New Zealand's central bank has cut interest rates as it looks to counter the risks of US tariffs.

On Wednesday, it lowered its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 3.5%.

Policymakers said they moved "as the extent and effect of tariff policies become clearer".

The country was hit by a 10% tariff on its imports to the US over the weekend which Wellington has said it will not retaliate against.

Low interest rates generally help to stimulate an economy, as it reduces the cost of borrowing for individuals and businesses.

Image source, Getty Images

A US senate hearing got testy yesterday when Trump trade representative Jamieson Greer was questioned about tariffs on Australian products.

Citing a free trade agreement between the two countries, Democratic Senator Mark Warner asked Greer why Australia had been "whacked" by the 10% blanket fee.

Greer answered that the fee addressed the US trade deficit, to which Warner replied: "Sir, you are a much smarter person than that answer".

Annabelle Liang
Business reporter, Singapore

In just over an hour, US levies on many China-made imports are set to rise to 104%.

Some products like cars, semiconductors, steel and aluminium will face lower taxes.

Beijing has shown no signs of backing down, as it pledges to place its own taxes on American imports.

But some analysts say the tariffs will hit China hard, forcing it to restructure its economy and rely heavily on domestic consumption.

In reality, any tariff upwards of 35% will wipe out all the profits that Chinese businesses make when exporting to the US or South East Asia, said Dan Wang from the Eurasia Group consultancy.

"Any tariff above that is only symbolic," she said, citing industry figures.

She also warned that China is likely to miss its annual growth target of around 5% if its economy is closed off to trade. "Growth is going to be much lower since exports contributed to 20% to 50% of growth since the Covid pandemic."

Tim Waterer from brokerage KCM Trade said import taxes of 104% will not be "sustainable [for China], given the export dynamics of the Chinese economy".

"In the short term they can handle it, but to weather these tariff levels over the longer term would require China to make structural changes such as rebalancing their economy," he added.

The White House has confirmed that cheap Chinese small parcels will no longer be exempt from tariffs starting 2 May, according to an amendment to Trump's executive order published today.

These items will be subject to a duty rate of 90% of their value or $75 per item, which will increase to $150 after 1 June.

Previously, goods from China and Hong Kong valued at less than $800 were given the duty free de minimis treatment - meaning they were allowed to enter the US tariff-free.

The change will most noticeably affect shipments from fast fashion brands like Shein and Temu.

Louise Loo, a lead economist at the Oxford Economics company, has told the BBC that "retaliation and counter-retaliation from the Chinese are almost a given at this stage".

The Singapore-based economist says China's retaliatory measures are likely to be proportionate, and suggests that Beijing is "leaving the door open to trade talks".

"We think between Trump, Xi, and... Powell [Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States], Trump will likely blink first," she adds.

"The worst case scenario - if bilateral trade flows completely disappear between the two - would cost China 3% of GDP," Ms Loo adds. "It might not have the fiscal means to completely offset that this year, but the longer term trend is that China’s trade has continued to penetrate into other emerging markets, which will mitigate that fallout."

This "worst case scenario" seen by experts as being unlikely at this stage.

Image source, Getty Images

Asian countries have largely diverged in their reactions to the import fees. While China has hit back with retaliatory tariffs, others have hit the phones to negotiate.

Trump shared on Truth Social that he’d had a “great call” with South Korea’s acting president Han Duck-soo, posting that , externalthe two “have the confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries”.

He claimed “China also wants to make a deal, badly, but they don’t know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen!”

Meanwhile, Reuters reports India is also in talks with the White House and could implement a cut on US products imported into India of up to $23bn (£17.9bn) in an attempt to lower its own fees for sending products to the US.

"Beijing is standing firm in the face of these latest threats from Donald Trump" and accusing the US of being "a bunch of bullies", says the BBC's China correspondent Stephen McDonell.

China is expecting 104% tariffs from the US in a matter of hours, but it has said that it won't budge on tariffs.

Click the video to hear more.

Shares in mainland China and Hong Kong are trading lower as President Trump stays firm on his tariff threat.

The Shanghai Composite lost 1.8% while the Hang Seng fell by 2.8%.

China has vowed to retaliate against US tariffs, which will take effect in the next few hours.

"The escalation of trade tensions between the US and China will no doubt lead to a sharper decline in China's exports, with spillovers to domestic investment, the labour market, consumption and confidence," says Qian Wang, Asia Pacific chief economist from the Vanguard investment firm.

Image source, Getty Images

Shares in Taiwan have fallen by more than 1% on Wednesday.

This came after President Trump said he told Taiwanese chip giant TSMC that it would face a 100% tax if it doesn't build more factories in the US.

He also criticised the Biden administration for providing a grant to TSMC, the world's largest maker of advanced semiconductors.

