a surge on Thursday after Trump paused the heftier tariffs brought in on the countries he deemed “the worst offenders” against the US.

It was a similar story for some of the major European stock markets. Germany’s Dax closed 1.3% down this week, a more modest fall than the 8.1% drop last week.

France’s Cac 40 fell 2.3%, less than the 8.1% fall last week.

Image source, Getty Images

Following a further increase on American exports to China earlier, let's take a quick look back at how we got here.

1 February: Trump announces a 10% tariff rate on almost all Chinese goods entering the US

4 February:China responds with various tariffs of 10-15% on certain US products

4 March: US doubles the tariff rate on Chinese goods to 20%

2 April:Trump announces a further 34% tariff rate on Chinese imports as part of his sweeping global tariff scheme, which, taking into account the existing tariff rate, bringing the total to 54%. China responds with a 34% tariff on most US goods

7 April:Trump threatens an extra 50% on China if it does not withdraw 34% counter-tariff - bringing the total to 84%

9 April: China says it will impose 84% tariffs on US goods from 10 April, up from 34%. Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs come into force, with China's tariffs revised to 84% - bringing the total to 104%. Trump later says tariffs on China will go up to 125%, which brings the total including the levy from February up to 145%

11 April: Beijing increases its tariffs on goods from the US up to 125% and says it won't respond to further increases

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

It's an extremely wet, rainy day here at the White House, where this morning I joined several other reporters on a quick sprint from the gate to the safety of the dry briefing room.

While he's been active on Truth Social, we haven't seen or heard from Donald Trump directly yet today.

He was not scheduled to even be home today, having planned a visit to Walter Reed Hospital for his annual physical. At the moment, however, he still has not left the White House.

From Walter Reed, he's supposed to head directly to Joint Base Andrews to begin his trip his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

At 13:00 EST (17:00 GMT), however, his Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will host a briefing here at the White House, which is likely to focus heavily on tariffs and the economy again.

Stay with us for more updates.

Image source, Getty Images

European Central Bank (ECB) president, Christine Lagarde, has said Europe's finance markets are operating in an "orderly fashion" despite fluctuating activity over the last few days.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Lagarde also shared that the ECB was looking at measures to support financial stability, adding that the bank was prepared to use "adequate instruments and tools" if needed to "procure price stability".

Europe's key stock markets have undergone a week marked by chaos following US President Donald Trump's newly imposed tariffs, with Germanys DAX index opening on Monday at nearly 10% down.

Michael Race
Senior economics and business reporter

Stock markets across Europe have closed for the week. After a few days of volatility, Friday was broadly flat.

The FTSE 100 index of the UK's largest firms was in positive territory most of Friday, ending the day up 0.64%.

France's Cac 40 and Germany's Dax spent most of the day in the red, ending down slightly at 0.27% and 0.94% respectively.

Tariffs make US consumers turn from 'anxious to petrified' - analystpublished at 16:51 British Summer Time 11 April

16:51 BST 11 April

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

There’s a lot of focus on how Americans are feeling about the economy right now.

In two words? Not good.

“Consumers have spiralled from anxious to petrified,” Pantheon Macroeconomics analysts write after the latest report from the University of Michigan, which has been tracking this question for decades.

Image source, Getty Images

Its index of consumer sentiment fell for a fourth straight month, plunging 11% from March and more than 30% since December, “amid growing worries about trade war developments that have oscillated over the course of the year”, survey director Joanne Hsu reported.

The declines were “pervasive and unanimous, across age, income, education, geographic region, and political affiliation”, she said.

Expectations for the economy in the months ahead have sunk to the lowest level since 1980; worries about unemployment have hit the highest since 2009.

Another number many will be watching worriedly: the expected inflation rate is for 6.7% this year – the highest since 1981.

The US economy runs on consumer spending. So the big question right now is whether the drop in sentiment signals an equally sharp drop in purchases or not.

Image source, Reuters

As the US's trading partners react to his tariff scheme, is Donald Trump any closer to realising his goals on trade?

Here's a quick look at where five of his key ambitions now stand.

Better trade deals

Trump has previously criticised countries for taking advantage of the US. While many of America's trading partners have 90 days to strike an agreement before higher tariffs are imposed, the White House has said leaders have already reached out to discuss deals and trade concessions.

