Taiwan Economic Upswing Accelerates Near 8% After Exports Surge
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Taiwan's economy saw its fastest growth in four years, lifted by a surge in exports to a record ahead of President Donald Trump's Aug. 1 tariff deadline.
Gross domestic product expanded 7.96% in the second quarter from a year earlier, compared with 5.48% in the previous three months, according to a statement by the statistics bureau in Taipei on Thursday. That exceeded every forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts, whose median estimate was 5.7%.
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This was the largest number of governor dissents since 1993. 05:28 PM BST Stocks rocked by tariffs and weak US jobs data The FTSE 100 sank on Friday after Donald Trump announced tariffs on dozens of trading partners, and weak US jobs data fuelled concerns as to the strength of the US economy. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.7pc, at 9,068.58. The FTSE 250 closed 1.2pc lowe, at 21,699.34, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.6pc, at 757.16. For the week, the FTSE 100 fell 0.6pc, the FTSE 250 was down 1.9pc and the AIM All-Share lost 2.6pc. Thanks for joining us on this blog. That's all for today. 05:01 PM BST Trump's latest tariffs could cause global rate cuts, says economist Donald Trump's decision to impose the steepest American tariffs since the 1930s could fuel interest rate cuts globally, a former Indian central bank governor has said. 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He added: 'I'm not going to go deep into our strategy here, mostly because we're pretty confident on the current plan, but we will do whatever it takes to make sure that the president can continue to rectify the trade deficit and change the global trading system.' 04:12 PM BST Inflation still more concerning than unemployment, says US rate setter The risk of high inflation is a 'much greater' than the risk to employment, Raphael Bostic, the Atlantic Fed president, has said. He told CNBC that there is still a lot of strength in the labour market. 'I am still not hearing from businesses that they're on the verge of letting go a lot of people,' he said. 04:09 PM BST Fed dissenters say worsening jobs market behind their vote The two Federal Reserve governors who favoured an interest rate cut this week have said they did so largely due to rising concerns about the job market. Michelle Bowman said: 'With economic growth slowing this year and signs of a less dynamic labour market, I saw it as appropriate to begin gradually moving our moderately restrictive policy stance toward a neutral setting. 'In my view, this action would have proactively hedged against a further weakening in the economy and the risk of damage to the labour market.' Christopher Waller said separately that 'with underlying inflation near target and the upside risks to inflation limited, we should not wait until the labour market deteriorates before we cut'. Mr Waller added: 'I believe that the wait-and-see approach is overly cautious, and, in my opinion, does not properly balance the risks to the outlook and could lead to policy falling behind the curve.' 04:02 PM BST Global stock markets in the red after Trump tariff move Donald Trump's latest wave of tariffs on exports from dozens of trading partners sent global stock markets tumbling today. As Trump pressed ahead with plans for the highest tariff rates since the early 1930s, Switzerland, 'stunned' by 39pc tariffs, sought more talks, as did India, hit with a 25pc rate. New tariffs also include a 35pc duty on many goods from Canada, 50pc for Brazil, 20pc for Taiwan. Taiwan said its rate was 'temporary' and it expected to reach a lower figure. Global shares stumbled, with Europe's Stoxx 600 down 1.9pc on the day and was on track for its biggest weekly drop since Mr Trump announced his first major wave of tariffs on April 2. The FTSE 100 is down 0.8pc, while Germany's Dax dropped 2.3pc and France's Cac 30 lost 2.8pc. Wall Street has also spent the afternoon sharply down, with the Nasdaq losing 2.1pc, the S&P 500 dropping 1.6pc and the Dow Jones falling 1.3pc. 03:56 PM BST US jobs slowdown caused by Trump tariffs, investment giant says Donald Trump's trade war is responsible for the fall in jobs being created in the US, an S&P 500-listed investment manager has said. Blerina Uruci, chief US economist for T Rowe Price, said: 'There was a clear, significant, immediate, tariff effect on the labour market and employment growth essentially stalled, as we were dealing with so much uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and for tariffs.' 03:42 PM BST Cost of US government borrowing falls as markets bet on rate cut The cost of US government borrowing fell this afternoon after markets dramatically increased bets on a September interest rate cut. The yield (effectively the interest rate) on 10-year US Treasury notes fell to 4.251pc from 4.375pc yesterday. Shorter-term two-year notes fell to 3.758pc from 3.964pc yesterday. Currently markets suggest there is an 84.4pc change of a September rate cut, up from 39.5pc yesterday. 