Beijing dismissed suggestions that Chinese officials were negotiating tariffs with the Trump administration, and said the White House should completely cut unilateral duties if it wants to resolve the trade dispute through dialogue.

The WSJ’s Brian Spegele and Jason Douglas report that President Trump’s apparent willingness to cut tariffs on Chinese goods in the past few days has only strengthened Chinese leaders’ conviction that he will cave if they wait him out. Chinese leader Xi Jinping says the U.S. has only grown more aggressive since the first Trump administration, when efforts to accommodate the White House didn’t work. Xi has been telling the Chinese people they should be ready for a long, painful struggle. Even if Trump were to cut tariffs to between about 50% and 65%—one possibility under consideration—it could still leave many Chinese products shut out of U.S. markets.

China may be better prepared to withstand U.S. tariffs after moving to make its economy less reliant on U.S. technology, and diversifying trading partners. Beijing also is betting that Chinese exporters will be able to find new buyers, though many governments are wary of a flood of Chinese imports.

• China cut back on U.S. soybean purchases and reduced the amount of pork it plans to import in 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. (WSJ)
• The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has opened a national security probe into imports of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and parts. (Barron's) 

United Parcel Service continues to beef up its healthcare logistics business, saying it will acquire Canada’s Andlauer Healthcare Group for $1.6 billion.

The acquisition will bolster UPS’s ability to deliver medicines, vaccines and other sensitive products that require refrigeration and special handling. It is the latest move by UPS to expand its high-margin healthcare offerings, the WSJ’s Robb M. Stewart reports, and to reduce less-profitable businesses. In January, UPS said it would phase out much of its low-margin work with Amazon, a couple of months after acquiring a pair of German healthcare-logistics firms, Frigo-Trans and BPL. UPS expects revenue from healthcare logistics to reach $20 billion in 2026, double 2023’s level.

Founder Michael Andlauer, majority owner of the Ottawa Senators hockey team, will continue to lead the business, which will remain based outside Toronto and become part of the UPS Healthcare network. UPS created this division in 2020 and it now has more than 19 million square feet of certified healthcare distribution space globally.

• DHL Express is expanding its Medical Express service, connecting pharmaceutical and clinical-research customers in South America, Puerto Rico and the U.S. (American Journal of Transportation)

PepsiCo makes nearly all of the concentrate for its U.S. sodas in Ireland, leaving the soft-drink and snack giant vulnerable to new tariffs.

That, plus a drop in demand from consumers made skittish by inflation and the global trade war spurred PepsiCo to cut its outlook for the year, the Journal’s Laura Cooper writes. In addition to the new 10% tariff on the Irish concentrate imports, PepsiCo–along with archrival Coca-Cola–could be dented by a 25% duty on aluminum imports. PepsiCo executives said they had plans to ease the hit from higher supply-chain costs, but didn’t elaborate, other than to say some measures would take longer than others. The Purchase, N.Y., company, which also makes concentrate in Texas, Uruguay and Singapore, now says it expects earnings to be flat this year. The company added it was making some progress reviving its U.S. soda sales after years of focusing on food and energy drinks.

Sales of existing homes in March posted their biggest monthly decline in more than two years. (WSJ)

U.S. initial jobless claims climbed last week but remained close to recent levels. (WSJ)

Business sentiment in Germany unexpectedly edged up in April. (WSJ)

Kuehne + Nagel’s quarterly profit beat expectations, with gains in all units except road logistics, where earnings fell 37%. (WSJ)

LG Electronics reiterated plans to relocate some production to the U.S. as it posted higher-than-expected earnings. (WSJ)

STMicroelectronics, which supplies Apple, Samsung Electronics and Tesla, projected lower sales on weak demand for chips used in cars and industrial equipment. (WSJ)

South Korea’s Posco Holdings posted lower quarterly profit, hit in part by tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. (WSJ)

Hyundai Motor front-loaded shipments ahead of tariff hikes and has enough inventory for more than three months of operations in the U.S. (WSJ)

Japan is considering importing more American soybeans as Tokyo tries to get new tariffs on its exports to the U.S. dropped. (Nikkei Asia)

The U.K. is reviewing a rule used by China-founded Shein and Temu that allows lower-value parcels to enter the country duty-free. (BBC)

Japanese ocean carrier Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, or MOL, will open a new office in Washington, D.C., as global trade tensions mount. (Splash 247)

GATX, which owned the railcar that caused 2023’s East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, won’t have to help pay the $600 million settlement Norfolk Southern agreed to, a jury decided. (Associated Press) 

• As financial stress mounts, chains like Dollar Tree and Academy that cater to the budget-conscious are seeing more of a new class of shoppers.
• Businesses need to prepare for the AI-driven rise of a relentless, always-on economy.
• Private-equity firms see opportunity in a sector they once considered too unreliable: advertising.
• As tariff wars raise supply-chain uncertainty and green initiatives see a pushback, some renewables-focused companies are forging new relationships, including in the defense industry.

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.