After imposing sweeping tariffs, Trump announces talks with Canada and Mexico

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People look on as empty shelves remain with signs "Buy Canadian Instead" after the top five US liquor brands were removed from sale at a B.C. Liquor Store in Vancouver, on February 2, 2025, as part of a response to US President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian goods. (Reuters)
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A demonstrator waves a Mexican flag while standing on top of a car in Los Angeles on Feb. 2, 2025, during a protest calling for immigration reform. (AP)
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Updated 03 February 2025
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After imposing sweeping tariffs, Trump announces talks with Canada and Mexico

  • China, Mexico and Canada are the top three US trade partners and all have vowed to retaliate when the tariffs take effect Tuesday
  • Experts warn that Trump’s tariffs could reduce US economic growth and throw Canada and Mexico into recession
  • Says Americans may feel economic “pain” from his tariffs, but argued it would be “worth the price” to secure US interests

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he will discuss the punishing tariffs he has levied on Canada and Mexico with both countries on Monday, after arguing that Americans may feel economic “pain” from the 25 percent duties but that it will be “worth the price.”
Speaking to reporters after he flew back to Washington Sunday evening from a weekend in Florida, Trump said he was “speaking with Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau tomorrow morning, and I’m also speaking with Mexico tomorrow morning.”
“I don’t expect anything very dramatic,” he added.
Trump has also hit China with a 10-percent tariff in addition to levies already in place.
A fervent supporter of tariffs, Trump had always maintained that their impact would be borne by foreign exporters, without being passed on to American consumers, contradicting the opinion of a broad range of experts.
Earlier Sunday he acknowledged, in a series of messages on his Truth Social network, that Americans may feel economic “pain” from his tariffs, but argued it would be “worth the price” to secure US interests.
China, Mexico and Canada are the top three US trade partners and all have vowed to retaliate when the tariffs take effect Tuesday.
“Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!)” Trump wrote Sunday morning in all-caps on his Truth Social media platform.
“But we will Make America Great Again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid.”
Analysts expect the trade war to slow US growth and increase prices, at least in the short term, something the president had resisted acknowledging after frustration over rising costs was seen as a major factor in his 2024 election win.
Seeking to limit a spike in fuel prices, Trump has put the levy on energy imports from Canada at only 10 percent.
The president has cited illegal immigration and the trafficking of the deadly opioid fentanyl as reasons for the “emergency” measures.
But on Sunday he also expressed general outrage at trade deficits, which he has long viewed as signs of unfair treatment against the United States.
“The USA has major deficits with Canada, Mexico, and China (and almost all countries!), owes 36 Trillion Dollars, and we’re not going to be the ‘Stupid Country’ any longer,” he wrote.
The tariffs announcements capped an extraordinary second week of Trump’s new term, with the president facing the worst US aviation disaster in years — even as his administration moved to drastically overhaul the government in actions decried by critics as illegal.

While some economies believe the levies are likely to be temporary, the outlook is unclear because the White House set very general conditions for their removal.
A White House fact sheet gave no details on what the three countries would need to do to win a reprieve.
Trump vowed to keep them in place until what he described as a national emergency over fentanyl, a deadly opioid, and illegal immigration to the United States ends. China left the door open for talks with the United States. Its sharpest pushback was over fentanyl.

Canada hits back
In a separate social media post, Trump took particular aim at Canada, repeating his call for America’s northern neighbor to become a US state.
Claiming the United States pays “hundreds of billions of dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada,” Trump said that “without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country.”
“Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State,” he said, reiterating the expansionist threat against one of his country’s closest allies.
The US Census Bureau says the 2024 trade deficit in goods with Canada was $55 billion.
Canadian backlash was swift, with video posted to social media showing fans at a Toronto Raptors game Sunday booing during the US national anthem.