'What had looked like a Teflon labour market showed some scratches [today], as tariffs continue to work their way through the economy,' said Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. 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Scott Lincicome, a trade economist at the Cato Institute in Washington DC, said: 'At this point, it's impossible to determine the precise effects of US tariffs on the labour market – the US economy is massive, dynamic, and services-oriented, so tariffs on imported goods might not have a large, direct, and immediate effect. 'But here's what we do know: US tariff rates and trade policy uncertainty are at historic highs, meaning not only hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes being paid mainly by American companies and consumers but also more economic uncertainty and slower growth, hiring and investment than would otherwise occur. 'And we've seen a recent slew of economic data confirming that this economic gravity does, indeed, still exist.' 02:58 PM BST Trump's trade war is failing to 'bring jobs back home' Donald Trump's trade war is failing to bring manufacturing jobs 'back home' to the US, a leading economist has said. Julian Jessop, a fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: 'Tariff uncertainty and the higher costs of imports are at least partly to blame for the slowdown in the US labour market. 'In particular, manufacturing lost another 11,000 jobs in July, making 37,000 in total in the past three months. So much for 'bringing jobs back home'!' 02:57 PM BST Dollar drops 1.1pc as fears grow over US economy The dollar fell on Friday after data showed that US employers added fewer jobs in July than economists had expected. Meanwhile, last month's jobs gains were revised sharply lower, leading traders to ramp up bets on how many times the Federal Reserve is likely to cut rates this year. 'It's worse than anyone expected and the kicker is that downward revision for the prior month too,' said Helen Given, director of trading at Money USA in Washington. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the pound and the euro, is down 1.09pc on the day at 98.94. 02:50 PM BST Wall Street plunges on trade war fears Wall Street opened sharply down this afternoon as new US tariffs on dozens of trading partners and Amazon's unimpressive earnings weighed on sentiment. Meanwhile a weaker jobs report added to worries. Hours ahead of the tariff deadline, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing duties ranging from 10pc to 41pc on US imports from countries including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan. A US Labor Department report showed the American economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, pointing to a sharp moderation in the labour market amid trade uncertainties. The unemployment rate stood at 4.2pc, in line with expectations. 'This was a pretty disappointing report ... markets are getting a little bit more worried about the state of the labour market in the aftermath of today's report,' said BeiChen Lin, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments. The S&P 500 fell by 1.7pc, the Dow by 1.5pc and the Nasdaq by 2.2pc. The Vix, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, jumped to a more than two-week high and is currently up 15.2pc. 02:47 PM BST Powell 'is going to regret holding rates steady' Jerome Powell will regret holding interest rates steady earlier this week, a financial planner has claimed. Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group in Virginia, said: 'Powell is going to regret holding rates steady this week. September is a lock for a rate cut and it might even be a [half a percentage] point move to make up the lost time. In a briefing on its rate decision, the Fed said: 'The unemployment rate remains low, and labour market conditions remain solid. Inflation remains somewhat elevated. 'The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2pc over the longer run. Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate. 02:37 PM BST Bank predicts no US rate cuts despite hit to jobs market The world's oldest merchant bank has said that it still believes the Fed will avoid cutting rates at all this year. Atakan Bakiskan, US economist at Berenberg, said: 'The July US nonfarm payroll report provided some ammunition for those expecting a Fed rate cut in September. 'The -258,000 downward revisions to employment gains in May and June revealed that a highly uncertain macro environment and the highest tariff rates since the 1930s have taken a significant toll on the US job market. 'Considering the benchmark revisions set to take place in early 2026, the US economy may have actually shed jobs – supporting Fed Governor Waller's case for rate cuts. 'The narrative of a 'slow to hire, but slow to fire' labour market still seems to hold. Businesses are less eager to hire, but layoff rates remain near historical lows. 'With immigration growth easing, labour supply is expanding at a much slower pace this year. 'Combined with softening labour demand, this still points to a somewhat balanced job market. 'We still expect most Fed officials to avoid sending any dovish signals in the near term. 