US will not fight any more 'open-ended conflicts', JD Vance says
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The Guardian
34 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump tariffs explained: what's changed and why have Asian countries been hit so hard?
US President Donald Trump has ramped up threats to impose punishing tariffs on more than a dozen nations unless they can broker a deal before 1 August, marking the latest phase in his trade war. The tax duties stem from Trump's so-called 'reciprocal' tariff package that was first announced in April, but then delayed for 90 days to allow for negotiations. That deadline, initially scheduled to end this week, has now been pushed back to August. The shifting timeline of the most significant US tariff increases in nearly a century has roiled global markets and caused widespread confusion, with the US administration far off from sealing the '90 deals in 90 days' it had initially promised. If you are perplexed by Trump's tariffs here is the latest. Trump informed powerhouse suppliers Japan, South Korea and 12 other nations at the start of this week that they will face tariffs of at least 25% starting from August unless they can quickly negotiate deals. He also threatened to increase them if any countries retaliate, or tried to circumvent tariffs by sending goods through other nations. Trump has kept much of the world guessing on the outcome of months of talks with countries hoping to avoid the hefty tariff hikes he has threatened. The rate for South Korea is the same as Trump initially announced, while the rate for Japan is one percentage point higher than that announced in April. Fourteen countries have been given notice this week of the looming tariffs increase, with more expected to follow in the coming days. The steep tariff rates range from 25-40% with some of the harshest levies imposed on developing nations in southeast Asia, including 32% for Indonesia, 36% for Cambodia and Thailand and 40% on Laos, and Myanmar, a country riven by years of civil war. Manufacturing hub Bangladesh faces 35%, while Tunisia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been slapped with a 30% tariff unless they can reach a deal. Trump granted a 90-day pause this April to allow for time to broker trade deals, but only two deals have been reached. The first deal with the UK, signed on 8 May, includes a 10% of most UK goods, including cars, and zero tariffs for steel and aluminium. A second deal was reached with Vietnam last week that sets a 20% tariff for much of its exports, although the full details are unclear, with no text released. Relations with China, after escalating into a major trade war, have reached a delicate truce. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said he expected several trade announcements in the next 48 hours, adding that his inbox was full of last-ditch offers from affected nations. South Korea's president convened an emergency meeting and its trade ministry said the country would use the extended deadline to negotiate 'mutually beneficial results'. The EU reportedly aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday. Meanwhile other nations such as South Africa have hit back, with the country's president Cyril Ramaphosa saying the 30% US tariff rate was unjustified given that 77% of US goods enter South Africa with zero tariffs. US stocks have fallen in response, the latest market turmoil as Trump's trade moves have roiled financial markets and sent policymakers scrambling to protect their economies. The S&P 500 closed down about 0.8%, its biggest drop in three weeks. US-listed shares of Japanese automotive companies fell, with Toyota Motor closing down 4% and Honda Motor off by 3.9%. The US dollar has had its worst first half-year in more than 50 years. 'Tariff talk has sucked the wind out of the sails of the market,' Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, told Reuters. Countries in Asia have been hit with some of the most punitive tariffs due to what Trump claims is their unfair trade deficits – meaning they export more to the US than they import. However, analysts have questions the merit of using these calculations and also suggested that Trump may instead be trying to punish China, by targeting countries that receive substantial investment from the world's second-largest economy. Several nations in Southeast Asia, a region that accounted for 7.2% of global GDP in 2024, are also major manufacturing hubs for goods such as textiles and footwear, meaning they will be severely affected by tariffs, while conversely prices for such goods will also rise in the US. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing this week that more countries would be informed of looming tariffs this week. Trump was 'close' on other deals, she added, but 'wants to ensure these are the best deals possible'. However, the minimal progress on deals to date highlights what trade experts say is the reality of trade agreements – that they are time-consuming and complicated.
