Hopes are building that the US may be close to announcing more trade deals, and avoid imposing punishing new tariffs that would disrupt the global economy. Overnight, Donald Trump announced that China and the US had signed a deal, without providing details, declaring: “We just signed with China yesterday.” It later emerged that the agreement would expedite rare earth shipments to the US, building on the progress negotiators made in Switzerland last month. A White House official said: “The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement ... how we can implement expediting rare earths shipments to the US again.” The US, and its trading partners, have less than two weeks until Trump’s 90-day trade war pause expires. The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, has claimed that progress is being made, and hinted that the White House had imminent plans to reach agreements with 10 major trading partners. Lutnick told Bloomberg Television: “We’re going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind.” Trump has previously indicated he could send letters to countries announcing their new tariff rates, if deals are not agreed in time. Lutnick has indicated that countries will be sorted into “proper buckets” on 9 July, although there might be flexibility for further negotiations. He said: “Those who have deals will have deals, and everybody else that is negotiating with us, they’ll get a response from us and then they’ll go into that package. If people want to come back and negotiate further, they’re entitled to, but that tariff rate will be set and off we’ll go.” Shares across Asia Pacific markets have hit their highest level in more than three years today, as optimism builds in the markets. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan has climbed to its highest level since November 2021. The rally was driven by strong gains in Japan, where the Nikkei 225 index jumped by 1.4%. The yen, typically a safe haven, weakened amid hopes for progress in tariff negotiations between the US and other countries. China’s markets were mixed, though, with the CSI300 index dipping by 0.5%. Shares opened higher in London, where the FTSE 100 index is 26 points higher at 8,761, up 0.3%. The agenda • 10am BST: EU consumer and business confidence stats • 1.30pm BST: US PCE inflation report for May • 3pm BST: University of Michigan’s US consumer confidence index We'll be tracking all the main events throughout the day …
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