'In our view, the Fed is likely to keep rates on hold – not just in September, but for the remainder of the year. However, today's report presents a downside risk to our no-rate-cut call for 2025.' 02:32 PM BST Money markets increase bets on September rate cut Bets on a September US interest rate cut have surged this afternoon after new figures showed the jobs market had sharply fallen. Money markets believed there was just a 39.5pc probability that the Fed would lower rates yesterday, but this has now jumped to 86.2pc. 02:30 PM BST Trump steps up attack on Powell Donald Trump has lashed out again at Jerome Powell, the US Fed chairman, after the jobs market slowed sharply. He wrote on social media: 'Too Little, Too Late. Jerome 'Too Late' Powell is a disaster. DROP THE RATE!' 02:26 PM BST Trump's tariffs are an 'affront the rule of law', says think tank A British think tank has accused Donald Trump's trade war of being an 'affront' to the rule of law. Tom Clougherty, executive director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: 'The madness continues in American trade policy. Trump's latest tariffs have no coherent economic rationale and are, first and foremost, an attack on American consumers. 'These tariffs are a massive tax increase which will harm American consumers and businesses. Ford, which manufactures more cars in America than anyone else, expects to pay $2bn in tariffs this year. 'But this is not really about economics. It is about punishing countries which displease the president, and rewarding those who toe the line. Using executive power in this way is an affront to liberal democracy and the rule of law. 'The British Government deserves some credit for its handling of the situation. But that doesn't change the fact that our trade with the United States is far less free than it was before President Trump was re-elected. 'Free trade remains an essential component of economic efficiency, international competitiveness, and rising living standards. Government-imposed trade barriers only ever enrich special interests: the rest of us bear the cost.' 02:24 PM BST US jobs market stalls as pressure builds for interest rate cut The US jobs market suffered a sharp slowdown last month as businesses battle higher costs and uncertainty from Donald Trump's tariff regime. Just 73,000 new jobs were added in July, far less than the 110,000 economists expected, figures published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2pc, up from 4.1pc the previous month. The data is likely to increase pressure on the Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell who has been facing growing calls from the US president to slash interest rates. Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social after the jobs figures were released: 'Too Little, Too Late. Jerome 'Too Late' Powell is a disaster. DROP THE RATE!' Earlier in the day Mr Trump has renewed his assault on the Federal Reserve chairman, calling him a 'stubborn MORON' after he kept interest rates at 4.5pc earlier this week. Massive downward revisions to jobs growth in May and June meant that across the three month period from May to July, average monthly jobs growth was just 35,000. This was less than a third of the 134,000 previously expected and the lowest since the pandemic. Thomas Ryan, North America economist at Capital Economics, said that figures were 'troublingly low'. Mr Ryan said: 'It is difficult to interpret this as anything other than a sign of hiring stalling.' Earlier this week Mr Trump had celebrated a surprise 3pc surge in GDP between April and June, which was driven by a drop off in imports, which he hailed as 'way better than expected!'. However, the jobs figures show that cracks are emerging in the US economy. Mr Ryan the signs of major weakness in the jobs market increase the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will finally cut interest rates at its next meeting in September. 02:13 PM BST Hard-hit Switzerland 'could still strike a deal with Trump' UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, says the Swiss government will likely land a trade deal with the US, which would cut the punishing 39pc tariff rate that President Donald Trump meted out on Thursday. UBS said Switzerland would in the end probably get a deal similar to the EU-US agreement, which set a tariff of 15pc and included a pledge to invest more in the US. 'The lack of result from negotiations comes as a surprise. There were several indications over recent weeks that Switzerland and the US were closing in on a deal,' the bank said in a note. The US takes 19pc of Switzerland's exports, and almost two-thirds are shipments of pharmaceuticals. UBS said pharma's key role in their trade could 'create some leeway for a deal'. The Swiss authorities have reportedly said the new 39pc tariff would not apply to the pharmaceuticals sector. But uncertainty remains over Mr Trump's plans for a sectoral tariff on pharmaceuticals, and his campaign to get drug makers to lower their US prices. If Switzerland cannot get a deal, UBS said the country's interest rates and currency might drop, cushioning the blow from tariffs. Economic growth would 'decline significantly' in this scenario, but the country might skirt a recession. 