US House votes to limit judges’ injunction power

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to limit federal judges’ power to oppose President Donald Trump’s policies with injunctions, after the White House blasted such hurdles.Largely backed by Republicans with 219 votes in favor and 213 against, the draft law has almost no chance of passing the Senate, where Republicans hold a majority with 53 members, but not the 60 votes needed to overcome a potential filibuster.Wednesday’s bill would prevent district court judges from issuing rulings with nationwide effects, instead restricting their orders to only the parties in the case at hand.”We are taking on activist rulings and restoring the balance of power,” said Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who authored the bill.The White House had on Tuesday backed the text, saying that “activist federal courts are weaponizing” injunctions “in an attempt to undermine President Trump’s legitimate powers.”Many of Trump’s executive orders since he began his second term have been challenged in court, with federal judges often suspending them in the belief that the president has overstepped his bounds — including at the expense of Congress.On Wednesday, federal judges in Texas and New York temporarily blocked expulsions of foreigners under a wartime law dating back to the 18th century.The Trump administration has used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expel alleged members of a Venezuelan gang without due process.In response to the rulings, the White House has stepped up attacks on the judiciary.Trump himself called in March for the impeachment of a federal judge who had ordered a halt to a deportation drive — drawing a rare rebuke from the Supreme Court’s chief justice John Roberts.

Trump stuns with tariff backtrack but hikes China rate to 125%

US President Donald Trump abruptly paused tariffs on most countries, sparking euphoria on global markets Thursday, but upped the ante on a brutal trade war with superpower rival China.After days of turmoil, stocks on Wall Street and across Asia saw huge surges in reaction to Trump’s announcement that he was halting a levy hike for almost all nations for 90 days.But Trump also said he was raising tariffs on China to 125 percent because of a “lack of respect.”Trump denied that he had backtracked on the tariffs, telling reporters that “you have to be flexible.””People were jumping a little bit out of line, they were getting yippy, a little bit afraid,” Trump said. “Yippy” is a term in sports to describe a loss of nerves.He said he had been watching the “very tricky” state of the crucial US bonds market before his decision.”I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy,” he said, as US bond yields rose during the stocks sell-off — a major economic red light as American sovereign government debt is normally seen as a safe haven for investors in troubled times.Trump also predicted that trade deals will be made with all countries, including China, which has for now, refused to roll back retaliatory tariffs on US goods.”A deal’s going to be made with China. A deal’s going to be made with every one of them,” Trump said, adding however that China’s leaders “don’t quite know how to go about it.”Trump also said that he “can’t imagine” increasing Chinese tariffs more than he has.- China duel -Markets have been on a rollercoaster ride since Trump’s announcement of sweeping global tariffs one week ago on what he called “Liberation Day” before his dramatic pause on Wednesday.Trump had imposed a 10 percent baseline tariffs on all countries which came into effect on Saturday, and higher rates on key trading partners like China and the European Union that he accused of cheating the United States, which activated on Wednesday.But as markets swayed yet again, Trump said in a surprise announcement on his Truth Social network that “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE” on the higher tariffs, while the baseline 10 percent would remain.He said that he took the decision after more than 75 countries reached out to negotiate and did not retaliate.Japan — which had been slapped with 24 percent under the so-called reciprocal tariffs — said it welcomed the news but still “strongly” demanded that Washington reconsider other levies on its steel and auto exports.At the same time, Trump ramped up his confrontation with China, which has announced retaliatory tariffs of 84 percent on US imports from 12:01 pm (0401 GMT) on Thursday.Beijing said Washington’s steps pile “mistakes on top of mistakes”.The European Union had earlier launched its own counterattack, announcing measures targeting some US products from next week in retaliation for American duties on global steel and aluminum exports.The 27-nation bloc will hit more than 20 billion euros’ worth of US products, including soybeans, motorcycles and beauty products.But the EU notably did not retaliate against the separate “Liberation Day” tariffs of 20 percent that came into effect on Wednesday.- ‘BE COOL!’ -Wall Street stocks rocketed on Trump’s pause announcement.The S&P 500 surged 9.5 percent to 5,456.90, snapping a brutal run of losses over the past week.Markets in Asia on Thursday also rallied, with Hong Kong, Taipei, Australia and Tokyo surging on opening after days of losses.Stocks in Chinese economic powerhouse Shanghai were also up, despite Trump’s decision to further hike tariffs.And Indonesia’s benchmark stock index rallied nearly five percent higher at the open.Before his pivot, Trump said world leaders were rushing to negotiate “tailored” deals with the United States, with Japan and South Korea among those sending delegations to Washington.”I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass,” Trump told a dinner with fellow Republicans on Tuesday night.Trump believes his policy will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the United States.The billionaire former property tycoon has particularly raged against China, accusing it of excess production and “dumping” inexpensive goods on other economies.With the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies showing little signs of abating, China told tourists on Wednesday to “fully assess the risks” before travelling to the United States.Separately, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned against Chinese “threats” as he visited Panama, whose canal is at the center of a row between Beijing and Washington.burs-oho/tym

