Breaking News English Lesson: Trade Tariffs

Home | Help This Site

Asian markets in 'bloodbath' after trade tariffs (10th April 2025)

The Reading / Listening - Trade Tariffs - Level 3

The value of stock markets in Asia has fallen by their biggest amount in decades. The market in Shanghai was down by nearly 8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped by 13.22%, Japan's Nikkei index fell 7.8%, and Taiwan's market closed more than 9.7% down. Markets in Australia also sank. An analyst told the BBC that the markets were a "bloodbath". Stock prices are reacting negatively to the trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April the 2nd. He called this day "Liberation Day". He said it "will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again".

Many countries are thinking about what to do about the tariffs. China's People's Daily newspaper said China could fight back. It wrote: "After eight years of trade wars with the US, we've built up a wealth of experience in this struggle." It added that China was strong enough to face "US tariff bullying". The country could increase its own tariffs on imports from the USA. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would ask the US to reduce the 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. He will visit the US "as soon as possible". He will explain to President Trump that Japan "is not doing anything unfair". Talking about the tariffs, Trump said: "Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Trade Tariffs - Level 0, Trade Tariffs - Level 1 or Trade Tariffs - Level 2

Sources

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/06/trump-says-he-doesnt-want-stocks-to-go-down-but-sometimes-you-have-to-take-medicine.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c934qzd094wo
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/06/business/japan-nikkei-plunges-hnk-intl/index.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Warm-ups

1. TRADE TARIFFS: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about trade tariffs. Change partners often and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?
stock markets / decades / analyst / bloodbath / stock prices / trade tariffs / destiny /
fight back / wealth / struggle / bullying / imports / Japanese goods / soon / medicine
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. TARIFFS: Students A strongly believe tariffs are good; Students B strongly believe they are bad. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. INDUSTRIES: What are these industries in your country like? How important are they? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	What the Industry is Like	How Important It Is
Tourism
Car industry
Entertainment
Farming
Sports
Energy

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. TRADE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "trade". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. STOCKS: Rank these with your partner. Put the best things to have stocks in at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Weapons companies
Golf companies
Social media
Oil companies
AI companies
Book companies
Healthcare
Car companies

Vocabulary

Paragraph 1

1.	value	a.	Ten years.
2.	decade	b.	A person who looks at information and numbers carefully.
3.	sank	c.	How much something is worth (like money).
4.	analyst	d.	To become free.
5.	bloodbath	e.	A very, very, very bad situation for something.
6.	liberation	f.	Having a lot of money or other thing.
7.	wealthy	g.	Went down and down and down from a higher to a lower place .

Paragraph 2

8.	tariff	h.	Something you take to get better when you are sick.
9.	trade wars	i.	To try very hard to do something difficult.
10.	wealth	j.	When someone hurts or scares someone else again and again.
11.	struggle	k.	A tax on goods and other things coming into a country.
12.	bullying	l.	When countries fight about buying and selling things.
13.	reduce	m.	To make something smaller.
14.	medicine	n.	A lot of money and things.

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

The fall in stock values is the biggest for over a century. T / F
Japan's market fell by a bigger amount than Shanghai's. T / F
The article said stock markets in Australia also went down. T / F
President Trump said America's industry would now start to grow again. T / F
A Chinese newspaper said China would not fight back against the US. T / F
The newspaper said China has had an 8-year trade war with the USA. T / F
President Trump called April the 2nd Liberal Nation Day. T / F
President Trump said Japan was doing many unfair things to the USA. T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

fallen
nearly
liberation
forever
wealthy
thinking
experience
face
struggle
fix

fight
rich
until the end of time
repair
wondering
dropped
meet
knowledge
almost
freedom

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

fallen by their biggest amount in
The market in Shanghai was down
An analyst told the BBC that the markets
Stock prices are reacting negatively to
remembered as the day American
countries are thinking about what to
eight years of trade
China was strong enough to
He will visit the US
Sometimes you have to take

were a "bloodbath"
wars with the US
medicine
by nearly 8%
face "US tariff bullying
industry was reborn
decades
as soon as possible
do about the tariffs
the trade tariffs

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

destiny
value
wealthy
announced
closed
day
down
markets

The (1) ______________________________________________ of stock markets in Asia has fallen by their biggest amount in decades. The market in Shanghai was (2) ______________________________________________ by nearly 8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped by 13.22%, Japan's Nikkei index fell 7.8%, and Taiwan's market (3) ______________________________________________ more than 9.7% down. Markets in Australia also sank. An analyst told the BBC that the (4) ______________________________________________ were a "bloodbath". Stock prices are reacting negatively to the trade tariffs (5) ______________________________________________ by US President Donald Trump on April the 2nd. He called this (6) ______________________________________________ "Liberation Day". He said it "will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's (7) ______________________________________________ was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America (8) ______________________________________________ again".

