Here’s where things stand on Tuesday 8 July 2025:

• The UN warns that US President Donald Trump’s decision to delay implementing major tariff hikes on most US trading partners may have offered some relief but the extension is also prolonging global trade uncertainty.
• Shortly before the three-month pause on the “Liberation Day” tariffs was to expire on Wednesday, Trump says he will give governments an extra three weeks to hammer out deals.
• Major stock markets mostly rise after Trump extends his tariffs deadline and hints at a further pushback although uncertainty over US trade policy caps the gains.
• Trump says the US will send additional weapons to Ukraine, triggering Russian criticism after Moscow claims new gains in the grinding war against its neighbour.

Trump says he will visit Texas on Friday

The US president says he will travel to Texas, where flash floods killed dozens of people.

“I’ll be going down on Friday with the First Lady,” he said.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that people remain missing.

“We are still looking for people. We’re still looking for a lot of little girls and other family members that were camping along that river. They will continue until they find every single person, and we will continue to help them and assist in that,” she said, adding that some people in the area were finding pieces of clothing or personal items from their missing children.

Japanese prime minister says US tariffs ‘extremely regrettable’

Shigeru Ishiba says during a cabinet meeting in Tokyo that while Trump’s announcement that Japanese goods would face a 25 percent tariff is “extremely regrettable”, negotiations would continue in search of a mutually beneficial agreement.

The Japanese leader also noted that the 25 percent rate was lower than previous duties threatened by Trump.

UN experts warn of torture risk as US deports migrants to third countries

United Nations experts have decried the US resumption of migrant deportations to third countries, including to war-torn South Sudan, stressing Washington’s obligation to ensure it is not sending people into harm’s way.

The experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, voiced alarm at the rights implications of a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing Trump’s administration to go ahead with deportations of foreign nationals to countries other than their own.

“International law is clear that no one shall be sent anywhere where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to … torture, enforced disappearance or arbitrary deprivation of life,” 11 independent UN rights experts said in a statement.

Following the ruling, a group of eight migrants deported from the United States and stranded for weeks at a military base in Djibouti arrived in South Sudan on Saturday.

Only one of the deportees is from South Sudan, but the Trump administration has sought to remove unwanted migrants to third countries as other nations sometimes refuse to accept returnees.

“To protect people from torture and other prohibited cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, enforced disappearances, and risks to life, they must be given an opportunity to express their objections to removal in a legally supervised procedure,” said the experts, including the UN special rapporteurs on torture and on the rights of migrants.

Trump begins cabinet meeting

The US president began his cabinet meeting by praising his agency leaders for doing a “beautiful job” in the first six months of the administration.

We will bring updates as they come in.

Palestinians reject Trump’s calls for forced displacement

Palestinians in Gaza say Trump’s talks with Netanyahu about a scheme that would remove Palestinians from the Strip under the guise of humanitarian relief is a ploy to expel them from their homeland.

“This is our land,” Mansour Abu Al-Khaier told the news agency Reuters. “Who would we leave it to. Where would we go?”

Trump said during talks with Netanyahu on Monday that Palestinians would have a “better future” elsewhere, and he has previously mused about Gaza’s potential for a real estate venture.

“I will not leave Gaza. This is my country,” said Abu Samir el-Fakaawi.

“Our children who were martyred in the war are buried here,” he added. “Our families. Our friends. Our cousins. We are all buried here. Whether Trump or Netanyahu or anyone else likes it or not, we are staying on this land.”

You can follow the latest developments in Gaza on our Middle East live page.

US using Guantanamo Bay prison camp to detain foreigners from 26 countries: Report

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it is detaining foreigners from 26 countries in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the site of a US naval base and prison camp that gained notoriety as a site of torture and indefinite detentions during what the US called the “war on terror”.

DHS said in a release that it was holding nearly 30 “criminal illegal aliens” at Guantanamo as part of the Trump administration’s push to expand the facility’s use for immigrant detentions. Immigrants are held in a separate area from the remaining “terrorism” detainees.

Trump set to meet with his cabinet

The US president is expected to convene members of his cabinet soon, the first such meeting since April 30.

Trump typically uses such occasions to tout his recent successes, while cabinet officials praise his leadership.

EU says it hopes to reach quick deal with US over tariffs

European Union officials have said that they hope to swiftly reach a trade agreement with the US.

“The faster we can reach the agreement, the better, because that would remove uncertainty surrounding these tariff questions and indeed we see that it is weighing on the economy and also on investment decisions of the companies,” European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said in Brussels.

“We have been working with this ninth of July deadline in mind, but as I outlined, as it seems, the US have now postponed in a sense this deadline to first of August, so that gives us a bit more time, but from our side, we remain concentrated,” Dombrovskis added.

Group says social media companies should do more to combat hateful content

Debate continues over the role that social media companies should play in moderating content on their platforms as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says a retreat from such policies has resulted in an “explosion of hate”.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said anti-Semitism has surged since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed at least 57,575 people in the Strip.

“Social media companies and big tech more broadly has a critical role to play,” Greenblatt told the news agency AFP.

The ADL, which calls itself a civil rights watchdog group, has been frequently criticised for defining criticisms of Israel and expressions of Palestinian identity as forms of anti-Semitic hate speech and for supporting crackdowns on pro-Palestine activism that have drawn concerns from civil liberties groups.

Muslim, Arab and Jewish communities have all reported sharp upticks in harassment and discriminatory acts amid tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Follow our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

White House declines to say if Texas floods will delay plans to scrap FEMA

Asked if Trump will reconsider his plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a federal agency that helps oversee disaster relief and recovery, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that authorities in Texas are doing a “tremendous job” and that Trump wants to see states take greater control.

“The president has always said he wants states to do as much as they can,” she said.

Cambodian garment workers express concern over possible tariff increases

As the US and Cambodia continue talks over tariff rates, workers in the Southeast Asian country’s garment industry worry that the duties could severely impact their sector.

“If they charge a high tariff, it is only workers who are going to suffer,” 38-year-old Im Sothearin told the news agency AFP.

“Factories might be closed or workers will have their wages lowered or be forced to work faster.”

“If the tariff is that high, companies won’t have money to pay,” 28-year-old worker Sreymom said.

“I am worried that we won’t have jobs to do,” she added. “I want the tariff to be reduced more.”

Cambodia hails Trump tariff reduction as a ‘huge victory’

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, who is the country’s negotiator in trade talks with the US, has said that an agreement bringing threatened tariffs of 49 percent down to 36 percent is a “huge victory”. He added that more time remains before the August 1 deadline.

“This is a huge victory for Cambodia in the first phase of negotiations on the tariff for us,” Chanthol said to reporters. “We are so successful in negotiations.”

“We still have a chance to negotiate further to reduce the tariff rate more,” he added.

USDA will curb farmland purchases by ‘adversaries’, including China, Rollins says

US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will curb farmland purchases by “foreign adversaries”, including China.

Rollins said she will be a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States “as of this afternoon”.

Trump says US will send more weapons to Ukraine

The US president said on Monday that he would send more weapons to Ukraine, adding that they would be mostly defensive in nature after a wave of recent Russian strikes.

“They have to be able to defend themselves,” Trump said. “They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.”

The statement appears to reverse course after the Pentagon announced the suspension of some weapons deliveries last week amid concerns over stockpile declines.