China consumer prices slump for second straight month: data

Consumer prices in China fell in March for the second straight month, official data showed Thursday, as the world’s second-largest economy struggles to boost spending and a trade war with the United States deepens.The drop comes as Beijing seeks to boost domestic consumption, which has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.The consumer price index (CPI) — a key measure of inflation — was down 0.1 percent year-on-year in March, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).The figure came in slightly lower than expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg who predicted the index would remain unchanged.But the index’s decline narrowed from the 0.7 percent drop year-on-year in February.The past two months have reversed the 0.5 percent uptick seen in January, when a surge in spending during the Lunar New Year boosted inflation to its highest rate in months.The prices of food, tobacco and alcohol in March fell by 0.6 percent year-on-year.While deflation suggests the cost of goods is falling, it poses a threat to the broader economy as consumers tend to postpone purchases under such conditions, hoping for further reductions in prices.A lack of demand can then force companies to cut production, freeze hiring or lay off workers, while potentially also having to discount existing stocks — dampening profitability even as costs remain the same.Beijing unveiled a slew of measures to boost the economy last year, including cutting interest rates and cancelling restrictions on homebuying.China’s fragile recovery is also threatened by a trade war with the United States instigated by President Donald Trump, who further raised tariffs on China to 125 percent on Wednesday.”Deflationary pressure is persistent,” wrote Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, in a note.”The policy uncertainty in the US is still elevated,” he added.Premier Li Qiang in March announced a national growth target of “around five percent” for this year — the same as 2024.Many economists consider the goal to be ambitious given the headwinds facing China’s economy.

Hamas leadership operating behind veil of secrecy

After Israel killed a string of its leaders, Hamas anointed new commanders to top ranks, this time shrouding their identities in secrecy to protect them from assassination.Israel vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack, launching a blistering offensive in Gaza that has massively weakened the movement while reducing much of the territory to rubble.Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh, the head of its armed wing Mohammed Deif, and Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7 attack, have all been killed, as have a string of other commanders and political figures.Yet unlike its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, whose cult of personality around its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah was a key pillar of its identity, Hamas has placed less of an emphasis on its top ranks.The group has remained tight-lipped over the names of its top ranks, particularly the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades. “The name of the head of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades will remain a secret,” said a source close to Hamas’s armed wing.Researchers say it is likely that the role was inherited by Yahya Sinwar’s younger brother Mohammed, whom Hamas put in charge of the hostages taken into Gaza in 2023.”Yahya Sinwar’s personality was rather unique” and militants viewed him as a “hero”, said Laetitia Bucaille, who teaches political sociology at the INALCO institute of Middle East studies in Paris.Mohammed Sinwar’s blood link to the slain commander, coupled with his own experience in the brigades, have conferred upon him an automatic authority, she said.- Collective leadership -Israel vowed after October 7 to eradicate Hamas, and while the movement has suffered staggering losses, it has not been crushed.According to Yasser Abu Heen, founder of the Gaza-based Safa news agency, the loss of so many of its leaders has impacted Hamas, “but only temporarily”.”These hits do not pose an existential crisis, Hamas has its own way of running its institutions,” he said. “Israel will not be able to eradicate it.” Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, a member of Hamas’s political bureau described how it acts as the movement’s executive arm, voting on decisions and then taking action.Political bureau membership is decided by the larger Shura Council, the equivalent of a parliament, he added.”We will not know the new leaders’ names. There’s a push to keep their identities secret, and to maintain a collective sense of power,” said Leila Seurat of the Arab Centre for Research and Political Studies in Paris.”This isn’t a movement based on a charismatic leadership.”While Hamas has survived thus far, it has yet to make the toughest decision of all concerning its future role in Gaza and in the Palestinian struggle for statehood.Reduced under daily bombardment, Hamas faces demands not just from Israel but from powers around the world and even from some Palestinians to give up power.- Dissent -The Palestinian Authority, whose decades of corruption contributed to Hamas’s ascent, has pitched itself as a credible ruling entity for the battered territory.Within Hamas, discussions are raging on whether to hand over power.According to sources cited by the Soufan Center in New York: “The internal debate has intensified to the point where some Hamas political leaders have considered breaking with the group’s military leaders in Gaza.”Hamas is no stranger to division, with Seurat pointing to crises in the past over a range of issues from the Arab Spring to the movement’s alliance with Iran.But the war with Israel has brought to a head frustration among ordinary Gazans sick of a conflict that has killed many thousands and reduced their territory to rubble.Musa Abu Marzouk, a leading Hamas figure involved in talks over the ceasefire with Israel, told The New York Times in late February that as far as he was concerned, “if it was expected that what happened would happen, there wouldn’t have been October 7”.In March, hundreds of people took to the streets of Gaza, chanting “Out, out, Hamas out!”, after a rare call to protest circulated via Telegram.”Some Palestinians want Hamas to go. Some have always been opposed, while others are just fed up,” said Seurat.Pressure alone will not work, however, because Hamas has no viable competitor, and the people of Gaza simply do not have the means to stand up to it.”They are still in control,” said Bucaille. “While Hamas has been weakened, no one can stand up to it for now.”