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

imports
back
goods
thinking
medicine
enough
explain
struggle

Many countries are (9) ______________________________________________ about what to do about the tariffs. China's People's Daily newspaper said China could fight (10) ______________________________________________. It wrote: "After eight years of trade wars with the US, we've built up a wealth of experience in this (11) ______________________________________________." It added that China was strong (12) ______________________________________________ to face "US tariff bullying". The country could increase its own tariffs on (13) ______________________________________________ from the USA. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would ask the US to reduce the 24% tariffs on Japanese (14) ______________________________________________. He will visit the US "as soon as possible". He will (15) ______________________________________________ to President Trump that Japan "is not doing anything unfair". Talking about the tariffs, Trump said: "Sometimes you have to take (16) ______________________________________________ to fix something."

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) The value of stock markets in Asia has fallen by their biggest ______
     a. amount on decades
     b. amount in decades
     c. amount in decade
     d. amount on decade
2) Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped by 13.22%, Japan's Nikkei ______
     a. index fall 7.8%
     b. index fell 7.8%
     c. index tell 7.8%
     d. index feel 7.8%
3) the markets were a "bloodbath". Stock prices ______
     a. are reacting negative
     b. are react in negatively
     c. are reacting negatively
     d. are react tin negatively
4) the day American industry was reborn, the day America's ______
     a. destiny was reclaim
     b. destiny was reclaimed
     c. destiny was reclaims
     d. destiny was re-climbed
5) and the day that we began to make ______
     a. America wealthy again
     b. America wealthy against
     c. America wealthy a gain
     d. America wealthy a gains

6) Many countries are thinking about what to do ______
     a. abet the tariffs
     b. abut the tariffs
     c. about a tariffs
     d. about the tariffs
7) After eight years of trade wars with the US, we've built up a ______
     a. wealth off experience
     b. wealth of experience
     c. wealth of experiences
     d. wealthy of experience
8) It added that China was strong enough to face ______
     a. US tariff bully in
     b. US tariff bullying
     c. US tariff bull ying
     d. US tariff bully ying
9) Shigeru Ishiba said he would ask the US to reduce the 24% tariffs ______
     a. on Japanese goodies
     b. on Japanese good
     c. on Japanese goodness
     d. on Japanese goods
10) Trump said: "Sometimes you have to take medicine ______."
     a. too fix something
     b. two fix something
     c. to fix something
     d. tooth fix something

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The value of stock markets in Asia (1) __________________________________________________ their biggest (2) __________________________________________________. The market in Shanghai was down by nearly 8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped by 13.22%, Japan's Nikkei index fell 7.8%, and Taiwan's (3) __________________________________________________ than 9.7% down. Markets in Australia also sank. An analyst told the BBC that the markets were a "bloodbath". Stock (4) __________________________________________________ negatively to the trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April the 2nd. He called this day "Liberation Day". He said (5) __________________________________________________ be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we (6) __________________________________________________ America wealthy again".

Many countries are thinking about what to do (7) __________________________________________________. China's People's Daily newspaper said China (8) __________________________________________________. It wrote: "After eight years of trade wars with the US, we've built up a wealth of experience in this struggle." It added that China was strong (9) __________________________________________________ "US tariff bullying". The country could increase its own (10) __________________________________________________ from the USA. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would ask the US to reduce the 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. He will visit the US "as soon as possible". He will explain to President Trump that Japan "is not (11) __________________________________________________". Talking about the tariffs, Trump said: "Sometimes you have to take (12) __________________________________________________ something."

Comprehension questions

By how much did the market in Hong Kong fall?
What did an analyst describe the markets as?
What did stock prices react negatively to?
What did President Trump call April the 2nd?
What did President Trump say about American industry?
What is the name of the newspaper mentioned in the article?
For how long has China had a trade war with the USA?
What did a newspaper say China was strong enough to face?
When will Japan's leader visit the USA?
What did President Trump say we had to take to fix something?

