US President Donald Trump said Friday that he could impose reciprocal tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber within days — a move set to fuel tensions with Ottawa just days after an earlier wave of levies.Since taking office in January, Trump has unleashed a series of tariffs and threats targeting US allies and adversaries, including duties of up to 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico.On Thursday, he provided the vital trading partners temporary reprieve, exempting goods coming in from both countries under a North American trade pact.But he has vowed broader “reciprocal tariffs” as soon as April 2, aimed at remedying practices that Washington deems unfair.Trump also signaled that reciprocal levies could come as soon as Friday: “Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and for dairy products.””They’ll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it, and that’s what reciprocal means,” the president added.”We may do it as early as today, or we’ll wait till Monday or Tuesday,” he said of the two sectors which have long been affected by trade disputes between the neighbors.Economists warn that blanket levies could weigh on US growth and raise inflation, adding that they also weigh on business and consumer sentiment.But Trump kept the pressure up on Canada on Friday: “It’s not fair. Never has been fair, and they’ve treated our farmers badly.”- Rising tariffs? -In an earlier interview with Fox Business, Trump said that tariffs affecting Canada and Mexico could rise in the future.Asked if companies might get more clarity on his trade policies, Trump said: “I think so. But, you know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by.”White House senior counselor Peter Navarro told CNBC in a separate interview he rejected the idea that there was uncertainty surrounding Trump’s trade policies.”The uncertainty is created by the fact that people don’t take President Trump at his word,” he said.Trump’s move to back off some tariffs on Canada and Mexico came after stock markets tumbled as his levies of up to 25 percent took effect this week.On Thursday, the White House said adjustments exempting goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) recognize “the unique impact that these tariffs could have on American automotive manufacturers.”A White House official told reporters that about 62 percent of Canadian imports will still face the fresh levies, though much of them are energy resources slapped with a lower 10 percent rate.For Mexico, the proportion of imports affected is around 50 percent, the official added on condition of anonymity.However, Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s secretary of economy, said 90 percent of its exports to the United States fall under the three-nation trade pact and will be exempted from tariffs until April. “Under the agreement, we estimate that we will reach very close to 90%…of all types of products,” he told a press conference.

A measles outbreak in the southwestern United States has killed two people and infected more than 200, prompting a top health agency to issue a travel warning.As of Friday, Texas had reported 198 cases and New Mexico 10, bringing the total to 208. Each state confirmed one death. Both were unvaccinated, and the New Mexico patient tested positive for measles posthumously. Although their official cause of death has not been released, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified it as a measles-related fatality.”More cases are expected as this outbreak continues to expand rapidly,” the CDC warned in a Health Alert Network advisory to healthcare workers, public health officials, and potential travelers.”With spring and summer travel season approaching in the United States, CDC emphasizes the important role that clinicians and public health officials play in preventing the spread of measles,” the agency said.”They should be vigilant for cases of febrile rash illness that meet the measles case definition and share effective measles prevention strategies, including vaccination guidance for international travelers.”Measles is highly contagious, spreading through respiratory droplets and lingering in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area. The disease causes fever, respiratory symptoms, and a rash — but can also lead to severe complications, including pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death.Vaccination remains the best protection. The measles vaccine, required for children 12 months and older, confers 93 percent lifetime immunity after one dose, rising to 97 percent after two.But immunization rates have been declining in the US, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic fueled a surge in vaccine misinformation. The CDC recommends a 95 percent vaccination rate for herd immunity, but nationwide coverage among kindergartners had slumped to 92.7 percent by 2023-2024.Current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent decades falsely linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism — a claim thoroughly debunked by scientific research. Since the outbreak expanded, he has softened his stance, recommending vaccination while simultaneously promoting treatments such as vitamin A and steroids.While these treatments are medically valid, experts warn that emphasizing them may divert attention from the urgent need to boost immunization rates.Before this outbreak, the last US measles-related death was in 2015, when a Washington state woman died from virus-induced pneumonia while on immunosuppressive medication. The previous fatality was in 2003.

Donald Trump on Friday doubled down on his embrace of cryptocurrencies as he hosted top industry players at the White House, while making investments in the field.US crypto investors were major supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign, contributing millions of dollars toward his victory in hopes of ending the deep skepticism of the previous Democratic administration toward digital currencies.”Last year, I promised to make America the bitcoin superpower of the world and crypto capital of the planet, and we’re taking historic action to deliver on that promise,” Trump told the assembled room of executives.Once hostile to the crypto industry, Trump has already taken significant steps to clear regulatory hurdles and has money invested.Trump has partnered with exchange platform World Liberty Financial and launched the “Trump” memecoin in January.First Lady Melania Trump announced a memecoin of her own, $MELANIA, one day before her husband’s January 20 inauguration.The prominent founders, CEOs and investors, along with members of a Trump working group, assembled Friday to help craft policies aimed at accelerating crypto growth.On the eve of the event, Trump signed an executive order establishing a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” that would audit the government’s bitcoin reserves, which were mainly accumulated by law enforcement from judicial seizures.”Unfortunately, in recent years, the US government has foolishly sold tens of thousands of additional bitcoin that were worth billions and billions of dollars had they not sold them,” Trump said in his opening remarks.”From this day on, America will follow the rule that every bitcoin investor knows very well: never sell your bitcoin.”Bitcoin, the world’s most traded cryptocurrency, is heralded by advocates as a substitute for gold or a hedge against currency devaluation and political instability.Trump donor and Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, the administration’s “crypto czar,” said that if previous administrations had held onto their digital holdings over the past decade, rather than selling them, they would be worth $17 billion today.- ‘Like criminals’ -The summit’s guest list included twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of crypto platform Gemini, as well as Brian Armstrong of Coinbase and Michael Saylor, the boss of major Bitcoin investor MicroStrategy.In a gesture to the industry, Trump has already appointed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.Under Atkins, the SEC has dropped legal proceedings against major platforms like Coinbase and Kraken that were initiated during former president Joe Biden’s term.Biden’s administration had implemented restrictions on banks holding cryptocurrencies — which have since been lifted — and allowed former SEC chairman Gary Gensler to pursue aggressive enforcement.Sacks said the Biden administration treated the industry “like criminals” and launched investigations when there were no clear rules of the road.”We never thought that we would get attacked the way we did in our own backyard after trying to do the right thing for so many years,” Cameron Winklevoss told the meeting.For believers, cryptocurrencies represent a financial revolution that reduces dependence on centralized authorities while offering individuals an alternative to traditional banking systems.Critics meanwhile maintain that these assets function primarily as speculative investments with questionable real-world utility that could leave taxpayers on the hook for cleaning up if the market crashes.The proliferation of “memecoins” — cryptocurrencies based on celebrities, internet memes, or pop culture items rather than technical utility — presents another challenge.Much of the crypto industry frowns upon these tokens, fearing they tarnish the sector’s credibility, amid reports of quick pump-and-dump schemes that leave unwitting buyers paying for assets that end up worthless.Asked about the risky nature of crypto investing, Sacks said that the government’s embrace of the industry did not amount to investment advice and warned that digital currencies were highly volatile, encouraging Americans to talk to an advisor before entering the market.”My job is not to encourage people to buy crypto. My job is to create an innovation framework for the United States,” he added as he arrived at the White House.