Trump says new tariff deadline is not ‘100 percent firm’

Asked on Monday night whether the August 1 deadline was set in stone, Trump said he would be open to haggling over the process with individual countries.

“I would say firm, but not 100 percent firm,” he said. “If they call up and they say would like to do something a different way, we’re going to be open to that.”

Markets steady amid Trump tariff pause

Major stock markets mostly rose after Trump extended his tariffs deadline and hinted at a further pushback, though uncertainty over US trade policy capped gains.

Shortly before the three-month pause on his “Liberation Day” tariffs was set to expire, Trump said he would give governments an extra three weeks to hammer out deals to avoid sky-high levies on exports to the world’s biggest economy.

“The Trump administration’s latest announcements on tariffs offered some relief to financial markets,” noted AJ Bell investment analyst Dan Coatsworth.

“On the flipside, this only extends the uncertainty with markets likely to spend the next three weeks trying to guess the ultimate outcome.”

The dollar traded mixed against main rivals, and oil prices dropped.

UN warns of continued uncertainty over US tariffs

The United Nations has said that looming uncertainty over Trump’s tariff policies could undermine long-term investing, as constant changes deny businesses the sense of stability they need to make decisions about where to invest.

“While the reciprocal tariffs will no longer go into effect tomorrow as originally announced, but be (postponed) for another few weeks until first of August, this move actually extends the period of uncertainty,” Pamela Coke-Hamilton, director of the UN-backed International Trade Centre, told reporters in Geneva.

Trump signed an executive order on Monday temporarily delaying a round of tariff increases that would have ratcheted up import duties on a number of countries.

The order moves the deadline from July 9 to August 1, which the White House says will give countries more time to negotiate individual agreements with the US.

Here’s what’s been happening

• In a meeting at the White House, Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the forcible transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza, which experts have said would be a grave violation of international law.
• US envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the same meeting that the US could hold talks with Iran, doing so “Very quickly. In the next week or so.”
• A US judge has paused a portion of Trump’s tax-and-spending bill that would have barred Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds.
• Several top US medical organisations filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services and its leader, Robert F Kennedy Jr, after it advised certain groups against taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
• The death toll from recent flash floods in Texas reached 104 as the search continues for missing people.
• Trump signed an executive order ending tax credits for wind and solar green energy sources, while the Department of Veterans Affairs said that it will reduce staffing by 30,000 by the end of fiscal year 2025.

Welcome to our live coverage

Hello and thank you for joining our live coverage of the 170th day of United States President Donald Trump’s second term.

Stay with Al Jazeera’s live team as we bring you all the latest developments, analysis and reactions throughout the day.

Here is where things stand on Thursday 29 May 2025:

• The United States Court of International Trade has blocked most of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, boosting markets with a ruling that could derail his trade strategy.
• Stock futures have climbed on Wall Street in the wake of the court’s decision, while shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia gained following stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late on Wednesday that authorities would “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students, long a major revenue stream for American colleges and universities.
• Beijing reacted in fury at the US government’s vow to revoke Chinese students’ visas, condemning Trump’s crackdown on international scholars as “political and discriminatory”.

Trump’s lawyers say he experienced ‘mental anguish’ from CBS News interview

The president’s lawyers have argued he suffered from “mental anguish” because of a CBS News interview featuring his rival in the 2024 presidential race, Kamala Harris.

Trump has long argued that the interview, aired on the TV show 60 Minutes, was edited to portray her in a more flattering light.

But in new court filings, his lawyers say Trump’s status as a “content creator” was damaged by the attention Harris received in the interview, saying the president is a “media icon” who was “forced to redirect significant time, money and effort to correcting the public record”.

Press freedom groups have said that the lawsuit is a frivolous effort that violates press freedom.

Who is Larry Hoover, and why has Trump commuted his sentence?

The US president issued a series of pardons and sentence commutations this week, including one for a man named Larry Hoover.

Hoover’s commutation in particular has garnered a lot of attention. A former gang leader, Hoover is currently serving multiple life sentences — amounting to up to 200 years in prison — in connection to federal and state convictions.

Supporters of the 74-year-old point to his age and say he should benefit from the First Step Act, a law passed under Trump’s first term to reduce excessive sentences. But some critics have opposed any reduction in his sentence, due to the severity of his crimes.

So who is Hoover, and why has Trump commuted his sentence?

You can read our story here.

Trump can impose tariffs, but not ‘country-by-country’

Bruce Fein, a former US associate deputy attorney general, says that a US trade court was correct in ruling that Trump had exceeded his power by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to back up his sweeping tariffs.

“The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t say anything at all about tariffs,” he told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

Fein added that there is a statute, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows tariffs in the event of a national emergency. However, he said it requires a study by the commerce secretary and can only be imposed on a product-by-product basis.

“This is not an issue of whether the president can impose tariffs,” Fein said. “He can under the 1962 act after there’s a study and after showing that it’s not arbitrary and capricious and that it’s a product-by-product, not a country-by-country approach.”

“If he doesn’t like that, he can ask Congress to amend the statute.”

An appeals court has since issued a temporary stay on the trade court’s ruling.

Appeals court keeps Trump’s tariffs in place

A US appeals court has temporarily reinstated Trump’s sweeping tariffs as the appeal process moves forward.

The decision comes after a trade court blocked many of Trump’s most severe tariffs in a ruling late on Wednesday, stating that he had exceeded his presidential authority.

The Trump White House had immediately contested the trade court’s decision, resulting in the appeals court granting its motion for a pause.

The plaintiffs in the case were ordered to respond by June 5 to the latest order, and the administration by June 9.

White House downplays split with Musk

The Trump administration once again side-stepped questions about billionaire Elon Musk’s comments criticising the president’s signature budget legislation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill”.

Speaking at a briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt answered reporters’ questions by saying, “The president is very proud of the One Big Beautiful Bill, and he wants to see it passed.”

She also noted that Musk was stepping away from his role as a special government employee. Previously, he had been a leading figure in the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“ We thank him for his service. We thank him for getting DOGE off of the ground in the effort to cut waste, fraud, and abuse,” Leavitt said of Musk.

But, she added, DOGE will carry on even as Musk steps back from his work in the government.

“The entire cabinet understands the need to cut government waste, fraud, and abuse, and each cabinet secretary at their respective agencies is committed to that,” Leavitt said.

Powell stresses that policy decisions will be based on economic developments

The Federal Reserve has underscored the bank’s independence following a meeting with Trump, who has consistently pressured the its chief Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

“Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook,” a statement from the Federal Reserve said.

“Chair Powell said that he and his colleagues on the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] will set monetary policy, as required by law, to support maximum employment and stable prices and will make those decisions based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis.”

‘Clearly extremely frustrating’: US State Department weighs in on Kyiv attack

Speaking at a US State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce weighed in on US President Donald Trump’s public frustrations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“ I think the president has judged Putin based on the nature of what was clearly extremely frustrating to him regarding the killing of civilians while talks are going on for a ceasefire,” she said.

Earlier this week, Trump wrote on social media that Putin was “playing with fire” by launching an attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The US president also warned that “bad things would have already happened to Russia” had he not been there to stop them.

The Trump administration has been attempting to broker a peace deal since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that has since led to a deadly, long-grinding war.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, and Bruce offered further details on that meeting from the podium.

