Breaking news late at night! Tariffs are being escalated, and it seems that Trump is getting a bit anxious.

On June 2nd local time, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher across the board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.08%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.67%, and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.41%. Most popular technology stocks advanced. AMD and Meta climbed more than 3%, Super Micro Computer rose nearly 3%, Broadcom gained more than 2%, and NVIDIA rose more than 1%. Tesla and Google fell more than 1%.

Most popular Chinese concept stocks closed higher, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rising 0.53%. Baidu, JD.com, and iQiyi rose more than 1%, while Li Auto and Zhihu fell more than 1%.

On the same day, the Trump administration in the United States asked a federal appeals court to block an order from a previous ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that its tariff policy was "illegal."

This legal dispute stems from a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 29th. The court issued a preliminary injunction against the tariff measures imposed by the Trump administration on multiple countries under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Facing Trump's aggressive tariff policy, the European Union warned that if U.S. President Trump follows through on his latest tariff threats, such as imposing a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum products, the EU may accelerate the implementation of retaliatory measures.

Trump announced last Friday that he would raise the tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from the current 25% to 50%, and this tariff rate will take effect on June 4th.

The European Commission said on Monday that it expressed "strong regret" over the U.S. tariff hikes, adding that such actions are undermining the two sides' efforts to resolve trade disputes.

According to European Commission spokesman Olov Gill, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Greer in Paris on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a delegation from the European Commission is also traveling to Washington to continue technical-level negotiations.

"If the two sides cannot reach a mutually acceptable solution, the EU's existing and possible new countermeasures will take effect on July 14th. If necessary, they can also be implemented earlier," Gill said. "The European Commission has always made it clear that it will be ready to defend EU interests and protect our workers, consumers, and industries at any time."

The EU has previously approved tariffs on U.S. products worth 21 billion euros, and these measures can take effect quickly. They target U.S. states that are politically sensitive, such as soybeans, agricultural products, poultry, and motorcycles from Louisiana. Louisiana is the hometown of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.

In addition, the EU has prepared an alternative list of U.S. products worth 95 billion euros for tariff hikes. These measures will target industrial products including Boeing aircraft, U.S.-made cars, and bourbon whiskey in response to Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" and auto tariffs.

As the Trump administration has yet to reach agreements with various countries, Trump seems a bit anxious.

According to a letter seen by Reuters, the Trump administration hopes that countries participating in high-level tariff negotiations will submit their "best offers" for trade negotiations by Wednesday. This move comes as the White House seeks to accelerate trade negotiations before the July deadline.

The document shows that there is a sense of urgency within the U.S. government to complete deals within a tight deadline. The letter states that the United States hopes that countries will list their best solutions in multiple key areas, including tariff and quota preferences for purchasing industrial and agricultural products and non-tariff barrier plans. The letter also says that the United States will evaluate the responses from all parties within a few days and propose a "range of possible solutions," which may include reciprocal tariff rates.

It is not yet clear which specific countries this letter will be sent to, but the target is those countries that are actively negotiating. It is reported that the United States is currently in active negotiations with countries and regions such as the EU, Japan, Vietnam, and India.

Data shows that the U.S. ISM Manufacturing Import Index in May recorded 39.9, the lowest level since 2009. The ISM Export Orders Index dropped to 40.1, the lowest in five years.

Reference materials:

"Trump Administration Seeks Help from Appeals Court as Tariff Policy Progress Stalls" - CCTV News

"Trump Escalates Trade War, EU Warns: May Accelerate Implementation of Countermeasures" - Cailian Press

This article is from the WeChat official account "Phoenix Finance".