Canada said on Sunday it will take legal action under the relevant international bodies to challenge the tariffs.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also encouraged Canadians on Sunday to boycott their longtime ally after ordering retaliatory tariffs against $155 billion of US goods, from peanut butter, beer and wine to lumber and appliances.
Canadian officials said they were preparing measures to help business who might be hurt by the trade war.
Trudeau vowed Saturday to hit back with 25 percent levies on select American goods worth Can$155 billion ($106.6 billion), with a first round on Tuesday followed by a second one in three weeks.
Leaders of several Canadian provinces have already announced retaliatory actions as well, such as the immediate halt of US liquor purchases.
The White House has not publicly announced what actions could end the tariffs.
“It’s hard to know what more we can do, but we’re obviously open to any other suggestions that come our way,” Canada’s ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman told ABC News on Sunday.

Mexico, China push back
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she, also, was awaiting Trump’s response to her proposal for dialogue.
She said she had directed her economy minister to “implement Plan B,” which includes unspecified “tariff and non-tariff measures,” promising to detail Monday the steps she intends to take.
Trump said Sunday he also planned to hit the European Union with tariffs “pretty soon,” to which the EU said earlier it would “respond firmly.”

“Fentanyl is America’s problem,” China’s foreign ministry said, adding that China has taken extensive measures to combat the problem.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, raising her fist in the air in a speech outside the capital, vowed resilience.
She accused the United States of failing to tackle its fentanyl problem and said it would not be solved by tariffs.
Sheinbaum said she would provide more details on Monday of the retaliatory tariffs she ordered this weekend.

Warnings of inflation, recession

EY Chief Economist Greg Daco said Trump’s tariffs could reduce US economic growth by 1.5 percentage points this year, throw Canada and Mexico into recession and usher in “stagflation” — high inflation, stagnant economic growth and elevated unemployment — at home.
Trump’s move was the first strike in a what could be a destructive global trade war that Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics said would lead to a surge in US inflation that would “come even faster and be larger than we initially expected.
US crude oil futures jumped more than $2 to hit $75 per barrel, while stock futures fell. The S&P 500 E-mini futures were down 2 percent, while Nasdaq futures were down 2.75 percent.

The Trump tariffs, outlined in three executive orders, are due to take effect 12:01 a.m. ET (0501 GMT) on Tuesday. Markets were awaiting developments with anxiety, but some analysts said there was some hope for negotiations, especially with Canada and China.
“The tariffs look likely to take effect, though a last-minute compromise cannot be completely ruled out,” Goldman Sachs economists said in a note Sunday.

The tariff announcement made good on Trump’s repeated 2024 campaign threat, defying warnings from economists that a trade war would erode growth and raise prices for consumers and companies.
Trump declared a national emergency under two laws, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act, which give the president sweeping powers to impose sanctions to address crises.
Trade lawyers said Trump could face legal challenges for testing the limits of US laws. Democratic lawmakers Suzan DelBene and Don Beyer decried what they called a blatant abuse of executive power. Others warned about rising prices.
“No matter which way you slice it: costs are going to climb for consumers,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said, vowing to try to “undo this mess.”
Republicans welcomed Trump’s action.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week showed Americans were divided on tariffs, with 54 percent opposing new duties on imported goods and 43 percent in support, with Democrats more opposed and Republicans more supportive.

Investors look ahead
Investors were considering the effects of additional tariffs promised by Trump, including those related to oil and gas, as well as steel, aluminum, semiconductor chips and pharmaceuticals. Trump has also vowed actions against the European Union.
A European Commission spokesperson said the EU “would respond firmly to any trading partner that unfairly or arbitrarily imposes tariffs on EU goods.” Europe’s biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, said it was counting on talks to avoid trade conflict.
Automakers would be particularly hard hit, with new tariffs on vehicles built in Canada and Mexico burdening a vast regional supply chain where parts can cross borders several times before final assembly.
Trump imposed only a 10 percent duty on energy products from Canada after oil refiners and Midwestern states raised concerns. At nearly $100 billion in 2023, imports of crude oil accounted for roughly a quarter of all US imports from Canada, according to US Census Bureau data.
White House officials said Canada specifically would no longer be allowed the “de minimiz” US duty exemption for shipments under $800. The officials said Canada, along with Mexico, has become a conduit for shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the US via small packages that are not often inspected by customs agents.
 


Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday

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Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday

  • First so-called ‘general congregation’ signals the start of a centuries-old tradition that culminates in the election by cardinals of a new pontiff within three weeks

VATICAN CITY: Cardinals have taken their first decisions following the death of Pope Francis, setting Saturday as the date for his funeral and allowing ordinary faithful to begin paying their final respects starting Wednesday, when his casket is brought into St. Peter’s Basilica.

The cardinals met for the first time Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world grieving history’s first Latin American pope.

The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

US President Donald Trump has announced he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend Saturday’s funeral Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.

Francis died Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He made his last public appearance Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and making what would be his final greeting to followers from his popemobile, looping around St. Peter’s Square.

In retrospect, his Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013, was a perfect bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest.

“He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of the Italian bishops’ conference and considered a possible contender to be next pope. “To go out to meet everyone, speak to everyone, teach us to speak to everyone, to bless everyone.”

The first images of Francis’ body were released Tuesday, showing him in the wooden casket, in red vestments and his bishop’s miter, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.

In his final will, Francis confirmed he would be buried at St. Mary Major basilica, which is outside the Vatican and home to his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary. Before and after every foreign trip, Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus, who in turn holds a jeweled golden book.

Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli hospital on March 23, after his 38-day hospital stay, to deliver flowers to be placed before the icon. He returned April 12 to pray before the Madonna for the last time.

The world reacts

Bells tolled in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world and flags flew at half staff in Italy, India, Taiwan and the US after Francis’ death was announced by the Vatican camerlengo. Soccer matches in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of the Argentine pope who was a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club.

World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion, while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity.

“Like every Argentine, I think he was a rebel,” said 23-year-old Catalina Favaro, who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation. “He may have been contradictory, but that was nice, too.”

In East Timor, where Francis’ final outdoor Mass drew nearly half of the population last September, President Jose Ramos-Horta praised Francis’ courage. “Papa Francisco was a brave man who was not afraid to speak out against the rulers of the world who seek war, but do not want to seek peace,” Ramos-Horta said.

“He challenged the powerful to act with justice, called nations to welcome the stranger, and reminded us that our common home – this Earth – is a gift we must protect for future generations,” said Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who is Muslim. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and has around 30 million Catholics, representing about 14 percent of the total population.

Viewing the pope’s coffin

The pope’s formal apartments in the Apostolic Palace and in the Santa Marta hotel were sealed Monday evening, following a centuries-old ritual. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo had the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause was determined, presided over the rituals.

Francis chose not to live in the palace, though, but in a two-room suite in Santa Marta on the other side of Vatican City. He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby, where the private viewing was being held Tuesday for Vatican officials and members of the pontifical household.

In changes made by Francis last year, his body was not placed in three wooden coffins, as it had been for previous popes. Rather, Francis was placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside.

Once in St. Peter’s, his coffin will not be put on an elevated bier but will just be placed simply facing the pews, with the Paschal candle nearby.

“He was a pope who didn’t change his path when it came to getting dirty,” Francis’ vicar for Rome, Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, said in a Mass in his honor. “For him, poor people and migrants were the sacrament of Jesus.”

Choosing the next pope

After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known as the “novendiali.” During this period, cardinals arrive in Rome and meet privately before the conclave.

To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15-20 days after the “sede vacante” – the “vacant See” – is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.

Once the conclave begins, cardinals vote in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel. After voting sessions, the ballots are burned in a special stove. Black smoke indicates that no pope has been elected, while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic Church.

The one who has secured two-thirds of the votes wins. If he accepts, his election is announced by a cardinal from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica who tells the world “Habemus Papam,” Latin for “We have a pope.”


France’s Barrot: Europeans expressed red lines over Ukraine to US

Updated 22 April 2025
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France’s Barrot: Europeans expressed red lines over Ukraine to US

  • Barrot says Putin’s truce in Ukraine over Easter was a marketing operating operation aimed at preventing that US President Donald Trump gets impatient

PARIS: Europe has expressed its red lines over Ukraine to the United States at a meeting last week ahead of a new round of discussions in London on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
He also said in an interview with francinfo radio that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s truce in Ukraine over Easter was a marketing operating operation aimed at preventing that US President Donald Trump gets impatient with him.