“We’ve said multiple times that we’re going to judge Russia based not on what they say, but on what they do,” Bruce said. “And right now, what’s happening is not good, right?”

She added that Rubio emphasised to Lavrov that a “ constructive good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path forward” for peace.

Here’s what happened at today’s White House news conference

• Press secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced a court decision that will pause many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs as a case of “judicial overreach” and an effort to “usurp the authority of President Trump”.
• The White House urged Senate Republicans to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, a massive tax package that analysts say would largely benefit the wealthiest earners and slash social programmes.
• Leavitt emphasised that the bill includes a record investment in immigration enforcement, a key priority of the administration.
• The administration continues to defend visa revocations for international students, arguing that doing so falls within the authority of the executive branch.
• Leavitt stated that Trump told Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell that he would like the US central bank to lower interest rates during a meeting at the White House earlier in the day.
• She also suggested former First Lady Jill Biden should be called to testify on her husband Joe Biden’s mental decline.

Photos: Inside Harvard’s commencement ceremony

It was a day of celebration at Harvard University despite fears about the school’s future.

On Thursday, the oldest university in the US marked its 374th commencement ceremony, where thousands of students celebrated receiving their diplomas.

Honorary doctorates were bestowed to luminaries including basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Broadway icon Rita Moreno, who has won awards including a Tony and an Oscar.

A few of those recipients, including physician and author Abraham Verghese, spoke to Harvard’s ongoing battle with the Trump administration, which has revoked its federal funding and threatened its ability to enrol international students.

“More people than you realise are grateful for Harvard for the example it has set,” Verghese said.

Federal Reserve chief meets Trump at the White House

Jerome Powell, the leader of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, has met President Trump at the White House, according to a statement.

Experts and financial analysts have expressed concern that Trump may attempt to interfere in the independence of the bank.

Trump has frequently criticised Powell himself, blasting the Federal Reserve chief’s decision not to lower interest rates and calling him slow and a “loser”. Powell, in turn, has defended his decision, warning that lowering interest rates too quickly could ramp up inflation.

At a Thursday news briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump reiterated his desire to see the Fed cut interest rates during his meeting with Powell.

“The president did say that he believes the Fed chair is making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, which is putting us at an economic disadvantage to China and other countries. The president has been very vocal about that, both publicly and now, I can reveal, privately as well,” she said.

Asked if Trump had spoken about whether he has plans to remove Powell from his job, Leavitt said no.

State Department defends decision to remove visas from Chinese students

At a news briefing for the State Department, spokesperson Tammy Bruce faced questions about Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to “aggressively” revoke visas from Chinese students, particularly those linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“The State Department is determined to protect American’s right to free speech and to counter the malign influence and actions of the Chinese Communist Party,” Bruce said.

“The bottom line: We are using and will continue to use every tool in our tool chest to make sure that we know who it is who wants to come into this country and if they should be allowed to come in.”

She added that the policy would apply to Hong Kong passport holders, as well as those from mainland China. Bruce further accused China of seeking to access US education for its own advancement.

“The United States, I further can say here, will not tolerate the CCP’s exploitation of US universities or theft of US research, intellectual property or technologies to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition,” she said.

While Bruce declined to comment on the number of visas revoked or individual cases, she did add, “ Every visa adjudication is a national security decision.”

Rights groups express alarm over rights violations at migrant detention facilities

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other civil rights groups have released a joint statement denouncing “frequent illegal and inhumane conditions” at immigrant detention facilities overseen by federal agencies.

They accused the Federal Correctional Institution Leavenworth in Kansas and Federal Detention Center-Miami in Florida of demonstrating “frequent and systemic failures” to uphold basic rights and maintain humane confinement conditions.

“The Trump administration’s use of federal prisons to detain immigrants must end. Holding people in extended lockdown, and denying them access to adequate medical care, legal counsel, and even sunlight isn’t just inhumane – it’s illegal,” Eunice Cho, a senior staff lawyer at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, said in a statement.

“The taxpayer-funded conditions faced by immigrants held at FCI Leavenworth and FDC-Miami should concern us all.”

Antiwar protesters hold vigil outside of Harvard campus

A group of pro-Palestine demonstrators are holding a silent vigil just beyond the grounds of Harvard University as its commencement ceremony takes place.

The protesters called for an end to US support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Some held signs reading “ceasefire now” and “not another bomb”.

“As a US citizen, my money is supporting the genocide that’s happening in Gaza, and I’ve got to stand out against it,” said Carole Rein, a Harvard graduate who has been an activist for 50 years.

“I have to stand out against it, and there’s many of us who are standing out against it.”

White House says Jill Biden should testify about mental state of husband during presidency

At Thursday’s news briefing, the White House press secretary was asked whether she would like to see former First Lady Jill Biden testify about her husband’s mental acuity while in office.

Since President Joe Biden left office in January, reports have indicated that the Democrat experienced a greater decline in his health than previously reported.

From her podium on Thursday, Leavitt accused Jill Biden of being complicit in a “cover-up” that sought to hide the extent of her husband’s physical and mental deterioration from the public.

“This was a clear cover-up, and Jill Biden was certainly complicit in that cover-up. There’s documentation, video evidence, of her clearly shielding her husband away from the cameras,” said Leavitt.

“They were just on The View [a TV programme] last week. She was saying everything is fine. She is still lying to the American people. She still thinks the American public are so stupid that they’re going believe her lies. And frankly, it’s insulting, and she needs to answer for it.”

White House defends visa revocations

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said that the administration is acting within its legal authority to revoke the visas of international students.

She suggested that judges who have blocked its attempts to strip students of visas are overstepping their authority.

“We’ve been blocked in court for the revocation of visas from individuals who have the privilege of studying in the United States of America,” she said.

“Secretary of State Rubio has simply used his authority to revoke that privilege, and we’ve seen the courts try to block that. So if these judges want to be the secretary of state or they want to be the president, they can run for office themselves.”

Who has Trump pardoned this week?

President Trump has faced scrutiny this week for pardoning a string of supporters and commuting the sentences of others.

Who are some of the individuals Trump pardoned? Let’s take a look:

• Former US Representative Michael Grimm, a Republican who pleaded guilty to felony tax fraud in 2014
• Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland, a Republican who was found guilty of corruption-related charges after allegedly attempting to conceal his activity in federal congressional campaigns
• Rapper Kentrell Gaulden, who goes by the stage name NBA YoungBoy and was sentenced to prison on gun-related charges
• Labour union leader James Callahan, who faced sentencing for failing to report compensation he received in his role, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in sports tickets, concert tickets and other amenities
• Reality TV show stars Julie and Todd Chrisley, who were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud

Trump also commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, a gang leader who allegedly founded the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples. While Trump’s commutation affects Hoover’s prison term, Hoover still faces a state-level sentence for murder.

Trump has also signalled he is considering pardons for those convicted as part of a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

What are Trump’s next moves after a federal court strikes down his tariff policy?

The Trump administration has 10 days in which to comply with this court order. In other words, to remove these tariffs.

But that is not something that appears to be imminent. In fact, we know that already the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal and will be challenging this. So, in terms of what could play out, there are few options.

The bottom line is that, with this ruling, there are some tariffs that are remaining in place. There’s the tariffs on aluminium, autos and also steel.

