President Donald Trump has postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war.
The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes proposed by Trump have caused a gaping wound in the decades-old North American trade partnership. Trump’s tariff plans have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed U.S. consumers.
Here’s the latest:
World Trade Organization chief says US concerns on tariffs need to be heard
WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said it’s important for U.S. trade partners not to panic and engage in tit-for-tat measures but to embrace dialogue in reaction to Trump’s threats in recent days to impose tariffs.
Okonjo-Iweala preferred to describe the threats and reversals as “disruptions.”
“I think we need to listen to the United States and listen to what their concerns are, and say, ‘how can we also help them deal with their concerns,’” she said, speaking during a discussion alongside former German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the WTO headquarters in Geneva.
Read more about the latest comments from the WTO
Wall Street clings to early gains ahead of new US employment numbers
Wall Street is poised to open with gains Friday after another U.S. pivot on tariffs kicked off the third market sell-off in four days.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.3% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.4%.
However, the high growth, tech heavy Nasdaq tumbled 4% into correction territory this week. The S&P shed. 3.6% over the last four days and closed at its lowest point since early November on Thursday. The Dow has slid about 2.9% since Monday.
The U.S. on Friday releases February employment numbers, which will show how many workers U.S. employers hired. Economists believe hiring accelerated last month.
Read more about Friday’s stock market numbers
Canada’s tariffs to remain despite Trump’s postponement
Canada’s initial retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. will remain in place despite Trump postponing 25% tariffs on many imports from Canada for a month, two senior Canadian government officials said.
Two senior Canadian governments official told the Associated Press that Canada’s first wave of response tariffs will remain. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Canada’s initial $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) worth of retaliatory tariffs have been applied on items like American orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, appliances, footwear, cosmetics, motorcycles and certain pulp and paper products.
Read more on Canada’s tariffs
War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon’s DEI purge
References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge diversity, equity and inclusion content, according to a database obtained by The Associated Press.
The database, which was confirmed by U.S. officials and published by AP, includes more than 26,000 images that have been flagged for removal across every military branch. But the eventual total could be much higher.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given the military until Wednesday to remove content that highlights diversity efforts in its ranks.
Read more about the Pentagon’s DEI purge
Elon Musk tells Republican lawmakers he’s not to blame for federal firings
Billionaire Elon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers that he is not to blame for the firings of thousands of federal workers, including veterans, as pushes to downsize the government. Instead, he said in private talks this week that those decisions are left to the various federal agencies.
The message from one of Trump’s most influential advisers came as Republicans publicly support Musk’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency digging up waste, fraud and abuse, but are privately raising questions as personnel cuts ripple through communities across the nation.
It’s a remarkable shift of emphasis away from the chainsaw-wielding tech entrepreneur whose vast power has made him an admired, revered and deeply feared figure in the second Trump administration.
Read more about the latest on Elon Musk’s influence
EU leaders commit to working together after Trump signals that Europe must defend itself
European Union leaders on Thursday committed to bolstering the continent’s defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security after Trump’s repeated warnings that he would cut them adrift to face the threat of Russia alone.
With the growing conviction that they will now have to fend for themselves, countries that have faltered on defense spending for decades held emergency talks in Brussels to explore new ways to beef up their security and ensure future protection for Ukraine.
The resulting pledge underscored a sea change in geopolitics spurred on by Trump, who has undermined 80 years of cooperation based on the understanding that the U.S. would help protect European nations following World War II.
Read more about the EU summit on defense
Judge orders Trump administration to speed payment of USAID and State Dept. debts
The order, issued Thursday, impacts nearly $2 billion in debts to partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, giving the Trump administration a Monday deadline to repay the nonprofit groups and businesses in a lawsuit over the administration’s abrupt shutdown of foreign assistance funding.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali described the partial payment as a “concrete” first step he wanted to see from the administration, which is fighting multiple lawsuits seeking to roll back the administration’s dismantling of USAID and a six-week freeze on USAID funding.
The ruling came a day after a divided Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to freeze funding that flowed through USAID. The high court instructed Ali to clarify what the government must do to comply with his earlier order requiring the quick release of funds for work that had already been done.
Ali’s line of questioning in a four-hour hearing Thursday suggested skepticism of the Trump administration’s argument that presidents have wide authority to override congressional decisions on spending when it comes to foreign policy.
Read more about the court hearing over State Department debts
Trump delayed some tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but says ‘reciprocal’ tariffs will start April 2
President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war.
The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes proposed by Trump have caused a gaping wound in the decades-old North American trade partnership. Trump’s tariff plans have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed U.S. consumers.
In addition to his claims about fentanyl, Trump has insisted that the tariffs could be resolved by fixing the trade deficit. He emphasized while speaking in the Oval Office that he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2.
“Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders. “Right now, we have some temporary ones and small ones, relatively small, although it’s a lot of money having to do with Mexico and Canada.”
