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China imposed export restrictions on dozens of Japanese firms on Tuesday that it said were involved in building up Tokyo’s military, escalating a months-long row.The spat between Asia’s top two economies was sparked by comments by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November that Japan could intervene militarily in any attack on self-ruled Taiwan.The measures announced on Tuesday cover exports of “dual-use” items — which can have civilian and military uses — to 20 Japanese entities, including subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Japan’s space agency.The commerce ministry added a further 20 Japanese organisations, including automaker Subaru, to a “watch list” requiring stricter reviews of exported items that could be used for military purposes.”The above measures are aimed at curbing Japan’s ‘remilitarisation’ and nuclear ambitions and are completely legitimate, reasonable and lawful,” a commerce ministry statement said.”Honest and law-abiding Japanese entities have nothing to worry about,” it added.A Japanese trade ministry official told AFP that Tokyo would “take appropriate measures” after analysing the impact of the new curbs. Tokyo had strongly protested the measures and demanded they be overturned, according to deputy chief cabinet secretary Kei Sato who called Beijing’s move “absolutely intolerable and extremely regrettable.” Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan, which China views as its territory and has not ruled out taking by force, have enraged Beijing.The most visible consequence is a sharp drop in Chinese visitors to Japan — 61 percent in January — after Beijing warned its citizens against going there.In December, J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan.China has reportedly suspended imports of Japanese seafood. Japan’s last two pandas were also returned to China last month.China announced tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses in January.This fuelled worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals, some of which are included in China’s list of “dual-use” goods.- Shares tumble -The latest move singles out Japanese industrial heavyweights including shipbuilding and aerospace firms.Shares in Kawasaki Heavy Industries sank almost five percent in Tokyo, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shed close to four percent and IHI tumbled nearly seven percent.Several of the firms listed are indeed active in the defence industry, manufacturing kit including ships, fighter jets and missiles for the Japanese military.Japan has been shedding its strict pacifist stance, moving to obtain “counterstrike” capabilities and to ease rules on exporting lethal defence equipment.Takaichi’s government in December approved a record defence budget worth nine trillion yen ($58 billion) for the coming fiscal year to expand its military capabilities.Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi said at the Munich Security Conference this month that forces in Japan were seeking to “revive militarism”.Takaichi told parliament on Friday that China was intensifying attempts to change the status quo “by force or coercion” in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.”Strengthening our defence capabilities is essential to protect the lives and peaceful livelihoods of our citizens as we face the most severe and complex security environment since the end of (World War II),” Takaichi said Monday.Japanese firms dealing with China were already struggling with delays in getting approvals, said Noriyuki Kawamura, professor emeritus of Japan-China relations at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies.”With today’s announcement, we can expect the process will be made even more stringent. I believe this will be a huge blow to companies involved,” Kawamura told AFP.Yee Kuang Heng, a professor in international security at the University of Tokyo, said that Japanese firms are major buyers of critical minerals gallium and germanium from China, with gallium nitride used in radar sensors on Japanese warships.”Short-term impact may be limited with a stockpile to cushion the disruptions but if the controls drag on, some damage is possible,” Heng told AFP.

