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Tag: international trade

  • Trump’s State of the Union seeks to calm economic jitters

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    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared during the State of the Union on Tuesday that “we’re winning so much,” saying he sparked a jobs and manufacturing boom at home while imposing a new world order abroad — hoping that offering a long list of his accomplishments can counter approval ratings that have been falling.

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    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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    By WILL WEISSERT and MICHELLE L. PRICE – Associated Press

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  • EU Hits Pause on US Trade Deal as It Seeks Clarity Over Latest Trump Maneuver

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    FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Frustrated European officials pushed Monday for clarification on how U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of a 15% global tax on imports would affect the trade deal they struck with Trump this summer as EU legislators hit pause on the deal’s ratification until they get clarity.

    The European Parliament’s trade committee postponed a committee vote on ratification after Trump said he would impose the new tariff, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his use of an emergency powers law to set new import taxes. Trump then turned to another section of trade law to justify his imposition of the 15% global rate, which take effect Tuesday.

    The EU position is expressed in five words: “A deal is a deal,” said commission spokesman Olof Gill. “So now we are simply saying to the US, it is up to you to clearly show to us what path you are taking to honor the agreement.”

    The US-EU deal called for a 15% cap on tariffs on most European goods imports, while tariffs on US industrial goods would be lowered to zero. While the deal burdened consumers and businesses with a tariff increase from the previous average of 4.8%, it also gave businesses certainty so they could plan – a factor credited with helping Europe avoid a recession last year.

    Since the new 15% rate announced Saturday would be applied on top of the previous tariffs, it would break the agreed ceiling on tariffs, said Bernd Lange, chair of the parliament’s trade committee. Legislators postponed a committee vote on the agreement scheduled for Tuesday.

    Questions surrounded other trade deals done with individual countries including Brazil, India and Britain. For instance, Britain agreed a 10% maximum tariff with the US, while India settled on 18% and Vietnam accepted 20%. Although the Supreme Court decision did not directly affect bilateral deals, they were negotiated using threats of imposing the now-invalidated tariffs as leverage. However re-opening those deals could backfire because Trump has made clear he will pursue tariffs under other laws than the one the Supreme Court said he could not apply.

    US Trade Representative Jamison Greer said Sunday on US network CBS’ “Face the Nation” program that the administration had made clear to negotiating partners that Trump was intent on tariffs whether the Supreme Court ruled against him or not, that “whether we won or lost, there were going to be tariffs.”

    He said that the bilateral deals “are good deals, we expect to stand by them, we expect our partners to stand by them.”

    Moving from country-specific tariffs to the flat 15% global tariff “will have considerable implications elsewhere,” said Atakan Bakiskan, US economist at Berenberg bank. The new tariff means a reduced rate for some countries, for example Brazil, which faces a reduction of nearly 15 percentage points and China, which sees a reduction of nearly 10 percentage points.

    Under the law Trump relied on, these latest tariffs are in effect for only 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them. Trump could use that time to search for other legal provisions that would support his actions.

    While uncertainty hits European companies, it puts pressure on the U.S. economy as well, where consumers and companies pay the tariffs on goods purchased from abroad. “Uncertainty around trade policy appears here to stay – putting continued pressure on the US economy,” Bakiskan said.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

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    Associated Press

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  • The Latest: Trump Says He’ll Raise Tariffs to 15% After Supreme Court Ruling

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    The court’s Friday decision struck down tariffs Trump had imposed on nearly every country using an emergency powers law. Trump now said he’ll use a different, albeit more limited, legal authority.

    He’s already signed an executive order enabling him to bypass Congress and impose a 10% tax on imports from around the world, starting Tuesday, the same day as his State of the Union speech.

    But those tariffs are limited to 150 days unless extended by legislation.

    Trump’s announcement on social media was the latest sign that, despite the court’s rare check on his powers, the Republican president won’t let go of his favorite tool for rewriting the rules of global commerce and applying international pressure.


    Trump’s big speech will be delivered to a changed nation and a Congress he’s sidelined

    As the lawmakers sit in the House chamber listening to Trump’s agenda for the year ahead, the moment is an existential one for the Congress, which has essentially become sidelined by his expansive reach, the Republican president bypassing his slim GOP majority to amass enormous power for himself.


    Rubio heads to Caribbean to reassert US interests after Venezuela strikes

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis this week to reassert the Trump administration’s interests in the Western Hemisphere just a month after the U.S. military operation that removed former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

    With the eyes of much of the world on the U.S military buildup in the Middle East and President Donald Trump’s threats to attack Iran, Rubio will make a one-day visit to St. Kitts on Wednesday to participate in a summit of leaders from the Caribbean Community, the State Department said.

    Trump’s action against Maduro coupled with an increasingly aggressive posture aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and illegal migration have proven a concern for many in the region although they’ve also won support from many smaller states.

    In numerous group and bilateral meetings, Rubio intends to discuss ways to promote regional security and stability, trade and economic growth.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

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    Associated Press

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  • Canada’s Carney to Visit India, Australia, and Japan

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    Feb 23 (Reuters) – ⁠Canada’s ⁠Prime Minister ⁠Mark Carney will ​travel to India, ‌Australia, and Japan, ‌from ⁠February ⁠26 to March 7,  the Canadian government ​said on Monday.

    Carney will meet ​with Indian Prime Minister ⁠Narendra Modi, ⁠Australian Prime ⁠Minister Anthony ​Albanese and Japanese Prime ​Minister ⁠Sanae Takaichi during his visits to ⁠the three countries, the government statement said.  

    The ⁠visits aim to expand partnerships in areas such as energy, technology, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals, among ⁠others, the government said.   

    (Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in ​Bengaluru; Editing by ​Sharon Singleton)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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    Reuters

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  • Supreme Court Decision Against Trump’s Tariffs Raises Uncertainty, but Markets Stay Calm

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    BANGKOK (AP) — The Supreme Court’s ruling against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs has countries like China and South Korea watching for Washington’s next steps, while financial markets took the news in stride.

    The decision announced Friday could potentially disrupt arrangements worked out in trade negotiations since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries in April 2025.

    China’s Commerce Ministry said it was conducting a “comprehensive assessment of ” the ruling against the tariffs Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.

