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On Wednesday, the New York based US Court of International trade ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose the vast majority of his global tariffs. Major trade changes, like tariffs, normally need congressional approval but so far Trump has been bypassing that by invoking the International Emergency Powers Act of 1977. The bipartisan three-judge panel ruled that the act did not give him the power to impose his import taxes. However, by Thursday evening, a federal court put a temporary hold on the ruling allowing the tariffs to remain in place for now…

With it hard to catch a breath amidst constant change and the uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s on-paused-and-off-again-tariffs I want to take step back to consider the bigger picture.

For many, 2025 in the financial markets has so far been defined by Donald Trump’s economic policies. Now, however, may be the time to start thinking of his tariff strategy as being focused on deliberation rather than liberation. The recently deferred 50% tariffs placed on the EU could serve as a helpful case study to understand the use of tariffs to get people to the negotiating table.

Last week kicked off with the UK and the EU reaching a new agreement on post-Brexit relations. The deal will add an estimated extra £9bn to the UK economy.

According to Nick Thomas-Symonds, the UK’s chief negotiator. it marks “a new chapter in our relationship with the EU.” The major parts of the deal include:

There’s no denying that global markets are facing considerable uncertainty at the moment. Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ on 2 April sent shockwaves across the world, and although ongoing negotiations have brought some relief, at the time of writing, the universal 10% tariff on imports to the US remains in place, along with additional country- and sector-specific measures.

In general, tariffs aren’t good for markets…

It is fair to say, over the last few years, the UK stock market has not been seen as that attractive or compelling for numerous reasons. But recently, we have seen a very definite uptick in interest in UK property assets…

US stocks posted strong gains last week following the news that the US and China had agreed to lower tariffs and put a 90-day pause on their trade war. The agreement means US tariffs on Chinese goods will come down from 145% to 30%, and China’s levies on US imports will go down from 125% to 30% while further negotiations take place. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also pledged to invest $600bn in the US. Details of most of the specific commitments are vague, but $142bn is set aside for arms, $20bn for AI data centres and $14.2bn for energy equipment and gas turbines. This news, combined with the tariff pause, has seen most American markets recover from their “Liberation Day” induced losses.

But it wasn’t all good news…