The world in brief

President Donald Trump threatened an additional levy of 50% on Chinese goods unless it withdrew its retaliatory tariffs. He also said that America would begin negotiations over tariffs with other countries. The S&P 500, an index of American firms, fell on opening, bringing it 20% lower than its record high of February. Earlier, Europe’s Stoxx 600 index fell by over 5%; Japan’s Topix dropped by 9%.

Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union could scrap tariffs on American industrial goods in return for Mr Trump doing the same. The president of the European Commission said that “Europe is always ready for a good deal”. But she also said that the EU would seek to strengthen trading ties with countries other than America.