01:58 PM BST Not just Tesla Tesla is struggling in Europe, but it is not the only American company struggling with consumer outrage. US businesses have also found sales drying up in Canada, as angry shoppers, offended by Donald Trump's aggressive rhetoric and heavy taxes, shun goods from south of the border. 'Canadian boycotts focus on products that are visibly identified with the US. Thus, US beer and wine sales in Canada have collapsed. US-produced breakfast cereals, beauty products, and sporting goods have all experienced significant declines in Canadian sales,' says Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS. 'The more difficult question is how enduring such boycotts will be. Boycotts against specific companies often fade over time, as new customer enter the market. However, a national boycott may be more enduring, as consumer habits change and buying substitute brands becomes an established habit. Retailers then respond by changing inventory and refuse to stock US products at all.' 01:50 PM BST Trump tariff does not match negotiated deal, say Swiss Switzerland will keep pushing for lower tariffs after the US imposed shock taxes of 39pc on goods imported from the Alpine nation. The Government said the level of tariffs is far higher than it had been led to anticipate from talks with the Trump administration. 'The additional tariff announced by the US president differs significantly from the draft joint statement. The draft joint statement was the result of intensive talks between Switzerland and the US over the past few months and was approved by the Federal Council on 4 July,' the Swiss authorities tweeted. 'Switzerland has been and remains in contact with the relevant US authorities. It continues to seek a negotiated solution with the US.' 01:41 PM BST €1bn blow to French wine industry France's cherished wine and spirits industry faces losing one-quarter of its sales in the US, in the face of the 15pc tariffs agreed between Mr Trump and Ms von der Leyen. Gabriel Picard, of industry group FEVS, said the weaker dollar - and stronger euro - also makes French alcohol less competitive in the American market. 'The impact of this duty will be all the more brutal as it goes hand in hand with the decline of the US dollar in the United States,' he said. France exported €15.6bn of wine and spirits last year. The US is the industry's biggest export market, buying €3.8bn of French booze in 2024. 01:19 PM BST Tesla sales slump across Europe Registrations of new Teslas are plunging across Europe, in a reminder that Donald Trump's trade policies will not guarantee more sales for American brands. Elon Musk's marque suffered a fall in registrations of more than one-quarter in France, almost two-thirds in the Netherlands and 86pc in Sweden. Sales are up in Spain and Norway, but overall European registrations are down by one-third this year. The billionaire's close association with Mr Trump in the early months of this year damaged the brand's image among many consumers in Europe, leading in some instances to protests, boycotts and the sight of Teslas bearing the bumper sticker: 'I bought this before Elon went crazy'. It indicates Mr Trump's effort to strike a new trade deal to flood Europe with American-made cars will not necessarily be enough on its own to persuade Europeans to buy them. Tesla is also facing increasing competition from cheaper Chinese electric vehicles. The company's woes led to the unedifying scene of Mr Trump purchasing a Tesla from Mr Musk on the lawn of the White House in March, declaring the vehicle top be 'beautiful'. 'That is the coolest design,' the President said at the time. The pair have since fallen out. Mr Trump has reported considered selling or giving away the car. 12:53 PM BST Have your say: 'This is insane' 12:51 PM BST $450bn haul from tariffs The slate of US tariffs now coming into force could reap $450bn (£340bn) in annual tax revenue, fund manager RBC BlueBay has estimated. That could pull back the US budget deficit to 'slightly below' 7pc of gross domestic product, BlueBay said. This would help fund the tax cuts and spending increases in President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Act', which run to almost $2 trillion over the next four years. 'In the absence of material retaliatory tariffs, this has been viewed as a great result for the US,' said Mark Dowding, chief investment officer at fund manager BlueBay. 'It has even meant that a US president has ended up winning plaudits for a tax-hiking policy across the political spectrum.' The money is not free, nor does it come from foreigners, despite the President's rhetoric: many economists expect that US consumers will in effect end up paying most of this tax, as the tariffs are passed through into the prices Americans pay for imported goods. But Mr Dowding said in his note that the White House expected only about one-third of the tariff increases to be passed on to US consumers, 'with the balance absorbed through producer efficiency gains, margins and higher prices passed on in other markets'. 'If this is correct, they conclude that core inflation may only increase around 0.4pc over the months ahead,' he said. This could encourage the White House to push the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates sooner. 