But everything else was announced back in April on so-called Liberation Day — things like [the fentanyl-related tariffs] for China or anything to do with Canada or Mexico — is all subject to this ruling. So the Trump administration is likely hoping that it will go to a higher court and get a better, more favourable ruling, one that allows them to keep this policy in place.

Or there is another law that they could use from 1974. But it only allows for 15-percent tariffs, and it can only be put in place for 150 days if it’s determined there is an egregious trade deficit.

White House says Senate Republicans must pass tax bill

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during Thursday’s news briefing that Republicans in Congress must pass a massive budget bill that contains key Trump priorities.

Dubbed by Trump as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, the legislation would increase spending on immigration enforcement and cement tax cuts he first implemented in 2017.

But critics argue its tax savings would benefit the wealthy most of all, and that those tax breaks would have to be offset by cuts to social programmes and a $4 trillion increase to the federal debt.

Still, Leavitt called on Republicans to unify behind the bill.

“With Congress returning next week, it’s critical that Senate Republicans maintain the momentum and quickly pass the One Big Beautiful Bill. The One Big Beautiful Bill will truly make America safe and prosperous. The One Big Beautiful Bill includes the largest border security investment ever,” Leavitt said.

White House blasts ‘judicial overreach’ after courts rule against tariff programme

At a White House news conference, press secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced a federal court’s decision to strike down much of Trump’s tariff policy.

“Last night, the Trump administration faced another example of judicial overreach,” Leavitt said. “Using his full and proper legal authority, President Trump imposed universal tariffs and reciprocal tariffs on Liberation Day to address the extraordinary threat to our national security posed by large and persistent trade deficits.”

She added that the tariffs were necessary to boost manufacturing in the US and reduce reliance on foreign countries.

“Three judges of the US Court of International Trade disagreed and brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump,” she added.

Trump’s effort to bar Harvard from enrolling international students stuck in legal limbo

The Trump administration notified Harvard that it would have 30 days to address its concerns about international students.

Last week, the administration said Harvard would no longer be able to enrol international students, effective immediately. Now, it says Harvard has 30 days to respond.

However, it’s all become a bit moot now because of a court proceeding today. Harvard sued the administration and got a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s order, and now they have succeeded in getting a broad preliminary injunction against the implementation of this ban on Harvard enrolling international students for as long as legal proceedings are under way.

And, as you can imagine, like so many of Donald Trump’s policies, this may go all the way to the Supreme Court, which is good news for the international students here at Harvard.

Universities should produce ‘more than a social activist who lives in your basement’: spokesperson

At the State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce brushed aside concerns that limits on international student visas might dampen interest in attending US universities.

“People come here because this is where you start new lives, where you have every opportunity in the world,” Bruce replied.

She also echoed Trump administration concerns that US education had swung too far towards left-leaning ideologies.

Parents, she said, want their kids to have “skills and an education that can improve their future, that can get them a job, that can help facilitate the dreams that they’ve had as opposed to political indoctrination or the idea of just activism or a certain political framework”.

“It’s a certainly an important dynamic for believing and understanding that your child’s going to be safe and that you’re going get something that you’ve paid for, more than a social activist who lives in your basement.”

Trump’s effort to bar Harvard from enrolling international students stuck in legal limbo

The Trump administration notified Harvard that it would have 30 days to address its concerns about international students.

Last week, the administration said Harvard would no longer be able to enrol international students, effective immediately. Now, it says Harvard has 30 days to respond.

However, it’s all become a bit moot now because of a court proceeding today. Harvard sued the administration and got a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s order, and now they have succeeded in getting a broad preliminary injunction against the implementation of this ban on Harvard enrolling international students for as long as legal proceedings are under way.

And, as you can imagine, like so many of Donald Trump’s policies, this may go all the way to the Supreme Court, which is good news for the international students here at Harvard.

A federal court blocked Trump’s tariffs. What now?

On Wednesday night, the US Court of International Trade made a decision that struck at the heart of Trump’s economic policy: It deemed many of the tariffs he had placed on international trading partners illegal.

Trump, the court explained, had overstepped his executive authority by implementing the wide-ranging tariff policy, that touched nearly every US trading partner.

The power to impose tariffs in the US largely sits with Congress, but Trump had invoked emergency powers to wield import taxes as a tool in economic negotiations.

But the court’s decision has left lingering questions about US foreign policy and trade, including how Trump might respond.

Mona Paulsen, a professor in international economic law at the London School of Economics, said the Trump administration is likely to resort to other laws to justify its tariff-heavy approach.

“Rather than wipe out Trump’s trade plans, I think yesterday’s ruling will see the White House use more and more ambiguous trade laws,” Paulsen told Al Jazeera.

Read more in our explainer here.

Trump adviser confident court ruling won’t disrupt trade talks

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has said that a court ruling that will halt many of Trump’s massive tariffs will not stop US negotiations with foreign countries.

“If there are little hiccups here or there because of decisions that activist judges make, then it shouldn’t just concern you at all,” Hassett said on Fox Business Network.

“And it’s certainly not going to affect the negotiations, because in the end, people know President Trump is 100-percent serious. They also have seen that President Trump always wins.”

Speakers touch on dispute with Trump administration at Harvard commencement

As Harvard holds its commencement ceremony under the looming threats from the Trump administration, a number of speakers have addressed the dispute directly in their remarks.

“When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard, to revoke their academic freedom and to destroy free speech, Dr Alan Garber [the president of Harvard] rejected the illegal and immoral pressures,” basketball legend and social activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said in a speech given at “Class Day”.

“After seeing so many cowering billionaires, media moguls, law firms, politicians and other universities bend their knee to an administration that is systematically strip-mining the US Constitution, it is inspiring to me to see Harvard University take a stand for freedom,” he added.

Trump administration gives Harvard 30 days to contest international enrollment decision

The White House has eased away from plans to immediately revoke Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students, who comprise more than a quarter of its student body.

Instead, the Trump administration has said it will give Harvard 30 days to contest its plans through a longer administrative process.

The announcement comes as a court decided extend a block on the Trump administration’s decision to prevent Harvard from using the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, where universities are required to register foreign students.

That programme is run under the Department of Homeland Security. Already, questions about whether international students can remain at Harvard have forced some to look for educational alternatives.

The Trump administration, however, has argued that the drastic action against Harvard was necessary in order to ensure security and crack down on anti-Semitism on campus.

“We continue to reject Harvard’s repeated pattern of endangering its students and spreading American hate,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “It must change its ways to be eligible to receive generous benefits from the American people.”

Trump envoy raises US flag above Syria embassy

For the first time since 2012, the US flag has flown over the country’s embassy in Damascus.

On Thursday, US envoy Thomas Barrack arrived for the first time at the diplomatic complex, which has been shuttered since 2012 as the result of a nearly 14-year-long civil war in Syria.

That war came to an end in December, when a lightning offensive toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad, sending the president into exile.

The leader of that military campaign, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has since replaced him as interim president.

During a trip to the Middle East this month, US President Trump announced in a surprise move that he would lift his country’s sanctions against Syria to allow the country to recover. He also praised al-Sharaa during an in-person meeting on the trip.

Barrack echoed Trump’s message after arriving in Damascus on Thursday.

“America’s intent and the president’s vision is that we have to give this young government a chance by not interfering, not demanding, by not giving conditions, by not imposing our culture on your culture,” Barrack said.