    “China urges the United States to lift the unilateral tariffs imposed on trading partners,” an unnamed ministry spokesman said in a statement.

    The statement reiterated Beijing’s stance that there are no winners in a trade war and that the measures Trump had announced “not only violate international economic and trade rules but also contravene domestic laws of the United States, and are not in the interests of any party,” the official Xinhua News Agency cited the spokesperson as saying.

    Trump responded to the Supreme Court decision by proposing a new 10% global tariff under an alternative law, Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, and later increased it to 15%.

    For China and some other countries in Asia that were subject to higher import duties on their exports, that could potentially bring some relief. But for others such as Japan, the United Kingdom and other U.S. allies, tariffs could rise.

    The U.S. plans to stand by its trade deals and expects its partners to do the same, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a CBS News interview Sunday.

    “The deals were not premised on whether or not the emergency tariff litigation would rise or fall,” said Greer, Trump’s top trade negotiator. “I haven’t heard anyone yet come to me and say the deal’s off. They want to see how this plays out.”

    Uncertainty may worsen if the Trump administration continues imposing new tariffs under alternative laws, South Korea’s trade minister, Kim Jung-kwan, said Monday.

    The South Koreans have agreed to hold “amicable” discussions with U.S. officials in order to minimize any negative impact on South Korean companies, he said. Major South Korean exports such as autos and steel are subject to tariffs under other trade laws.

    “Given the uncertainty over future U.S. tariff measures, the public and private sectors must work together to strengthen our companies’ export competitiveness and diversify their markets,” Kim said.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said Sunday that he believed trading partners would abide by existing deals and that tariff revenues will remain steady.

    “Tariff revenues will be unchanged this year and will be unchanged in the future,” Bessent said in a Fox News interview, pointing to the new 15% global tariffs Trump has said he wants as a replacement.

    The administration would defer to the courts on whether to give companies refunds for the import taxes already collected under the tariffs now declared unlawful, Bessent said.

    “It’s out of our hands and we will follow the court’s orders,” he said.

    U.S. futures sank early Monday, with the contract for the S&P 500 down 0.6% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.5%. Oil prices fell and the U.S. dollar weakened against the Japanese yen and the euro.

    But share prices in Asia mostly advanced, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gaining 2.4%.

    Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • US futures fall while Asian markets are mostly higher after the Supreme Court nixes Trump’s tariffs

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    BANGKOK — U.S. futures fell and most Asian markets climbed Monday after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

    Tokyo’s markets were closed for a holiday.

    Hong Kong led regional gains as its Hang Seng index surged 2.2% to 27,003.47. But the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.3% to 4,082.07.

    In South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.1% to 5,873.07.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 9,041.00.

    Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.4%.

    The mixed reactions are “highlighting the winners-and-losers effect of shifts in tariff policy that has just delivered a boost to countries who previously had a comparatively bad deal,” Benjamin Picton of Rabobank said in a commentary.

    “U.S. tariff policy will continue to be a source of uncertainty for markets as traders attempt to price in the implications of what is still a movable feast,” he wrote.

    The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%. The future for the Nasdaq composite index was down 0.8%.

    On Friday, Wall Street kept calm after the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which had triggered panic in financial markets when they were announced last year.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 6,909.51. It had been flipping between small gains and losses before the court’s ruling, following discouraging reports showing slowing growth for the U.S. economy and faster inflation.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 49,625.97. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9% to 22,886.07.

    Tariffs also aren’t going away, even with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Trump in the afternoon said he would use other avenues to put taxes on imports from other countries after calling the court’s decision terrible.

    “Just so you understand, we have tariffs, we just have them in a different way,” Trump told reporters in an afternoon briefing. He said he would sign an executive order to impose a 10% global tariff under a law that could limit it to 150 days. He later raised that to 15%.

    The president also said he’s exploring other tariffs through other avenues, ones that would require an investigation through the Commerce Department.

    The reaction has been tentative given persisting uncertainties over what Trump will do.

    On Wall Street, Akamai Technologies dropped 14.1% for one of the market’s sharpest losses. The cybersecurity and cloud computing company reported stronger results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates.

    Akamai plans to spend a bigger percentage of its revenue this upcoming year on equipment and other investments. It’s the latest potential indicator of how shortages of computer memory created by the AI boom are affecting customers throughout the economy.

    Discouraging reports showing slowing U.S. economic growth and accelerating inflation drew a relatively muted response from investors.

    The reports underscore the tricky situation the Federal Reserve faces as it sets interest rates, but did not change traders’ expectations much for what the Fed will ultimately do. Traders are still betting that the Fed will lower rates at least twice this year, according to data from CME Group.

    Lower interest rates would give the economy and investment prices a boost, but they also risk worsening inflation. Fed officials said at their last meeting that they want to see inflation fall further before they would support cutting rates further.

    In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 53 cents to $65.95 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 51 cents to $70.79 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar slipped to 154.11 Japanese yen f rom 154.99 yen. The euro rose to $1.1828 from $1.1780.

    The price of gold rose 1.9%, while the price of silver was up 5.5%.

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  • US futures fall while Asian markets are mostly higher after the Supreme Court nixes Trump’s tariffs

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    BANGKOK — U.S. futures fell and most Asian markets climbed Monday after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

    Tokyo’s markets were closed for a holiday.

    Hong Kong led regional gains as its Hang Seng index surged 2.2% to 27,003.47. But the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.3% to 4,082.07.

    In South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.1% to 5,873.07.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 9,041.00.

    Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.4%.

    The mixed reactions are “highlighting the winners-and-losers effect of shifts in tariff policy that has just delivered a boost to countries who previously had a comparatively bad deal,” Benjamin Picton of Rabobank said in a commentary.

    “U.S. tariff policy will continue to be a source of uncertainty for markets as traders attempt to price in the implications of what is still a movable feast,” he wrote.

    The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%. The future for the Nasdaq composite index was down 0.8%.

    On Friday, Wall Street kept calm after the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which had triggered panic in financial markets when they were announced last year.

    The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 6,909.51. It had been flipping between small gains and losses before the court’s ruling, following discouraging reports showing slowing growth for the U.S. economy and faster inflation.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 49,625.97. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9% to 22,886.07.