Droits de douane: la volte-face de Trump dope les Bourses en Asie

Donald Trump a provoqué une envolée des Bourses en Asie jeudi matin après sa spectaculaire volte-face sur les droits de douane imposés au reste du monde, et malgré le fait qu’il a augmenté encore la surtaxe contre le rival chinois.Quelques jours après avoir déclenché une guerre commerciale mondiale et ébranlé les marchés, le président américain a annoncé mercredi une suspension pendant 90 jours des taxes à l’importation imposées à des dizaines de pays et partenaires, notamment contre l’Union européenne, en principe en vigueur depuis mercredi 04H01 GMT.”Il faut être flexible”, a justifié Donald Trump devant la presse à la Maison Blanche en reconnaissant que sa retentissante décision d’un matraquage douanier “effrayait un peu” des investisseurs “fébriles”.Il a indiqué avoir suivi le marché obligataire où la dette américaine, cette valeur refuge par excellence, a été vivement chahutée ces derniers jours.En revanche, reprochant à la seconde puissance mondiale chinoise un prétendu “manque de respect”, le président américain a annoncé sur son réseau Truth Social porter “immédiatement” à 125% la taxe frappant les importations de Pékin. Ces droits de douane étaient déjà montés mercredi à 104%.Donald Trump s’est par ailleurs félicité que “plus de 75 pays” se soient manifestés pour “négocier”. Ces partenaires commerciaux des Etats-Unis n’ayant selon lui pas “riposté”, il leur a accordé “une pause de 90 jours et des droits réciproques substantiellement réduits durant cette période, de 10%, également effectifs immédiatement”.- Cela vient “du coeur” -“Cela venait du coeur”, l’idée étant de ne “pas faire de mal” à ceux qui sont prêts à discuter, a justifié l’impétueux milliardaire dans le Bureau ovale. Et contre la Chine, Donald Trump a dit ne “pas imaginer” devoir encore augmenter les droits de douane.Les Bourses en Asie se sont envolées jeudi matin, dans le sillage de Wall Street.Vers 02H00 GMT à Tokyo, l’indice vedette Nikkei a bondi de 7,85% et l’indice Kospi de Séoul a gagné 5,25%. Même en Chine, la Bourse de Shanghai est repassée dans le vert, avec une hausse de 1,16%.Les surtaxes décidées par Washington et dorénavant suspendues frappaient de nombreuses économies asiatiques très dépendantes de leurs exportations, dont le Japon (surtaxé à 24%), la Corée du Sud (25%), la Thaïlande (36%) ou le Vietnam (46%).Avant de faire volte-face, l’imprévisible président conservateur qui bouleverse l’ordre économique et géopolitique international avait écrit sur Truth Social “C’EST LE MOMENT D’ACHETER”, en allusion à l’effondrement des Bourses depuis vendredi.Alors que les sondages montrent une défiance croissante d’Américains envers leur président revenu au pouvoir le 20 janvier, ses partisans ont tenté de le défendre.”C’était sa stratégie depuis le début”, a assuré le ministre des Finances Scott Bessent. L’un de ses proches conseillers, Stephen Miller, a vanté sa “stratégie magistrale” et son “audace” pour “isoler” Pékin.- Risque de récession -M. Trump a semé la panique dans le monde en annonçant la semaine dernière des surtaxes douanières sur les produits de 60 partenaires commerciaux, avec un traitement plus brutal contre la Chine. Cette dernière a répliqué du tac-au-tac, en portant ses surtaxes contre les produits américains à 84%, et non 34% comme initialement prévu.Visée depuis mi-mars par des droits de douane américains de 25% sur l’acier et l’aluminium, l’UE a adopté ses premières mesures soigneusement calibrées, contre plus 20 milliards d’euros de marchandises “made in USA”.Bruxelles s’était toutefois dite prête à suspendre ses droits de douane “à tout moment” en cas d’accord “juste et équilibré” avec Washington.Pour le futur chancelier allemand Friedrich Merz, la marche arrière de Donald Trump est une “réaction à la détermination des Européens”.Reste donc à savoir comment va de nouveau réagir Pékin, le président américain assurant que la Chine “voulait” un accord mais ne “savait pas comment s’y prendre”.Nombre d’économistes alertent sur les risques de flambée de l’inflation et de récession mondiale.La guerre commerciale pourrait réduire de “jusqu’à 80%” les échanges de marchandises entre les deux premières économies de la planète et effacer “près de 7%” du PIB mondial sur le long terme, a mis en garde la directrice générale de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.Sans même parler de l’escalade diplomatique entre la Chine et les Etats-Unis aux relations déjà tendues depuis des années.Pékin a appelé ses ressortissants à la “prudence” face aux “risques” potentiels d’un voyage touristique aux Etats-Unis.burs-nr/phs