He also expressed optimism that the tensions between Syria and its neighbour, Israel, could be addressed. Since al-Assad’s departure, Israel has bombed Syrian military sites and pushed to occupy more territory in southwest Syria.

“Syria and Israel is a solvable problem. But it starts with a dialogue,” Barrack said. “I’d say we need to start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders.”

Supreme Court strikes down environmental challenge to Utah railway

The highest court in the US has ruled against environmentalists seeking greater review of a multibillion-dollar oil railroad expansion in the northwestern state of Utah.

In an eight-to-zero ruling, the Supreme Court endorsed a limited interpretation of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews of federal projects. It ruled that such reviews should be largely limited to the direct impacts a project may have.

The case concerns the proposed Uinta Basin Railway, which would allow oil production to increase in Utah. Backers of the railway said limiting the scope of the environmental review would help speed up development.

One justice, Neil Gorsuch, recused himself from the case, after scrutiny over his connection to a Colorado businessman involved in oil extraction.

Rubio submits plan for State Department reorganisation to Congress

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that he has sent a plan to Congress outlining his proposal to build a “more agile” State Department, the executive department charged with leading foreign policy.

“Over the past quarter century, the domestic operations of the State Department have grown exponentially, resulting in more bureaucracy, higher costs, and fewer results for the American people,” he wrote in a statement.

“Since my first day as Secretary, I have said that this Department must move at the speed of relevancy and, in April announced a broad reorganization of the Department to better achieve that goal.”

The changes, which have yet to be announced, would make the State Department “better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world”, Rubio said.

Mexican president denounces student visa appointment suspensions

President Claudia Sheinbaum has told reporters in Mexico that she disapproves of a Trump administration decision to suspend student visa appointments as it considers steps to apply greater scrutiny to the social media profiles of applicants.

“Obviously, we do not agree,” Sheinbaum said in her morning news briefing.

She added that her government was going to look into the matter further. “We’re also going to look at the scope and see how many Mexican students are going to be affected.”

Amnesty International says US aid cuts are putting lives at risk

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International has released a new report detailing the impact of sweeping US cuts to overseas assistance, warning that the slashed funding is putting “millions of lives and human rights at risk across the globe”.

“This abrupt decision and chaotic implementation by the Trump administration is reckless and profoundly damaging,” said Amanda Klasing, the national director of government relations and advocacy with Amnesty International USA, in a news release.

“The decision to cut these programs so abruptly and in this untransparent manner violates international human rights law which the US is bound by and undermines decades of US leadership in global humanitarian and development efforts.”

A prize fight? Trump cheers legal battle with Pulitzer Prize Board

Late on Wednesday, Trump celebrated the fact that a Florida state court has allowed his defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board to proceed.

The board, run under the umbrella of Columbia University, issues some of the most prestigious prizes in journalism and literary arts. Every year, 23 Pulitzer Prizes are awarded.

But Trump has accused the board of libel for its decision to recognise The New York Times and the Washington Post for their coverage of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Media reports suggested that the Russian interference was designed to boost Trump’s campaign. Trump, meanwhile, has called such reports a “hoax”.

The Pulitzer Board has defended its decision to honour the two newspapers in its “national reporting” category, arguing it had commissioned independent reviews of the articles in question.

It also called on the courts to pause Trump’s lawsuit while he is in the White House.

But Trump described the court’s decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed a “major WIN” on social media.

“The Florida Appellate Court viciously rejected the Defendants’ corrupt attempt to halt the case,” he wrote, repeating his allegations that reporting on Russian interference was “fake”.

He predicted that The New York Times and Washington Post would “have to give back their ‘Award’.”

“They were awarded for false reporting, and we can’t let that happen in the United States of America. We are holding the Fake News Media responsible for their LIES to the American People.”

Canada welcomes court decision halting tariffs

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has praised the US Court of International Trade’s ruling to block most of Trump’s international tariffs.

He argued it was further validation of Canada’s position that Trump’s tariffs were illegal and unfair.

“[This decision] is consistent with Canada’s longstanding position that the … tariffs were unlawful as well as unjustified,” Carney said in remarks to the House of Commons.

What is TACO, and why did it anger Trump?

On Wednesday, a new acronym went viral after a tense White House news conference: TACO.

Attributed to The Financial Times commentator Robert Armstrong, TACO stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out” — a phrase used to describe the president’s on-again, off-again approach to tariffs.

In the first months of his second term, for instance, Trump threatened key trading partners with tariffs, only to delay or reduce them as economic markets started to show concern. That, in turn, allows the markets to recover.

But it was Wednesday’s Oval Office news conference that brought the acronym to a wider audience.

One reporter asked Trump directly about the acronym: “ Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the TACO trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats, and that’s why markets are higher. What’s your response to that?”

Trump responded that he had never heard of the acronym. Then, he went on the defensive.

“You call that chickening out? Because we have $14 trillion now invested, committed to investing, when Biden didn’t have practically anything,” he said, attacking his predecessor Joe Biden. “We have the hottest country anywhere in the world.”

He also said that shifting tactics is part of his strategy. “It’s called negotiation,” he explained, saying that he sometimes sets a “ridiculously high number” for tariffs, only to “go down a little bit”.

But he directed much of his ire at the journalist: “ Don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question. To me, that’s the nastiest question.”

What options does Trump have to fight the tariff ruling?

The Trump administration has already appealed the Court of International Trade’s ruling against his tariffs, arguing that it must be halted immediately.

But while the dispute makes its way through the legal system, existing laws still grant the US president substantial power to craft policy on tariffs and trade, albeit not to the extent that Trump would like.

One option is a provision known as Section 122 of the Trade Law, which would allow the administration to replace the existing 10 percent across-the-board tariffs with similar duties up to 15 percent. But those tariffs would lapse after 150 days, unless Congress approves their extension.

Another option might be for Trump to expand the number of economic sectors targeted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The government has used that statute to apply tariffs in areas such as cars, steel, and aluminium, and today’s ruling left those duties untouched.

The administration could now try to argue that Section 232 should be applied to other sectors of the economy as well.

Plaintiffs celebrate trade court ruling

Lawyers for a group of businesses that challenged Trump’s tariffs have celebrated the Court of International Trade’s ruling to block most of the president’s tariffs on US trading partners.

They believe the court’s decision will help the business community and rein in a president who overstepped the boundaries of executive power.

“It’s great to see that the court unanimously ruled against this massive power grab by the president,” said Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor who worked on the case with the libertarian-leaning Liberty Justice Center.

Victor Schwartz, a small wine importer, also called the ruling a “win” and said that he is ready to bring the case before the US Supreme Court as the Trump administration appeals the decision.

What is the Court of International Trade?

A three-judge panel known as the US Court of International Trade has upended the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape economic relations with the rest of the world, ruling that the administration overstepped its authority by imposing sweeping tariffs on the country’s trading partners.

But what is the court? And what powers does it have?

Based in New York, the court reviews civil actions that relate to import transactions and international trade policy. The court was established in its current form in 1980 but other judicial bodies provided a similar function as far back as 1890.

“The Court, thus, ensures expeditious procedures, avoids jurisdictional conflicts among federal courts, and provides national uniformity in the judicial decision-making affecting import transactions,” the court’s website explains.