    Tariffs also aren’t going away, even with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Trump in the afternoon said he would use other avenues to put taxes on imports from other countries after calling the court’s decision terrible.

    “Just so you understand, we have tariffs, we just have them in a different way,” Trump told reporters in an afternoon briefing. He said he would sign an executive order to impose a 10% global tariff under a law that could limit it to 150 days. He later raised that to 15%.

    The president also said he’s exploring other tariffs through other avenues, ones that would require an investigation through the Commerce Department.

    The reaction has been tentative given persisting uncertainties over what Trump will do.

    On Wall Street, Akamai Technologies dropped 14.1% for one of the market’s sharpest losses. The cybersecurity and cloud computing company reported stronger results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates.

    Akamai plans to spend a bigger percentage of its revenue this upcoming year on equipment and other investments. It’s the latest potential indicator of how shortages of computer memory created by the AI boom are affecting customers throughout the economy.

    Discouraging reports showing slowing U.S. economic growth and accelerating inflation drew a relatively muted response from investors.

    The reports underscore the tricky situation the Federal Reserve faces as it sets interest rates, but did not change traders’ expectations much for what the Fed will ultimately do. Traders are still betting that the Fed will lower rates at least twice this year, according to data from CME Group.

    Lower interest rates would give the economy and investment prices a boost, but they also risk worsening inflation. Fed officials said at their last meeting that they want to see inflation fall further before they would support cutting rates further.

    In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 53 cents to $65.95 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 51 cents to $70.79 per barrel.

    The U.S. dollar slipped to 154.11 Japanese yen f rom 154.99 yen. The euro rose to $1.1828 from $1.1780.

    The price of gold rose 1.9%, while the price of silver was up 5.5%.

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  • Ruling Against Trump’s Tariffs Creates New Uncertainty in US Trade Relations With China

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs has added a wrinkle to already complicated U.S.-China relations, with both countries navigating shifting ground to avoid an all-out trade war that would disrupt the global economy while still jostling for a position of strength in negotiations.

    Friday’s court ruling would seem to strengthen China’s hand, but analysts predict that Beijing will be cautious in exploiting the advantage, knowing that Trump has other ways of levying taxes. Both sides also want to maintain a fragile trade truce and stabilize ties ahead of Trump’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing.

    “It will give China a moral boost in their negotiations with Trump’s team ahead of the summit, but they are prepared for the scenario that nothing actually changes in reality,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank.

    Furious about the defeat, Trump said first he was imposing a temporary 10% global tariff before raising it to 15% as well as pursuing alternative paths for import duties. He made the case for tariffs by pointing to China, which poses the biggest challenge to U.S. economic, technological and military dominance.

    “China had hundreds of billions of dollars in surpluses with the United States. They rebuilt China. They rebuilt the army. We built China’s army by allowing that to happen,” Trump told reporters Friday. “I have a great relationship with President Xi, but he respects our country now.”

    The White House has confirmed that Trump will travel to China on March 31 through April 2 to meet President Xi Jinping.


    China is looking beyond tariffs

    Xi is unlikely to “flaunt or brandish” the Supreme Court ruling forcefully when meeting Trump, likely choosing instead to try to strengthen his rapport with the U.S. president, said Ali Wyne, a senior research and advocacy adviser focused on U.S. policy toward China at the International Crisis Group.

    The more that Xi can do that, “the more likely it is that the fragile trade truce between the United States and China will take hold in earnest and that Trump will be amenable to security concessions that give China greater freedom of maneuver in Asia,” Wyne said.

    Asked for comment on the implications of the court ruling, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said only that tariff and trade wars serve neither country’s interest. He called for Beijing and Washington to work together to “provide greater certainty and stability for China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and the global economy.”

    “I would expect most Asian partners to proceed cautiously, with existing agreements largely holding as both sides work through the implications in the coming weeks,” said Dan Kritenbrink, a partner at The Asia Group who served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs in the Biden administration.

    Shortly after Trump returned to the White House early last year, he invoked an emergency powers law and slapped 20% tariffs on Chinese goods over what he said was Beijing’s failure to stem the flow of chemicals that can be used to make fentanyl.

    Trump later invoked the same emergency authority to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs on many countries, including 34% on China. Beijing retaliated, and the tariffs temporarily soared to triple digits before both sides climbed down.

    After several rounds of trade talks and a summit between Trump and Xi in South Korea in October, the two countries agreed to a one-year truce with a 10% baseline tariff. Trump also slashed the so-called fentanyl tariff to 10%, while Beijing resumed its cooperation in restricting the export of more substances that could be used to make the opioid.

    Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said she suspected the Trump administration could roll out a Plan B quickly. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has an active investigation into China’s compliance with a previous trade agreement and that could be the administration’s backup plan, she said. If China is found not to be fulfilling its obligations under the agreement, the U.S. government is allowed under a trade law to impose tariffs.

    Rep. Ro Khanna, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, urged the administration to come up with a new, tougher strategy that “holds China accountable for its unfair trade practices and leverages the collective power of our allies and partners.”

    Gabriel Wildau, a managing director focused on political risk analysis in China at the consultancy Teneo, said Trump has already shown his willingness to use other legal authorities to impose tariffs on China, as he did during his first term, and Beijing probably assumes that the tariffs could be maintained or re-created “with only modest difficulty.”

    “But Beijing also holds out hope that they can persuade Trump to lower this tariff in exchange for purchase guarantees or other concessions,” Wildau said.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Murky outlook for businesses after tariff ruling prompts countermoves by Trump

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    NEW YORK — Businesses face a new wave of uncertainty after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under an emergency powers law and Trump vowed to work around the ruling to keep his tariffs in place.

    The Trump administration says its tariffs help boost American manufacturers and reduce the trade gap. But many U.S. businesses have had to raise prices and adjust in other ways to offset higher costs spurred by the tariffs.

    It remains to be seen how much relief businesses and consumers will actually get from Friday’s ruling. Within hours of the court’s decision, Trump pledged to use a different law to impose a 10% tariff on all imports that would last 150 days, and to explore other ways to impose additional tariffs on countries he says engage in unfair trade practices.