12:31 PM BST Full list of Trump's latest tariffs For many countries the taxes on goods sold into the US are not far off those announced on so-called 'liberation day' in early April. For products from countries such as Brazil, the tariffs are considerbly higher. 12:24 PM BST Relative boost to China Chinese-made goods will become more competitive in America once President Donald Trump's tariffs kick in among China's rival exporters, Capital Economics has said. China's 51pc tariff rate was not changed on Thursday, as Beijing and Washington look to extend their negotiations beyond the latest August 12 deadline. But most other Asian economies now face a tariff increase of between five and 15 percentage points. Capital Economics' chief China analyst Julian Evans-Pritchard said this would shrink the potential price gap between Chinese producers and their Asian rivals once their goods hit the US market. But Mr Evans-Pritchard warned that Chinese exporters now faced a 40pc tariff if they tried to reroute their US exports through third countries. 'In theory at least, goods transhipped from China to the US will soon face tariffs of about 70pc, threatening one of the key channels via which the impact of US tariffs has been dampened,' he said in a note. But he suggested that the US would find it hard to police these transshipments. And as firms outside China served more US demand, Chinese firms could boost exports to serve more non-US demand. 'We doubt that Chinese exporters will end up being much worse off than they are now,' he said. 12:11 PM BST Astrazeneca down 3pc Shares in drug giant Astrazeneca have recovered some of today's losses. The stock is down 3pc so far today. The blow from Mr Trump's letter demanding lower drug prices came despite the company's efforts to placate the President earlier this week. Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, on Tuesday announced major plans to invest in America - a key demand from the US President. 'As we enter our next phase of growth, we have pledged $50bn to continue to grow in the US, which includes the largest manufacturing investment in AstraZeneca's history, set for Virginia,' Mr Soriot said. 'This landmark investment reflects not only America's importance but also our confidence in our innovative medicines to transform global health and power AstraZeneca's ambition to deliver $80 billion revenue by 2030.' 11:59 AM BST TACOs are off the menu, says international business body The flurry of tariffs unveiled last night show that the White House is set on defying market expectations that 'Trump Always Chickens Out' (TACO) of his threats, the International Chamber of Commerce said on Friday. 'The announcement provides confirmation that the administration is set on applying generally higher tariff rates,' said ICC deputy secretary general Andrew Wilson. He said there was now 'clarity on the direction of travel, but many questions remain about implementation and the real world implications' of Mr Trump's tariffs. Mr Wilson said it was mostly unclear whether a country's headline rate would be additional to or replace other tariffs, such as the sector-specific levies on goods like cars, medicines and steel. 'We still see companies struggling to understand how the country-specific rates will apply in practice,' he said. 11:58 AM BST Fight 'bone-crushing' EU rules with tariffs, Exxon urges Trump Oil giant Exxon Mobil has urged Donald Trump to use tariff threats to force the EU to cut back climate and human rights regulations. Under incoming rules, EU nations will be able to levy 'bone-crushing' fines on companies which break the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, totalling up to 5pc of their global revenues. 'This is counter, frankly, to everything the Trump administration has been trying to do on the regulation front ,' said Darren Woods, the chief executive of the $481bn titan, the Financial Times reported. 'As the US administration eases US regulatory burdens on companies here in the US, it is being replaced by EU climate regulations. It is going to tangle them up in more bureaucratic red tape in Europe . . . and subject [companies] to bone-crushing penalties, so that's a big issue that is yet to be addressed, and hopefully will as part of these [trade] negotiations.' 11:46 AM BST Amazon hit by tariffs Amazon shares are falling today amid concerns over Mr Trump's tariffs and after the retail giant delivered disappointing profit forecasts on Thursday. Shares are down almost 8pc in pre-market trading. Chief executive Andy Jassy told analysts on Thursday night that he did not know whether consumers or suppliers would end up absorbing the cost of tariffs. 'If costs go up over time, we're unsure at this point who's going to end up absorbing those higher costs. What we can tell you is what we've seen so far in the first half of the year, in the first half, we just haven't seen diminished demand. And we haven't seen any kind of broad scale [price] increases,' he said. 11:39 AM BST Trump blasts 'moron' Powell Donald Trump has renewed his assault on Jerome Powell, the boss of the Federal Reserve. The President called called for the central bank's board to 'assume control' if his demands for interest rates are not obeyed. Mr Trump called the chairman a 'stubborn MORON', in the latest attack on Mr Powell, who this week kept interest rates at 4.5pc. The commander in chief has called for the federal funds rate to be cut to as low as 1pc. He backed away from seeking to sack the central banker, amid fears such a move could send markets into a tailspin. But the President has resumed his criticism of Mr Powell in recent weeks. 