How has the White House reacted to the tariff decision?

Members of the Trump administration were swift to denounce a federal court decision deeming much of his tariff policy illegal.

On social media, Trump adviser Stephen Miller called the ruling evidence of “a judicial tyranny”. And Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai issued a statement saying, “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.”

Desai also defended Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose the tariffs, arguing that trade deficits with other countries constituted such a crisis.

Deficits, Desai said, have “decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base – facts that the court did not dispute”.

What did the Court of International Trade say?

In April, Trump announced it was Liberation Day, as he unveiled a suite of tariffs that would affect virtually all US trading partners.

But late on Wednesday, a federal court ruled that the majority of those tariffs had been illegally set.

The US Court of International Trade declared that Trump had improperly used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to set the sweeping tariffs.

Ordinarily, Congress has the power to set tariffs. But in bypassing that power, the court ruled that Trump’s import tax policy would “exceed any authority granted” to his office.

“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the three-judge panel said in its decision.

The plaintiffs in the case had argued that the US trade deficit did not constitute a national emergency, as such trade imbalances have existed for decades.

A recap of the latest headlines

• The US Court of International Trade – a federal court that weighs customs and trade law – has found that President Donald Trump overstepped his executive authority by using emergency powers to impose a vast suite of tariffs on global trading partners.
• The White House has denounced the decision, with Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai denouncing that “unelected judges” were dictating how to “address a national emergency”.
• While the Trump administration is likely to appeal the ruling, the court’s decision led to a jump of more than 1 percent in the futures market for the S&P 500.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pledged to “aggressively” revoke visas from Chinese students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, prompting a backlash from Beijing that the policy was discriminatory.
• Harvard University is holding its commencement ceremony amid ongoing uncertainty about its funding and its ability to enrol international students.
• Trump has continued to issue pardons and commutations to his supporters, including former Congress member Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

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The trading bloc was set to impose duties on US products, including a 50% levy on whiskey, from 1 April to which Trump then responded with a 200% alcohol tariff threat.

In a move that could calm the dispute, the EU said on Thursday it would push back its tariffs, saying it wanted “additional time for discussions” with the US.

It comes as global leaders try to respond to the White House’s trade threats, including looming “reciprocal” tariffs Trump has promised to announce on 2 April.

Over the last week, leaders in France and Italy – home to many wine exporters who would be affected if Trump carried out his threat – have criticised the EU for its escalation in response to Trump.

The EU had initially said its tariffs would unfold in two phases, with a first set of duties coming into force on 1 April and a second round on 13 April.

EU Spokesperson Olof Gill said on Thursday delaying the first round of US tariffs until 13 April was “a slight adjustment to the timeline and does not diminish the impact of our response”.

He said officials planned to consult with EU members on the items from the US that will be targeted.

“In the meantime, the EU continues to be ready to engage in constructive dialogue with the US, in order to seek a solution that avoids unnecessary harm to both economies,” he said.

He declined to say if the EU had made any headway discussing the issue after reaching out to the Trump administration.

Distilled Spirits Council president Chris Swonger, who represents US alcohol-makers in the US, welcomed the EU’s tariff delay.

“This is a very positive development and gives US distillers a glimmer of hope that a devastating 50% tariff on American whiskey can be averted,” he said, urging the two sides to reach an agreement that would preserve “zero-for-zero” tariffs for the spirits trade.

The White House is in the middle of preparing to announce another round of tariffs on countries around the world, with the EU expected to be one of the major trading partners affected.

While it remains unclear how the duties will be set, Trump has talked up the plans for the tariffs, which he says are aimed at countries that have trade practices that hurt US exports.

White House officials have made clear that the EU will be a target, with Trump floating a plan for a 25% tariff on all European products earlier this year.

Though the EU’s average tariffs are not much higher than those imposed by the US, the US has long complained about other kinds of rules, such as those barring trace levels of pesticides, that they say put American products at a disadvantage.

With Canada’s businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the US, Carney – a former two-time central banker – is expected to pitch himself as the candidate best equipped to take on Donald Trump.

The 60-year-old political newcomer took over as leader of the Liberal Party after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down from his nine-year term.

The prime minister’s announcement to call an election and request the dissolution of Parliament will kick off a five-week campaign for Carney and his political opponents.

While the timing of the request to dissolve parliament is clear – the exact election date is not.

The prime minister is leaning towards setting April 28 as the voting date, the Globe and Mail and the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing sources in the government.

Some suggest a shorter campaign could work in Carney’s favor, since much of the current national discourse revolves around the ongoing trade war between the US and Canada, particularly after President Trump’s threats and actions.

The election is “almost certain to focus on US President Donald Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st state”, The Globe and Mail wrote.

Carney has promised to uphold Canada’s reciprocal tariffs, if Trump maintains 25% universal tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade deal.

Trump has vowed to impose a sweeping range of tariffs on 2 April on top of the 25% tariffs already imposed on Canada’s steel and aluminium.

The race will likely come down to a choice between Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Before the threat of tariffs, Conservatives enjoyed a 20-point lead in some election polls. Now polls are indicating a much closer race.

When Canadians next go to the polls, the Liberals will face not only the Conservatives – who are the official opposition with 120 seats in the House of Commons – but also the Bloc Quebecois, who have 33 seats, and the New Democrats (NDP), who have 24.

Carney made these comments during a visit to a steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario, as Canada unveiled C$29.8bn ($20.7bn) in reciprocal tariffs on US imports.

Trump earlier slapped 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium coming into the country.

Since Trump took office in January, the two countries have been involved in an escalating trade war, with the US president repeatedly threatening to annex its neighbour.

Carney condemned the latest round of US tariffs as “unjustified” on Wednesday.

“We’re all going to be better off when the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched,” he said.

Canada, which is the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, is heavily exposed to the tariffs.

Trump has justified the tariffs, claiming they were necessary for US national security and to boost demand for domestic producers, which he argues has been “depressed” by foreign competition.

The US president implemented a blanket 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, citing concerns over drugs and migrants crossing the US border.

The tariffs on steel and aluminium, effective from Wednesday, mark the end of exemptions previously granted to several countries, including Canada.

In retaliation, Canada announced tariffs on US goods, including steel and aluminium, with additional measures set to take effect at 00:01 EST (04:01 GMT) on Thursday.

The new tariffs cover a range of products, including C$12.6bn on steel, $3bn on aluminium, as well as tools, computer equipment, water heaters, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.

Experts say the growing trade dispute threatens economic stability for both countries.

On Wednesday, Canada’s central bank cut interest rates to 2.75% from 3% to prepare the country’s economy for disruption.

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc told a news conference that the country was still seeking to de-escalate.

“If you’re racing to the basement, there’s no real prize for the first person to get to the basement,” he said.

On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, along with federal representatives, will meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick told Fox Business that at the meeting he plans to try to “level set” things between the two nations.

Mark Carney, who was elected leader of the governing Liberal Party on Sunday, is set to be sworn in as prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau. He has promised to win the trade war against Trump, following his landslide victory.

Germany’s economy has contracted for the past two years and with tariffs, the country “could expect a recession for this year” too, Joachim Nagel, the head of the Deutsche Bundesbank, told the BBC World Service in an exclusive interview.

Without tariffs, the bank forecasts the German economy will stagnate but still grow, by about 0.2%, he added.