    “Any boost to the economy from lowering tariffs in the near-term is likely to be partly offset by a prolonged period of uncertainty,” said Michael Pearce, an economist at Oxford Economics. “With the administration likely to rebuild tariffs through other, more durable, means, the overall tariffs rate may yet end up settling close to current levels.”

    Efforts to claw back the estimated $133 billion to $175 billion of previously collected tariffs now deemed illegal are bound to be complicated, and will likely favor larger companies with more resources. Consumers hoping for a refund are unlikely to be compensated.

    With Trump’s unyielding position on tariffs, many business are braced for years of court battles.

    Basic Fun, a Florida-based maker of toys such as Lincoln Logs and Tonka trucks, last week joined a slew of other businesses in a lawsuit seeking to claw back tariffs paid to the government.

    While company CEO Jay Foreman is concerned about any new tariffs Trump may impose, he doesn’t think they will affect toys. Still, he said, “I do worry about some type of perpetual fight over this, at least for the next three years.”

    The new 10% tariff Trump announced Friday immediately raised questions for Daniel Posner, the owner of Grapes The Wine Co., in White Plains, New York. Since wine shipments take about two weeks to cross the Atlantic, he wonders if a shipment arriving Monday will be affected.

    “We’re reactive to what’s become a very unstable situation,” Posner said.

    Ron Kurnik owns Superior Coffee Roasting Co. in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, across the border from Canada. In addition to U.S. tariffs, Kurnik faced retaliatory tariffs from Canada for much of last year when he exported his coffee.

    “It’s like a nightmare we just want to wake up from,” said Kurnik, whose company has raised prices by 6% twice since the tariffs went into effect. While he’s pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling, he doesn’t think he will ever see a refund.

    A wide array of industries, including retail, tech and the agricultural sector, used the Supreme Court ruling as an opportunity to remind Trump of how his trade policies have affected their businesses.

    The Business Roundtable, a group that lobbies on behalf of more than 200 U.S. companies, released a statement encouraging the administration to limit the focus of tariffs going forward to specific unfair trade practices and national security concerns.

    In the retail industry, stores of all stripes have embraced different ways to offset the effects of tariffs — from absorbing some of the costs themselves, to cutting expenses and diversifying their supply network. Still, they have had to pass on some price increases at a time when shoppers have been particularly sensitive to inflationary pressures.

    Dave French, executive vice president of government relations for The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail industry trade group, said he hoped lower courts would ensure “a seamless process” to refund tariffs. That issue wasn’t addressed in Friday’s ruling.

    For the technology sector, Trump’s tariffs caused major headaches. Many of its products are either built overseas or depend on imports of key components. The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represents a spectrum of technology companies employing more than 1.6 million people, expressed hope that the decision will ease the trade tensions.

    “With this decision behind us, we look forward to bringing more stability to trade policy,” said Jonathan McHale, the association’s vice president for digital trade.

    Farmers, who have been stung by higher prices for equipment and fertilizer since the tariffs went into effect, and reduced demand for their exports, also spoke out.

    “We strongly encourage the president to avoid using any other available authorities to impose tariffs on agricultural inputs that would further increase costs,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall.

    The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not give the president authority to tax imports, a power that belongs to Congress. But the decision only affects tariffs imposed under that law, so some industries will see no relief at all.

    The decision leaves in effect tariffs on steel, upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, according to the Home Furnishings Association, which represents 15,000 furniture stores in North America.

    At Revolution Brewing in Chicago, the aluminum they use for cans costs as much as the ingredients that go inside them because of tariffs Trump has placed on metals that are not affected by the Supreme Court ruling. While the cans are made in Chicago, the aluminum comes from Canada, said Josh Deth, managing partner at the brewery.

    Tariffs have been just one challenge for his business, which is also affected by volatile barley prices and a slowdown in demand for craft beer.

    “Everything kind of adds up,” he said. “The beverage industry needs relief here. We’re getting crushed by the prices of aluminum.”

    Italian winemakers hard-hit by the tariffs greeted the Supreme Court decision with skepticism, warning that the decision may just deepen uncertainty around trade with the U.S.

    The U.S. is Italy’s largest wine market, with sales having tripled in value over the past 20 years. New tariffs on the EU, which the Trump administration initially threatened would be 200%, had sent fear throughout the industry, which remained even after the U.S. reduced, delayed and negotiated down.

    “There is a more than likely risk that tariffs will be reimposed through alternative legal channels, compounded by the uncertainty this ruling may generate in commercial relations between Europe and the United States,” said Lamberto Frescobaldi, president of UIV, a trade association that represents more than 800 winemakers.

    Elsewhere in Europe, initial reaction focused on renewed upheaval and confusion regarding costs facing businesses exporting to the US.

    Trump’s tariffs could hit pharmaceuticals, chemicals and auto parts, said Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING bank. “Europe should not be mistaken, this ruling will not bring relief,” he said. “The legal authority may be different, but the economic impact could be identical or worse.”

    ___

    Anne D’Innocenzio in New York; Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit; Michael Liedtke in San Francisco; David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany; Jonathan Matisse in Nashville, Tennessee; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

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  • Trump Says He Will Sign Order Imposing a 10% Global Tariff

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    WASHINGTON, ⁠Feb ⁠20 (Reuters) – U.S. ⁠President Donald ​Trump ‌on Friday ‌told ⁠a briefing ⁠he would sign ​an order ​to impose ⁠a 10% ⁠global ⁠tariff under ​Section 122 of ​the ⁠1974 ⁠Trade Act and would initiate ⁠several other investigations as well.

    (Reporting by Gram Slattery; ⁠Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing ​by David ​Ljunggren)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • UK Expects Continued Favourable Trade With U.S. After Supreme Court Ruling

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    LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Britain expects its privileged ⁠trading ⁠position with the United ⁠States to continue after the U.S. Supreme Court struck ​down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, the government said on Friday.

    In April ‌last year, Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs ‌on goods imported from most U.S. trading partners, including Britain, invoking ⁠the ⁠International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. On Friday, the Supreme ​Court said Trump’s use of IEEPA exceeded his authority.

    The baseline tariff that Britain faced under the reciprocal tariffs was 10%.

