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| The New York Times |
Trump pressed ahead with a trade war
President Trump’s tariffs took effect earlier this morning, hitting nearly all U.S. allies with punishing new levies and raising import taxes on Chinese goods to more than 100 percent. Trump said 70 governments have already approached the U.S. to make deals, and that officials would begin talks with Japan and South Korea. (See our cheat sheet to the tariffs.)
China has already responded with its own levies, and the E.U. is preparing its own retaliatory tariffs on American products starting next week. These plans, and others like them, have heightened fears of an economically damaging trade war and a global recession, as losses mount in stock markets around the world.
“The global trading system is only one example of the Trump administration tearing something apart,” my colleague David E. Sanger writes in this analysis, “only to reveal it has no plan for how to replace it.”
Markets: The S&P 500 posted a big gain at the start of trading, but ended down 1.6 percent, putting the benchmark index on the verge of a bear market. The market turmoil, according to Jason Karaian, our deputy business editor, “was partly because investors underestimated Trump’s willingness to follow through on steep tariffs.” Stocks in Asia slumped earlier today.
Cars: Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles that took effect last week are prompting companies to stop shipping cars to the U.S., as well as to shut down factories in Canada and Mexico and to lay off American workers.
| More on the Trump administrationElon Musk slammed Trump’s top trade adviser as “dumber than a sack of bricks,” as the feud over tariffs escalated between the two advisers.Is this Trump’s Liz Truss moment?A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry denounced Vice President JD Vance’s remarks about “Chinese peasants” as “ignorant” and “impolite.”U.S. tax authorities agreed to share protected tax information of migrants with security officials trying to deport them.Oil and gas executives have offered little criticism of Trump and his tariffs. But in private, they are worried.Trump signed a flurry of executive orders aimed at expanding coal production.Track Trump’s actions since he took office. |
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| A poster in Tehran of Iranian scientists overlooking a parking lot in November. Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times |
The clock is ticking as Iran and the U.S. prepare for talks
Talks on Saturday between the U.S. and Iran are expected to focus on nuclear disarmament, an option almost certain to be rejected by Iran’s leaders. This may be the West’s last chance to limit Tehran’s nuclear capability and avoid a war.
Though Trump recently threatened Iran with “bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,” he has made it clear that he would prefer a deal. The time for talking is narrow. By the end of July, the E.U. must signal whether it will reimpose punishing U.N. sanctions against Iran. If that happens, Iran has said it would pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. In that event, Israel, with U.S. help, may move to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.
A high bar: The pressure is now on for Trump to get a deal that is far tougher on Iran than what was agreed to during the Obama administration. For leverage, his administration is already threatening the possibility of military strikes if the talks don’t go well.
More news from Israel:
| Many Israelis were surprised when Trump announced the negotiations with Iran. Some simply favored attacking the country.The U.N. Secretary General, António Guterres, sharply criticized Israel’s renewed blockade of aid to Gaza and said it had opened “the floodgates of horror.” No food, fuel or medicine had entered the territory for more than a month, he said.The Supreme Court paused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to fire the domestic security chief, and set a deadline for the government to find a “creative solution.”Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza is unlikely to receive blowback from President Trump, leaving the country’s leadership with fewer guardrails. |
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| Floodwaters in Kinshasa, Congo, on Sunday. Hardy Bope/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
Deadly flooding hits Congo’s capital
Dozens of people have been killed after days of torrential rains flooded Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The river running through the megacity of 17 million people — one of the largest in Africa — burst its banks and submerged major roads. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed, and thousands of people have been displaced.
The death toll was likely to rise, officials said. The country was already reeling from a rebel offensive in the east.
An ever-present danger: African countries frequently face deadly floods and droughts, which scientists attribute to climate change. Floods in Congo kill hundreds nearly every year.
| MORE TOP NEWS |
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| Noticias SIN, via Associated Press |
| Dominican Republic: Rescuers frantically searched for survivors of a roof collapse at a nightclub in Santo Domingo. At least 98 people died.Jeju Air crash: The pilots of Jeju Air Flight 2216 discussed differing plans for landing minutes before the plane crashed, killing 179, a transcript showed.Ukraine: Two Chinese citizens were captured while fighting alongside Russian forces in the east, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.International Criminal Court: The leaders of Israel, Hungary and the U.S. have moved to neutralize the judiciary both at home and abroad. This is why.Panama: A senior Panamanian official said he had uncovered evidence of misconduct by a Hong Kong port operator, a finding that could threaten a $19 billion deal. |
| Royals: Prince Harry arrived at London’s Court of Appeal yesterday for the start of a two-day hearing in his legal case over his police protection in Britain.Defense: American military officials say the Pentagon might need to dip into stockpiles in Asia intended to deter China to replenish supplies in the Middle East, congressional aides say.Belgium: Is being a royal a job? The king’s younger brother argued in court that it is, and that he should receive a state pension.U.S.: A 32-year-old man said he had been held captive in a room since he was 12. To escape, he set fire to it. |
| SPORTS NEWS |
| Soccer: Some saw it coming; others were blindsided. Here’s what it’s like to be fired as a team manager.Formula 1: Yuki Tsunoda’s debut with Red Bull held more positives for him than results would suggest.Golf: The Masters could be a breakout moment for 25-year-old Ludvig Aberg, whose career is already brimming with highs. |
| MORNING READ |
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| Serendix Inc. |
Workers in the rural city of Arida, Japan, built a new train station in the time between the night’s last train and the morning’s first — a six-hour window. This feat, which rail operators said was a world first, was accomplished with 3D-printed parts.
As Japan’s population shrinks, maintaining rail service in remote areas is a challenge, and officials hope this method could be the answer. Watch a train station take shape in hours.
Lives lived: Clem Burke, whose energetic, versatile drumming provided the beat for the band Blondie, died at 70.
| CONVERSATION STARTERS |
| Swoops and swirls: We challenge you to spend 10 minutes with this piece of abstract art.Toxic invasion: Researchers estimate there are five bottle caps worth of plastic in human brains. What is it doing to us?Wired differently: Partisan divisions are so stark that it can seem as if people are experiencing alternative realities. They might be, a neuroscientist says.Meghan’s new podcast: In the first episode, the Duchess of Sussex discussed navigating media scrutiny and shaping a brand. |
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
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| Yuki Sugiura for Booker Prize Foundation |
The International Booker Prize shortlist
One book satirizes expats in Berlin. In another, a bookseller becomes stuck in a time loop. And a third is a collection of short stories about Muslim women in southern India.
The six titles shortlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize, the award for fiction translated into English, capture different worlds. Though four are under 200 pages long, each is “mind-expanding,” said Max Porter, who chaired this year’s judging panel.
The winner will be announced next month in London. See the full list.
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Cook: This riff on aglio e olio uses a whole head of roasted garlic.
