'Nonsensical' Trade War, Possible China Relief, Billionaire’s Tariff Pain

Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes. On today's podcast: (1) Confronted with fresh warnings from financial markets, business leaders and top advisers, President Donald Trump this week eased off on two of his frequent punching bags: Jerome Powell and China.He turned down his aggressive rhetoric a day after meeting with executives from Walmart Inc., Home Depot Inc. and Target Corp., who said import taxes could disrupt supply chains and raise the prices of goods, according to people familiar with the matter (2) Citadel founder Ken Griffin said President Donald Trump’s trade war has derailed business leaders’ plans to spend the next four years focusing on growth. Griffin had previously criticized Trump’s tariffs even though he said he agrees with the president’s assessment of the issues that the US faces. (3) President Trump has mused that he could announce tariff rates for countries, including China, “over the next two to three weeks.” At the same time, Trump said the deadline would ultimately depend on whether China engaged. (4) The UK isn’t in a hurry to strike a deal with the US that lowers the tariffs President Donald Trump’s administration has slapped on British imports, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said, highlighting that Britian is prepared to stand by red lines on safety standards. (5) BNP Paribas SA reported record income from equities trading as the French lender rode the global market volatility in the first quarter of this year. The French lender on Thursday reported a 42% surge in equities trading revenue to €1.19 billion ($1.35 billion) in the three months through March, beating even the most optimistic analyst estimate. It was also the highest in data compiled by Bloomberg and going back to 2007. (6) Companies moving office in London last year leased more expansion space than they have done since 2019, just the year before the coronavirus pandemic upended white-collar working practices and sent shock waves through commercial real estate markets. (7) Podcast conversation: Gyms Might Never Be the Same See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.