11:34 AM BST Swiss franc slides The Swiss franc is down 0.4pc against the dollar. It takes the safe haven currency down to $1.2256, its lowest level for more than a month. Sterling has dropped just over half a percent, to $1.3164. 11:28 AM BST Dark day for pharma stocks 11:24 AM BST Threaten European health like Nato, says pharma boss Donald Trump should use his muscle to force European nations to pay more for medicines, a pharmaceuticals industry chief has argued. Stephen Ubl, chief executive of industry group PhRMA, said the President should use the same tactics on health services as he did on NATO members. 'President Trump has already demanded that NATO allies spend more on defence. He could do the same for health care – by pressing trade partners to spend a set share of their GDP on new innovative medicines,' Mr Ubl said. The industry group counts companies including AstraZeneca, GSK and Pfizer among its members. Mr Trump's statements on defence have shaken confidence that the US would stand behind its NATO obligations if a European member state is invaded by Russia. Mr Ubl also blamed 'middlemen' for high prices in the US, rather than drug manufacturers. 'America's byzantine drug pricing system' benefits distributors while jacking up prices far above those charged in the UK, Japan or France,' the pharma chief said. 11:12 AM BST Carney promises to keep negotiating Mr Carney has pledged to 'continue to negotiate' amid fears for Canada's car and raw materials markets. The Prime Minister noted that trade covered by the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement will not be hit with the 35pc tariffs, but other sectors face higher levies. Steel sold into the US comes with a 50pc tax, for instance. 'Other sectors of our economy - including lumber, steel, aluminium and automobiles - are, however, heavily impacted by US duties and tariffs,' said Mr Carney. 'For such sectors, the Canadian government will act to protect Canadian jobs, invest in our industrial competitiveness, buy Canadian, and diversify our export markets.' That indicates a big push to sell to other countries and wean Canada off its reliance on American demand. 10:57 AM BST Carney strikes back Canada's Prime Minister insists the country 'is making historic investments in border security to arrest drug traffickers, take down transnational gangs and end migrant smuggling'. Mark Carney says 'only 1pc of US fentanyl imports' cross his border, undermining Mr Trump's latest justification for tariffs. Failing any steps to overturn the taxes on trade, he is falling back on self-reliance: 'Canadians will be our own best customer,' the PM says. 10:41 AM BST Your profits work for us Drug bosses have been ordered to send profits from abroad to the US to lower prices in America. 'Increased revenues abroad must be repatriated to lower drug prices for American patients and taxpayers through an explicit agreement with the United States,' Mr Trump wrote to pharmaceutical executives. The letter came with threats, too. 'If you refuse to step up, we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices,' the President said, demanding 'binding commitments' by the end of September. Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabobank, said this echoes the move in Mr Trump's trade deal with the EU to move his negotiations from Governments - covering tariffs and other trade barriers - to the private sector. 'Trump said that drug companies must use excess revenues generated in foreign markets to reduce prices for American consumers. Effectively, he is telling them to reverse what the administration perceives as the status quo whereby Americans pay higher prices to subsidise foreign consumption,' said Mr Picton. 'That sounds very mercantilist, and awfully similar to the reverse Marshall Plan dynamic developing through investment pledges contained in trade deals struck with the EU, Japan and South Korea.' In the EU deal, Mr Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed the EU would import $750bn-worth of American energy, and increase investments in the US by $600bn. Yet those are largely private sector decisions, over which politicians typically have limited influence. But Mr Trump's pharma war shows his willingness to seek to force decisions on businesses. 10:26 AM BST The short list of winners Not many countries can be called 'winners' in the trade war. Almost every nation will find its new taxes slapped on its exports into the US, while Americans are also suffering higher prices on the products they want to buy. But this has become a relative game, and a few countries face lower tariffs than they previously expected. India is one such nation. Mr Trump last month warned that countries buying Russian oil faced secondary tariffs of up to 100pc on goods sold into the US - raising the prospect of a major assault on commerce with India, intended as a means of putting pressure on Vladimir Putin. But although he gave the world's most populous nation a tongue-lashing this week, the US President stopped short of imposing the full threatened levy. 