He said “there are only losers” when imposing tariffs, and supported the EU’s retaliatory measures against US President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on all steel imports from overseas.

Tariffs are a central part of Trump’s overall economic vision – he hopes they will boost US manufacturing and protect jobs, but critics say in the immediate term they will raise prices for US consumers.

In response to Trump’s move, the EU has hit back with import taxes on a range of US products, which are set to come into force on 1 April.

Mr Nagel called Trump’s tariff policy “economics from the past” and “definitely not a good idea”.

A global trade war is one of the concerns from tariffs and retaliatory tariffs, he said, but added it was a “necessity” for the EU to react “because if something is working against you, you can’t accept a policy like this”.

However, he suggested that when the US realises that the price that needs to be paid will be “highest on the side of the Americans”, it will allow further opportunity for all sides to come to a different resolution.

“I hope that in the end, good policy will succeed,” he said.

Germany’s export economy had been one of its strengths in past decades, and its cars such as BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagens and Audis are popular in the US.

Mr Nagel refuted claims that Germany was the “sick man of Europe”, saying it had a “strong economic basis” and “strong small and medium sized companies”.

“But nevertheless, when you are exposed to an export-oriented model, then you are more exposed in a situation when tariffs are going up and there are so many uncertainties, so many unknowns,” he added.

He said Germany could overcome such challenges “over the next couple of years”.

However, German consumers are set to face higher prices.

The head of Germany’s BGA federation of wholesale, foreign trade and service, Dirk Jandura, warned on Wednesday that Germans might have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for American products, such as orange juice, bourbon and peanut butter, in supermarkets.

Commenting on recent unprecedented changes in Germany’s economic policy, which were altered allow the country to borrow more to spend on defence and infrastructure, Mr Nagel said it was an “extraordinary measure” for an “extraordinary time”.

“The whole world is facing tectonic changes which makes the current situation very different from those seen in the past, hence the fiscal change,” he said.

He added the policy change would allow Germany some financial breathing room for recovery in the next few years, adding it provided a “stability signal to the market”.

The threat is a response to the EU’s plans for a 50% tax on imports of US-produced whiskey as part of its retaliation to Trump’s tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US.

The US president called for the immediate removal of the EU’s “nasty” tariff on US whiskey, calling the bloc “hostile and abusive” and “formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States”.

A European Commission spokesperson said that “calls are being prepared” between between the US and the EU to discuss the situation.

It confirmed that its trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, had “reached out to his American counterparts” after Trump’s latest threat.

The stand-off marked another escalation of a trade war which has rattled financial markets and raised concerns over the impact on the economies and consumers in many countries around the world, including the US.

The latest clash came after new US tariffs on steel and aluminium came into effect on Wednesday, hitting imports of the metals with a blanket duty of 25% and ending exemptions from the duties that the US had previously granted for shipments from some countries, including from the EU and Canada.

Canada and Europe – which are among America’s biggest trade partners – called the new taxes unjustified and struck back with their own tariffs on a range of US products.

Theclash reprises a battle that played out during Trump’s first term, when he first announced tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The EU responded with its own tariffs, including a 25% tax on American whiskey.

In the aftermath, whiskey sales to the EU dropped 20%, falling from roughly $552m in 2018 to $440m in 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US. Trump in turn

The two sides ultimately reached a deal and the tariffs were lifted after Trump left office, after an agreement that exempted a certain amount of European metals from the duties.

But Trump has indicated little appetite for deal-making this time round, at least when it comes to steel and aluminium.

“If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the US will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all wines, champagnes & alcoholic products coming out of France and other EU represented countries,” he wrote on social media, using all capital letters for some of the message.

The targeting of wine and whiskey is symbolic – there are few consumer goods more iconic than French Bordeaux or Tennessee whiskey. From a value standpoint, drinks trade is worth less than some of the other items facing tariffs.

But Mary Taylor, a US-based importer of European wines, said the measures would be catastrophic for her business, with an impact that would ripple out to restaurants, bars and distributors across the US.

“It just looks like a big, giant threat to our livelihoods,” she said.

Ms Taylor, who brings in 2 million bottles a year, weathered the 25% tariff Trump put on EU bottles during his first term by expanding her distribution in Europe, but she said, “200% is a whole different ball game”.

Europe sends more than €4.5bn ($4.89bn; £3.78bn) worth of wine each year to the US, which is its largest export market, according to the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins, which represents the European wine industry.

Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, secretary-general of the group, said if Trump carried through on his threats, it would destroy the market, costing thousands of jobs.

“There is no alternative to sell all this wine,” he said, pleading with the two sides to “keep wine out of this fight”.

Shares in the US fell again on Thursday.

The S&P 500 dropped nearly 1.4%, entering “correction” territory – when it drops 10% from its most recent peak. The Dow fell 1.3%, while the Nasdaq dropped almost 2%.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was flat, while Germany’s Dax dropped about 0.5% and in Paris, the Cac 40 fell 0.6%.

In interviews with US business media on Thursday, White House officials blamed the EU for escalating the dispute.

“Why are Europeans picking on Kentucky bourbon or Harley-Davidson motorcycles? It’s disrespectful,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg Television, describing the back-and-forth as “off the topic”.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that a trade war was likely to inflict more economic pain on the EU than on the US, dismissing concerns that the clash could spiral.

“One or two items, with one trading bloc – I’m not sure why that’s a big deal for the markets,” he said.

In an interview with the BBC’s HardTalk, European central bank president Christine Lagarde, said that the EU had “no choice” but to retaliate.

“At the moment, everybody is positioning,” she said, adding that she expected the two sides to sit down and negotiate.

“Everybody will suffer” if the dispute were to develop into a full blown trade war, she warned.

So far, Trump has shown little tolerance for retaliation from countries over the tariffs he has introduced.

Earlier this week, he blasted Canada with the threat of a 50% tariff on its steel and aluminium after the Canadian province of Ontario responded to new tariffs with a surcharge on electricity exports to the US.

He rescinded that threat after Ontario agreed to suspend the charges.

Former Trump adviser Stephen Moore, now an economist with the Heritage Foundation, said he thought the EU would have to make a concession to defuse the situation, noting that Trump had consistently voiced concerns about rules on agricultural products.

“Absolutely this is going to end up with a deal,” he said. “It’s only a question if it ends up in a deal in a day, a week, a month or six months, but there will eventually be a negotiated settlement.”

Donald Trump’s administration has put the 25% charge on all steel and aluminium imported into the country.

UK Steel director general Gareth Stace said the tariffs “couldn’t come at a worse time for the UK steel industry”.

Scunthorpe MP Sir Nic Dakin said the government was doing “everything it can to support our steel industry”.

The development comes after unions put forward a plan last month to keep blast furnaces in Scunthorpe open after they had been earmarked for closure, with a plan to switch to more energy-efficient electric arc furnaces.

Sir Nic said: “I understand that many people here in the Scunthorpe area will be concerned to read the news that the US has today imposed global tariffs on steel and aluminium.

“This is very disappointing. The US is one of our closest allies and trading partners – a relationship that has mutually benefited both sides of the Atlantic.”

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Stace said: “These tariffs couldn’t come at a worse time for the UK steel industry, as we battle with high energy costs and subdued demand at home, against an oversupplied and increasingly protectionist global landscape.”

