World News

WASHINGTON – The US economy is showing some strains after years of resilience, with domestic demand moderating and job growth slowing, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said inflation was on a path to meet the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, but there were some risks that could push it higher, largely as a result of tariffs imposed on imports by the Trump administration.

“What we’ve seen over the past few years is that the US economy has proven to be quite resilient. We do see now that some strains are beginning to show,” she told a regular briefing. “Domestic demand has been moderating in the US, and job growth is slowing.”

Kozack said the front-loading of imports early in the year in anticipation of tariffs had caused some volatility in economic activity in the first half, and tariffs were now adding to inflation risks.

As a result of the combined factors, she said, the IMF saw scope for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, although it should proceed cautiously, with an eye on emerging data.

She told a regular briefing that a downward revision in US employment data announced on Tuesday was a “bit larger” than the historical average.

The US government said 911,000 fewer jobs were likely created in the 12 months through March than previously estimated, suggesting that job growth was stalling before President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on imports.

Such revisions could be driven by a variety of factors, including statistical issues and some related to response and survey errors, she said, adding the issue would be discussed during the scheduled IMF review of the US economy in November.

The Labor Department’s inspector general on Wednesday said it was initiating a review of challenges that the Bureau of Labor Statistics faces in collecting and reporting US economic data after it made large downward revisions to nonfarm payrolls and cut its inflation data collection.

Earlier sharp downgrades to May and June payroll figures angered Trump, prompting him to fire BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer and accuse her, without evidence, of faking the data. Trump has nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to replace her.

Kozack refused to be drawn on the credibility of US data, saying only that the IMF strongly advocated for accurate, timely and reliable data from all its members.

“This kind of data transparency strengthens the credibility of economic management in all countries,” she said. — Reuters US

Confusion and conspiracy theories spread online after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a university appearance in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday.

As the manhunt continued, online speculation, much of it baseless, emerged about the circumstances of the shooting and the identity of the shooter.

Online posts also shared fake headlines about the killing, or real headlines with fake timestamps to claim the media had advance knowledge of the plan. And social media users trying to get clarity from AI chatbots found they were misled.

Reuters has examined some of the viral rumors, conspiracies, and false information spreading online in the aftermath of Kirk’s death.

MISIDENTIFIED SUSPECTS
Video shared online in the aftermath of the shooting shows an older man being detained by Provo police and an officer holding a rifle, which the voiceover said belonged to the suspect. But there is no evidence the encounter was related to the Kirk shooting. The Utah Department of Public Safety did not respond to a request for comment.

One video posted within hours of Kirk’s shooting falsely identified a Black man 700 miles (1,126 km) away as having been arrested for killing Kirk. But the video is from June and shows the arrest of a suspect in a Santa Monica police officer shooting. The same video was shared by Fox News that month.

Other posts shared video of a man on the run after a gunman opened fire outside a casino in Reno, Nevada, on July 28, a shooting that killed three and injured three others. The posts claimed it was footage of Kirk’s shooter.

The image of a 29-year-old Washington state resident was shared in a series of posts baselessly suggesting the shooter is transgender. She told Reuters in a message the picture had been lifted from her X account without her knowledge, adding that she was in Seattle at the time of the shooting. She wrote earlier on Instagram, after her image circulated widely online, that she is not the shooter. At the time of writing, authorities have not said the suspect is transgender.

HEADLINE FAKES
Dark memes following the shooting included a fabricated CNN headline dated 2021 that quotes Kirk as saying, “If Somebody Ever Shoots Me Through The Neck During A Speech In Utah In 2025, I Lowkey Think That Rocks.”

There is no evidence Kirk ever made this statement. A CNN spokesperson said in an email, “This is a fabricated image and CNN never published a story with that headline.”

A screenshot of a genuine New York Times headline appearing in Google search results was used to suggest the media knew about the shooting in advance. The headline, “Charlie Kirk is Apparently Shot During Utah Valley University Event,” as it appeared in Google, was shared in an X post after the shooting and captioned, “NY Times 19 hours ago (last night 15 hours before shooting) is standard CIA pysop.”