“The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry,” Barrot told the FranceInfo broadcaster, a day after Russia launched aerial attacks on Ukraine in an abrupt end to the fragile Easter truce.


Australians start voting in general elections as pope’s death overshadows campaigning

Updated 22 April 2025
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Australians start voting in general elections as pope’s death overshadows campaigning

  • Polling stations opened to voters who, for a variety of reasons, will be unable to vote on May 3
  • Around half the votes are expected to be cast before the election date

MELBOURNE: Australians began voting Tuesday at general elections as the death of Pope Francis overshadowed campaigning.
Polling stations opened to voters who, for a variety of reasons, will be unable to vote on May 3. Around half the votes are expected to be cast before the election date.
Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton canceled campaign events planned for Tuesday out of respect for the late pontiff.
Flags were flown at half staff from government buildings across the country, where a 2021 census found 20 percent of the population were Catholics.
Albanese was raised as a Catholic but chose to be sworn in as prime minister when elected in 2022 by making a secular affirmation rather than by taking an oath on a Bible.
Albanese, who has described himself as a “flawed Catholic,” attended a Mass in honor of the pope in Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Tuesday morning.
“I try not to talk about my faith in public,” Albanese said.
“At times like this, I think what people do is they draw on who they are and certainly my Catholicism is just a part of me,” he added.
Albanese and Dutton, who leads the conservative Liberal Party, will meet in Sydney later Tuesday for the third televised leaders’ debate of the campaign.
A fourth debate is planned Sunday.
Dutton, who was raised by a Catholic father and Protestant mother and attended an Anglican school, attended a Mass on Tuesday afternoon at Sydney’s St. Mary’s Cathedral.
“I don’t think it’s a day for overt politicking at all. I think that the day is best spent reflecting,” Dutton said.
“I don’t think there’s a place for the body blows of politics today. I think it’s a very different day from that,” Dutton added.
Albanese’s center-left Labour Party is seeking a second three-year term.
The government held a narrow majority of 78 seats out of 151 in the House of Representatives, where parties form administrations during their first term.
The lower chamber will shrink to 150 seats after the election due to redistributions.
The major parties are both predicting a close election result.


Taiwan cabinet to ask parliament to unfreeze $4bn amid budget standoff

Updated 22 April 2025
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Taiwan cabinet to ask parliament to unfreeze $4bn amid budget standoff

  • Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee says the government will ask parliament to unfreeze T$138.1 billion ($4.25 billion) in funds
  • Cabinet will also seek a legal interpretation from the constitutional court on both the constitutionality of the budget as passed by lawmakers

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s cabinet said on Tuesday it will ask the opposition controlled legislature to release more than $4 billion in funds frozen as part of a stand-off over this year’s budget, which the government says could seriously affect their operations.
While the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Lai Ching-te won the presidency in last year’s elections, the party lost its majority in parliament.
Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), along with the small Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), control the most seats, and earlier this year voted through sweeping cuts to 2025’s budget, saying they were targeting waste, and froze other funds saying they wanted greater oversight on spending plans.
In a statement, cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee said the government will ask parliament to unfreeze T$138.1 billion ($4.25 billion) in funds.
The cabinet “hopes the Legislative Yuan can unfreeze it all in a short period of time to reduce the difficulties and inconveniences people have in their dealings with the administration,” Lee said, using parliament’s formal name.
The cabinet will also seek a legal interpretation from the constitutional court on both the constitutionality of the budget as passed by lawmakers, and a separate legal amendment granting more money to local governments at the expense of the central government, Lee added.
The defense ministry has warned of a “serious impact” to security from the amended budget, saying it will require a cut in defense spending of some T$80 billion at a time when the island is facing an elevated Chinese military threat.
Taiwan’s opposition has shown little appetite to seek compromise with the government on the budget issue, given they are angered at a campaign led by civic groups and backed by senior DPP officials to recall a swathe of opposition lawmakers.
The KMT and TPP chairmen met earlier on Tuesday vowing to redouble efforts to work together against the “green communists,” referring to the DPP’s party colors, and will hold a joint protest in front of the presidential office on Saturday.
“We don’t just want to take down Lai Ching-te, but the entire corrupt, arrogant and abusive system,” KMT Chairman Eric Chu wrote on his Facebook page after meeting TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang.
Lai and the DPP’s public approval ratings have remained relatively high.
A poll last week by Taiwan television station Mirror TV put the DPP’s approval rating at 45 percent, relatively steady over the past year, with both the KMT and TPP on around 28 percent, both down compared with the year ago period.


