Duties, Trump: 'Markets will be very strong once they get used to it'. Sefcovic: 'EU open to fair deal with US'

China and Vietnam should 'counter unilateral bullying together'. Xi Jinping's word, according to official Chinese media reports. China and Vietnam, he said from Hanoi, "should strengthen the strategic focus, oppose unilateral bullying together" and "maintain the stability of the global free trade system and industrial and supply chains", Xi said in talks with the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party, To Lam, in statements reported by China's official Xinhua news agency, amid the war of tariffs and counter-duties between Beijing and Washington and after the Dragon repeatedly accused the US of "bullying".

Americans' fear of a coming recession is at its highest since the Covid days. This was revealed in a survey by the Federal Reserve.

Old mobile phones with prepaid cards and PCs with basic functions, not exactly the technological equipment one would expect for the European delegation leaving for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. Instead, according to sources quoted by the Financial Times, in order to avoid the risk of American spying on its systems, the EU Commission has invited commissioners and officials departing for the customary spring session of the Monetary Fund not to use smartphones and tablets that leave a digital 'trail'. Measures used for missions to Ukraine and China to escape Russian or Chinese intelligence surveillance that highlight the deterioration of EU-US relations, not only on the more contentious issue of tariffs but also on the issue of the treatment of big tech and defence. "They are worried that the US might get into the commission systems," said one official quoted by Ft. "The transatlantic alliance is over," noted another European official. Three commissioners will travel to Washington for the IMF and World Bank meetings from 21-26 April: Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economic Affairs; Maria Luís Albuquerque (Financial Services) and Jozef Síkela (Development Assistance).

A total of 45 cooperation agreements were signed by China and Vietnam at the start of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's Southeast Asian tour, which will also go to Malaysia and Vietnam in the coming days. China's aim is to strengthen trade relations and offset the impact of the tariff measures decided by Donald Trump for Chinese products amid the tariff war between the two superpowers. Xi met with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam. The cooperation agreements signed range from artificial intelligence to railways, from supply chains to joint maritime patrols. Understandings signed despite territorial disputes in the South China Sea. For Xi, Vietnam and China are facing 'a turning point' in their history and must 'move forward hand in hand'. And in an article, Lam assured that Vietnam is "always ready to cooperate with China" to ensure that cooperation between the two countries is "substantial, balanced and lasting".

The recent sell-off in US Treasury bonds 'shows a worrying decline in confidence in US policies, rather than a dysfunctional event - in the sense of a lack of liquidity - that requires Federal Reserve intervention'. This is the opinion of Janet Yellen, former Treasury secretary and former Fed chair, expressed in an interview with Cnbc. The dynamic suggests 'that investors are beginning to avoid dollar assets, questioning the safety of the foundation of the global financial system, namely US Treasuries'. The risk of recession, she went on to say, 'has increased', but 'I would not go so far as to predict one at this time'. According to Yellen, the Fed 'will be reluctant to cut interest rates' given the tariffs, 'which create uncertainty and a more difficult situation' for the central bank.

For the first time, Nvidia will entirely produce a supercomputer for artificial intelligence in the United States. Nvidia will manufacture and test its Blackwell chips in Arizona and its supercomputers in Texas, according to a statement on its blog post. Nvidia is working with Foxconn for the factory in Houston and with Wistron - a Taiwanese company, like Foxconn - for one in Dallas. The intention is to start production in about 12-15 months. Within four years, Nvidia plans to produce up to USD 500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. Nvidia's stock gained 1.3 per cent today.

China has suspended exports of critical minerals and magnets, which are essential for the manufacture of cars as well as drones, robots and missiles, threatening to stop supplies of crucial components for car manufacturers, aerospace, war and semiconductor industries. The New York Times writes this, reporting on shipments stopped at various Chinese ports pending new regulations. In the midst of the back-and-forth between Washington and Beijing with duties and counter-duties, once in force the new system could permanently block supplies for some companies, including American military contractors, the newspaper points out.

China attaches "the highest priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy" to Vietnam to which it will give "strong support on the path to socialism, suited to its national conditions". President Xi Jinping, meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam in Hanoi as secretary of the Communist Party of China, said the two countries will 'promote high-quality comprehensive strategic cooperation to achieve greater progress in six key areas: mutual political trust, security cooperation, practical cooperation, people's entrenchment, multilateral coordination and management of differences'.

To avoid the risk of espionage, the European Commission has decided to distribute disposable telephones and laptops to its officials on missions to the United States, a precaution hitherto reserved for trips to China. This was reported by the Financial Times online, citing sources within the EU executive. Commissioners and officials attending next week's IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington received the new guidelines similar to those for missions to Ukraine and China, where the use of normal devices is not allowed to curb the risk of Russian and Chinese surveillance

The Spanish Minister of Economy and Trade, Carlos Cuerpo, is flying to Washington. He has announced a face-to-face meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for tomorrow, and also on the agenda are talks with the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, and with US businessmen who want to expand operations in Spain. The number one objective is to consolidate bilateral economic relations with one of Spain's most important partners, the minister pointed out in statements to journalists relayed by El Pais on the day of Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic's mission to Washington to kick off negotiations with the White House on tariffs. Cuerpo insisted that in his talks with Bessent he was not aiming to address the issue of duties, a dossier that - he said - is the exclusive competence of the EU Trade Commissioner and on which Spain is absolutely aligned with Brussels. "Tomorrow I will have an institutional meeting with my US counterpart in which we will address all the main bilateral issues, with the aim of strengthening relations between Spain and the US, which have grown in recent years and are now in one of the best phases," the minister said, speaking of a meeting "coordinated with the Commission's visit with which we are in continuous contact to align European messages and support the Commissioner's work." Cuerpo's mission, however, comes at a delicate moment. According to the minister, Trump's decision for a 'truce' on "reciprocal duties" is an "open door" to negotiate. "We have a lot to protect," insisted the Minister, according to whom "it is an important moment to see if we are able, together, to arrive at a negotiated solution that would be of great benefit to both sides." The mission also comes after Bessent's criticism of the meeting between the Spanish premier, Pedro Sanchez, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

"We don't expect a recession this year". White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said this in an interview with Fox. (

Opec cuts its estimates for global oil demand for 2025 and 2026 following Donald Trump's tariffs. Demand has been cut by around 100,000 barrels per day for both this year and next