Unsurprisingly, Trump’s tariffs once again feature heavily across the business sections of the nationals. All of the BBC, Reuters and The Times have picked up on the retaliatory tariffs announced by China. Beijing has imposed tariffs on US products including liquid natural gas, coal and oil after Trump announced a 10% tariff on goods imported to the US from China.
The moves will raise fears that the spat between the US and China — the two largest economies in the world — could escalate into a full-blown trade war. (The Times).
Meanwhile, Trump’s tariffs on goods made in Mexico and China could lead toy maker Mattel to raise its prices in the US, its chief executive has warned (The FT).
Tariffs were also blamed for a decision by Diageo to scrap its medium-term annual sales growth guidance of 5%-7% yesterday. The London-listed Diageo warned it would face a $200m (£161m) hit to profits if Trump proceeds with a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports. Roughly 45% of Diageo’s US sales come from products made in Canada, largely whiskies, and Mexico, where it makes tequila brands such as Don Julio (The Telegraph).
Diageo shares fell by a further 1.6% on Tuesday, after a 3.7% drop on Monday, on concerns about the impact of the tariffs on the US, its largest market (The Guardian).
An opinion piece in The FT suggests tariffs were a useful cover for Diageo boss Debra Crew to finally abandon its sales guidance, which looked unachievable even before Trump entered the White House. While necessary, abandoning the sales target points to the uncertainty surrounding the future shape of the global spirits market, the piece argues.
Asda’s performance continues to be under the spotlight, following the release of the latest Kantar sales data. Sales at the troubled grocer dropped 5.2% in the 12 weeks to January 28 compared with last year, making it the only major retailer to post a fall over the period, The Telegraph reports.
The Guardian, meanwhile, choses to lead on a first slowdown in grocery inflation for six months. The price of groceries increased by 3.3%, down from 3.7% in December, as the costs of toilet roll and catfood fell but those of chocolate, butter and chilled juices rose, according to Kantar’s latest figures.
Finally, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman has a scoop on Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Hygienics unit being up for sale. The billionaire owner of Manchester United has instructed advisers to launch an auction of Ineos Hygienics, which was created during the pandemic and supplies hand santiser and other cleaning products to retailers including Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Boots.
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