Tariff Uncertainty Rises Again, Stocks Slide

On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by imposing broad tariffs on trade surplus countries. However, a federal appeals court temporarily put the ruling on hold on Thursday. The stay will give the appeals court time to hear the case, and the Trump administration must submit briefs by June 9.

In response, the White House said it was ready to appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary, and would explore other ways to implement Trump's tariffs without relying on emergency powers.

As the court's restrictions on Trump's tariff policy are temporarily deadlocked, U.S.-China trade negotiations have been reported to have encountered obstacles, adding to uncertainty.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday that U.S.-China trade talks were "a bit stalled."

Besent traveled to Switzerland earlier this month for talks with Chinese officials, and the two sides eventually canceled more than 100% tariffs on each other's goods.

Bessant added: "I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other." However, the last time the two presidents spoke was in January, days before Trump's inauguration.

In addition to tariffs, tensions have spread to other areas. The Trump administration recently announced plans to revoke some Chinese student visas, which China strongly protested and called the move "discriminatory." In addition, according to reports, the United States has also imposed new restrictions on the sale of chip design software and some jet engine parts to China.

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Friday as global tariffs faced uncertainty again.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.22%, and South Korea's Kospi index fell 0.84%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.38%, and China's CSI 300 Index fell 0.48%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index hovered near the baseline, with a slight increase of 0.3%.

U.S. stock index futures also fell slightly. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.1%. Futures for the benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.2%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%.