Multiple choice quiz

1) By how much did the market in Hong Kong fall?
a) by 8%
b) by 9.7%
c) by 13.22%
d) by 7.8%
2) What did an analyst describe the markets as?
a) a bloodbath
b) Armageddon
c) a nightmare
d) the end of capitalism
3) What did stock prices react negatively to?
a) inflation
b) trade tariffs
c) wars
d) employment news
4) What did President Trump call April the 2nd?
a) Destiny Day
b) Stock Market Day
c) Wealth Day
d) Liberation Day
5) What did President Trump say about American industry?
a) It's the best in the world.
b) It needed help.
c) It would be reborn.
d) It needs to be bigger.

6) What is the name of the newspaper mentioned in the article?
a) People's Weekly
b) People's Daily
c) People Today
d) Today's People
7) For how long has China had a trade war with the USA?
a) two years
b) six years
c) seven years
d) eight years
8) What did a newspaper say China was strong enough to face?
a) the world
b) US tariff bullying
c) the end of fossil fuels
d) the future
9) When will Japan's leader visit the USA?
a) when he's less busy
b) as soon as possible
c) one day
d) next year
10) What did President Trump say we had to take to fix something?
a) medicine
b) a deep breath
c) advice
d) a toolbox

Role play

Role A – Weapons Companies
You think weapons companies are best to have stocks in. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their companies. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these companies to have stocks in (and why): social media companies, book companies or healthcare companies.

Role B – Social Media Companies
You think social media companies are best to have stocks in. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their companies. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these companies to have stocks in (and why): weapons companies, book companies or healthcare companies.

Role C – Book Companies
You think book companies are best to have stocks in. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their companies. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these companies to have stocks in (and why): social media companies, weapons companies or healthcare companies.

Role D – Healthcare Companies
You think healthcare companies are best to have stocks in. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their companies. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these companies to have stocks in (and why): social media companies, book companies or weapons companies.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'trade'

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

and 'market'.
________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

________________

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.

• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

•Share your questions with other classmates / groups. •Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

value

nearly

sank

announced

forever

began

thinking

wars

face

ask

explain

medicine

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion - Trade Tariffs

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

What did you think when you read the headline?
What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'trade'?
What do you know about trade tariffs?
What do you know about Donald Trump?
What do you know about your country's economy?
What do stock markets do?
How will the trade tariffs affect your country?
Why has President Trump introduced the trade tariffs?
Do you think the tariffs will make America wealthy again?
How might the trade tariffs affect your life?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
What do you think of when you hear the word 'tariff'?
What do you think about what you read?
How strong is your country's economy?
What are the good and bad things about tariffs?
What do you think of a trade war between China and the USA?
What do you think of bullying?
Do you think your country's leader should talk to President Trump?
Do you think the trade tariffs will be good medicine?
What questions would you like to ask President Trump?

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

The value of stock markets in Asia has fallen by their biggest amount in decades. The market in Shanghai was (1) ____ by nearly 8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped by 13.22%, Japan's Nikkei index fell 7.8%, and Taiwan's market (2) ____ more than 9.7% down. Markets in Australia also (3) ____. An analyst told the BBC that the markets were a "bloodbath". Stock prices are (4) ____ negatively to the trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April the 2nd. He called this day "Liberation Day". He said it "will forever (5) ____ remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed and the day that we (6) ____ to make America wealthy again".

Many countries are thinking about what to do (7) ____ the tariffs. China's People's Daily newspaper said China could fight back. It wrote: "After eight years of trade wars with the US, we've built (8) ____ a wealth of experience in this struggle." It added that China was strong enough to (9) ____ "US tariff bullying". The country could increase its own tariffs on imports from the USA. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would ask the US to (10) ____ the 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. He will visit the US "as soon as possible". He will explain to President Trump that Japan "is not doing (11) ____ unfair". Talking about the tariffs, Trump said: "Sometimes you have to take (12) ____ to fix something."

Which of these words go in the above text?

(a) decrease (b) drop (c) fell (d) down
(a) cased (b) classed (c) clashed (d) closed
(a) thank (b) sank (c) sink (d) sunk
(a) reaction (b) react (c) reacting (d) reacts
(a) be (b) do (c) have (d) take
(a) began (b) beginning (c) begins (d) begun
(a) at (b) off (c) on (d) about
(a) up (b) off (c) down (d) to
(a) nose (b) face (c) mouth (d) cheek
(a) reason (b) win (c) reduce (d) point
(a) nothing (b) thing (c) anything (d) thingy
(a) medicinal (b) medicine (c) medic (d) medical

Spelling

Paragraph 1

The vueal of stock markets
An snyaalt told the BBC
Stock prices are reacting teviylgnae
the day American tsrndiyu was reborn
America's disyten
make America yatwehl again

