Trump disrupts global economic order even though the US is dominant
WASHINGTON (AP) — By declaring a trade war on the rest of the world, President Donald Trump has panicked global financial markets and raised the risk of a recession. He has also broken the political and economic alliances that made much of the world stable for business after World War II. Trump’s latest round of tariffs went into full effect at midnight Wednesday, with higher import tax rates on dozens of countries and territories taking hold. Economists are puzzled to see Trump trying to overhaul the existing economic order and doing it so soon after inheriting the strongest economy in the world.
The Latest: Asia shares sink as US tariffs take effect
Asian and European shares sank again on Wednesday as the latest set of U.S. tariffs, including a 104% levy on Chinese imports, went into effect. The drops in trading on Wednesday morning in Asia came before the sharply higher tariffs were scheduled to start after midnight on the U.S. East Coast. Investors have no idea what to make of President Donald Trump’strade war.
White House keeps world guessing as clock ticks down to Trump’s new tariffs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is sending mixed messages on tariffs as it pursues conflicting goals, frustrating foreign leaders and business executives who are desperate for clarity on a generational overhaul of international trade. Administration officials have alternated between talking about seeking negotiations or pushing forward with tariffs no matter what. President Donald Trump tried to have it both ways this week, saying “there can be permanent tariffs, and there can also be negotiations.” That has left world leaders and businesses holding their breath as the stock market craters and the clock ticks down to the new tariffs taking effect Wednesday.
Trump’s latest round of tariffs are poised to go into effect. Here’s what we know
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has launched tariff wars with nearly all of America’s trading partners. And there’s no end in sight. A number of sweeping new taxes on goods from other countries are already here, with more set to take effect in the coming days. Trump has promised that his latest and most severe volley of duties, which he calls “reciprocal” tariffs, kicked in on Wednesday. Further escalation could soon follow. China vowed to roll out a fresh set of counter tariffs on U.S. goods starting Thursday, all while Trump has threatened to hike import taxes even more over such retaliation.
World shares deepen losses, with Tokyo’s Nikkei down nearly 4%, as latest US tariffs take effect
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian and European shares have slipped further after the launch of the latest set of U.S. tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index bounced lower, at point point losing more than 5% on Wednesday. Other global markets also skidded. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 dropped 1.6% after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%. That took it nearly 19% below its record set in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8%, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%. Uncertainty is still high about what President Donald Trump will do with his trade war. The sharply higher tariffs kicked in as of midnight Eastern time in the U.S.
The IMF reaches a deal with troubled Argentina on a $20 billion bailout
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has reached a preliminary agreement with Argentina on a $20 billion bailout package, providing a reprieve to President Javier Milei as he seeks to overturn the country’s old economic order. As a staff-level agreement, the deal announced Tuesday still requires final approval from the IMF’s executive board. The deal delivers a lifeline to President Milei, who has slashed inflation and stabilized the economy after years of turmoil with a harsh austerity program praised by the IMF. But without cash from the international lender, he has been unable to rebuild the scarce foreign exchange reserves he inherited, which he needs to repay debts and lift Argentina’s strict currency controls.
AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its journalists
A federal judge has ordered the White House to restore The Associated Press’ full access to cover presidential events. He ruled on a case that touched at the heart of the First Amendment and affirmed that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech. U.S.. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump, ruled that the government can’t retaliate against the AP’s decision not to follow the president’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The decision handed the AP a major victory at a time the White House has been challenging the press on several levels.
Trump says high tariffs may have prevented the Great Depression. History says different
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the early days of the Great Depression, Rep. Willis Hawley, a Republican from Oregon, and Utah Republican Sen. Reed Smoot thought they had landed on a way to protect American farmers and manufacturers from foreign competition: tariffs. Most historians look back on the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs Act of 1930 as a mistake that made a bad economic climate much worse. But tariffs have a new champion in President Donald Trump. Trump now argues that the Great Depression might never have happened if the U.S. hadn’t moved away from its history of high tariffs. He says Smoot-Hawley was Washington’s attempt to embrace tariffs anew but came too late. Those accounts don’t tell the whole story.
Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has blocked an order for the Trump administration to return to work thousands of federal employees who were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the federal government. The justices acted Tuesday in the Republican administration’s emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary employees be reinstated while a lawsuit plays out because their firings didn’t follow federal law. The effect of the high court’s order will keep employees in six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for now. The coalition of organizations and labor unions that sued says it’s disappointed with the court’s order.
Keystone oil pipeline shutdown could quickly lead to higher gasoline prices
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The nearly 2,700-mile Keystone oil pipeline was shut down Tuesday morning after it ruptured in North Dakota, halting the flow of millions of gallons of crude oil from Canada to refineries in the U.S. and potentially leading to higher gasoline prices. It wasn’t clear what caused the rupture of the underground pipeline Tuesday morning or the amount of crude oil released into the field. Officials say an employee working at the site near Fort Ransom heard a “mechanical bang” and shut down the pipeline within about two minutes. Oil surfaced about 300 yards south of the pump station in a field. An energy analyst says the pipeline’s shutdown could quickly lead to higher gasoline prices in the Midwest.
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