Vencorex retient son souffle avant une décision de justice cruciale

Le groupe chimique en difficulté Vencorex retient son souffle avant une décision cruciale jeudi du tribunal de commerce de Lyon, qui doit trancher entre deux offres, l’une d’un concurrent chinois et l’autre bâtie dans l’urgence par deux de ses salariés.Le tribunal doit rendre son verdict en délibéré sur la situation de cette société installée à Pont-de-Claix, près de Grenoble, une semaine après une audience intermédiaire le 3 avril, au cours de laquelle les deux projets ont été mis sur la table. Les deux scénarios sont celui, annoncé de longue date, d’une reprise partielle par le groupe chinois Wanhua avec une cinquantaine d’emplois maintenus sur les 450 que comptait initialement Vencorex, et celui de la création d’une société coopérative d’intérêt collectif (SCIC), bâti en moins de deux mois par deux salariés de la CGT, Denis Carré et Séverine Dejoux, aidés par un entrepreneur local, Olivier Six.”Notre ambition est de créer une plateforme d’innovation chimique, de nombreuses entreprises pourraient venir s’installer sur le site et fonctionner clés en main”, avait déclaré M. Six à la sortie du tribunal il y a une semaine. “On est très confiants sur la possibilité de faire une offre ferme. Notre offre est bien meilleure en termes d’activités et au niveau emploi”, avaient renchéri Denis Carré et Séverine Dejoux.Tous trois se sont livrés ces dernières semaines à une véritable course contre la montre pour trouver des soutiens et des financements pour leur projet, baptisé CIRCEI (Coopérative industrielle de relance Chimie Electrochimie Isocyanate).Ces tractations semblent avoir porté leurs fruits: un industriel asiatique, dont le nom n’a pas été divulgué, s’est déclaré prêt à investir 44 millions d’euros dans le projet de SCIC s’il est validé par la justice, a appris l’AFP mercredi de sources concordantes. La région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes a fait savoir qu’elle y prendrait part elle aussi mais n’a pas divulgué de montant.- “Montagnes russes émotionnelles” -Cela suffira-t-il à convaincre le tribunal de la viabilité de l’offre ? Les soutiens de la SCIC l’espèrent et souhaitent se voir accorder un nouveau délai de quelques semaines pour pouvoir boucler leur dossier. Le suspense est donc entier, admet une des sources proches du dossier, qui dit passer par des “montagnes russes émotionnelles” avec cette affaire à rebondissements.Les porteurs du projet disent avoir besoin de 20 millions de ligne de trésorerie au redémarrage et de 120 millions d’euros à horizon 2029, et tablent aussi sur des prêts bancaires et des subventions publiques.Interrogé mercredi matin, le ministre de l’Industrie Marc Ferracci a répété que l’Etat était prêt à apporter à la SCIC une aide d’un “euro d’argent public pour un euro d’argent” privé investi, tout en soulignant que selon une expertise indépendante, Vencorex aura besoin de 300 millions d’euros dans les prochaines années.Salariés, élus locaux et nationaux mettent en garde depuis des mois contre un “scénario catastrophe” en Isère si Vencorex, qui joue un rôle central pour la chimie régionale, devait fermer l’essentiel de son activité.Selon eux, une liquidation ne mettrait pas seulement en péril les emplois directs mais des milliers d’autres dans la région en raison de l’interconnexion des activités. Un démantèlement entraînerait en outre une perte de souveraineté pour des secteurs comme le nucléaire ou le spatial – dont certains groupes utilisent les sels produits par Vencorex – et laisserait sans solution un vaste site lourdement pollué, arguent-ils.Mais selon le ministre Ferracci, qui avait refusé la nationalisation temporaire demandée par la CGT, “il n’y a plus de risques de souveraineté”, l’approvisionnement en sel des entreprises clientes de Vencorex ayant été entretemps “sécurisé”. “Il n’y a pas 5.000 emplois qui sont en jeu. Il y en a 450”, a-t-il affirmé.Plusieurs élus dont François Hollande, Olivier Faure et le député LR Olivier Marleix avaient écrit la semaine dernière à Emmanuel Macron pour l’appeler à se saisir de ce “dossier hors du commun” et à lever les obstacles au projet de SCIC.Â