An archive of the article shows the first post on the outlet’s live blog was published after Kirk’s shooting, at 3:02 p.m. ET.

The New York Times said in an email that the page went live at 3:01 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

This timestamp discrepancy in search engine results can happen when a web page provides a time zone different from the local time when it was published, or when multiple dates are listed on the page, a Google spokesperson said.

“Given the low resolution and incomplete screenshots, we’re not able to confirm if these are Google Search results,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We provide guidance to site owners about how they can help us identify the most accurate date and time to show in Search.”

AI CHATBOTS AMPLIFY CONFUSION
In the aftermath of Kirk’s shooting, Reuters found that both Perplexity’s bot account and xAI’s Grok chatbot provided incorrect responses to queries on X.

In response to a query beneath a clip condemning Kirk’s killing, Perplexity’s bot account incorrectly said the individual was describing a “hypothetical scenario” and that Kirk was “still alive.”

It also responded to a graphic released by the White House that featured a statement on the incident, saying that it appeared to be “fabricated,” incorrectly adding that there had been “no official confirmation” by the White House that Kirk had died.

Early online rumors falsely suggested that a man named Michael Mallinson had been detained by police. This was elevated by Grok, which cited unspecified “reports” that he was in custody. In later posts, Grok said Mallinson had been “falsely accused.” Mallinson could not be reached for comment.

Grok also labelled a real statement as fabricated, incorrectly saying that a screenshot of the statement released by Turning Point USA, the conservative student group founded by Kirk, appeared to be “fake.”

A spokesperson for Perplexity told Reuters, “Because we take the topic so seriously, Perplexity never claims to be 100% accurate. But we do claim to be the only AI company working on it relentlessly as our core focus.”

xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Reuters

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s short list of candidates to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve now includes his aide Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and current Fed Governor Christopher Waller.

Trump told reporters at the White House that the three men were the finalists for appointments to the Fed, adding he would consider Scott Bessent, too, but that the Treasury secretary was not interested.

Bessent, who was with the president in the Oval Office, confirmed his lack of interest.

“I had four,” Trump said. “Now I’m talking about three. He (Bessent) told me: ‘I’m not leaving’.”

The president has made clear he intends to install a Fed leader more aligned with his push for rapid interest-rate cuts, browbeating Powell for being “too late” to act on borrowing costs and for hurting home buyers with higher mortgage rates.

Powell’s Fed has kept rates on hold all year on concern that Trump’s tariffs could reignite inflation, although recently his concerns have shifted to center more on the slowing labor market.

The choice of a Fed chair will carry high stakes for financial markets, which closely watch Fed leadership changes for clues about the direction of interest rates, inflation policy and the central bank’s independence.

U.S. job growth weakened sharply in August and the unemployment rate increased to nearly a four-year high of 4.3%, the Labor Department said on Friday, confirming that labor market conditions were softening.

Powell last month noted downside risks to the labor market that “may warrant” a careful policy adjustment, remarks that financial markets and analysts took to mean he would likely support a quarter-point interest-rate cut in September.

That’s far short of the several percentage points of cuts that Trump has demanded.

Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, has been a reliable advocate for Trump’s tariffs and other policies, and agrees with Trump that the Fed has kept rates inappropriately high.

Warsh has repeatedly called for “regime change” at the Fed.

Waller, who ran the St. Louis Fed’s research department before Trump picked him to be Fed governor in 2020, would be an institutionalist pick.

Bessent released a barrage of criticism against the Fed on Friday and called for a full review of the central bank’s operations, from staffing to research to monetary policy. — Reuters

SYDNEY – New Zealand said on Wednesday it would introduce laws in November to fast track the approval process for new supermarkets in a bid to boost competition and bring in lower prices.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said her center-right government’s proposed rules will speed up and simplify the process to open or expand supermarkets in the country.

“We’re creating an express lane for new supermarkets to boost competition and deliver better deals for Kiwi shoppers,” Ms. Willis said in a statement.

Tough regulations and a slow approval process for new applications are blocking new competitors from gaining a foothold in the country’s grocery sector, dominated by Foodstuffs NZ and Australia’s Woolworths, Ms. Willis said.

Some respondents to a government-initiated feedback process on the sector have argued for the break up of Foodstuffs and Woolworths, Ms. Willis said.

But she said any decision “to restructure the supermarkets is not a decision that would be taken lightly” though a cost-benefit analysis will check the specific options for restructuring the duopoly.

“It would be a significant intervention that would carry costs and risks that would need to be rigorously weighted against the potential benefits to shoppers,” Ms. Willis said.

The government will instead streamline the entry of new supermarkets by appointing a single authority to oversee the entire process and also modify the foreign investment rules to clarify investment pathways.

Companies could be prosecuted if they misuse their market power to exclude or stamp out competitors, Ms. Willis said.

U.S. retailer Costco, which opened its only store in the country in Auckland in 2022, has informed the government that the initiatives to boost competition will help with the company’s future expansion plans in New Zealand, she added.

Five domestic companies have also expressed interest to enter the grocery sector. — Reuters

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia, Editor-in-Chief

HSINCHU CITY, Taiwan — Clusters of unobtrusive buildings greet you when you enter Hsinchu Science Park (HSP), also known as the heart of Taiwan’s Silicon Valley. Outside these modern buildings, there’s little indication that the world’s most important chips are being manufactured inside.

Taiwan produces around 60% of the semiconductors in the world, and over 90% of the most advanced chips. Most of these advanced semiconductors are manufactured by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).

At the TSMC Museum of Innovation here, the company prominently displays the chips it has produced since it was founded in 1987, and how these are used in nearly all aspects of modern life — from home appliances and mobile phones to artificial intelligence (AI) and self-driving vehicles.

TSMC is the world’s largest producer of chips, and a top supplier for Apple and Nvidia. It also accounted for 9% of Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year.

This puts TSMC right at the center of the so-called “Silicon Shield.” Experts have long noted that Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductor manufacturing could protect the island from China’s military aggression.

Despite geopolitical tensions, it’s “business as usual” for the over 600 companies that operate in HSP, officials said.

“(But) if there is a big conflict, if there is a war, that will be absolutely a very big problem for global supply chains,” HSP Bureau Associate Researcher Scott Huang told visiting foreign journalists.

China continues to assert its claim over Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breakaway province. It has threatened to annex the self-ruled island, by force if necessary, endangering Taiwan’s population and threatening the world’s most advanced semiconductor factories.

A possible China attack on TSMC’s facilities in Taiwan would severely affect chip supplies in the world, Mr. Huang said.

“Some scholars estimate that if there is a missile that hits TSMC from China, there will be no chip supplies for advanced manufacturing engineers for at least three years. That means nobody will have a new model of iPhone again for three years until those constructions, manufacturing productions, facilities recover,” Mr. Huang said.

Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) President Hsien-ming Lien said there are estimates that an attack on Taiwan would reduce around 6-10% of global GDP.

“It’s an enormous amount of money. It will affect all the top 10 technology companies (in the world), almost every one of them requires the TSMC chip… All your phones have their chips from TSMC. It’s going to be catastrophic,” he said during a separate briefing.

Mr. Lien said this is why Taiwan and other Asian countries are working to prevent this attack from happening.

“It’s a disaster nobody wants to actually see,” he added.

INNOVATION
Despite rising geopolitical tensions, Taiwan continues to focus its efforts on innovation development.

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) takes the lead not just in formulating science and technology policy but also in supporting and funding research, developing science parks, and promoting innovation.

NSTC Vice-Minister Chen-kang Su highlighted the unique ecosystem in Taiwan where there is close collaboration among the government, academe, research and industry.

The NSTC works with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the National Institute of Applied Research and with other industries to train professionals as well as to help the academe and research sectors transfer technology to the industry that will turn these technologies into commercial products.

It was ITRI that laid the groundwork for Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and played a key role in the creation of TSMC. TSMC, which was founded by Morris Chang, had received early funding and support from ITRI, the Taiwanese government and private investors.

ITRI had also advocated for a science-based industrial park, which led to the establishment of the HSP, which in turn became the birthplace of TSMC.

Ambassador-at-Large and Digital Transformation Association (DTA) Chairman JR Chen said the science parks and industrial parks are the secret to Taiwan’s economic development.

“All these science parks or industry parks are a vital asset and competitive advantage of Taiwan’s economic development, and this is also the hidden center of global economy because most of the high-tech industries need support from all these science parks or industrial parks,” Mr. Chen told a group of visiting foreign journalists.

NSTC’s Mr. Su said at a briefing that there are over 1,150 companies located in science parks, which cover 5,194 hectares around Taiwan. In 2024, these science parks generated over $148 billion in revenues.

HSP’s Mr. Huang showed a photo of the science park when it was established in 1980, where there was only one building surrounded by “nothing, only rice fields.”

“We started from making PCs (personal computers), desktop, notebooks to semiconductors in the 1990s… With electronics, semiconductors and chipmaking, Taiwan firms really had a remarkable performance in the global market. For the advanced semiconductor sector, Taiwan enterprises really shine in the world, with over 95% (of the market),” he said.

HSP is home to the headquarters of TSMC and Mediatek, as well as over 620 companies in six industries, namely integrated circuits, optoelectronics, biotechnology, machineries, PC and telecommunications. The park itself now covers 1,467 hectares, employs around 178,000 and generates over $47 billion in revenue a year.

Meanwhile, NTSC is looking to expand Taiwan’s international cooperation in priority areas such as semiconductors, AI, security and surveillance, next-generation communications, and military.

“In addition to working with allied countries on industrial supply chains, we can also work with them to introduce new applications of these technologies. Areas of collaboration could be working with these countries to introduce new technology in AI and semiconductors to build local industries,” Mr. Su said.

Other policy focus areas include net-zero technology, quantum technology, space technology, precision medicine, and robotics.

NSTC currently has 18 science and technology liaison offices in 14 countries, including the US, Japan, Vietnam and India.

RISKS
Rising geopolitical risks such as the US-China trade war, Russia-Ukraine war and US tariffs are forcing Taiwan’s supply chains to undergo restructuring, according to DTA’s Mr. Chen.

“For the DTA, we still advocate that digital transformation (is needed) for all industries in Taiwan. This is still the foundation of resilience and advanced capabilities to tackle the issue of geopolitical risks,” he said.

Mr. Chen said companies can use AI to have real-time visibility and transparency or manage risks in the supply chain.

“Global diversification is very important. Right now, I think you cannot really have only one source of manufacturing or logistics,” he said.

“Though the main technology is from Taiwan, we’d like to collaborate with like-minded countries to work together to provide high-tech products for the world.”

For instance, TSMC has been expanding beyond Taiwan as it sees the need to diversify manufacturing and reduce supply chain risks amid these risks. It has already invested in semiconductor fabrication plants in Arizona in the US, and Kumamoto in Japan.

Mr. Chen also suggested that Taiwan firms continue to expand to other countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia or Eastern Europe.

“We need to develop domestic supply and critical components here in Taiwan but also we need to form alliances with like-minded countries to share research and development and other resources so that will make a resilient foundation for the high-tech industry,” he said.

‘DEMOCRATIC SUPPLY CHAIN’
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te had earlier called on semiconductor companies to stop buying from and selling to China and to only work with supply chains with companies from democratic countries.

“The so-called pure democratic supply chain is still a very challenging goal,” CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu said at a separate briefing. 

She noted that China controls more than 90% of the critical minerals needed for making chips, so it would not be possible to establish a democratic supply chain without the participation of non-democratic countries like China and Vietnam.

However, as China has become increasingly aggressive in recent years, Ms. Hsu noted some like-minded countries have been forging supply chains among themselves to ensure they would not be too dependent on China.

Taiwan has also been trying to diversify or de-risk its economic dependence on China, she added.

“Taiwanese companies used to invest hugely in China and right now they are already diversifying their supply chain. So back in 2010, out of every $100 that we invested overseas, $85 went to China. But in the past two years, China accounted for only less than 10% of our overseas investment,” Ms. Hsu said.

DTA’s Mr. Chen said Taiwanese firms have moved production of high-tech products from China to other countries not just due to political reasons and cost.

“After the new geopolitical order, they can’t think just about cost but also resilience and security of the product… Most Taiwanese high-tech companies not only stress cost effectiveness but trust worthiness,” he added.

WASHINGTON – Major automakers want Congress and the Trump administration to move faster to make it easier to deploy autonomous vehicles without human controls as new robotaxi tests expand.

Congress has been divided for years about whether to pass legislation to address deployment hurdles, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not moved quickly to rewrite safety rules or allow exemptions for up to 2,500 vehicles without human controls annually and ease other hurdles.

“The auto industry wants, it needs a functioning and effective auto safety regulator. We don’t have that today,” said Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO John Bozzella at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on Thursday. “The agency isn’t nimble. Rulemakings take too long if they come at all.”

Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association Director Jeff Farrah urged Congress to pass long-stalled nationwide legislation to allow the United States to globally lead on AVs as China moves aggressively in the field.

“Right now we are fighting with one hand tied behind our back,” Farrah said. Companies have pushed for more action for years.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in April that a new department framework to boost autonomous vehicles would help U.S. automakers compete with Chinese rivals.

Earlier this month, NHTSA said it would speed reviews of requests from automakers to deploy self-driving vehicles without required human controls like steering wheels, brake pedals or mirrors.

Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, a Democrat, cited reports showing NHTSA has lost as much as 35% of its expert staff this year through layoffs and other exits, which puts the ability of the agency to function at risk.

NHTSA said “significantly fewer people have left” than Pallone suggested and that it remains “staffed to continue to conduct all safety- and mission-critical work” and is boosting its Office of Autonomous Safety.

Meanwhile, U.S. traffic deaths remain sharply above pre-COVID levels. Despite falling 3.8% in 2024 to 39,345, they are still significantly higher than the 36,355 killed in 2019 and double the average rate of other high-income countries.

“NHTSA is failing to meet the moment,” Insurance Institute for Highway Safety President David Harkey told lawmakers.

“In recent years, it has approached its job with a lack of urgency, using flawed methodologies that underestimate the safety benefits of obviously beneficial interventions,” he said.

NHTSA routinely fails to write regulations even when directed by Congress and has often gone years without a Senate-confirmed leader. – Reuters

WASHINGTON/DOHA/ISTANBUL – U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday a complete ceasefire between Israel and Iran, potentially ending the 12-day war that saw millions flee Tehran and prompted fears of further escalation in the war-torn region.

Israel, joined by the United States on the weekend, has carried out attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, after alleging Tehran was getting close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, ‘THE 12 DAY WAR’,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.

There was no immediate comment yet from Israel. While an Iranian official earlier confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, the country’s foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless Israel stopped its attacks.

Abbas Araqchi said early on Tuesday that if Israel stopped its “illegal aggression” against the Iranian people no later than 4 a.m. Tehran time (0030 GMT) on Tuesday, Iran had no intention of continuing its response afterwards.

There have been no reported Israeli attacks on Iran since that time.

“The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later,” Araqchi added in a post on X.

A senior White House official said Trump had brokered the deal in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel had agreed so long as Iran did not launch further attacks.

Trump appeared to suggest that Israel and Iran would have some time to complete any missions that are underway, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process.

Iran denies ever having a nuclear weapons program but Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said that if it wanted to, world leaders “wouldn’t be able to stop us”.

Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran’s agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff were in direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, the White House official said.

Neither Iran’s U.N. mission nor the Israeli embassy in Washington responded to separate requests for comment from Reuters.

Hours earlier, three Israeli officials had signaled Israel was looking to wrap up its campaign in Iran soon and had passed the message on to the United States.

Netanyahu had told government ministers whose discussions ended early on Tuesday not to speak publicly, Israel’s Channel 12 television reported.
Markets reacted favorably to the news.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% late on Monday, suggesting traders expect the U.S. stock market to open with gains on Tuesday.

U.S. crude futures fell in early Asian trading hours on Tuesday to their lowest level in more than a week after Trump said a ceasefire had been agreed, relieving worries of supply disruption in the region.

END TO THE FIGHTING?

There did not appear to be calm yet in the region.

The Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings in less than two hours to residents of areas in the Iranian capital Tehran, one late on Monday and one early on Tuesday.

Israeli Army radio reported early on Tuesday that alarms were activated in the southern Golan Heights area due to fears of hostile aircraft intrusion.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said he would encourage Israel to proceed towards peace after dismissing Iran’s attack on an American air base that caused no injuries and thanking Tehran for the early notice of the strikes.

Iran’s handling of the attack recalled earlier clashes with the United States and Israel, with Tehran seeking a balance between saving face with a military response but without provoking a cycle of escalation it can’t afford.

Tehran appears to have achieved that goal.

Iran’s attack came after U.S. bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian underground nuclear facilities at the weekend, joining Israel’s air war.
Much of Tehran’s population of 10 million has fled after days of bombing.

The Trump administration maintains that its aim was solely to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, not to open a wider war.

“Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon,” Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

“Now Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon with the equipment they have because we destroyed it,” Vance said.

But in a social media post on Sunday, Trump spoke of toppling the hardline clerical rulers who have been Washington’s principal foes in the Middle East since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israel, however, had made clear that its strikes on Evin prison – a notorious jail for housing political prisoners – and other targets in Tehran were intended to hit the Iranian ruling apparatus broadly, and its ability to sustain power. — Reuters

KANANASKIS, Alberta – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy leaves the Group of Seven summit on Tuesday with new aid from host Canada for its war against Russia but without a joint statement of support from members or a chance to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The G7 wealthy nations struggled to find unity over the conflict in Ukraine after Mr. Trump expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and left a day early to address the Israel-Iran conflict from Washington.

Canada dropped plans for the G7 to issue a strong statement on the war in Ukraine after resistance from the United States, a Canadian official told reporters.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would provide C$2 billion ($1.47 billion) in new military assistance for Kyiv as well as impose new financial sanctions.

Mr. Zelenskiy said he had told the G7 leaders that “diplomacy is now in a state of crisis” and said they need to continue calling on Mr. Trump “to use his real influence” to force an end to the war, in a post on his Telegram account.

Although Canada is one of Ukraine’s most vocal defenders, its ability to help it is far outweighed by the United States, the largest arms supplier to Kyiv. Mr. Zelenskiy had said he hoped to talk to Mr. Trump about acquiring more weapons.

After the summit in the Rocky Mountain resort area of Kananaskis concluded, Mr. Carney issued a chair statement summarizing deliberations.

“G7 leaders expressed support for President Trump’s efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” the statement said.

“They recognized that Ukraine has committed to an unconditional ceasefire, and they agreed that Russia must do the same. G7 Leaders are resolute in exploring all options to maximize pressure on Russia, including financial sanctions.”

Canada holds the rotating G7 presidency this year. Other leaders do not need to sign off on G7 chair statements.

“There would be things that some of us, Canada, included, would say above and beyond what was said in the chair summary,” Mr. Carney said at a closing news conference.

Mr. Trump did agree to a group statement published on Monday calling for a resolution of the Israel-Iran conflict.

“We had a declaration given the exceptional, fast moving situation in Iran,” Mr. Carney said. “We concentrated on that as a specific one. I held this (Ukraine)for my chair summary.”