TSMC shares were broadly flat in early trading, while shares of Apple supplier Foxconn lost 3%.

The Taiwanese government has activated a $15bn (£11.7bn) stabilisation fund to support its financial market, which has slumped on tariff expectations.

South Korea has moved to support its car industry which it says will take a "significant" hit from US tariffs.

Emergency support measures announced by the government on Wednesday include funding for carmakers, as well as tax cuts and subsidies to boost domestic demand.

It comes a day before the US is set to put a 25% levy on all foreign car imports.

The US is the largest export market for South Korean carmakers like Hyundai and Kia. Businesses in the country exported almost $35bn (£27.3bn) worth of vehicles to the world's largest economy last year.

Image source, Getty Images

Pharmaceuticals were exempted from the sweeping tariffs President Trump announced last week.

But Trump has been saying that he will impose pharmaceutical-specific tariffs, claiming that it would help shift drug production to the US.

Much of pharmaceutical supply chains are based in China, India and Europe.

Experts have warned that despite the exemption of pharmaceuticals from Trump's tariffs (for now), tariffs on other materials involved in drug production can affect the cost of drugs for consumers.

President Trump is about 50 minutes into his speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington DC.

He just told the audience that the US is "very shortly" going to announce a "major tariff" on pharmaceuticals.

He claims the move will pressure pharma companies to "leave China" and build manufacturing capacities in the United States - in order to sell to the US market.

Trump did not mention any specific details.

The White House has published a document confirming that China's 34% tariff rate - set to come into effect in a few hours - will be increased to 84%.

Chinese exports to the US had already been subjected to 20% tariffs. This means that the total tariffs on Chinese goods will reach a whopping 104%.

The move comes "in recognition of the fact that the PRC has announced that it will retaliate against the United States", the White House statement reads.

After Trump unveiled a 34% so-called "reciprocal" tariff on Chinese goods, China slapped its own 34% counter-tariff on US goods.

Shares in Australia have also fallen on Wednesday.

The country's benchmark ASX 200 is trading 2.1% lower.

If this continues, the index would lose almost all its gains made a day earlier.

Shares in Japan fell in early trading on Wednesday.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was about 3% lower.

The index had jumped by 6% a day earlier, after heavy losses at the start of the week.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi was broadly flat.

We are waiting for stock markets in Asia to open, starting from 01:00 BST.

Major indices in the region saw steep falls on Monday, but recouped some of the losses on Tuesday.

Here is how they closed:

• Nikkei 225 (Japan) +6%
• Kospi (South Korea) +0.3%
• Shanghai Composite (China) +1.6%
• Hang Seng (Hong Kong) +1.5%
• Nifty 50 (India) +1.7%
• ASX 200 (Australia) +2.3%

US President Donald Trump is currently speaking at a Republican dinner in Washington DC, and he tells the audience his tariffs are "going to be legendary, in a positive way".

Trump says that representatives from Japan are on their way to negotiate tariffs.

"We're making deals and people are paying tariffs, countries are paying tariffs," Trump says to the crowd, noting the 104% tariff on China is just hours away.

Wendy Cutler, Vice President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, spoke with the BBC earlier about the impact of tariffs on the US-China relationship.

"Things are going to get worse before they get better," she said.

Cutler said she was sceptical the US would make it to the negotiating table with China.

She said even if they do, it would be "tough" for the Americans.

Image source, Getty Images

In less than four hours, the next phase of Trump's sweeping tariff plan will go into effect.

Included in this round is a massive increase in levies against China.

The White House reiterated that China will face a total of 104% tariffs from midnight local time.

Meanwhile, China is standing firm, accusing Trump of acting like a bully and refusing to rescind its own retaliatory tariffs on the US.

But it's not just China and the US, the two biggest economies in the world, who are locked in a trade war.

Some 60 other countries, dubbed by the Trump administration as the "worst offenders", will also get hit with higher tariff rates from 00:01 EDT.

This comes after the 10% levy Trump ordered on nearly all of America's trading partners last week.

Markets across the globe have lost trillions of dollars as investors react to uncertainty and instability. While US markets rose at opening today, by closing bell it had wiped off those gains and once again finished in the red.

Now, the world is waiting to see what happens when Trump's new tariffs kick in.

Stick with us and we'll bring you the latest.

With the US stock market ending another day at a loss, investors are facing "a crisis of confidence", according to one financial analyst.

"The rollercoaster ride of the last few days demonstrates the level to which rumour and speculation can move the market in such a tense environment,” Bankrate's Stephen Kates said.

After closing low on Monday, the US index S&P 500 had a rally on Tuesday morning. By the afternoon, however, that recovery had been chipped away.

Kates said the news of additional tariffs on China "threw cold water on the market rally".

“We are still likely to see large and persistent volatility in the coming days and weeks as new information comes out,” he said.