'I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,' he wrote on Truth Social. But the tax rate on Indian imports now appears to be 25pc, in something of a reprieve for the Asian economy. Taiwan's tariff is falling from the so-called 'liberation day' level of 32pc to 20pc, and Vietnamese goods face a 20pc tax - not 46pc. 'The new tariffs announced yesterday cover nearly 70 countries, while those without new rates will continue to be subject to the 10pc minimum tariff,' said Atakan Bakiskan, US economist at Berenberg Bank. 'In some ways, this is not the worst-case scenario, as Trump had previously indicated that the universal 10pc baseline rate could double.' 10:14 AM BST War on drug prices The US President has written to the bosses of 17 pharmaceuticals companies to demand lower prices for American customers, paid for by charging higher prices to foreigners. Mr Trump demanded that they 'negotiate harder with foreign freeloading nations' and said that 'increased revenues abroad must be repatriated to lower drug prices for American patients and taxpayers'. He also demanded a 'binding commitment' to these goals and declared that 'other nations have been freeloading on US innovation for too long'. That includes pushing the companies to pledge not to charge Americans higher prices than customers in other developed economies. It represents a potential threat to the finances of the NHS, which tries to use its scale to negotiate lower prices for medicines and may now find a reduction in its bargaining power when dealing with major suppliers. 10:13 AM BST Canada in drug and Gaza storm Mr Trump's executive order ramping up tariffs on America's northern neighbour states the reason is 'Canada's lack of cooperation in stemming the flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs across our northern border'. But it is not the only issue at play. The decision came a day after the US President criticised Mark Carney's Government for its stance on Gaza. 'Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a trade deal with them. Oh Canada!!!' Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, underlining the shifting sands on which his administration's trade negotiations are built. Taxes on goods from Canada sold into the US now stand at 35pc, up from 25pc. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
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5 Cheap Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now
Key Points Nvidia and TSMC are two leading AI infrastructure stocks still trading at cheap valuations. Alphabet and Alibaba are strong cloud computing companies trading at cheap prices. Salesforce has fallen into bargain territory and has a huge opportunity ahead in agentic AI. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Tech stocks aren't usually the first place to look for value, but that doesn't mean you can't find undervalued ones. Currently, several top-tier tech names are trading with forward price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratios under 1 -- something that typically indicates a stock is undervalued relative to its growth. These aren't struggling companies, either. They are leaders in their fields with strong fundamentals, clear catalysts, and solid long-term upside. Here are five cheap tech stocks worth buying right now. 1. Nvidia (PEG: 0.9) It's rare to see the market's top growth stock also sitting in value territory, but that's exactly where Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) finds itself. With a forward PEG of under 0.9 and dominant market share in artificial intelligence (AI) chips, Nvidia remains one of the best long-term bets in tech. Despite the company's massive data center revenue growth over the past two years, there is still plenty of growth in front of the company. The real differentiator for Nvidia is CUDA. Nvidia's early bet on building a software ecosystem around its graphics processing units (GPUs) has really paid off. Developers learned to code on CUDA, and tools and libraries were built around it, creating a powerful network effect that is hard to displace. This led the company to capture a staggering 92% share of the GPU market in Q1. Nvidia isn't sitting still, either. The company has a huge automotive opportunity ahead and recently got approval to resume selling its H20 chips in China. The stock trades at a 41 times forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, but when you're growing revenue at a huge clip and have this kind of moat, the PEG ratio tells the real story. 