    However, Friday’s ruling will not impact ​most bilateral trade under Britain’s separate tariff deal with Washington, which largely ⁠involves ⁠specific sectoral duties under ⁠different ​U.S. powers.

    “The UK enjoys the lowest reciprocal tariffs globally, and under any scenario ​we expect our ⁠privileged trading position with the US to continue”, a British government spokesperson said in a statement.

    “We will work with the (U.S.) Administration to understand how the ruling will affect tariffs for the UK and the rest ⁠of the world.”

    The spokesperson said the government would support British businesses when ⁠further details are announced.

    William Bain, head of trade at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said the ruling did “little to clear the murky waters for business.”

    It was also unclear how U.S. businesses could reclaim import levies paid and whether British businesses would be entitled to a share of any rebate, Bain said.

    “For the UK, the  priority  remains  bringing  tariffs down wherever possible,” he said, citing an agreement to ⁠bring down steel tariffs under the U.S.-UK tariff deal which has yet to be implemented.

    “Any competitive advantage that we can secure is likely to help boost our exports to the single country, ​globally, we do most trade with.”

    (Reporting by Alistair Smout ​and Muvija MEditing by William Schomberg)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • India joins US-led initiative to build secure technology supply chains

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    NEW DELHI — India joined a U.S.-led initiative to strengthen technology cooperation among strategic allies in a move Friday that underscores the nations’ warming ties after a brief strain over New Delhi’s unabated purchase of discounted Russian oil.

    The decision aligns India closely with Washington’s efforts to build secure supply chains for semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and critical technologies at a time geopolitical competition with China is intensifying. It also signals a reset in relations following friction over energy trade and tariffs.

    Nations that have joined the Pax Silica framework include Japan, South Korea, the U.K. and Israel.

    “Pax Silica will be a group of nations that believe technology should empower free people and free markets. India’s entry into Pax Silica isn’t just symbolic. Its strategic, its essential,” U.S. Ambassador Sergio Gor said in a speech preceding the agreement signing.

    Pax Silica is aimed at strengthening cooperation among partner countries on semiconductor design, fabrication, research and supply chain resilience. The initiative seeks to reduce dependence on China-dominated manufacturing hubs while promoting trusted production networks across democracies and strategic allies.

    The development at the artificial intelligence summit in New Delhi comes weeks after India and the U.S. reached an interim trade framework to reduce tariffs and grant greater access to each other’s markets, easing tensions that had threatened to slow bilateral momentum.

    President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that the U.S. would lower reciprocal import tariffs on India from 25% to 18% and also remove the additional 25% levy imposed earlier for buying Russian crude after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop it.

    India had ramped up Russian oil imports after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drawing criticism from western partners even as New Delhi defended the purchases as necessary to manage inflation and protect its consumers.

    India’s entry into Pax Silica, combined with trade concessions, marks a strategic convergence that extends beyond commerce into long-term technology and security cooperation, reinforcing India’s role as a key U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific.

    “From the trade deal to Pax Silica to defense cooperation, the potential for our two nations to work together is truly limitless,” Gor said.

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  • U.S. trade deficit slipped to $901 billion last year amid Trump tariffs

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    WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit slipped modestly in 2025, a year in which President Donald Trump upended global commerce by slapping double digit tariffs on imports from most countries.

    The gap the between the goods and services the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them narrowed to just over $901 billion from $904 billion in 2024, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

    Exports rose 6% last year, and imports rose nearly 5%.

    Still, the U.S. deficit in the trade of goods such as machinery and aircraft — the main focus of Trump’s protectionist policies — widened 2% to $1.24 trillion last year, partly because American companies raised computer chip and other tech imports from Taiwan to support their investment in artificial intelligence.

    Amid continuing tensions with Bejing, the deficit in the goods trade with China plunged nearly 32% to $202 billion in 2025 on a sharp drop in both exports to and imports from the world’s second-biggest economy. But trade was diverted away from China. The goods gap with Taiwan doubled to $147 billion and shot up 44% to $178 billion with Vietnam.

    Economist Chad Bown, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the widening gaps with Taiwan and Vietnam might put a “bulls eye” on them this year if Trump focuses more on the lopsided trade numbers and less on the U.S. rivalry with China.

    In 2025, U.S. goods imports to Mexico outpaced exports by nearly $197 billion, up from a 2024 gap of $172 billion. But the goods deficit with Canada shrank by 26% to $46 billion. The United States this year is negotiating a renewal of a pact Trump reached with those two countries in his first term.

    The U.S. ran a bigger surplus in the trade of services such as banking and tourism last year — $339 billion, up from $312 billion in 2024.

    The trade gap surged from January-March as U.S. companies tried to import foreign goods ahead of Trump’s taxes, then narrowed most of the rest of the year.

    Trump’s tariffs are a tax paid by U.S. importers and often passed along to their customers as higher prices. But they haven’t had as much impact on inflation as economists originally expected. Trump argues that the tariffs will protect U.S. industries, bringing manufacturing back to America and raise money for the U.S. Treasury.

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  • Despite Trump Attacks Against Europe, Americans Flocked to France in 2025

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    PARIS, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Despite growing animosity ⁠between ⁠U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration ⁠and the French government, Americans flocked to the country in ​2025, with U.S. visits rising 17% on the previous year, the French tourism ministry said on ‌Thursday.

    The jump in U.S. visitors is ‌also notable as it came despite a weaker dollar, with the greenback falling ⁠more than ⁠10% against the euro in 2025 after years of a highly beneficial ​exchange rate for Americans visiting the eurozone.

    More than 5 million Americans came to France in 2025, part of a record 102 million foreign tourists during the year, Tourism Minister Serge Papin said. ​One hundred million foreigners visited in 2024, when Paris hosted the Olympics.

    Tourists also spent ⁠9% ⁠extra in 2025 – 77.5 ⁠billion euros ($91.34 billion) – ​as they splurged on more upmarket hotels, he said.

    “France is a great tourist destination. ​Let’s be proud of ⁠it and, above all, let’s remain so,” Papin said. “France continues to attract, lure and make the entire world dream.”

    The jump in U.S. tourists suggests many Americans are nonplussed by Trump’s worsening relations with Europe.

