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US President Donald Trump committed Wednesday to announcing “reciprocal tariffs” on other countries, saying he could sign an order for them within a day, a move that could open new fronts in a trade war.During election campaigning, Trump had promised: “An eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”Analysts expect reciprocal duties involve hiking tariff rates on US imports to match the rate that exporting countries charge on American products.Speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said that he could sign an order for reciprocal duties later in the day, or on Thursday morning.Analysts have warned that such levies could bring a broad tariff hike to emerging market economies like India and Thailand.Earlier on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she believed Trump’s tariff plan could be announced before he meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.Since taking office on January 20, Trump has unveiled sweeping levies on US trading partners.On Wednesday, a White House official told AFP that Trump’s planned 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports will stack on top of the hefty duties he earlier announced on Canada and Mexico.Trump had in early February unveiled sweeping tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian and Mexican goods, with a lower rate of 10 percent on Canadian energy imports.But shortly after making that announcement, he halted the blanket levies on the United States’ immediate neighbors for a month as both countries vowed to implement measures against illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. If those tariffs are reimposed at the end of a 30-day deadline, the levies on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum could hit 50 percent, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Canada’s finance minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is in Washington with Canadian provincial leaders, told reporters Wednesday that Ottawa would not get ahead of America’s decision on tariffs.”We have a number of weeks to work together, and President Trump’s words were very precise to structure an economic deal with Canada,” said LeBlanc, who is meeting US policymakers including National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick.Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba in western Canada, added that his country has critical minerals that could help the US economy.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum separately added that economy minister Marcelo Ebrard has been in talks with his expected US counterpart.While talks between the North American trading partners continued, Trump signed separate orders to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from March 12.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for last month’s unexpected acceleration in consumer inflation, as he looked to deflect a moment of potential political peril early in his second term.The consumer price index (CPI) edged up to 3.0 percent in January from a year ago, the Labor Department said in a statement — slightly above economists’ estimates. Stripping away volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation rose by 3.3 percent over the past 12 months, which was also slightly above expectations. “BIDEN INFLATION UP!” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after the data was published, seeking to blame Biden for the CPI figures, which included 12 days in which was Trump was in office.”It’s far worse than I think anybody anticipated, because unfortunately, the previous administration was not transparent in where the economy truly was,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington later Wednesday. Inflation increased by 0.5 percent in January from a month earlier, while core inflation rose by 0.4 percent. – ‘Close but not there’ -On the campaign trail, Trump frequently touted inflation and the cost of living under his predecessor as key issues, along with immigration, as he looked to capitalize on negative public perceptions of Biden’s handling of the economy.Now Trump faces the worrying prospect that the increase in prices of essential items could continue to accelerate on his watch.The cost of eggs surged more than 15 percent last month as farmers contended with avian flu, marking the largest increase in the index since June 2015, according to the Labor Department. Gasoline prices also jumped, along with several other politically potent price points.  “President Trump campaigned on lowering costs for working families but today’s inflation data highlights how he is failing to deliver on that promise,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement. The January inflation data will likely fuel calls for the Federal Reserve — the independent US central bank — to hold its key lending rate at between 4.25 and 4.50 percent as it waits for price pressures to ease.Speaking in Congress on Wednesday, Fed chair Jerome Powell said the CPI data reinforced the bank’s recent cautious approach on interest rate cuts.”We’re close but not there on inflation,” he said. “And you did see today’s inflation print which says the same thing.”Financial markets have pared back their rate cut expectations in recent days, and now see a chance of close to 70 percent that the Fed will make no more than one rate cut in 2025, according to data from CME Group.- ‘Hand in hand’ -Trump on Wednesday also called for interest rates to be lowered, adding they would “go hand in hand” with his plans to impose tariffs on major US trading partners — despite many economists arguing that both measures could boost inflation. Also on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed to AFP that Trump’s planned 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports would be imposed on top of 25 percent tariffs the US president has threatened to slap on Canada and Mexico.If those sweeping 25 percent tariffs are imposed in early March, the levies on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum could hit 50 percent, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.That could sharply raise the cost of materials that are crucial to US construction and manufacturing.”Any administration is always going to be looking for lower interest rates, as they tend to be growth stimulative,” EY chief economist Gregory Daco told AFP. “The paradox is that the policies that are being promoted by the administration tend to have an inflationary lean, and therefore would favor the Fed maintaining a higher-for-longer stance,” he added.

Chevron will cut 15 to 20 percent of its workforce as part of a reorganization to save money and to position the oil giant for the long-term, the company said Wednesday.The job cuts will begin in 2025 and be mostly complete by the end of 2026, Chevron said in a statement to AFP. The moves are in line with a previous company pledge to remove $2 to $3 billion in “targeted structural costs” by the end of next year.The move is expected to reduce headcount by thousands. Chevron employed 39,800 at the end of 2024, not counting service-station employees.”Chevron is taking action to simplify our organizational structure, execute faster and more effectively, and position the company for stronger long-term competitiveness,” said a statement from Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson.”We do not take these actions lightly and will support our employees through the transition,” Nelson said. “But responsible leadership requires taking these steps to improve the long-term competitiveness of our company for our people, our shareholders and our communities.”The announcement comes after Chevron last month reported annual profits of $17.7 billion, down 17 percent from 2023. The company returned a record $27 billion last year to shareholders in share repurchases and dividends.Shares of Chevron fell 1.4 percent in early afternoon trading.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone Wednesday and agreed to immediately start talks to end the Ukraine war, in an extraordinary thaw in relations that could leave Kyiv out in the cold.Trump described the call as “lengthy and highly productive” in a post on Truth Social, saying the two leaders had also agreed to visit each other to address the deep tensions since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours and that Putin and Trump had agreed that the “time has come to work together”.”I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia,” Trump said, adding that they had discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence and other subjects.Trump said they agreed that “we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine” — with Trump using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the Ukraine conflict.”We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” said Trump.”We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately” on Ukraine.Trump had promised to end the Ukraine war “within 24 hours” before taking office and has been pushing for a peace settlement while remaining coy until now about any possible contact with Putin.But in a sign that Ukraine could see its fate decided by Washington and Moscow, Trump said that “we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation.”Volodymyr Zelensky said he had discussed “opportunities to achieve peace” in a “meaningful” call with Trump, during which the US president had “shared details of his conversation with Putin.”Trump said after the conversation that Zelensky “like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”Zelensky has been trying to keep on the right side of Trump and maintain US support while pushing his own nation’s demands for peace with Russia.- ‘Stopping hostilities’ -There had been earlier signs of a thaw this week with a prisoner swap deal that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel while Washington released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.The Trump administration said Wednesday it had also secured the release of a US citizen held in Moscow’s ally Belarus.Trump heaped praise on the Russian president in his Truth Social post, saying that Putin “even used my very strong Campaign motto of, ‘COMMON SENSE.'” and thanking him for Fogel’s release.The US president has repeatedly expressed admiration for the Russian leader in the past. Two investigations into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign resulted in a number of convictions but found no evidence of criminal cooperation.The Kremlin’s statement on the call was more measured, saying that Putin “agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations.””President Trump spoke in favor of stopping hostilities as soon as possible and solving the problem by peaceful means,” Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his readout of the call.Putin had also invited Trump to visit Moscow, he said.Zelensky this week floated the idea of exchanging occupied land but Russia rejected the proposal, hours after launching a fresh barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv.He is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where the Ukrainian leader said he hoped to finalize an economic agreement with Washington.Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth had earlier said trying to return Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders was an “illusionary goal” and that NATO membership for Kyiv was “not realistic.”Trump’s shock announcement of the Putin call has caused consternation in Europe.The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Spain insisted on Wednesday that there could be “no just and lasting peace in Ukraine” without the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.burs-dk/sms

US President Donald Trump’s planned 25-percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports will stack on the hefty duties earlier announced on Canada and Mexico, a White House official told AFP Wednesday.Trump had in early February unveiled sweeping tariffs of 25 percent on Canadian and Mexican goods, with a lower rate of 10 percent on Canadian energy imports.But shortly after making that announcement, he halted the blanket levies on the United States’ immediate neighbors for a month as both countries vowed to step up measures against illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. If those tariffs are reimposed at the end of a 30-day deadline, the levies on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum could hit 50 percent, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Canada’s finance minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is in Washington with Canadian provincial leaders, told reporters Wednesday that Ottawa would not get ahead of America’s decision on tariffs.”We have a number of weeks to work together, and President Trump’s words were very precise to structure an economic deal with Canada,” said LeBlanc, who is meeting US policymakers including National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba in western Canada, added that his country has critical minerals that could help the US economy.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum separately said that economy minister Marcelo Ebrard has been in talks with his expected US counterpart.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico’s Sheinbaum had struck deals for a postponement of initial US tariffs, following calls with Trump just hours before the levies were due to take effect.While talks between the North American trading partners continued, Trump signed separate orders to impose 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from March 12, widening a trade war despite warnings from other countries.Canada and the European Union have since vowed to stand firm against Trump’s latest salvo on steel and aluminum.

A new civil claim alleging sexual abuse against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey was filed on Wednesday at London’s High Court, the legal team representing the accuser confirmed to AFP.Actor Ruari Cannon is suing Spacey, 65, and two organisations connected to London’s Old Vic Theatre, where the actor was artistic director between 2003 and 2015, the claimant’s legal firm Fieldfisher confirmed to AFP.Details of the allegations have not yet been published.Spacey was in 2023 found not guilty of several criminal sexual charges alleged by four men.The star of “American Beauty” and drama series “House of Cards” was acquitted by majority verdicts in London following a trial lasting several weeks.One of the accusers in the criminal trial has also launched civil action against Spacey. The claim filed on Wednesday does not relate to any of the accusers involved in the criminal trial.Spacey won the best supporting actor Oscar for 1996 film “The Usual Suspects” and best actor in 2000 for “American Beauty”.But his once-stellar career has been halted by the various allegations of sexual offences, which first emerged in 2017 as part of the nascent #MeToo movement, and which he has always denied.The 2023 acquittal followed a New York court in 2022 dismissing a $40 million civil sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against him.

When Shale Tobe heard President Donald Trump planned to impose tariffs on Canadian steel, a product that has supported his family for decades, he was in New York on holiday, “spending money down in the US.””I’ll have second thoughts about that” now, he told AFP on the warehouse floor of North York Iron, a family-owned steel distribution business in Toronto started by his great-uncle more than 60 years ago. Trump’s latest tariff order has sparked fresh anger among Canadians, including business owners like Tobe who deal with US counterparts on a near-daily basis. “They’re like brothers to us,” he said of US steel firms. “Things have been running smoothly, going back and forth across the borders for decades… We’re being stabbed in the back a bit, I feel.”Trump’s pronouncements on US-Canada trade have veered in several directions.He has promised a blanket 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports — measures the president says are necessary to force action on migrant crossings and the drug fentanyl, even if neither is a significant issue at the northern border — but also complained about trade deficits.  His separate 25 percent tariffs on worldwide steel and aluminum imports are due to take effect next month. If the metal duties come into force, Canada will be hit harder than any other nation, said Fraser Johnson, a supply-chain expert at Western University’s Ivey Business School. “It’s going to be very disruptive,” he told AFP, noting that about 90 percent of Canada’s steel and aluminum exports go to the United States.Beyond damage to Canadian steel and aluminum manufacturers, US customers will also suffer a swift and enduring hit, Johnson said. “The burden will be felt almost immediately because the US does not have the domestic capacity to be able to support its entire needs,” he added, suggesting it could take “decades” for US suppliers to fully adjust to a loss of sourcing from Canada. – Waiting on retaliation -Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned any US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum as “entirely unjustified” and promised a “firm” response, but Ottawa has not yet announced retaliatory measures. “We’re not looking to go ahead of the United States,” Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday during a visit to Washington.Canada is “certainly not going to do anything before the Americans make their ultimate decision, and what the Americans have said to us privately and what they’ve said publicly is that we have a number of weeks to work together.”Trudeau, who leaves office next month, has stressed Canadian trade policy in the volatile Trump era must prioritize averting US tariffs while positioning Canada for a fundamentally altered relationship with its southern neighbor over the long term.Canadian business leaders and politicians have urged the removal of restrictions preventing trade between provinces, to boost domestic economic activity, while expanding trade with foreign markets. Johnson, the supply-chain expert, agreed that encouraging Canadian businesses to sell more to each other was essential, regardless of what happens in the United States.But he stressed that when it comes to metal exports, pivoting to foreign markets is “easy to say from an armchair perspective, but difficult to be able to implement.”- ‘Sickening’ -For Tobe, it’s too early to assess the impacts of a metals trade war on his business.One of his top sellers is a steel beam, which he buys from a supplier in Georgia. The beams aren’t available in Canada, so he would expect Ottawa to include an exemption for the product in any retaliation package, as they did during Trump’s first term. His company no longer exports directly to the US but his customers do, so the ripple effects of a tariff battle across the industry could eventually sting.Beyond the family business, the softly spoken 61-year-old told AFP he has been particularly impacted by threats from Trump and his allies suggesting the United States should annex Canada. “It was almost sickening to me, hearing that,” Tobe said. “We have to fight fire with fire… We have to get away from our dependence on the US. It’s not safe anymore.”

The Republican-controlled US Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday as Donald Trump’s choice to lead the country’s intelligence services, despite criticism over her lack of experience and past support for Russia and Syria.Gabbard — appointed to be director of national intelligence — has faced questions over her 2017 meeting with now-deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and her peddling of Kremlin propaganda, particularly false conspiracy theories about the Ukraine war.She is also regarded with suspicion over her views on US government surveillance and her backing for National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden, seen on both sides of Congress as having imperiled Americans’ safety.Gabbard scraped through a 52-48 floor vote — with former Senate leader Mitch McConnell as the sole Republican “no” — as Democrats warned that she had no business being anywhere near the country’s most sensitive classified secrets.”On the night that Russia invaded Ukraine and launched the first full-scale invasion of a sovereign nation in Europe since World War II, what was Ms. Gabbard doing?” Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said ahead of the vote.”She was spending her energy blaming NATO and the US for what Putin did… That alone should be disqualifying for anyone seeking to become the top intelligence advisor to the president.”Schumer said Gabbard, 43, had blown her chance to reassure senators over her judgment at her confirmation hearing and accused Republicans of ignoring her “troubling history of pushing conspiracies and spreading propaganda.”Gabbard’s success was seen as another powerful demonstration of Trump’s iron grip on his party, after he pushed through a slate of some of the most contentious cabinet nominees in modern history.- Controversial picks -The president proposed a defense secretary accused of sexual assault, an attorney general suspected of trafficking a minor for sex, a health secretary who spent years spreading vaccine misinformation and an FBI chief alleged to be motivated by political revenge.Only the suspected sex trafficker — former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz — has so far been rejected by the Senate.Gabbard — who ran for president as a Democrat in 2020 — had looked vulnerable but three Republican holdouts all ended up lining up behind the Hawaiian US Army Reserve officer.Maine Republican Susan Collins said the one-time lawmaker had addressed concerns over her past support for pardoning Snowden, who was indicted for espionage after revealing the existence of global surveillance programs.Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana released a terse, lukewarm endorsement of the nominee.”President Trump chose Tulsi Gabbard to be his point person on foreign intelligence,” he said. “I will trust President Trump on this decision and vote for her confirmation.”Gabbard’s confirmation came as Democrats accused Trump’s FBI nominee Kash Patel of directing a purge of bureau officials in secret, a day after testifying under oath that he was unaware of any such plan.”If these allegations are true, Mr. Patel may have perjured himself before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Dick Durbin, the panel’s top Democrat, said in a letter to the Justice Department Inspector General.Durbin wrote that whistleblowers had told him Patel passed orders for the firings to acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller acting as a middleman. “Although Mr. Patel is President Trump’s nominee to be FBI Director, he is still a private citizen with no role in government,” he added.