2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (PEG: 0.6) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) is one of the most important companies involved in the AI infrastructure buildout. And at a forward PEG ratio of just over 0.6, it's also one of the cheapest high-growth stocks in the chip space. TSMC is the AI arms dealer, manufacturing the world's most advanced chips for companies like Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and Apple. It doesn't need to bet on a winner -- it manufactures chips for all of them. TSMC's process node leadership is unmatched. Chips made on 7-nanometer or smaller nodes now make up 74% of revenue, and its 3nm tech already accounted for 24% last quarter. If you plan to make advanced AI chips at scale, you basically need to use TSMC at this point. This has led the company to have strong pricing power as well. This could be seen in the company's Q2 results, with revenue surging 44% to $30.1 billion. Geopolitical and tariff risk is real, but TSMC is actively mitigating it with global expansion into the U.S., Japan, and Europe. AI demand continues to explode, and TSMC expects AI-related revenue to grow at a mid-40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2028. Trading at a forward P/E of under 25 times and a PEG well below 1, TSMC is a bargain. 3. Alphabet (PEG: 0.8) Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a dominant tech company trading like its search business is going away. At 19.5 times forward earnings and a PEG of 0.8, the stock is pricing in more risk than reality. Search isn't dying -- it's evolving, and Alphabet is leading that evolution with AI Overviews, AI Mode, and its Gemini models. Search revenue actually accelerated last quarter, growing 12% to $54.2 billion in Q2. Over 2 billion people are now using AI Overviews monthly, and the company says those features are increasing query volume globally. Meanwhile, its cloud computing unit, Google Cloud, is growing like a weed. Revenue jumped 32% to $13.6 billion, while operating income more than doubled to $2.8 billion. The company's tensor processing units are gaining traction, and its Ironwood chip gives it a leg up on inference costs. Alphabet is also building out its robotaxi business with Waymo, which is now live in multiple U.S. cities, and YouTube continues to deliver. Shorts are driving ad growth, and AI tools like Veo 3 are making content creation easier. It's even a leader in the emerging field of quantum computing with its Willow chip. Alphabet is still growing earnings and revenue at a double-digit clip and remains one of the most attractively priced AI plays in the market. 4. Alibaba (PEG: 0.5) Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is absurdly cheap, trading at just 14 times forward earnings and a PEG ratio around 0.8. That would be interesting on its own, but the company also has nearly 30% of its market cap in net cash and investments. It's a textbook value stock with multiple growth levers in place. Alibaba's AI story is quietly gaining momentum. Its Cloud Intelligence revenue jumped 18% last quarter, and AI-related revenue has now more than doubled for seven straight quarters. Apple even chose Alibaba's Qwen model to power Apple Intelligence in China, which was a major vote of confidence in its AI technology leadership. On the e-commerce front, Alibaba's gross merchandise value is reaccelerating, and it is better monetizing its platform with a small software fee and a new AI marketing tool. Its 88VIP loyalty program is expanding, and one-hour delivery is becoming a meaningful differentiator. The company also expects its international commerce unit to turn profitable soon, which could be a major boost to margins. Alibaba has a lot of upside as its turnaround continues, but even if it stalls, the stock is so cheap that the downside looks limited. 5. Salesforce (PEG: 0.3) Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) isn't typically considered a value stock, but perhaps it should be. With a forward P/E around 24 times and a PEG ratio of just 0.3, the stock is a bargain in the software-as-as-service (SaaS) space -- despite having a potential huge growth opportunity with AI agents. Salesforce's Agentforce platform already has 4,000 paying customers just a few quarters after launch, and the company is working to become the leader in agentic AI. These agents can automate tasks across sales, service, and marketing, which could significantly increase productivity and reduce costs. When combined with its Data Cloud solution -- now generating $1 billion in annual recurring revenue -- the offering becomes even more powerful as Salesforce aims to build a digital workforce. Salesforce is also rolling out a flexible, outcome-based pricing model for Agentforce to help drive adoption. It's a smart move that aligns costs with value and should help customers see a quick return on their investments. While there's execution risk, the company is already seeing early traction. At this valuation, Salesforce doesn't have to be perfect -- just good. If it hits on agentic AI, the stock could have a lot of upside. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $625,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,090,257!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,036% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and Salesforce. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Apple, Nvidia, Salesforce, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group and Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 5 Cheap Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