Boosting US industry

The various tariff moves make it difficult for businesses to predict what the final tariff levels will be and which industries will receive the greatest protections. It's likely businesses will wait for the dust to settle before making any big commitments.

Facing-off with China

A trade war with China is now underway, with Trump previously accusing the nation of taking advantage of the US. Even if this showdown is one Trump wants, picking a fight with the second-largest economy in the world, with military power to match, comes at enormous risk.

Raising revenue

If Trump sticks with his so-called baseline tariffs, plus the additional levies on certain imports and larger ones on China, he's going to get more tariff revenue – at least until Americans switch to more domestic production, when the tariff money gusher could turn to a trickle.

Lower prices for US consumers

The US president has promised his trade policy will help lower prices for consumers, but the consensus among economists is that new tariffs will drive up consumer prices.

• Read more from our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher: Trump had five tariff goals - has he achieved any of them?

Faarea Masud
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle firmTesla has suspended taking new orders on its Chinese website for some car models.

Chinese consumers are not able to order the Model S and Model X, made in the US.

Tesla did not explicitly state the move was due to the escalating trade war.

The two models accounted for less 0.5% of Tesla's deliveries of more than 657,000 vehicles last year.

Tesla has a plant in Shanghai that makes Model 3 and Model Y cars for sale in China and for exporting to markets like Europe.

China’s own electric car firms, including BYD, are among Tesla’s biggest rivals in the EV market.

The US dollar falls to a three-year lowpublished at 16:11 British Summer Time 11 April

16:11 BST 11 April

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

A lot of people's attention has been caught by the US dollar falling to a three-year low.

Why?

For US firms bringing in goods from overseas, it adds to the hit from the tariffs by effectively making imports even more expensive.

Secondly, it’s not the way things were supposed to go, in part because traditionally during times of market turbulence, the dollar has been a safe asset, and its value has increased.

So why is it falling?

The dollar rose after the pandemic because US economic growth was relatively strong. It jumped again last autumn, on hopes Trump might extend that trend.

But tariffs have shifted that calculus. Analysts are now widely expecting US growth to weaken.

Tariffs have also stirred political angst and a sharp rise in the interest rates that investors in US government debt are demanding.

That has raised speculation about whether the drop might signal a more far-reaching turn away from the US - and away from the dollar, which has long functioned as the world's reserve currency.

“It does at least bring up the risk that investors more broadly are concerned about US assets," John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics, says.

We've been hearing a bit more from the meeting between European Union finance ministers in Poland's capital Warsaw. As we were reporting earlier, they've been meeting to discuss the impact of tariffs on the economy.

Ireland’s Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who is chairing the meeting, says the EU will use the 90-day pause on tariffs to engage with the US in a “constructive way” and find a better way to move forward.

Image source, Getty Images

Also in Warsaw, European Trade and Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis says the EU is “willing” to work with the US on “mutually acceptable solutions” but stands ready to “defend our economy”.

The EU will have a further meeting if negotiations with the US do not work, German Finance Minister Jörg Kukies warns, while his Polish counterpart Andrzej Domanski says the EU will need a “truly European answer” to tariffs if negotiations break down.

Image source, Reuters

The stock market as a whole is made up of the prices of many thousands of companies, all around the world.

As companies grow, they issue shares. For example, the largest companies in the UK have shares which are bought and sold on the London Stock Exchange.

Their collective performance is often quoted in a blizzard of numbers.

Many people's initial reaction to "the markets" is that they are not directly affected, because they do not invest money.

Yet there are millions of people with a pension - either private or through work - who will see their savings (in what is known as a defined contribution pension) invested by pension schemes. The value of their savings pot is influenced by the performance of these investments.

So big rises or falls can affect your pension, but the advice is to remember that pension savings, like any investments, are usually a long-term bet.

• Read more: How does it affect me if share prices fall?

Image source, EPA

The constantly shifting US tariff position can be quite confusing.