Panamanian authorities have taken control of two ports on the Panama Canal from CK Hutchison after the Hong Kong-based conglomerate’s concession was annulled amid a row between the United States and China.CK Hutchison objected Tuesday to the takeover, which it called “unlawful” and said raises “serious risks to the operations, health and safety” at terminals.”In January, the country’s supreme court declared as “unconstitutional” the contract which had allowed Hutchison’s subsidiary Panama Ports Company (PPC) to manage the ports of Balboa on the Pacific and Cristobal on the Atlantic since 1997.”The Panama Maritime Authority has taken possession of its ports and guarantees the continuity of operations,” an official said Monday after the Panamanian Supreme Court annulled Hutchison’s contracts to operate the ports.The court ruling was the latest legal move to ripple through the interoceanic waterway, which handles about 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade.The Central American country has been swept up in broader tensions between Washington and Beijing, with US President Donald Trump claiming, without providing evidence, last year that China effectively runs the canal.Panama has always denied Chinese control over the 80-kilometer (50-mile) waterway, which is used mainly by the United States and China.Hutchison had asked the Panamanian government to enter into negotiations to allow it to continue operating the two terminals — to no avail.Publication of the court ruling in the official gazette Monday effectively ended the legal process.”This does not imply the expropriation of those assets, but rather their use to guarantee the operation of the ports until their real value is determined for the corresponding actions,” said Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.Ports director Max Florez said an 18-month transition period now begins, with the ports being operated by two other companies before contracts are awarded under a new international tender.PPC denounced the move as an “illegal takeover without transparency or coordination” and said Panama’s actions were “confiscatory.”In its statement Tuesday, CK Hutchison said: “None of the actions by the Panama State were advised to or co-ordinated with PPC.”It will continue to consult with legal advisors regarding the ruling and “all available recourse including… legal proceedings against the Republic of Panama and its agents and third parties colluding with them”, CK Hutchison added.Hong Kong’s government lodged a “stern protest” on Tuesday, saying in a statement that the “heavy-handed action” had “seriously infringed upon the lawful rights and interests of Hong Kong enterprises.”- ‘No layoffs’ -China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office had previously warned that Panama would pay a “heavy price, both politically and economically” for stripping Hutchison of its tender.Panama said APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Danish Maersk group, will operate the port of Balboa, and Terminal Investment Limited, owned by the logistics giant MSC, will operate the port of Cristobal.Labor Minister Jackeline Munoz assured there would be “no layoffs” at the two terminals, which employ around 1,200 people.Following the court’s January ruling, the Panama Maritime Authority had said a division of Maersk Group would temporarily take over operation of the facilities.Last week, Hutchison warned of possible legal action against Maersk and others over the annulment of its contract. The Hong Kong company has said it will challenge Panama’s decision before the International Chamber of Commerce.US Ambassador to Panama Kevin Cabrera defended Panamanian authorities, saying they have the right “to have their judicial system make its own decisions” and that the Supreme Court ruling was “very good” for the people of Panama.The Panama Canal was built by the United States, which operated it for a century before ceding control to Panama in 1999.On his first day back in the White House last year, Trump threatened to seize the canal.He cooled his threats after Panamanian authorities decided that the concession ran counter to Panama’s interests.

The European Commission called Sunday for Washington to abide by the terms of the trade deal struck last year with the EU, as President Donald Trump announced new global tariff hikes a day after an adverse Supreme Court ruling.”A deal is a deal,” said a commission statement.”As the United States’ largest trading partner, the EU expects the US to honour its commitments set out in the Joint Statement — just as the EU stands by its commitments,” it added.”The European Commission requests full clarity on the steps the United States intends to take following the recent Supreme Court ruling on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).”Trump temporarily raised the global duty on imports into the United States to 15 percent on Saturday.The move delivered a fresh jolt of uncertainty just a day after the Supreme Court ruled much of his international tariffs campaign illegal.The EU and United States last year struck an agreement setting US tariffs at a maximum 15 percent on most European goods.”EU products must continue to benefit from the most competitive treatment, with no increases in tariffs beyond the clear and all-inclusive ceiling previously agreed,” the commission said.It warned that “when applied unpredictably, tariffs are inherently disruptive, undermining confidence and stability across global markets and creating further uncertainty across international supply chains”.- Seeking clarification -The EU executive said it remained “in close and continuous contact” with Trump’s administration and that EU Trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic had spoken with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Saturday.Greer told US broadcaster CBS on Sunday that Washington’s deals with the European Union, China and other partners remained in force despite the Supreme Court ruling.”So we’re having active conversations with them. We want them to understand that these deals are going to be good deals,” he told the “Face the Nation” programme.He added: “We expect to stand by them. We expect our partners to stand by them.” But European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde told the same show she was not sure what the consequences of the US court decision were.”I hope it’s going to be clarified,” she added.The European Parliament’s trade committee had been due to approve the EU-US deal on Tuesday — but the Supreme Court judgment casts doubt on that now happening.- US ‘tariff chaos’ -The committee’s head, Bernd Lange, said he would call during a meeting of parliament’s political groups on Monday for putting “legislative work on hold until we have a proper legal assessment and clear commitments from the US side”.”Pure tariff chaos from the US administration. No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other US trading partners,” Lange wrote.”Clarity and legal certainty are needed before any further steps are taken,” he added.Analysts at ING bank wrote Sunday that even if Trump’s new tariffs might be legally challenged, they could just be “smoke and mirrors” to buy time for another tariff option. That could be tariffs on the basis of unfair trade practices or trade agreements violations, for example, they wrote.”It now remains unclear whether the (European) Parliament will push for a full renegotiation of the deal,” ING added.Even if they did however, the US could still use other tariffs “to pressure the EU to return to the negotiating table”.The Supreme Court ruling was a stunning rebuke to Trump from a judicial body that has largely sided with him since his return to office. It marked a major political setback in striking down Trump’s signature economic policy that has roiled the global trade order.Several countries have said they are studying the Supreme Court ruling and Trump’s subsequent tariff announcements.

President Donald Trump raised the global duty on imports into the United States to 15 percent on Saturday, doubling down on his promise to maintain his aggressive tariff policy a day after the Supreme Court ruled much of it illegal.Trump said on his Truth Social platform that after a thorough review of Friday’s “extraordinarily anti-American decision” by the court to rein in his tariff program, the administration was hiking the import levies “to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level.”Shortly after the court’s 6-3 ruling that rejected the president’s authority to impose tariffs under a 1977 economic emergency powers act, Trump had initially announced a new 10 percent global levy by invoking a different legal avenue.At the same time, the Republican launched an extraordinary personal attack on the conservative justices who had sided with the majority, slamming their “disloyalty” and calling them “fools and lap dogs.”The ruling was a stunning rebuke by the high court, which has largely sided with the president since he returned to office, and marked a major political setback in striking down Trump’s signature economic policy that has roiled the global trade order.Saturday’s announcement is sure to provoke further uncertainty as Trump carries on with a trade war that he has used to cajole and punish countries, both friend and foe.It is the latest move in a process that has seen a multitude of tariff levels for countries sending goods into the United States set and then altered or revoked by Trump’s team over the past year.Several countries have said they are studying the Supreme Court ruling and Trump’s subsequent tariff announcements.Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday urged Donald Trump to treat all countries equally.”I want to tell the US President Donald Trump that we don’t want a new Cold War. We don’t want interference in any other country, we want all countries to be treated equally,” Lula told reporters in New Delhi.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Saturday he would hold talks with European allies to formulate “a very clear European position” and joint response to Washington before he travels to the US capital in early March.On the domestic front, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said on X it was time for Trump to “listen to the Supreme Court, end chaotic tariffs, and stop wreaking havoc on our farmers, small business owners, and families.”The new duty by law is only temporary — allowable for 150 days. According to a White House fact sheet, exemptions remain for sectors that are under separate probes, including pharma, and goods entering the US under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement.On Friday, the White House said US trading partners that reached separate tariff deals with Trump’s administration would also face the new global tariff. – High court defeat -Friday’s court ruling did not impact sector-specific duties Trump separately imposed on steel, aluminum and various other goods. Government probes still underway could lead to additional sectoral tariffs.But it nevertheless marked Trump’s biggest defeat at the Supreme Court since returning to the White House 13 months ago. The court has generally expanded his power. Trump heaped praise on the conservative justices who voted to uphold his authority to levy tariffs — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump nominee — thanking them “for their strength and wisdom, and love of our country.”The president alleged the majority of six justices, including two nominated during his first term, had been “swayed by foreign interests.””I think that foreign interests are represented by people that I believe have undue influence,” he said.Shares on Wall Street — a metric closely watched by Trump — rose modestly Friday after the decision, which had been expected.Business groups largely cheered the ruling, with the National Retail Federation saying this “provides much-needed certainty” for companies.In court arguments, the Trump administration said companies would receive refunds if the tariffs were deemed unlawful. But the Supreme Court’s ruling did not address the issue. Trump said he expected years of litigation on whether to provide refunds. Kavanaugh noted the refund process could be a “mess.”

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Donald Trump on Sunday to treat all countries equally after the US leader imposed a 15 percent tariff on imports following an adverse Supreme Court ruling.”I want to tell the US President Donald Trump that we don’t want a new Cold War. We don’t want interference in any other country, we want all countries to be treated equally,” Lula told reporters in New Delhi.The conservative-majority Supreme Court ruled six to three on Friday that a 1977 law Trump has relied on to slap sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade, “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs”.Lula said he would not like to react to the Supreme Court decisions of another country, but hoped that Brazil’s relations with the United States “will go back to normalcy” soon.The veteran leftist leader is expected to travel to Washington next month for a meeting with Trump.”I am convinced that Brazil-US relation will go back to normalcy after our conversation,” Lula, 80, said, adding that Brazil only wanted to “live in peace, generate jobs, and improve the lives of our people”.Lula and Trump, 79, stand on polar opposite sides when it comes to issues such as multilateralism, international trade and the fight against climate change.However, ties between Brazil and the United States appear to be on the mend after months of animosity between Washington and Brasilia.As a result, Trump’s administration has exempted key Brazilian exports from 40 percent tariffs that had been imposed on the South American country last year.- ‘Affinity’ -“The world doesn’t need more turbulence, it needs peace,” said Lula, who arrived in India on Wednesday for a summit on artificial intelligence and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Ties between Washington and Brasilia soured in recent months, with Trump angered over the trial and conviction of his ally, the far-right former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro.Trump imposed sanctions against several top officials, including a Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.Lula said that, as the two largest democracies in the Americas, he looked forward to a positive relationship with the United States. “We are two men of 80 years of age, so we cannot play around with democracy,” he said. “We have to take this very seriously. We have to shake hands eye-to-eye, person-to-person, and to discuss what is best for the US and Brazil.”Lula also praised Modi after India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths and signed a raft of other deals on Saturday.”I have a lot of affinity with Prime Minister Modi,” he said.Lula will travel to South Korea later on Sunday for meetings with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend a business forum.

BHP, Glencore and Teck Resources — three mining giants whose annual results have revealed significantly increased profits thanks in large part to soaring copper prices. AFP explores the reasons behind the gains.- Profits boost -Australian resources group BHP saw net profit surge almost 28 percent to US$5.64 billion in the final six months of last year, the group’s fiscal first half.Alongside the recent earnings, BHP stated that it was the world’s largest copper producer after raising output by about 30 percent in the past four years, including from its vast Escondida mine in Chile.In the same week, Swiss miner Glencore announced a return to profit last year and plans to double its copper production within a decade.Canadian miner Teck Resources, in talks over a multi-billion-dollar merger with Anglo American to forge a copper giant, noted that its profits have been driven by “significantly higher copper prices”.Resources groups that have not fared so well in 2025 — iron ore behemoth Rio Tinto and Anglo American — are ramping up production of copper to help offset sagging demand for steel and diamonds.- Why copper? -Copper demand has exploded in recent years, with the metal needed for solar panels, wind turbines and also military hardware.The coveted metal is also used in electric vehicle batteries and data centres for artificial intelligence.Surging demand caused the price of copper to soar 40 percent on the London Metal Exchange (LME) last year, and in January this year it reached a record high.This was fuelled by supply disruptions at major copper mines in Chile, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.Demand has been boosted additionally “by Donald Trump’s decisions”, said Benjamin Louvet, head of commodities management at Ofi Invest AM.Elaborating further to AFP, he pointed to the US president’s tariff threats, which saw companies build copper stocks, and heightened tensions between the United States and China, the world’s dominant player in metals markets.- Copper supply risks -Many copper experts agree that the industrial metal could reach a supply deficit this year.”A structural deficit appears almost inevitable,” Philippe Chalmin, a commodities professor at Paris-Dauphine University, told AFP. The poor anticipation of current needs is partly explained by the fact that “the energy transition happened quite quickly”, he added. Developing a new mine takes time. According to a study by the International Energy Agency, an average of 16 years is required — although the duration varies depending on the ore and location.This timeframe and the enormous associated costs are deterring financiers, “who are turning to investments with much faster returns”, said Louvet.Against this backdrop, the sector is seeking to consolidate, although a bid by BHP to buy Anglo American, disrupting the latter’s planned tie-up with Teck, recently collapsed.- Commodities versus stocks -Unlike shares in companies, which rise in anticipation of increased revenue, commodity prices are determined by the current supply versus demand.The price of copper “does not factor in future scarcity”, said Louvet.This means new mining projects are launched only once there is a need for increased production.Louvet explained that copper would have to reach $15,000 per tonne for miners to begin new projects as, despite soaring profits, the financial risk is too high.Copper is trading at below $13,000 per tonne on the LME, compared with its all-time high of $14,527.50 last month.Even the creation or expansion of strategic stockpiles by the United States and other countries will not “fundamentally change the situation”, Louvet added.burs-pml/bcp/rmb/rh/abs

India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after talks in New Delhi with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.”The agreement on critical minerals and rare earths is a major step towards building resilient supply chains,” Modi said.Brazil has the world’s second-largest reserves of critical minerals, which are used in everything from electric vehicles, solar panels and smartphones to jet engines and guided missiles.India, seeking to cut its dependence on top exporter China, has been expanding domestic production and recycling while scouting for new suppliers.”Increasing investments and cooperation in matters of renewable energies and critical minerals is at the core of the pioneering agreement that we have signed today,” Lula said.The details of the deal were not immediately available but a senior Indian foreign ministry official said official discussions were underway.”President Lula gave a very detailed presentation on Brazil’s substantial critical minerals and rare earth reserves,” P. Kumaran told reporters at a media briefing.”He said only 30 percent of their reserves have been explored and that there is substantial scope for exploration, processing minerals and also using them.”- ‘Reflection of trust’ -Nine other agreements and memoranda of understanding were finalised on Saturday, covering digital cooperation, health, entrepreneurship and other fields.”Brazil is India’s largest trade partner in Latin America. We are committed to taking our bilateral trade beyond $20 billion in the coming five years,” Modi said.”Our trade is not just a figure, but a reflection of trust.”Lula, who arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday for a summit on artificial intelligence, is accompanied by a delegation of more than a dozen ministers as well as business leaders.On Saturday, he was given a ceremonial welcome and paid tribute to India’s independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, before holding the meeting with Modi.With China holding a near-monopoly on rare earths production, some countries are seeking alternative sources.Rishabh Jain, an expert with the Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water think tank, said India’s growing cooperation with Brazil on critical minerals complements recent supply chain engagements with the United States, France and the European Union.While these partnerships grant India access to advanced technologies, finance and high-end processing capabilities, “Global South alliances are critical for securing diversified, on-ground resource access and shaping emerging rules of global trade”, Jain told AFP.- ‘New momentum’ -India, the world’s most populous nation, is the 10th largest market for Brazilian exports, with bilateral trade topping $15 billion in 2025.Key Brazilian exports to India include sugar, crude oil, vegetable oils, cotton and iron ore.Demand for iron ore has been driven by rapid infrastructure expansion and industrial growth in India, which is on track to become the world’s fourth largest economy.Modi said that “our cooperation in the defence sector is also continuously growing,” hailing a “win-win partnership”.”When India and Brazil work together, the voice of Global South becomes stronger and more confident.”Speaking at a business forum later in the day, Lula said Brazil was ready to cooperate in one of the world’s largest global defence markets.”We do not want only to sell,” he said. “We want to buy, invest, and consolidate our presence in India, with technology transfer and training of personnel.”Brazilian firms have been expanding in the South Asian nation, with Embraer and Adani Group announcing plans last month to build aircraft in India.On Sunday, Lula will travel on to South Korea for meetings with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend a business forum.

Dozens of nations including the United States and China called for “secure, trustworthy and robust” artificial intelligence, in a summit declaration on Saturday criticised for being too generic to protect the public.The statement signed by 86 countries did not include concrete commitments to regulate the fast-developing technology, instead highlighting several voluntary, non-binding initiatives.”AI’s promise is best realised only when its benefits are shared by humanity,” said the statement, released after the five-day AI Impact Summit.It called the advent of generative AI “an inflection point in the trajectory of technological evolution”.”Advancing secure, trustworthy and robust AI is foundational to building trust and maximising societal and economic benefits,” it said.The summit — attended by tens of thousands including top tech CEOs — was the fourth annual global meeting to discuss the promises and pitfalls of AI, and the first hosted by a developing country.Hot topics discussed included AI’s potential societal benefits, such as drug discovery and translation tools, but also the threat of job losses, online abuse and the heavy power consumption of data centres.Analysts had said earlier that the summit’s broad focus, and vague promises made at the previous meetings in France, South Korea and Britain, would make strong pledges or immediate action unlikely.- US signs on -The United States, home to industry-leading companies such as Google and ChatGPT maker OpenAI, did not sign last year’s summit statement, warning that regulation could be a drag on innovation.”We totally reject global governance of AI,” US delegation head Michael Kratsios said at the summit on Friday.The United States signed a bilateral declaration on AI with India on Friday, pledging to “pursue a global approach to AI that is unapologetically friendly to entrepreneurship and innovation”.But it also put its name to the main statement, the release of which was originally expected on Friday but was delayed by one day to maximise the number of signatories, India’s government said.Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, criticised the lack of a meaningful declaration, saying it was just “another round of generic voluntary promises”. “The fact that this declaration drew such wide endorsement, especially from the US, which held out in Paris, tells you what kind of agenda it is: one that is AI-industry approved, not one that meaningfully protects the public,” she told AFP.Saturday’s summit declaration struck a cautious tone on AI safety risks, from misinformation and surveillance to fears of the creation of devastating new pathogens.”Deepening our understanding of the potential security aspects remains important,” it said.”We recognize the importance of security in AI systems, industry-led voluntary measures, and the adoption of technical solutions, and appropriate policy frameworks that enable innovation.”On jobs, it emphasised reskilling initiatives to “support participants in preparation for a future AI driven economy”.And “we underscore the importance of developing energy-efficient AI systems” given the technology’s growing demands on natural resources, it said.- ‘Unacceptable risk’ -Computing expert and AI safety campaigner Stuart Russell told AFP that Saturday’s commitments were “not completely inconsequential”.”The most important thing is that there are any commitments at all,” he said.Countries should “build on these voluntary agreements to develop binding legal commitments to protect their peoples so that AI development and deployment can proceed without imposing unacceptable risks”, Russell said.Some visitors had complained of poor organisation, including chaotic entry and exit points, at the vast summit and expo site in Delhi.The event was also the source of several viral moments, including the awkward refusal of rival US tech CEOs — OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Dario Amodei of Anthropic — to hold hands on stage.The next AI summit will take place in Geneva in 2027. In the meantime, a UN panel on AI will start work towards “science-led governance”, the global body’s chief Antonio Guterres said Friday.The UN General Assembly has confirmed 40 members for a group called the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.India has used the summit to push its ambition to catch up with the United States and China in the AI field, including through large-scale data centre construction powered by new nuclear plants.Delhi expects more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years, and US tech giants unveiled a raft of new deals and infrastructure projects in the country during the summit.

Wall Street stocks advanced Friday as markets digested a US Supreme Court decision striking down some of the White House’s sweeping tariffs and President Donald Trump’s response vowing new levies.The conservative-majority top court ruled six-three that a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act Trump has relied on “does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.” A furious Trump, who nominated two of the justices who repudiated him, said he was “absolutely ashamed” of some justices “for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country” and vowed to impose a uniform tariff of 10 percent under a separate authority.Wall Street stocks, which had opened lower following disappointing US economic data, pushed into positive territory and also ended higher following a choppy session. The S&P 500 ended up 0.7 percent.Some analysts said they expect the ruling to lead to lower inflation, but others described the situation as fundamentally uncertain.The market is not “surprised by what it heard from the Supreme Court and at the same time, it’s not surprised that the Trump administration is already touting its ability to make up for the lost revenue that would come from revoking the tariffs,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial, described the ruling as throwing a “pretty large wrench into the policy machine,” predicting that policy uncertainty would remain “elevated.”Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist for LPL Financial, predicted Trump would likely pivot to a different legal strategy.”However, if lower tariffs help cool inflation, it could firm up expectations for Fed rate cuts later this year,” Buchbinder said in a note.In Europe, a closely watched survey on Friday showed that business activity in the eurozone accelerated in February, indicating that the region’s economy is on a more stable footing. British firms also boosted output in February, according to the purchasing managers’ index published by S&P Global.London’s FTSE 100 stock index hit a fresh record high, as did the CAC 40 in Paris.In Asia, Hong Kong fell as it reopened from a three-day break for the Lunar New Year, and Tokyo was also down. Oil prices, which surged to multi-month highs this week on US suggestions of military action against Iran, moved sideways as markets kept an eye on geopolitics.Trump had suggested on Thursday that “bad things” would happen if Tehran did not strike a deal within 10 days, which he subsequently extended to 15.Asked by a reporter on Friday whether he was contemplating a limited military strike, Trump answered: “The most I can say — I am considering it.”Also Friday, data showed the US economy expanded at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the October to December period, significantly below the 2.5 percent pace that analysts had forecasted for the quarter.The period included a lengthy US government shutdown amid a budget fight between Trump and Congress.”At first glance the first reading of fourth quarter GDP was very disappointing,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.”However, the government was shut down for almost half the quarter,” he added.- Key figures at around 2110 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 49,625.97 (close)New York – S&P: UP 0.7 percent at 6,909.51 (close)New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.9 percent at 22,886.07 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,686.89 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 8,515.49 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.9 percent at 25,260.69 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 56,825.70 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 26,413.35 (close)Shanghai – Composite: Closed for holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1788 from $1.1773 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3487 from $1.3465Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.37 pence from 87.43 penceDollar/yen: DOWN at 155.02 yen from 155.01 yenBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $71.76 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $66.39 per barrelburs-jmb/sla

Dozens of national delegations at an artificial intelligence summit in India will issue their statement on how the world should handle the technology on Saturday, a day later than expected, the host country said.”There is huge consensus on the declaration. We are just trying to maximise the number,” India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Friday.”The declaration and its contours will be shared transparently tomorrow,” he said, adding it had more than 70 signatories so far but he hoped the figure would cross 80.Vaishnaw declined to give details of what the statement would say as he thanked participants of this week’s event that was attended by tens of thousands of people, including world leaders and tech CEOs.The summit was the fourth annual international meeting to discuss the implications of fast-evolving AI technology, and the first hosted by a developing country.Some visitors had complained of poor organisation, including chaotic entry and exit points, at the vast summit and expo site.Police detained on Friday a group claiming to be from the youth wing of the opposition Congress party who staged a shirtless protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside the venue.Hot topics at the summit included the societal benefits of multilingual AI translation, the threat of job disruption and the heavy electricity consumption of data centres.But analysts said that the broad focus, and vague promises made at its previous editions in France, South Korea and Britain, would make concrete commitments unlikely.- ‘Less hype, less fear’ -The next AI summit will take place in Geneva in 2027.In the meantime, a UN panel on AI would start work towards “science-led governance”, the global body’s chief Antonio Guterres said Friday.”We are barrelling into the unknown,” he said. “The message is simple: less hype, less fear. More facts and evidence.”The UN General Assembly has confirmed 40 members for a group called the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, Guterres said.It was created in August, aiming to be to AI what the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is to global environmental policy.However, the head of the US delegation warned against centralised control of generative AI, highlighting the difficulties of reaching a consensus.”As the Trump administration has now said many times: We totally reject global governance of AI,” White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios said at the Delhi summit.The United States did not sign last year’s summit statement, and it released its own bilateral declaration with India on Friday.The two countries agreed to “pursue a global approach to AI that is unapologetically friendly to entrepreneurship and innovation”.India has used the summit to push its ambition to catch up with the United States and China in the AI field, including through large-scale data centre construction, and new nuclear power plants to power them.Delhi expects more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years, and US tech titans unveiled a raft of new deals and infrastructure projects in the country this week.Sam Altman, head of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, has called for oversight on AI in the past but said last year that taking too tight an approach could hold the United States back.”Centralisation of this technology, in one company or country, could lead to ruin,” he told the summit on Thursday.”This is not to suggest that we won’t need any regulation or safeguards. We obviously do, urgently, like we have for other powerful technologies.”