Things To Do In SW Florida

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets worldwide are careening even lower Friday after China matched President Donald Trump’s big raise in tariffs in an escalating trade war. Not even a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market, which is usually the economic highlight of each month, was enough to stop the slide.

The S&P 500 was down 3.8% in midday trading, after earlier dropping more than 5%, following its worst day since COVID wrecked the global economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,349 points, or 3.3%, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.8% lower.

So far there are few, if any, winners in financial markets from the trade war. European stocks saw some of the day’s biggest losses, with indexes sinking roughly 4%. The price of crude oil tumbled to its lowest level since 2021. Other basic building blocks for economic growth, such as copper, also saw prices slide on worries the trade war will weaken the global economy. read more

By PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a surprising 228,000 jobs last month, showing that the American labor market was in solid shape as President Donald Trump embarked on a risky trade war with the rest of the world. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.

The hiring numbers were up from 117,000 in February and were nearly double the 130,000 that economists had expected. Labor Department revisions shaved 48,000 jobs off January and February payrolls.

Workers’ average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from February, about what economists had expected. Compared to a year earlier, hourly pay was up 3.8%, a bit lower than the 4% that had been forecast and nearing the 3.5% year-over-year gains that are seen as consistent with the Federal Reserve’s 2% annual inflation target.

Healthcare companies added almost 54,000 jobs and restaurants and bars nearly 30,000 as the job market bounced back from bitter winter weather in January and February. The federal government lost 4,000, a sign that Elon Musk’s purge of the federal workforce may only be starting to show up in the data. read more

By HUIZHONG WU and ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — China announced Friday that it will impose a 34% tariff on imports of all U.S. products beginning April 10, part of a flurry of retaliatory measures following U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” slate of double-digit tariffs.

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The new tariff matches the rate of the U.S. “reciprocal” tariff of 34% on Chinese exports that Trump ordered this week.

The Commerce Ministry in Beijing also said in a notice that it will impose more export controls on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries. read more

The owners of hundreds of acres of pristine ranchland — where former state Rep. Chris Dorworth tried to build controversial megadevelopment River Cross in 2018 — are asking Seminole to buy the property for conservation.

“It would be a milestone for Seminole County to protect this property,” said Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon Florida.

The Clayton family has long owned the 669 acres officially known as Hi-Oaks Ranch but sometimes listed as High Oaks. The land is tucked between Econlockhatchee River and County Road 419 — just north of the Orange County line.

“We love the land and the animals,” said Jonathan Clayton, who is helping coordinate the sale of his family’s property. “But we love people more. And we’d like to see the property benefit people.”

The family submitted an application to a county advisory board asking Seminole to purchase the land under the Seminole Forever program, which helps preserve land from development

What the family might charge for the property and whether the county could afford it is not yet clear. The purchase price on the failed 2018 deal was $35.5 million. read more

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and DIDI TANG

A notice to customers dazzled by the low-priced products on Chinese shopping apps: the days of getting trendy clothing, tools and gag gifts that cost less than lunch delivered to your door in 10 days are probably numbered.

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President Donald Trump is ending a little-known but widely used exemption that has allowed as many as 4 million low-value parcels — most of them originating in China — to arrive in the U.S. every day tax-free.

An executive order the president signed Wednesday will eliminate the “de minimis provision” for goods from China and Hong Kong on May 2. The tax exemption, which applies to packages valued at $800 or less, has helped China-founded e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu to thrive while cutting into the U.S. retail market. read more