Fleeing Pakistan, Afghans rebuild from nothing

Updated 22 April 2025
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Fleeing Pakistan, Afghans rebuild from nothing

  • Pushed out of Pakistan where she was born, Nazmine Khan’s first experience of her country, Afghanistan, was in a sweltering tent at a border camp

TORKHAM: Pushed out of Pakistan where she was born, Nazmine Khan’s first experience of her country, Afghanistan, was in a sweltering tent at a border camp.
“We never thought we would return to Afghanistan,” said the 15-year-old girl, who has little idea of what will become of her or her family, only that she is likely to have fewer freedoms.
“When our parents told us we had to leave, we cried,” added Khan.
Having nowhere to go in Afghanistan, she and six other family members shared a stifling tent in the Omari camp near the Torkham border point.
Islamabad, accusing Afghans of links to narcotics and “supporting terrorism,” announced a new campaign in March to expel hundreds of thousands of Afghans, with or without documents.
Many had lived in Pakistan for decades after fleeing successive wars and crises but did not wait to be arrested by Pakistani forces before leaving, seeing their removal as inevitable.
Since April 1, more than 92,000 Afghans have been sent back to their country of origin, according to Islamabad, out of the some three million the United Nations says are living in Pakistan.
Khan’s family fled Afghanistan in the 1960s. Her four brothers and sister were also born in Pakistan.
“In a few days we’ll look for a place to rent” in the border province of Nangarhar where the family has roots, she told AFP, speaking in Pakistan’s commonly spoken tongue of Urdu, not knowing any Afghan languages.
In the family’s tent there is little more than a cloth to lie on and a few cushions, but no mattress or blanket. Flies buzz under the tarpaulin as countless children in ragged clothes come and go.
When it comes to her own future, Khan feels “completely lost,” she said.
Having dropped out of school in Pakistan, the Taliban authorities’ ban on girls studying beyond primary school will hardly change the course of her life.
But from what little she heard about her country while living in eastern Pakistan’s Punjab, she knows that “here there are not the same freedoms.”
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have imposed restrictions on women characterised by the UN as “gender apartheid.”
Women have been banned from universities, parks, gyms and beauty salons and squeezed from many jobs.
“It is now a new life... for them, and they are starting this with very little utilities, belongings, cash, support,” said Ibrahim Humadi, program lead for non-governmental group Islamic Relief, which has set up about 200 tents for returnees in the Omari camp.
Some stay longer than the three days offered on arrival, not knowing where to go with their meager savings, he said.
“They also know that even in their area of return, the community will be welcoming them, will be supporting them... but they know also the community are already suffering from the situation in Afghanistan,” he added.
Around 85 percent of the Afghan population lives on less than one dollar a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
“We had never seen (Afghanistan) in our lives. We do not know if we can find work, so we are worried,” said Jalil Khan Mohamedin, 28, as he piled belongings — quilts, bed frames and fans — into a truck that will take the 16 members of his family to the capital Kabul, though nothing awaits them there.
The Taliban authorities have said they are preparing towns specifically for returnees.
But at one site near Torkham, there is nothing more than cleared roads on a rocky plain.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) believes “greater clarity” is needed to ensure that the sites intended for returnees are “viable” in terms of basic infrastructure and services such as health and education.
It’s important that “returnees are making informed decisions and that their relocation to the townships is voluntary,” communications officer Avand Azeez Agha told AFP.
Looking dazed, Khan’s brother Dilawar still struggles to accept leaving Pakistan, where he was born 25 years ago.
His Pakistani wife did not want to follow him and asked for a divorce.
“When we crossed the border, we felt like going back, then after a day it felt fine,” said the former truck driver.
“We still don’t understand. We were only working.”