A European official said leaders had stressed to Trump their plans to be hard on Russia and Mr. Trump seemed impressed, though he does not like sanctions in principle.

Three European diplomats said they had heard signals from Mr. Trump that he wanted to raise pressure on Putin and consider a U.S. Senate bill drafted by Senator Lindsey Graham, but that he had not committed to anything.

“I am returning to Germany with cautious optimism that decisions will also be made in America in the coming days to impose further sanctions against Russia,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

G7 leaders agreed on six other statements, about migrant smuggling, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, wildfires, transnational repression and quantum computing.

 

KREMLIN SAYS G7 LOOKS ‘RATHER USELESS’

Mr. Trump said on Monday he needed to be back in Washington as soon as possible due to the situation in the Middle East, where escalating attacks between Iran and Israel have raised risks of a broader regional conflict.

A White House official on Tuesday said Mr. Trump explained that he returned to the U.S. because it is better to hold high-level National Security Council meetings in person, rather than over the phone.

Upon arriving at the summit, Mr. Trump said that the then-Group of Eight had been wrong to expel Russia after Putin ordered the occupation of Crimea in 2014.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Mr. Trump was right and said the G7 was no longer significant for Russia and looked “rather useless.”

Many leaders had hoped to negotiate trade deals with Mr. Trump, but the only deal signed was the finalization of the U.S.-UK deal announced last month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained at the summit after Trump left.

Mr. Carney also invited non-G7 members Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and Brazil, as he tries to shore up alliances elsewhere and diversify Canada’s exports away from the United States.

Mr. Carney warmly welcomed Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday, after two years of tense relations between Canada and India. – Reuters

A FEDERAL appeals court temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Thursday, a day after a US trade court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington said it was pausing the lower court’s ruling to consider the government’s appeal, and ordered the plaintiffs in the cases to respond by June 5 and the administration by June 9.

Wednesday’s surprise ruling by the US Court of International Trade had threatened to kill or at least delay the imposition of Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs on imports from most US trading partners and additional tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China. The latter was related to his accusation that the three countries were facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the US.

The trade court’s three-judge panel ruled that the Constitution gave Congress, not the president, the power to levy taxes and tariffs, and that the president had exceeded his authority by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law intended to address threats during national emergencies.

Senior Trump administration officials had said they were undeterred by the trade court’s ruling, saying they expected either to prevail on appeal or employ other presidential powers to ensure the tariffs go into effect.

Trump has used the threat of charging US importers costly tariffs for goods from almost every other country in the world as leverage in international trade talks, a strategy the trade court’s ruling would upend. The trade court ruling had not interfered with any negotiations with top trading partners that are scheduled in the days ahead, Trump’s administration said.

Trump himself wrote in a statement shared on social media that he hoped the US Supreme Court would “reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision” of the trade court, while lambasting the judicial branch of government as anti-American.

“The horrific decision stated that I would have to get the approval of Congress for these Tariffs,” Trump wrote on Thursday evening. “If allowed to stand, this would completely destroy Presidential Power — The Presidency would never be the same! This decision is being hailed all over the World by every Country, other than the United States of America.”

Many US trading partners offered careful responses. The British government said the trade court’s ruling was a domestic matter for the US administration and noted it was “only the first stage of legal proceedings.” Both Germany and the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, said they could not comment on the decision.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the trade court’s finding was “consistent with Canada’s longstanding position” that Trump’s tariffs were unlawful.

Financial markets, which have whipsawed in response to the twists and turns in Trump’s chaotic trade war, reacted with cautious optimism to the trade court ruling, though gains in stocks on Thursday were largely limited by expectations that the court’s ruling faced a potentially lengthy appeals process.

Indeed, analysts said broad uncertainty remained regarding the future of Trump’s tariffs, which have cost companies more than $34 billion in lost sales and higher costs, according to a Reuters analysis.

Some sector-specific tariffs, such as on imports of steel, aluminum and automobiles, were imposed by Trump under separate authorities on national security grounds and were unaffected by the ruling.