It took less than 10 minutes for the European Union to respond.

“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and worse for consumers,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The EU’s initial countermeasures will take effect on US products on 1 April, ranging from jeans and motorbikes to peanut butter and bourbon, just as they were with the Trump administration’s first tariffs in 2018 and 2020.

But there will be more to come in mid-April. A whole swathe of textiles, home appliances, food and agricultural products could be included, depending on a two-week consultation with stakeholders.

A list of items almost 100 pages long is being circulated that features meat, dairy, fruit, wine and spirits, toilet seats, wood, coats, swimwear, nightdresses, shoes, chandeliers and lawnmowers.

For consumers, higher prices loom on Europe’s supermarket shelves, especially for American products. But for businesses and some industries, especially steel, there is real danger.

The head of Germany’s BGA federation of wholesale, foreign trade and service, Dirk Jandura, warned that Germans might have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for American products in the supermarkets.

Orange juice, bourbon and peanut butter were the most likely products to be hit. “Margins in trade are so low that this cannot be absorbed by the companies,” he said.

In total, the EU will target €26bn (£22bn) of US exports.

“We’re not going to go into hypotheticals other than to say we’ve been preparing assiduously for all these outcomes,” said EU spokesman Olof Gill.

António Costa, the EU’s Council President, called on the US to de-escalate, although there was little sign of that on Wednesday, as Trump vowed to hit back at the EU’s countermeasures.

“We’ve been abused for a long time and we will be abused no longer,” he said.

In Austria too, there was concern about the escalation.

“The US is the second most important export market for Austrian products after Germany – and the most important for Germany,” said Christoph Neumayer, who is head of the Federation of Austrian Industries. It was “essential that Europe acts together and decisively”, he added.

One EU official pointed out that products such as soybeans and orange juice could easily be sourced from Brazil or Argentina, so consumers would not be hit too hard.

And there was a suggestion that some of the US exports targeted were also from US states under Republican control: soybeans from Louisiana or meat from Nebraska and Kansas.

A relatively large number of US exports enter the EU via the Dutch port of Rotterdam or Antwerp in Belgium.

Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Dirk Beljaarts said nobody stood to benefit from a “tariffs war”, but he was hopeful it would not hit his own country’s economy too hard: “It has an impact on companies and consumers – particularly consumers in the US.”

One area that will be hit especially hard on both sides of the Atlantic is in the drinks sector.

Pauline Bastidon of Spirits Europe said producers in the EU and US stood united, with risks facing European companies that produced US spirits and US companies that were heavily invested in Europe.

Chris Swonger, of the US Distilled Spirits Council, said that in the three years since the suspension of the EU’s earlier 25% tariff on American whiskey, US distillers had “worked hard to regain solid footing in our largest export market”.

Reimposing tariffs from 1 April was “deeply disappointing” and he called for a return to “zero-for-zero” tariffs.

For cognac producers in France, the prospect of a 25% US import tax is also a major problem as most of their produce is for export, either to the US or China.

French producers have already been hit by Chinese measures that have slapped heavy taxes on cognac.

“Morale is down in the dumps,” Bastien Brusaferro of the general winegrowers’ union told France Info.

Thousands of jobs are at stake in the Charente region alone, he says: “Cognac is a product that’s made for export.”

There was a dire warning too from the head of the European Steel Association, Henrik Adam.

“President Trump’s ‘America First’ policy threatens to be a final nail in the coffin of the European steel industry,” he warned.

Trump’s initial tariffs on European steel in 2018 saw EU steel exports to the US fall by more than a million tonnes, and for every three tonnes of steel that did not enter the US, two-thirds of it entered the EU instead.

“These new measures imposed by Trump are more extensive, therefore the impact of the US tariffs is likely to be far greater.”

They are one of the cornerstones of US President Donald Trump’s second term and have left other countries scrambling to respond on an almost daily basis.

That uncertainty was underlined when 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium coming into the US went into effect overnight – with the EU responding by saying it will impose counter-measures on €26bn (£21.9bn, $28.3bn) worth of US goods.

The UK has said the tariffs are disappointing and Westminster will push for a trade deal – but, in the meantime, what of Northern Ireland?

It is somewhere that could be uniquely affected by the impact of both EU and UK tariffs – but businesses say they are trying to stay positive.

Politicians and businesspeople are in Washington DC this week in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day, making the case for US investment and trade in Northern Ireland.

For Bloc Blinds the potential of a changed trading relationship with the US brings different challenges.

The company has its headquarters in Magherafelt in County Londonderry but recently also opened a manufacturing site in Texas.

Blinds produced there and sold to the US market would not be subject to tariffs, but managing director Cormac Diamond said this did not mean he could take his eye off the ball.

“We have to be cognisant of the challenges of tariffs because in spite of doing our production in Dallas we are still serviced by a supply chain that is affected by tariffs,” he said.

“That said, since we are doing most of the added value within the Dallas plant itself we certainly have reduced exposure to tariffs.

“We’re pretty confident that we are in a secure position regarding tariffs, but tariffs can affect things both directly and indirectly. There may be some unforeseen events that we have not planned for.”

Mr Diamond said he was positive about the future of doing business in the US.

“The size of the market certainly excited us when we decided to embark on the US journey.

“There is a very positive approach to business in the US and you can see it in evidence of buildings, infrastructure, development etcetera.”

“Because it is so uncertain we are almost having to plough ahead regardless and just take that into consideration, when we have a bit more concrete information,” he said.

“It is very much about trying to keep the business going as normal, plan as much as we can for the future but not make anything too concreted because there is that level of uncertainty.”

The United States is a big market for Belfast watchmakers Nomadic, accounting for 22% of its sales.

Peter McAuley, the company’s founder, said there was huge potential for it to continue to grow there.

“It feels like we’ve barely scratched the surface of the potential, there is a really strong market,” he said.

“It’s not necessarily concentrated around the traditional Irish hubs that you might expect, it’s quite spread out across the entire country.”

Mr McAuley said that while he hoped Nomadic would be “a little bit protected” because of the luxury nature of the company’s products, he believed any tariffs would have an impact on sales.

Mr McAuley added that the business environment in the US still felt positive and he remained confident about the future of the trading relationship.

In 2022, Northern Ireland companies exported goods to the US with a value of £1.9bn.

That was the third biggest external market for goods behind GB (£11bn) and Ireland (£4.6bn).

Unlike the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland will be hitting the US with tariffs.

That is because of its unique – and complicated – post-Brexit trading status.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK’s customs territory and its exports are covered by the UK’s trade agreements.

Therefore exports from Northern Ireland are subject to the tariffs imposed on the UK by the US or any other country.

However, Northern Ireland is also effectively part of the European Union’s single market for goods and enforces EU customs rules at its ports.

That arrangement, called the Windsor Framework, was agreed by the UK and EU as a way of maintaining an open trade border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.

It has implications for how imports are treated as they arrive at Northern Ireland’s ports from outside the EU.

A key concept of the framework is whether goods arriving in NI are “at risk” of entering the EU.

Goods not at risk are covered by UK tariff rules; goods at risk are covered by EU tariff rules

All goods subject to EU “trade defence measures”, such as the retaliatory tariffs on the US, are always considered at risk.

Therefore when the EU’s tariffs apply next month Northern Ireland businesses will have to pay them.