    Since taking office, Trump and his team have escalated trade tension with ⁠the EU, threatened to annex Greenland, clashed with European governments over the Russia-Ukraine ⁠war and criticised EU digital regulation.

    It remains to be seen if the U.S. visitor surge will continue.

    The European Travel Commission said on Wednesday it expected U.S. visits to the continent to drop in 2026, in what would be the first sign of a slowdown in the post-pandemic boom in American travel to Europe, driven by a strong U.S. dollar and economic resilience in North America.

    The commission said it expected the fall in U.S. visitors to be compensated by a ⁠rise in Chinese and Indian tourists who should push up international arrivals by 6.2% in 2026.

    The French tourism ministry said early 2026 flight booking data from countries such as Mexico and China was encouraging, but did not disclose comparable ​U.S. data.

    (Reporting by Inti Landauro; Additional reporting by Corina Pons ​and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Poland Issues European Arrest Warrant for Former Deputy Minister Granted Asylum in Hungary

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    WARSAW, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Poland has ⁠issued ⁠a European Arrest Warrant ⁠for former deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski ​who was granted asylum in Hungary, as Warsaw pursues PiS-era ‌officials accused of abusing public ‌funds, a PAP news report said, citing a ⁠Warsaw ⁠court press office.

    In 2024, Hungary angered Poland by granting ​asylum to Romanowski, a member of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party cabinet accused of misusing public funds.

    Hungary’s self-styled “illiberal” Prime Minister ​Viktor Orban was an ally of Poland’s PiS, with ⁠both ⁠countries having EU funds ⁠frozen ​over rule-of-law concerns. The funds for Warsaw were released after Polish ​Prime Minister Donald ⁠Tusk’s pro-European coalition came to power in December 2023.

    Tusk has been very critical of Orban, particularly of his position on the war in Ukraine and policies Poland ⁠considers to be pro-Russian. He has also vowed to bring ⁠PiS figures accused of wrongdoing to justice.

    Budapest also granted asylum to former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, the most high-profile figure targeted by prosecutors, who faces 26 charges including abuse of power and leading an organised criminal group.

    Ziobro and Romanowski say they are victims of a political witch hunt. Hungary has also ⁠repeatedly accused the pro-EU government that replaced PiS in Poland of persecuting its political foes.

    Tusk’s government dismisses accusations it is persecuting political opponents, saying it is ​upholding the rule of law.

    (Reporting by Anna ​Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Ukraine Imposes Sanctions Against Belarus’ Lukashenko for Aiding Russia’s War

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    KYIV, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Ukraine imposed a package of ⁠sanctions ⁠against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on ⁠Wednesday, vowing to “increase countermeasures” against Minsk for its wartime assistance to ​Russia.

    Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, served as a staging ground for Moscow to launch its 2022 ‌invasion, allowing Russian forces to get ‌close to the Ukrainian capital before they were pushed back.

    “We will significantly intensify countermeasures against ⁠all forms ⁠of (Lukashenko’s) assistance in the killing of Ukrainians,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on ​social media.

    The press service of the Belarus presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Zelenskiy said Belarus, which shares a border of over 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) with Ukraine, had aided Moscow’s extensive drone ​attacks on Ukraine.

    Although there has not been active fighting along the Ukraine-Belarus border, Zelenskiy ⁠said Minsk ⁠had allowed Russia in ⁠the second half ​of 2025 to deploy a system of relay stations in Belarus to control its drones ​in attacks on Ukraine.

    “The ⁠Russians would not have been able to carry out some of the attacks, particularly on energy facilities and railways in our regions, without such assistance from Belarus,” said Zelenskiy, whose order also banned Lukashenko from entering Ukraine.

    With Lukashenko already under U.S. and European sanctions, the move ⁠is largely symbolic, although Zelenskiy said Ukraine would work with its partners to ensure ⁠the new measures have a “global effect”.

    U.S. President Donald Trump last December granted limited sanctions relief to three Belarusian companies producing potash – a key component in fertilisers – after the former Soviet state released 123 political prisoners.

    One of those former prisoners, Maria Kalesnikava, urged European countries on Tuesday to follow Trump’s lead and engage in a dialogue with Lukashenko on the grounds that failing to do so would only further strengthen Russian influence over Belarus.

    Zelenskiy said more than 3,000 Belarusian businesses were providing supplies for Russia’s ⁠war effort, including missile components, and also cited Minsk’s plans to host Russia’s Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile.

    Russia released video in December of what it said was the deployment of the Oreshnik missile system in Belarus. Lukashenko said at the time that the ​missile had been deployed to Belarus and entered active combat duty.

    (Reporting by ​Max HunderEditing by Daniel Flynn and Gareth Jones)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Indonesia tightens control on nickel as the US and China scramble for minerals

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    HANOI, Vietnam — Indonesia is tightening state control over the world’s largest nickel supply after years of betting the metal would anchor a homegrown electric-vehicle industry, and just as global demand begins shifting away from heavy reliance on nickel.

    The move could still ripple through global EV supply chains as the United States and China compete for critical minerals. Indonesia sits at the center of the nickel market: its share of global supply jumped to about 60% in 2024 from 31.5% in 2020, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, after former President Joko Widodo banned raw ore exports, drawing a surge of Chinese-backed investment into refining.

    Jakarta hoped that control over nickel would underpin a fully domestic EV industry, from mining and batteries to finished cars. Experts say that promise was used to justify forest clearing and mining expansion in the name of the energy transition, even as climate risks deepened.

    In 2025, Indonesia cracked down on what it called illegal exploitation of natural resources, saying many mining and plantation licenses were tainted by bribery or never properly approved. Authorities say they have seized more than 4 million hectares (9.8 million acres) of mines, palm oil plantations and processing sites, levied $1.7 billion in fines, and could seize another 4.5 million hectares this year.

    But analysts warn the crackdown is coming just as nickel’s payoff is starting to fade, with many Chinese EVs shifting to battery chemistries that use far less of the metal, relying instead on iron-based designs.

    “The forests have been exploited to the brim,” said Putra Adhiguna of the Jakarta-based Energy Shift Institute. “But you never got the electric-vehicle value chain.”

