“keep your head while others are losing theirs” Rudyard Kipling

1. Trump: 10% Tariffs Across the Board. ‘Worst’ Trade Partners Will Pay More — Trump presented a large chart listing the specific tariff levels for certain countries, which can be seen below. These include a 34% tariff on goods from China, 46% on those from Vietnam, and 32% on those from Taiwan. Cambodia has the highest tariff rate of any country at 49%. Goods from the European Union will be levied at a 20% rate. “You know, you think of European Union, very friendly. They rip us off. It’s so sad to see. It’s so pathetic,” he said.

2. US Services Index Falters as Employment Shrinks Most Since 2023 — The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of services dropped to 50.8 from 53.5 a month earlier, according to data released Thursday. The figure was weaker than all but one estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Readings above 50 signal growth. A month earlier, the employment index advanced to the highest level since the end of 2021. A Wednesday report showed private-sector hiring accelerated in March by more than projected in a fairly broad advance.
A sustained trend of weaker employment readings may raise concerns of a broader slowdown in a labor market that has been the economy’s bedrock. Meanwhile, the ISM prices-paid index eased slightly to a still-elevated 60.9 in March.
3. Trump Pauses ‘Reciprocal’ Tariffs, but Hits China Harder — Trump said Wednesday that his 10%, baseline tariff on virtually all imports would stay in effect. But he implemented a 90-day pause for the higher, so-called reciprocal rates he had announced a week earlier on nations the administration views as “bad actors” on trade—except for China. In an early afternoon social-media post, Trump wrote that he had raised the tariff imposed on China to 125%, “effective immediately.” An administration official said that Canada and Mexico would remain exempt, for now, from the 10% baseline global tariff. While America’s neighbors remain subject to plans to impose 25% tariffs on most imports to the U.S. for what Trump says is their role in fueling the fentanyl crisis, an exemption is still in place for these levies on autos and many other goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
4. Consumer Sentiment Sinks, Approaching Three-year Low with Inflation Worries Highest Since 1981 — The University of Michigan’s gauge of consumer sentiment fell to 50.8% in a preliminary April reading from 57.0% in the prior month. It is the lowest level since June 2022. Sentiment has dropped for four straight months and is down 30% from December. Federal Reserve economists believe that if consumers expect high inflation, it will be easier for firms to raise prices, leading to higher price pressure.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

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