Army Defuses Unexploded Mortar Shells In J&Ks Akhnoor Sector
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Turkeys Celebi sues India over vague clearance pullback amid Pakistan conflict
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Army Defuses Unexploded Mortar Shells In J&Ks Akhnoor Sector
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Mint
14 minutes ago
- Mint
What the US-Japan trade pact means for everyone else
As details trickle in about the U.S.-Japan trade agreement announced late Tuesday, analysts see a potential path for other trading partners, including South Korea and the European Union, to strike their own deals ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for tariffs to go into effect. The U.S. said it would impose 15% tariffs on Japan—lower than the 25% baseline duties threatened and lower than the 25% levies already imposed on their auto exports—and said Japan would invest $550 billion. Trump said the investment would be at his direction, with the U.S. reaping 90% of the profits. A White House official told Barron's that the 90% referred to returns on investment—like rent on a facility built with a fund financed by Japan—but further details were yet to be hashed out. Many analysts were awaiting that information to see what might be part of this commitment. Though the deal suggests that baseline tariffs will be higher than the 10% earlier expected as a universal tariff, it raised expectations that the worse-case scenarios of far higher tariffs, or an escalation in the trade war, weren't imminent. The S&P 500 hit a record high of 6352.63. The Japan deal is likely to light a fire under other trading partners to try to secure deals. Many geopolitical consultants say they expect the European Union and South Korea to hasten efforts to get deals, including on autos. Otherwise, their auto makers would be at a disadvantage, with their auto exports facing 25% tariffs, compared with the 15% Japan has agreed upon. 'More broadly, a lot of foreign governments' objectives have been to get the number below the prohibitive stage—25% to 35% stops most trade. If you get it below 20%, companies can manage it," said William Reinsch, former Commerce Department official and currently a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. South Korean negotiators have been in Washington, D.C., actively looking to secure a deal, according to trade analysts. The Wall Street Journal also reported Wednesday that the European Union is looking to secure an agreement as well, with tariffs at 15%, compared with the 30% threatened. 'If I'm the European Union, any hopes for 10% are gone and 15% is the focus; if I could mirror a Japan deal, that would be a win," said Owen Tedford, senior analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors. If Japan's agreement serves as a loose framework for deals, Tedford said, the pace of announcements could pick up in the days to Aug. 1. Analysts took special interest in the reduction in the sectoral tariffs on auto exports Japan managed to negotiate. These sectoral tariffs—both those already in place such as on autos and the 50% on aluminum and steel and those pending on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and other areas—have been a major sticking point in many of the trade negotiations. 'It demonstrates that the Trump administration is willing to negotiate on sectoral tariffs," said Monica Gorman, managing director at Crowell Global Advisors and a former White House and Commerce Department official. 'Other countries, including the EU, are almost certainly taking notice." The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. trade negotiators appear to be on board with a EU deal that includes lowering the duty on autos to 15%, though Trump hasn't yet signed off on such an arrangement. There is a precedent for such flexibility. Steel and aluminum levies initially introduced in the first Trump administration were eventually reduced through bilateral deals and the use of quotas, Reinsh said. Still unclear is whether Japan, or any other country, has been able to get assurances it will receive preferential treatment on the various sectoral tariffs that are pending, as the United Kingdom did in its agreement. One common theme in agreements is commitments to buy American—investing in the U.S. as the Trump administration tries to bring back manufacturing or purchasing U.S. agricultural products, Boeing planes, or natural gas. But trade veterans are skeptical about the impact of that. 'The history [of such commitments] is that the numbers start out big and end up being very small," Reinsh said. 'Plus, several of these investment commitments have been packaging of commitments made earlier or that were already in the works." While trade veterans see momentum building for more agreements, they note that most of those so far have been light on details. Instead of the typical text that accompanied past pacts, agreement terms have been mostly outlined in social media posts and comments from officials—with the version of what was agreed upon sometimes not syncing up, as was the case with Vietnam, Reinsh adds. Trade-deal announcements aren't equivalent to agreements. Investors should expect more negotiations, and more after those. Write to Reshma Kapadia at
Indian Express
14 minutes ago
- Indian Express
South Park opens new season with Donald Trump in bed with Satan, takes dig at Paramount for cancelling The Late Show
It seems that all bets are off, as South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have just made their stance against President Donald Trump very clear. The new season opened with the episode titled 'Sermon on the Mount', which covers everything from Trump's presidential run to his lawsuit with Paramount and the recent cancellation of The Late Show hosted by Stephen Colbert. The punches aren't subtle, and the messaging isn't layered, and the makers of the show didn't even spare their newly appointed parent company. The episode shows Trump in bed with Satan, who is obviously a regular on the show, and the president's picture seems to have been pasted upon an animated figure, probably to make sure no one gets confused about who they are talking about. We also see a deepfake video of Trump walking naked across the desert, and interestingly the entire episode is based on the idea of having Jesus in the schools of South Park. As it turns out, the parents of South Park don't want Jesus in the school, and Trump quickly reacts by threatening to sue the parents for protesting against this decision. Jesus himself is seen pleading with the parents to settle with the president. ALSO READ: Who would win between Lex Luthor and Galactus? The actors who played them were wondering the same thing Jesus' trip to the school in fact came because of a settlement agreement between Trump and Paramount, referencing the actual real-life lawsuit between the two parties. Jesus says, 'You guys saw what happened to CBS? Well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount. You really want to end up like Colbert? You guys have to stop being stupid… He also has the power to sue and take bribes, and he can do anything to anyone. It's the fucking president, dude… South Park is over.' The parents finally settle, and they are told to pay a certain amount of money along with the condition of creating some 'pro-Trump messaging'. What's even more interesting is that Trey Parker and Matt Stone just signed a $1.5 billion contract with Paramount for 50 episodes of South Park over the course of 5 years. All the previous episodes will also be available for customers with Paramount+. The entire story in the episode is covered by a talk show which is a parody of CBS' 60 Minutes, the news show which was at the centre of Trump's lawsuit against Paramount. While this is very on-brand for South Park, one wonders how long they will be able to create whatever they feel like with total freedom. Now with the new deal and Trump's son, who owns Skydance, aiming to acquire Paramount Global, the creators might not be able to do whatever they want.
Indian Express
14 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Nvidia AI chips worth $1 billion entered China despite US curbs: Report
Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence chips worth at least $1 billion were smuggled to China in the three months after Washington tightened chip export controls, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The AI chip designer's high-end B200 processors, banned for sale in China, is widely available on a thriving Chinese black market for US chips, the report said, citing sales contracts, company filings and multiple people with direct knowledge of the deals. Nvidia told Reuters that building data centers with smuggled products is inefficient both technically and financially, as the company only offers service and support for authorized products. The US Department of Commerce, White House and Thai government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the FT report. In May, multiple Chinese distributors started selling B200s to suppliers of data centers that serve Chinese AI groups, according to the report. The U.S. and China are battling for global dominance in AI and other cutting-edge technologies, triggering a tightrope walk for companies such as Nvidia between the world's two largest economies. Nvidia last week said it would be allowed to resume sales to China after the Trump administration reversed an export restriction on the sales of chips such as H20. The curbs were imposed in April. In the three months before that, Chinese distributors from Guangdong, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces sold Nvidia's B200s, as well as other restricted processors such as the H100 and H200, according to the report. Southeast Asian countries have become markets where Chinese groups obtained restricted chips, the report said, citing industry experts. The U.S. Commerce Department is discussing adding more export controls on advanced AI products to countries such as Thailand as soon as September, the report said.