But fear not, here's a quick rundown for you on where they currently stand:

• China is facing the highest rate - with a 125% duty levied on Chinese goods imported to the US. The White House has said that tariffs on China would reach 145% for some products due to a pre-existing 20% levy imposed on those producing the drug fentanyl
• A 90-day pause was announced earlier in the week for countries hit by higher US tariffs. In a dramatic change of policy, just hours after levies against roughly 60 of America's trading partners kicked in, Trump said he was authorising a universal "lowered reciprocal tariff of 10%"
• However, the so-called baseline rate never applied to Canada and Mexico - key trading partners of the US - and a White House official has said neither is in line to receive the 10% baseline tariff now

• The European Union was in line for a 20% tariff rate, but saw that reduced to 10% along with the majority of countries
• There are specific tariffs targeting cars and car parts coming into the US, at 25%, and a further 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports

Michael Race
Senior economics and business reporter

To describe this week as a rollercoaster ride is probably clichéd and overused, but the markets have been yo-yoing.

Here's the current picture across Europe and the US:

Europe

• The UK's FTSE 100 is up 0.68%
• Germany's Dax is down 1.04%
• The Cac 40 in France is down 0.24%

United States

• S&P 500 is down 0.45%
• Dow Jones is down 0.55%
• Nasdaq is down 0.64%

As we've been reporting, Wall Street's main three indexes have opened down as tariffs continue to cause global stock fluctuations.

Earlier today, the main European markets were in the red while there was also turbulence in Asia's markets.

Watch the moment the bell sounded at the New York Stock Exchange below:

Why the US bonds market is the one to watchpublished at 14:48 British Summer Time 11 April

14:48 BST 11 April

Michael Race
Senior economics and business reporter

While the stock markets have been volatile this week, it is the US bond market which has been said to have caught President Trump's attention before he announced a pause in some of the higher tariffs for 90 days.

The US bond market has been rocked by the introduction of tariffs with investors dumping US government debt yesterday.

Governments sell bonds - essentially IOUs - to raise money from investors, and in return, they pay interest.

Image source, Getty Images

During times of global economic turbulence, investors usually look to buy US bonds as they feel they are a safe investment (safe haven) for their money and the US economy can be relied upon.

However, in a sign of a loss of confidence in the US economy and fears inflation potentially caused by tariffs could hit returns, investors have instead been selling them off.

That means that the US government has to pay higher rates to borrow money. This eased slightly on Thursday but today has gone up again. Borrowing costs over a 10-year period are now at their highest point since tariffs have been announced at 4.52%.

This poses a big problem for the US as rising interest on bonds ultimately means higher costs for companies to borrow - if businesses can't get access to credit, that can halt economic growth and lead to job losses over time.

The US markets have opened down as uncertainty over Donald Trump's tariffs continues to cause stock fluctuations.

The ringing of the bell at the New York Stock Exchange came hours after China retaliated with 125% tariffs on US goods.

Trump yesterday ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese imports, effectively raising them to 145% on some items.

The deepening trade war comes as the two countries exchanged tit-for-tat levies since Trump announced his sweeping global tariffs earlier this month.

Michael Race
Senior economics and business reporter

Ding, ding, ding!

The bell has sounded on Wall Street and trading in the world's biggest economy is open for the final day of what has been a rocky week for the US to say the least.

All three main indexes have opened down:

• S&P 500 - 0.29%
• Dow Jones - 0.34%
• Nasdaq - 0.24%

US President Donald Trump has just posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, to say the US is "doing really well on our tariff policy".

"Very exciting for America, and the world!!! It is moving along quickly," he writes.

These are the first comments from the US president since China retaliated with 125% tariffs on US goods.

Michael Race
Senior economics and business reporter

Attention turns to Wall Street as the US stock markets will be opening shortly at 9:30 local time in New York (14:30 BST).

Despite a rebound on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump announced the pause of some higher tariffs on imports to America, the gains didn't extend on Thursday.

All of Wall Street's main indexes finished down as investors digested the escalation of tariffs on China and also the blanket 10% on other countries.

• S&P 500 -3.5%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average -2.5%
• Nasdaq Composite -4.3%.

Stay with us for the latest after the bell.

As we've mentioned, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs. China, however, faces a 145% levy on some of its goods imported to the US.

The White House has said the change of course was all part of the president's plan to gain leverage in negotiations, but it initially took many by surprise.

The BBC's Bernd Debusmann Jr unpacks the twists and turns of Trump's tariffs moves in this short video explainer: