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| President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on goods from across the globe is likely to further roil relations with foreign governments. Adam Kuehl for The New York Times |
Trump ordered tariffs that could upend global trade
President Trump yesterday ordered his advisers to calculate new “reciprocal” tariffs that would affect nearly every country around the world. India, Japan and the E.U. could be hit the hardest.
The new tariffs, which could go into effect on or after April 2, would reflect other countries’ tariffs, taxes, subsidies and other policies that affect their trade with the U.S. He made it clear that his ultimate goal was to force companies to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
“If you build here, you’ll have no tariffs whatsoever,” Trump said at the Oval Office.
Hours later, Trump met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. In comments at a news conference, Trump said the U.S. would increase military sales to India by “many billions” of dollars, and Modi announced more collaboration with the U.S. on defense cooperation, as well as the development of semiconductors, quantum technology and A.I.
Context: For decades, U.S. tariff levels have been decided in negotiations at international bodies like the W.T.O. Trump wants to effectively scrap that system in favor of one determined solely by U.S. officials and based on their own criteria.
Quotable: “These tariff proposals amount to a declaration of an all-out trade war against practically all major U.S. trading partners,” said Eswar Prasad, a trade policy professor at Cornell University. “It is stunning and disappointing to see the country that had been the leading proponent of free trade now engaged in a direct assault on the rules and principles underlying that system.”
| More on the Trump administrationTrump is increasingly trying to enforce his will on areas like the arts, sports, news, private companies and college campuses.At least 70 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration, and judges have issued at least 14 orders blocking actions to tear apart the federal government.Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine skeptic, was confirmed as health secretary.Manhattan’s U.S. attorney quit rather than obey a Justice Department order to drop a corruption case against New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams.Seeking the media spotlight is nothing new for Trump. But in his second term, there is a trend in using imagery to project authority and invincibility.The Trump administration deported migrants from several Asian nations to Panama.The Trump administration has renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. But Mexico controls slightly more of it.Read the new series on how Elon Musk is reshaping Washington in the OnPolitics newsletter.Track Trump’s actions since taking office. |
Ukraine will not be sidelined in peace talks, Trump says
President Trump offered reassurances that Ukraine would be involved in negotiations to end the war with Russia, a day after his remarks had left that prospect in doubt and prompted European leaders to demand that Ukraine play a role in any discussions between Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
“They’re part of it,” Trump told a reporter. “We would have Ukraine, we would have Russia, and we would have other people involved, too.”
On Wednesday, after speaking with Putin, Trump suggested that Ukraine’s borders could be redrawn and its NATO bid could be withheld. Leaders on the continent were left “unhappy about concessions made to Putin that seem to have been granted without any negotiation or recompense,” my colleague Steven Erlanger, our chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe, said.
Some of America’s closest allies, including Britain and Germany, have tried to assert a role in the peace effort. Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, said after a NATO meeting that Europe “will have to live directly” with the consequences of any deal and may have “to play a central or the main role in the peace order.”
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| Source: Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project | By Samuel Granados |
“We, as a sovereign country, simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us,” Zelensky said. The thaw in U.S.-Russia relations has left Ukraine in a tough spot.
News analysis: Trump and his team have already laid out the new American agenda, with their demands to Europe up front, my colleague David Sanger writes. And in this new era of coercive diplomacy, there are many.
What’s next: Trump said that he might meet Putin in Saudi Arabia for talks. For Putin, the call with Trump was a turning point in the three-year war. Ukrainians expressed a mixture of fear and hope over the idea of peace talks.
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| Loaders at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt yesterday. Hamas has claimed that Israel is violating the terms of the cease-fire deal by not allowing in prefabricated homes and heavy machinery. Mohamed Arafat/Associated Press |
Hamas said hostage releases would continue
Hamas said yesterday that it was ready to release Israeli hostages this weekend as long as Israel upheld its end of the cease-fire agreement. Earlier this week, the militant group said it was indefinitely suspending the next release to protest what it described as Israeli violations of the deal. Israel has not yet commented.
Context: During the first six weeks of the truce, Hamas agreed to release at least 33 hostages in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. At least 21 hostages and 766 Palestinian prisoners have been freed since the deal went into effect in late January.
| MORE TOP NEWS |
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| Vifogra/EPA, via Shutterstock |
| Terrorism: An asylum seeker from Afghanistan crashed a car into a union demonstration in Munich, injuring more than two dozen people. German elections: Between Russian interference and Elon Musk, voters are facing a torrent of misinformation ahead of a federal vote this month. Business: Honda and Nissan scrapped their $50 billion merger but said they would continue to collaborate on software and electric vehicles. Taiwan: At least four people were killed in a suspected gas explosion in the food court of a shopping mall in the city of Taichung. Belgium: Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators protesting proposed cuts to public services filled the streets of Brussels. Media: Inside the fight to control Rupert Murdoch’s empire, and six takeaways from nearly 3,000 documents from the court battle that will decide its future. Britain: The country’s economy grew by a sliver toward the end of last year, slightly easing the pressure on the government. Tech: Elon Musk said in a court filing that he would withdraw his $97.4 billion bid to control OpenAI if it remained a nonprofit. Space: Blue Origin, the space company owned by Jeff Bezos, is laying off roughly 10 percent of its work force. Crypto: A British man has offered to buy a landfill in South Wales so he can search for a lost Bitcoin wallet that he says is worth around $800 million. |
| SPORTS NEWS |
| Soccer: Semi-automated offside technology will be used in competitive English matches for the first time during the FA Cup’s fifth round in March.Sailing: The long-term future of the INEOS Group’s sporting portfolio is in doubt.Cricket: The Hundred has secured over 520 million pounds (about ($649.6 million) in investment after all eight of its franchise stakes were sold to investors. |
| MORNING READ |
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| Ariana Gomez for The New York Times |
One was a high-end vegetarian restaurant in New York City. The other was a two-and-a-half-acre Texas farm. Both went by Dirt Candy — until a lawyer for the restaurant sent a letter giving the farm one month to rebrand. Thus began a very public battle rooted in America’s current crisis of mistrust.
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
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| RM Lewis Jr./NBC Universal, via Getty Images |
50 years of being funny on American TV
“Saturday Night Live” celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend. The American sketch comedy and satire show has built a reputation for being cool, silly and endlessly quoted. It has also provided a launchpad for stars like Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey and Bill Murray.
Most alumni of the show would agree that one man has anchored it all: its creator, Lorne Michaels. A monumental biography of the impresario of funny digs into how he built the house of “S.N.L.” Read about “Lorne” here.
Lingo: The show’s many catchphrases have become permanent parts of Americans’ daily conversations.
Peak “S.N.L.”: Our chief TV critic thinks this is the greatest episode ever.
| RECOMMENDATIONS |
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| Ryan Liebe for The New York Times |
Cook: Celebrate someone you love with a chocolate lava cake for two.