Paragraph 2

we've built up a thlwea of experience
in this lruggets
tariffs on irtopms from the USA
ask the US to duceer the 24% tariffs
not doing anything infrua
take cmniedie to fix something

Put the text back together

( 1 )       The value of stock markets in Asia has fallen by their biggest amount in decades. The market in Shanghai was down by
(    )         BBC that the markets were a "bloodbath". Stock prices are reacting negatively to the trade
(    )         tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April the 2nd. He called this
(    )         day "Liberation Day". He said it "will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's
(    )         destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again".
(    )         Many countries are thinking about what to do about the tariffs. China's People's Daily newspaper said China could fight
(    )         back. It wrote: "After eight years of trade wars with the US, we've built up a wealth of
(    )         experience in this struggle." It added that China was strong enough to face "US tariff
(    )         bullying". The country could increase its own tariffs on imports from the USA. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said
(    )         he would ask the US to reduce the 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. He will visit the US "as soon as
(    )         possible". He will explain to President Trump that Japan "is not doing anything unfair". Talking
(    )         about the tariffs, Trump said: "Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."
(    )         than 9.7% down. Markets in Australia also sank. An analyst told the
(    )         nearly 8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped by 13.22%, Japan's Nikkei index fell 7.8%, and Taiwan's market closed more

Put the words in the right order

The fallen has Asia markets of in value .
The by was Shanghai in market 8% down .
Stock negatively are tariffs to reacting prices the .
Remembered industry American reborn was the as day .
The America wealthy make to we day began .
Many what about are to countries thinking do .
After America with trade eight years of wars .
China the face to enough US was strong .
Increase the USA from on its imports tariffs .
You something to take fix have medicine to .

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

The value / valued of stock markets in Asia has fell / fallen by their biggest amount in decades. The market in Shanghai was down by nearly 8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dripped / dropped by 13.22%, Japan's Nikkei index fell 7.8%, and Taiwan's market closed more than 9.7% down. Markets in Australia also sank / sink. An analyst told the BBC that the markets were a "bloodbath". Stock prices are reacting negatively / positively to the trade tariffs announced from / by US President Donald Trump on April the 2nd. He called / calling this day "Liberation Day". He said it "will forever / infinity be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's mutiny / destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy extra / again".

Many countries are thinking for / about what to do about the tariffs. China's People's Daily newspaper said China could fight forward / back. It wrote: "After eight years of trade wars with / to the US, we've built up a wealth of experience in this snuggle / struggle." It added that China was strength / strong enough to face "US tariff bullying". The country could increase its own tariffs on / in imports from the USA. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would ask the US to reduce / reducing the 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. He will visit the US "as soon was / as possible". He will explain to President Trump that Japan "is not doing anything / thing unfair". Talking about the tariffs, Trump said: "Sometimes you have to make / take medicine to fix something."

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct. Look up the definition of new words.

Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

Th_ v_l__ _f st_ck m_rk_ts _n _s__ h_s f_ll_n by th__r b_gg_st _m__nt _n d_c_d_s. Th_ m_rk_t _n Sh_ngh__ w_s d_wn by n__rly 8%, H_ng K_ng's H_ng S_ng dr_pp_d by 13.22%, J_p_n's N_kk__ _nd_x f_ll 7.8%, _nd T__w_n's m_rk_t cl_s_d m_r_ th_n 9.7% d_wn. M_rk_ts _n __str_l__ _ls_ s_nk. _n _n_lyst t_ld th_ BBC th_t th_ m_rk_ts w_r_ _ "bl__db_th". St_ck pr_c_s _r_ r__ct_ng n_g_t_v_ly t_ th_ tr_d_ t_r_ffs _nn__nc_d by _S Pr_s_d_nt D_n_ld Tr_mp _n _pr_l th_ 2nd. H_ c_ll_d th_s d_y "L_b_r_t__n D_y". H_ s__d _t "w_ll f_r_v_r b_ r_m_mb_r_d _s th_ d_y _m_r_c_n _nd_stry w_s r_b_rn, th_ d_y _m_r_c_'s d_st_ny w_s r_cl__m_d, _nd th_ d_y th_t w_ b_g_n t_ m_k_ _m_r_c_ w__lthy _g__n".