The Liberty Justice Center, the nonprofit group representing five small businesses that sued over the tariffs, said the appeals court’s temporary stay was a procedural step.

Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel for the center, said the appeals court would ultimately agree with the small businesses that faced irreparable harm of “the loss of critical suppliers and customers, forced and costly changes to established supply chains, and, most seriously, a direct threat to the very survival of these businesses.”

A separate federal court earlier on Thursday also found that Trump overstepped his authority in using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for what he called reciprocal tariffs of at least 10% on goods from most US trading partners and for the separate 25% levies on goods from Canada, Mexico and China related to fentanyl.

That ruling was much narrower, however, and the relief order stopping the tariffs applied only to the toy company that brought the case. The administration has appealed that ruling as well.

UNCERTAINTY PERSISTS
Following a market revolt after his major tariff announcement on April 2, Trump paused most import duties for 90 days and said he would hammer out bilateral deals with trade partners.

But apart from a pact with Britain this month, agreements remain elusive, and the trade court’s ruling on the tariffs and the uncertainty of the appeals process may dissuade countries like Japan from rushing into deals, analysts said.

“Assuming that an appeal does not succeed in the next few days, the main win is time to prepare, and also a cap on the breadth of tariffs — which can’t exceed 15% for the time being,” said George Lagarias, chief economist at Forvis Mazars international advisers.

The trade court ruling would have lowered the overall effective US tariff rate to about 6%, but the appellate court’s emergency stay means it will remain at about 15%, according to estimates from Oxford Research. That is the level it has been since Trump earlier this month struck a temporary truce that reduced punishing levies on Chinese goods until late summer. By contrast, the effective tariff rate had been between 2% and 3% before Trump returned to office in January.

Trump’s trade war has shaken makers of everything from luxury handbags and sneakers to household appliances and cars as the price of raw materials has risen.

Drinks company Diageo and automakers General Motors and Ford are among those that have abandoned forecasts for the year ahead.

Non-US companies including Honda, Campari, Roche and Novartis have said they are considering moving operations or expanding their US presence to mitigate the impact of tariffs. — Reuters

MORRISTOWN, New Jersey — US President Donald J. Trump backed away on Sunday from his threat to slap 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union (EU) next month, agreeing to extend the deadline until July 9 for talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc to produce a deal.

Mr. Trump on Friday said he was recommending a 50% tariff go into place on June 1 because of frustration that talks with the EU were not moving quickly enough. The threat roiled global financial markets and intensified a trade war that has been punctuated by frequent changes in tariff policies toward US trading partners and allies.

Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly expressed disdain for the EU and its treatment of the United States on trade, relented after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told him on Sunday that the EU needed more time to come to an agreement.

She asked him during a call to delay the tariffs until July, the deadline he had originally set when he announced new tariffs in April. Mr. Trump told reporters he had granted the request.

“We had a very nice call, and I agreed to move it,” Mr. Trump said before returning to Washington after a weekend in New Jersey. “She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out.”

Ms. Von der Leyen said in a post on X that she had a “good call” with Trump and that the EU was ready to move quickly.

“Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively,” she said. “To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.”

The euro and US dollar rose against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc after the deadline extension.

In early April, Mr. Trump set a 90-day window for trade talks between the EU and the United States, which was to end on July 9. But on Friday he upended that timeframe and said he wasn’t interested in a deal at all.

“I’m not looking for a deal,” Mr. Trump said then. “We’ve set the deal — it’s at 50%.” Major US stock indexes and European shares dropped and the dollar weakened as a result.

Mr. Trump has sought to upend the world economy with his trade policies, but after his announcement in April of tariffs on multiple countries sparked financial market upheaval, he dialed down his threats in favor of talks. Since then Washington has inked a pact with Britain and has held discussions with China.

But progress with the EU has been more limited, sparking Mr. Trump’s ire and adding to broader tensions between the two allies over Mr. Trump’s “America first” agenda and Europe’s longtime reliance on Washington for security and defense needs. — Reuters