    China plays the leading role in Indonesia’s nickel sector, using the metal to underpin its stainless steel and clean-energy industries.

    The world’s largest nickel reserves are concentrated on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, which accounts for more than half of global nickel mine production, according to the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis or IEEFA.

    China has sourced nickel from Indonesia for decades, but the relationship deepened after Jakarta banned raw ore exports in 2020, drawing a surge of Chinese investment into smelters.

    Nickel shipments to China jumped, with imports of nickel matte — a semiprocessed material used in battery chemicals and alloys — rising nearly 28-fold between 2020 and 2023, more than 90% of it from Indonesia, according to trade data. Over the same period, North and South America’s combined share of global nickel output fell from 16% to 7%, while Europe’s share dropped from 35% to 10%, according to the International Nickel Study Group, a Lisbon-based intergovernmental organization.

    Meanwhile, mining drove the loss of about 370,000 hectares (roughly 914,000 acres) of Indonesian forests between 2001 and 2020 — more than in any other country — according to an analysis by the World Resources Institute. More than a third of that loss was old-growth rainforests which hold vast carbon stocks and are crucial for limiting climate change.

    The heavy use of coal to run Indonesia’s nickel smelters has also slowed the country’s energy transition, adding new fossil-fuel demand even as it tries to cut emissions. A 2024 analysis by the IEEFA found that major nickel producers emitted about 15 million metric tons (16.5 million U.S. tons) of greenhouse gases in 2023, largely because of coal reliance.

    In one of the most public nickel-related seizures last year, Indonesian soldiers accompanied by a local television crew, took control of part of the world’s largest nickel mine.

    Mostly owned by Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group, the mine has caused deforestation, air and water pollution and increased coal-fired emissions, while displacing communities, harming livelihoods and exposing residents to health risks, according to a 2024 report by the nonprofit group Climate Rights International.

    The move wasn’t aimed at environmental protection or restoring forestry safeguards, said Bhima Yudhistira, with the Jakarta-based Center of Economic and Law Studies or CELIOS.

    “There is no guarantee things will get better,” he said. They could get “even worse.”

    Indonesia’s effort to turn its nickel reserves into the backbone of a domestic EV industry drew early interest from investors in South Korea and China but has fallen short of expectations.

    In July 2024, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution opened Indonesia’s first EV battery-cell plant, with annual capacity to supply more than 150,000 electric vehicles. But in April 2025, LG Energy Solution withdrew from a larger $8.4 billion battery investment, citing market and investment conditions.

    An EV plant is still being built by Chinese automaker BYD. China’s CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker is constructing a battery factory with Indonesian state firms.

    Indonesia’s EV market, is growing quickly but remains small.

    The country sold more than 43,000 electric vehicles in 2024, accounting for about 5% of total car sales, according to the Indonesian Business Council. Public charging infrastructure is limited, with around 1,500 stations nationwide in 2024.

    Even if Indonesia produced 1 million EVs a year — equal to total annual auto sales — and favored nickel-rich batteries, that would still consume less than 1% of its national nickel output, according to the Energy Shift Institute.

    EV makers are shifting to lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries, reducing the need for nickel and cobalt. LFP batteries are cheaper, more stable and longer lasting. They’re used in nearly half of all EVs, the International Energy Agency found.

    Analysts say Indonesia’s nationalization drive could loosen Beijing’s grip on parts of the supply chain, potentially giving Jakarta more leverage to court U.S. buyers and investors.

    One potential concession by Indonesia in long drawn-out trade negotiations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, expected to wrap up soon, would be to lift the ban on raw nickel exports to the U.S.

    Indonesia already has invited the U.S. to invest in its critical minerals sector as part of ongoing tariff negotiations between the two countries, though it’s caught in a tricky position.

    “How does Indonesia straddle between the two superpowers who both want to gain control of the national resource that Indonesia has?” said Li Shuo, director of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s China Climate Hub.

    Other Southeast Asian countries similarly “sandwiched” between the U.S. and China are watching Indonesia closely, Li said.

    “Make no mistake, it’s going to be very difficult,” he said.

    Indonesia’s land seizures risks further destabilizing its nickel industry, added Yudhistira with CELIOS. Foreign investors monitoring the situation are likely to hesitate before committing new capital to Indonesia-based mining and processing projects, he said.

    “This is making the future of nickel, both mining and downstream processing, unknown,” Yudhistira said. “Uncertainty is very costly for investors.”

    ___

    Delgado reported from Bangkok, Thailand. Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta contributed to this report.

    ___

    The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Kremlin Aide Warns West Over Seizure of Russian Vessels

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    MOSCOW, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Russia could deploy its ⁠navy ⁠to prevent European powers from ⁠seizing its vessels and may retaliate against European shipping if Russian ​ships are taken, Nikolai Patrushev, one of Russia’s leading hardliners, was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

    Western states have ‌sought to cripple Russia’s economy ‌with sanctions and in recent months have tried to block oil tankers suspected of involvement in ⁠Russian oil ⁠shipments. In January, the United States seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker as ​part of efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports. 

    Patrushev, a Kremlin aide who is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said Russia needed to give a tough response – particularly towards Britain, France and Baltic states. 

    “If ​we don’t give them a tough rebuff, then soon the British, French and even the ⁠Balts (Baltic ⁠nations) will become arrogant to ⁠such an ​extent that they will try to block our country’s access to the seas at least in ​the Atlantic basin,” Patrushev, who ⁠serves as chairman of Russia’s Maritime Board, told the Russian media outlet Argumenty i Fakty.

    “In the main maritime areas, including regions far from Russia, substantial forces must be permanently deployed – forces capable of cooling the ardour of Western pirates,” he said.

    Patrushev said that the navies of major powers ⁠were undergoing radical technological change and modernisation amid what he said was clear “gunboat diplomacy” ⁠from Washington over Venezuela and Iran. Russia’s updated naval shipbuilding programme to 2050 will be submitted for approval soon, he said.

    He also said that Russia believed the NATO military alliance planned to blockade the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.

    “Any attempt at a naval blockade of our country is completely illegal from the standpoint of international law, and the concept of a ‘shadow fleet’, which EU representatives brandish at every turn, is a legal fiction,” he said.