The family of a Black woman shot dead in her home by a police officer in the US state of Illinois has reached a $10 million settlement with the local sheriff’s department and county board.Sonya Massey, 36, a mother of two, was killed by a sheriff’s deputy last July in a case that drew national attention and prompted then-president Joe Biden to say she “should be alive today.”Massey, who had received treatment in the past for mental health issues, called the 911 emergency line to report a possible intruder in her home and two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies arrived shortly after midnight.Police body camera footage showed Massey talking to the officers and searching through her purse after they asked her for identification.Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson then asked her to check on a pot of boiling water on the stove, saying “we don’t need a fire while we’re here.”When Grayson stepped back into the living room, Massey asked why, and he responded with a laugh: “Away from your hot steaming water.”Holding the pot, Massey calmly responded “Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” — prompting the deputy to draw his weapon and say: “You better fucking not. I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you in your fucking face.”Apologizing, Massey crouched behind a counter as the officer screamed “drop the fucking pot” and fired three shots, killing Massey with a bullet to the face.The Sangamon County Board approved a $10 million settlement with Massey’s estate at a meeting on Tuesday.Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of other African American victims of police violence, welcomed the agreement at a Zoom press conference on Wednesday, calling it a “first step in getting full justice for Sonya Massey.””It is very bittersweet that on what would have been her 37th birthday, we announce this historic settlement, which is only the first step in the journey for justice,” Crump said.Antonio Romanucci, another family attorney, said “Sonya reached out to law enforcement for help and instead received brutal, horrific treatment.”When Sonya called 911 she didn’t know it but that was her death sentence,” Romanucci said. “She called in her own death when she called for help.”Grayson, who is white, faces murder charges and has pleaded not guilty.The United States was rocked by protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota.Floyd’s death revived scrutiny of race relations and sparked calls for police reform.

The United States is releasing Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik as part of an exchange deal that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel a day earlier, a White House official said Wednesday.The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, replied “yes” when asked if US authorities had released or would be releasing Vinnik in exchange for Fogel.Earlier on Wednesday, the Kremlin confirmed the two sides had agreed to the “release of Fogel and one Russian citizen, who is held in detention in the United States,” but did not identify him.Vinnik pled guilty in May 2024 to “conspiracy to commit money laundering related to his role in operating the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e from 2011 to 2017,” according to the US Justice Department.US President Donald Trump’s government has hailed the prisoner exchange as a positive sign for diplomacy between the two countries and for possible negotiations over an end to the Ukraine war.”President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the President’s advisors negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine,” US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said in a statement.On Wednesday, US Middle East envoy Witkoff hailed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) “instrumental” role in securing Fogel’s release.”He has a very strong friendship with President Trump,” he said of the 39-year-old de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. “Behind the scenes he was encouraging and pushing and looking for the right result.”On the Russian side, Witkoff said a man he named only as Kirill also played an “important” role.”There’s a gentleman from Russia, his name is Kirill, and he had a lot to do with this. He was important, he was an important interlocutor bridging the two sides,” said the US envoy, offering no further details on the man’s identity.Vinnik was extradited to the United States from Greece in August 2022, hours after he had been released from a French jail.He was the operator of BTC-e, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges that processed more than $9 billion in transactions, according to US court documents.US authorities say the exchange was “one of the primary ways by which cyber criminals around the world transferred, laundered, and stored the criminal proceeds of their illegal activities.”