China is yet to announce regular statistics on trade flows for last week, delaying a closely watched data set as firms cut back on exports to the US.

Official data will come in time, but everyone is impatient and wants information faster. The FT report noted that “scheduled container volumes are plummeting at the Port of Los Angeles”. According to the IMF, the port accounts for more than 15 per cent of all US imports, with the vast majority of that being shipped from China.

The dollar barely recouped its heavy losses on Tuesday as investors were no clearer on whether a de-escalation of the Sino-U.S. trade war was underway with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggesting the onus was on China to start negotiations.

Monthly surveys of Chinese factory managers shows export orders slowed in April as higher tariffs on U.S. imports began to kick in.

American businesses are cancelling orders from China, postponing expansion plans and hunkering down to see what trade policy surprises President Donald Trump plans to spring on them next.

Trump's erratic, and often confusing, rollout of tariffs has led to unprecedented market volatility and serious damage to investor trust in U.S. assets.

Xi's Shanghai trip, his first to China's main international financial hub since November 2023, comes at a time when the tariff fight with the U.S. has raised the stakes for global economic growth, and as Beijing pursues AI development in the wake of the global success of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.

Also in today’s newsletter, Canada’s Carney prepares to take on Trump, and China’s copper stockpiles set to run out

The United States and China are unlikely to see a rapid hit to their credit ratings from a trade war, S&P Global's top sovereign analyst has said, with damage more likely concentrated on poorer countries and those already on downgrade warnings.