M_ny c__ntr__s _r_ th_nk_ng _b__t wh_t t_ d_ _b__t th_ t_r_ffs. Ch_n_'s P__pl_'s D__ly n_wsp_p_r s__d Ch_n_ c__ld f_ght b_ck. _t wr_t_: "_ft_r __ght y__rs _f tr_d_ w_rs w_th th_ _S, w_'v_ b__lt _p _ w__lth _f _xp_r__nc_ _n th_s str_ggl_." _t _dd_d th_t Ch_n_ w_s str_ng _n__gh t_ f_c_ "_S t_r_ff b_lly_ng". Th_ c__ntry c__ld _ncr__s_ _ts _wn t_r_ffs _n _mp_rts fr_m th_ _S_. J_p_n's Pr_m_ M_n_st_r Sh_g_r_ _sh_b_ s__d h_ w__ld _sk th_ _S t_ r_d_c_ th_ 24% t_r_ffs _n J_p_n_s_ g__ds. H_ w_ll v_s_t th_ _S "_s s__n _s p_ss_bl_". H_ w_ll _xpl__n t_ Pr_s_d_nt Tr_mp th_t J_p_n "_s n_t d__ng _nyth_ng _nf__r". T_lk_ng _b__t th_ t_r_ffs, Tr_mp s__d: "S_m_t_m_s y__ h_v_ t_ t_k_ m_d_c_n_ t_ f_x s_m_th_ng."

Punctuate the text and add capitals

the value of stock markets in asia has fallen by their biggest amount in decades the market in shanghai was down by nearly 8 hong kongs hang seng dropped by 1322 japans nikkei index fell 78 and taiwans market closed more than 97 down Markets in Australia also sank an analyst told the bbc that the markets were a bloodbath stock prices are reacting negatively to the trade tariffs announced by us president donald trump on april the 2nd he called this day liberation day he said it will forever be remembered as the day american industry was reborn the day americas destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make america wealthy again

many countries are thinking about what to do about the tariffs chinas peoples daily newspaper said china could fight back it wrote after eight years of trade wars with the us weve built up a wealth of experience in this struggle it added that china was strong enough to face us tariff bullying the country could increase its own tariffs on imports from the usa japans prime minister shigeru ishiba said he would ask the us to reduce the 24 tariffs on japanese goods he will visit the us as soon as possible he will explain to president trump that japan is not doing anything unfair talking about the tariffs trump said sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

ThevalueofstockmarketsinAsiahasfallenbytheirbiggestamountindec
ades.ThemarketinShanghaiwasdownbynearly8%,HongKong'sHang
Sengdroppedby13.22%,Japan'sNikkeiindexfell7.8%,andTaiwan's
marketclosedmorethan9.7%down.MarketsinAustraliaalsosank.Ana
nalysttoldtheBBCthatthemarketswerea"bloodbath".Stockpricesare
reactingnegativelytothetradetariffsannouncedbyUSPresidentDonal
dTrumponAprilthe2nd.Hecalledthisday"LiberationDay".Hesaidit"wil
lforeverberememberedasthedayAmericanindustrywasreborn,theda
yAmerica'sdestinywasreclaimedandthedaythatwebegantomakeAm
ericawealthyagain".Manycountriesarethinkingaboutwhattodoabout
thetariffs.China'sPeople'sDailynewspapersaidChinacouldfightback.
Itwrote:"AftereightyearsoftradewarswiththeUS,we'vebuiltupawealt
hofexperienceinthisstruggle."ItaddedthatChinawasstrongenoughto
face"UStariffbullying".Thecountrycouldincreaseitsowntariffsonimp
ortsfromtheUSA.Japan'sPrimeMinisterShigeruIshibasaidhewouldas
ktheUStoreducethe24%tariffsonJapanesegoods.HewillvisittheUS"a
ssoonaspossible".HewillexplaintoPresidentTrumpthatJapan"isnotd
oinganythingunfair".Talkingaboutthetariffs,Trumpsaid:"Sometime
syouhavetotakemedicinetofixsomething."

Free writing

Write about trade tarrifs for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

What are the good and bad things about trade tariffs? Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Homework

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about this news story. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. TRADE TARIFFS: Make a poster about trade tariffs. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. NO TARIFFS: Write a magazine article about banning all trade tariffs. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.
Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on trade tariffs. Ask him/her three questions about them. Give him/her three of your opinions on President Trump's tariffs. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

$US 9.99

Answers

(Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Back to the top

Help Support This Web Site

Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

Sean Banville's Book

Download a sample of my book "1,000 Ideas & Activities for Language Teachers".

Breaking News English Lesson: Trade Tariffs

Home | Help This Site

PRINT

LISTEN

READ

GRAMMAR

SPELL

WORDS