    The shadow fleet refers to a network of ⁠vessels that Western nations say are operated by Russia to evade sanctions.

    “By implementing their naval blockade plans, the Europeans are deliberately pursuing a scenario of military escalation, testing the limits of our patience and provoking active retaliatory measures,” Patrushev said. “If a peaceful resolution ​to this situation fails, the blockade will be broken and eliminated by ​the navy.”

    (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Ros Russell)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • ‘Global Euro’ May Have to Come With Some FX Lift: Mike Dolan

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    LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) – As American and European policymakers know well, global currency dominance and exchange rate movement are ⁠different ⁠things. But there’s a decent argument that Europe’s push to widen euro ⁠usage necessarily involves some revaluation of the single currency.

    As Transatlantic ties fray and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned of lines that “cannot be uncrossed” after ​President Donald Trump’s bid for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, European Union leaders and finance chiefs this past week have launched another push to bolster the bloc’s economic clout and reposition its defense.

    With the Munich Security Conference as the backdrop, an informal EU ‌summit last week brought renewed impetus to deepen European capital markets ‌integration. Leaders also discussed possibly expanding joint euro debt sales and – led by the European Central Bank on Saturday – widening euro access, liquidity and financing worldwide.

    Some of this has been on the table before. But the urgency for action is now ⁠evident in a willingness for ⁠a two-speed advance with six core countries – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland – in the vanguard if agreement among the ​27 is too cumbersome or slow. An EU6 summit is due early next month.

    The plans are likely necessary, even if not yet sufficient, to expand the role of the euro and allow it to absorb some of the nervousness about the world’s overexposure to dollars at a time of enormous U.S. political and economic upheaval.

    Whether that greater global role brings a less welcome appreciation of the euro’s value is another question.

    As finance chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic ponder the potential for at least some shift in the scale ​of dollar dominance in reserves, trade, invoicing and commodity pricing, they have differing takes on any related exchange rate fallout.

    Trump’s administration sees a “strong dollar” primarily in terms of the currency’s reach and pervasive use in ⁠cross-border ⁠finance – an extension of American power unrelated to ⁠the ebbs and flows of the exchange rate itself. ​The presumption is that the Trump team sees an unwinding of the dollar’s overvalued exchange rate as an integral part of its global trade reset.

    Currency experts, such as Cornell professor and former ​IMF official Eswar Prasad, think a gradual weakening of the dollar’s ⁠exchange rate is possible without damaging its international dominance.

    But Prasad, in a new book published this month called The Doom Loop, says this dominance, even though durable for reasons of inertia and scale, may well be at the heart of mounting global economic instability. And if that reaches a crescendo, the search for adequate alternatives inevitably rises, as gold’s parabolic recent price gains attest.

    “While dollar dominance might prove a saving grace at times of crisis, it is that very dominance which has a destabilizing effect worldwide,” he wrote. “It exposes other countries to the mercurial and often undisciplined economic and financial policies of the United States.”

    Europe, on the other hand, clearly wants to lift the euro’s role but is far less keen on the exchange-rate ⁠appreciation that may follow, mainly because it would hurt export competitiveness at a time of great global trade uncertainty and further dampen inflation in the slower‑growth region.

    Much like ⁠its U.S. counterparts, it would like the “exorbitant privilege” of being a bigger reserve currency but not the bloated exchange rate valuation that might go with it.

    But if the U.S. side were happy with gradual dollar slippage on the exchanges and only a modest reduction in the dollar’s usage per se, would the Europeans be happy with the flipside of that scenario?

    AXA Group Chief Economist Gilles Moec argued this week that disentangling the exchange rate impact from global usage was theoretically correct, but it would be hard to see any significant one-off shift not affecting the euro’s value.

    Moec makes the point that during the last transition between dominant reserve currencies over a century ago, between the two world wars, when sterling ceded prominence to the dollar, the dollar appreciated on trend.

    Even though the U.S. unsuccessfully tried to resist that rise by devaluing the dollar against gold at the time, he points out, demand from global investors for the new reserve currency mechanically won out.

    “Our point here is that the European Central Bank cannot completely disconnect its support for an upgrade in the euro’s global role from monetary policy,” he concluded.

    The plus side is that a “more assertive role” for the euro could be positive for the EU by triggering regular inflows from foreign ⁠investors into euro assets at a time when Europe needs it. What’s more, a stronger euro could aid a shift from an export-led economy to a domestically led growth mode.

    “To ease the transition, though, a flexible monetary policy would be necessary to avoid a too brutal decline in competitiveness,” Moec concluded.

    If Europe now feels it also needs to cross lines that cannot be uncrossed, then maybe it just has to take all that on the chin.

    The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

    Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI ​on LinkedIn, and X.

    Plus, sign up for my weekday newsletter, Morning Bid U.S. and listen to the Morning Bid daily podcast on Apple, Spotify, or the Reuters app. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists ​discuss the biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week.

    (by Mike Dolan; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • EU Countries Should Not Hide Behind National Interests, German Finance Minister Says

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    BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) – ⁠The ⁠European Union is ⁠at a turning point in which ​countries should not hide behind national interests, German ‌Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil ‌said in Brussels.

    “We want to cut ⁠through knots, ⁠we want to find solutions,” Klingbeil said. “This is ​a very European moment.”

    He added that Germany is ready to make compromises, speaking ahead of the ​meeting of EU finance ministers.

    “I believe what happened ⁠at the ⁠beginning of the ⁠year ​with Greenland woke up everyone who cares about Europe, ​and it ⁠is leading to the fact that we are not getting bogged down in national interests or hiding behind them, but ready to ⁠make compromises,” Klingbeil said.

    One of the key topics in the ⁠meeting on Monday will be the capital markets union, which would allow some 10 trillion euros ($11.86 trillion) idling in bank deposits across the 27-nation bloc to be invested in promising sectors of the economy that lack capital, such as green energy, ⁠digital, defence and security, aerospace, semiconductors or biotechnology.

    “This would be a game changer if we make progress this year,” Klingbeil said.

    (Reporting by Maria MartinezEditing by Ludwig ​Burger and Matthias Williams)

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