This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia<\/a>, Europe\/Africa<\/a> or Americas<\/a> edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today\u2019s newsletter: <\/p>\n Andreessen Horowitz could join US TikTok bid<\/p>\n<\/li>\n China\u2019s latest military exercises around Taiwan<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Indonesia\u2019s new sovereign wealth fund vows transparency<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n US venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is in talks to invest in social media platform TikTok as part of an effort led by Donald Trump to wrest control of the popular video app from its Chinese owners.<\/p>\n What we know:<\/strong> The group, whose co-founder Marc Andreessen is a vocal supporter of the US president, is in talks to add new outside investment that will buy out TikTok\u2019s Chinese investors. The talks come as part of a bid led by Oracle and other American investors to carve it out of its parent company ByteDance. Andreessen Horowitz was approached as TikTok\u2019s advisers and the White House sought to add financial firepower to ongoing discussions. The firm was strongly considering making an investment, said three people familiar with the discussions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Looming deadline:<\/strong> The Oracle-led bid recently emerged as the frontrunner ahead of a deadline on April 5, when a federal law would ban the app in the US unless its Beijing-based owner sells the American arm to non-Chinese entities, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump connections:<\/strong> Marc Andreessen\u2019s close ties to the Trump administration include helping recruit staff for Elon Musk\u2019s US government cost-cutting unit, while former Andreessen Horowitz general partner Sriram Krishnan is serving as a White House adviser for artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the full story<\/a> \u2014 plus more tech news below:<\/p>\n And here\u2019s what else we\u2019re keeping tabs on today:<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s \u201cliberation day\u201d tariffs:<\/strong> The US president could trigger a $1.4tn trade war today when he plans to announce sweeping new tariffs on imported goods. Here\u2019s how the worse-case scenario could unfold<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Economic data:<\/strong> March inflation figures are due from Singapore, South Korea and Australia. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n Benjamin Netanyahu:<\/strong> The Israeli prime minister will visit Hungary, defying an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n 1. China has begun large-scale military and coastguard exercises around Taiwan,<\/strong> the latest round in Beijing\u2019s escalating campaign to assert its claims of sovereignty over the island nation. Two people briefed on the situation said the Shandong, a Chinese aircraft carrier, was approaching waters 24 nautical miles off Taiwan\u2019s coast yesterday, the closest it has ever been to the Taiwanese mainland. Here\u2019s how Taipei responded<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2. Indonesia will run its colossal new sovereign wealth fund \u201clike a public company\u201d,<\/strong> its chief investment officer said as he acknowledged investor concerns about the governance<\/a> of a vehicle with $900bn in assets. Danantara, which became one of the world\u2019s largest sovereign wealth funds overnight when it launched last month, is set to invest billions of dollars into priority sectors identified by President Prabowo Subianto.<\/p>\n 3. The US labour watchdog froze two cases against Apple days after Trump nominated an attorney <\/strong>who represents the tech group to be the agency\u2019s top legal official. The National Labor Relations Board filed multiple complaints against the iPhone maker last year alleging it intervened against employee attempts to organise, but abruptly pulled back from two of the cases late last week<\/a>, according to documents seen by the FT.<\/p>\n 4.<\/strong> The EU has a \u201cstrong plan to retaliate\u201d against US tariffs expected today, the president of the European Commission has said.<\/strong> Ursula von der Leyen told the European parliament yesterday that the bloc was prepared to hit services exports including those from Big Tech\u00a0companies<\/a> if Trump imposed \u201creciprocal tariffs\u201d on all imports into the US.<\/p>\n 5. Vehicle sales at China\u2019s BYD soared 58 per cent in the first quarter <\/strong>in a stark contrast to an expected fall in demand for Tesla\u2019s electric cars, as European consumers shun Elon Musk\u2019s brand<\/a>. Analysts warned figures set to be released today for Tesla\u2019s first-quarter sales were likely to show a drop of more than 10 per cent. <\/p>\n Klarna has brought \u201cpay in four\u201d loans to everything from food to fashion. Now it has a $15bn New York IPO in its sights. Can the Swedish fintech finally silence the \u201cbuy now, pay later\u201d doubters<\/a>?<\/p>\n Investors are pouring cash into gold funds at the fastest pace since the Covid-19 pandemic<\/a>, amid mounting concerns over the economic impact of Trump\u2019s trade war.<\/p>\n HTSI goes inside the Aman Nai Lert Bangkok<\/a>, a new hotel in the heart of the Thai capital that pays homage to the man who shaped the modern city.<\/p>\n\n
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Five more top stories<\/h3>\n
News in-depth<\/h3>\n
We\u2019re also reading\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009<\/h3>\n
Chart of the day<\/h3>\n
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<\/picture><\/figure>\nTake a break from the news\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009<\/h3>\n
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