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Reverend boyfriend of Houston mayoral appointee breaks silence to disavow 'inappropriate' Camp Mystic flood comments
A Texas reverend has issued a damning statement disavowing his girlfriend after she criticized a camp where 27 little girls and their counselors perished in floodwaters. Reverend Colin Bossen, a senior minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, issued a statement to congregants on Monday slamming cruel comments made by his partner Sade Perkins about the Fourth of July weekend tragedy. Perkins condemned the 'whites only conservative Christian camp' and said MAGA loyalists 'would be saying they deserve it and that it's God's will' if the children who died were Latino or LGBTQI. When she was publicly denounced for her comments, she doubled down in a series of increasingly unhinged videos, first blaming Trump for the once-in-a-generation floods and then addressed 'racism and white supremacy.' In a statement obtained by reverend Bossen slammed his partner's remarks and reassured congregants he disagreed with her. 'My partner Sadé Perkins has made comments on social media regarding the horrific flooding that devastated Camp Mystic,' he wrote. 'I want to be clear that I disavow her comments.' Reverend Bossen accepted that even though 'she was not speaking on my behalf or on behalf of my congregation... her comments have caused harm to many who are experiencing terrible loss and anxiety. 'I believe strongly that all people have inherent worthiness and dignity. 'Her comments were not in the spirit of the Unitarian Universalist values centered around love that my congregation and I share.' He said he was 'deeply sorry for the harm' Perkins has 'caused to the Camp Mystic families and the members of the community of Central Texas and along the Guadalupe River who are grieving or anxiously awaiting word about their loved ones. 'I apologize to my congregation who has experienced harm because of her comments. I will continue to work to repair the harm this incident has caused.' The board president of the church, Joan Waddill, also issued a statement trying to distance her church from Perkins' controversial remarks. 'Like everybody in Texas, indeed any person who has heard of the terrible loss of life along the Guadalupe River, we are shocked and saddened by the enormity of our loss,' she said. 'Our core values include a belief in the interconnected web of life and the value of every individual. Thus, we find ourselves in mourning.' Waddill said Perkins 'is affiliated with our church, but not a member or on our staff' when referring to the 'offensive remarks on social media about these deaths' she made. 'She was not speaking for the church, but only for herself. Indeed, her comments contradict the core values of our church. 'We are horrified to be associated with these comments. 'We extend a hand to this person to try to help her recognize the insensitivity of her behavior while we extend our other hand and what help we might provide to the families who have been devastated by these deaths.' Perkins issued her first critique of the camp just hours after the heavy deluge ripped through in the early hours of the Fourth of July, sweeping away cabins which housed primarily eight and nine year old campgoers and their counselors. 'I know I'm going to get cancelled for this, but Camp Mystic is a white-only girls' Christian camp,' she raged on TikTok as girls were still missing. 'They don't even have a token Asian. They don't have a token black person. It's an all-white, white-only conservative Christian camp.' Perkins was admonished by Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who said he would take steps to remove her from the City's Food Insecurity Board. 'The comments shared on social media are deeply inappropriate and have no place in decent society, especially as families grieve the confirmed deaths and the ongoing search for the missing,' Whitmire said. Reverend Bossen accepted that even though 'she was not speaking on my behalf or on behalf of my congregation... her comments have caused harm to many who are experiencing terrible loss and anxiety' Whitmire said steps were being taken immediately 'to remove her permanently from the board' and vowed he 'has no plans to reappoint her.' But Perkins had no regrets after being publicly scolded by the mayor, instead doubling down on her extraordinary attack on the camp. 'You people are f**king crazy, you people are insane,' she said of her critics. 'And the video is still up and I still stand behind - 10 toes down on the motherf***ing ground. 'That s**t is racism and white supremacy, period. 'If it was Hispanic kids, if it was LGBTQ kids that got swept away y'all wouldnt give a f**k and them same MAGA people would be saying they deserve it and that it's God's will, so f**k all y'all.' Addressing Mayor Whitmire's comments head-on, Perkins said: 'Mayor Whitmire is a piece of s**t.' She blamed Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for the tragedy, describing it as 'totally preventable.' She complained she had become 'the scapegoat to cover up for the f***up of a flood', instead arguing the 'reason' for the natural disaster was 'of course your friendly MAGA Trump up there in the White House.' Sade Perkins vented her frustrations against the 'whites only Christian camp' hours after a heavy deluge ripped through Camp Mystic in Hunt on the Fourth of July 'I did not cause the flood, nor did I cause the failure from the National Weather Service and FEMA. Those were done by design, by the Lieutenant, and by the Governor, and your f***ing President,' she said. In all, at least 104 people perished in the flash flooding, including 27 campers and their counselors. Another 10 campers and one counselor, 19-year-old Katherine Ferruzzo, remain missing. A tragic photo of 13 campers and their two counselors has emerged from Camp Mystic, showing a group of girls who were inside one of the cabins which was swept away in the unprecedented floods. Renee Smajstrla, eight, Janie Hunt, nine, and Alabama native Sarah Marsh, 8, all perished when the camp was washed away by the flood waters. Best friends Lila Bonner, 9, and Eloise Peck, 8, were also killed in the devastating flooding. The bodies of Anna Margaret Bellows, 8, Lainey Landry, 9, and camp counselor Chloe Childress were recovered on Sunday evening. Camp Mystic director Richard 'Dick' Eastland, 70, was also among the casualties. He died while trying to rescue campers from the biblical rushing waters as they struck his grounds. The camp director's wife, Tweety, was found safe at their home. The Eastlands have owned and operated Camp Mystic since 1974, and many viewed him as a father figure at the camp. 'It doesn't surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers,' The Kerrville Daily Times guest columnist Paige Sumner said in a tribute to Eastland. Governor Abbott said the banks of the Guadalupe River, where some 750 girls had been staying when the floodwaters hit, had been 'horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I've seen in any natural disaster.' 'The height the rushing water reached to the top of the cabins was shocking,' he said on X after visiting the camp on Saturday. Photos show the summer camp was destroyed after the deadly floodwaters wrecked the grounds. Windows in the cabins were shattered and the interiors were completely covered in mud, with campers belongings in disarray. Camp Mystic was due to celebrate its hundredth year, and has a long and illustrious history as the camp of choice for well-off families in Texas. The daughter of multiple governors and former First Lady Laura Bush are just some of the alumni. Nine-year-old Janie Hunt, who perished in the floods, was the great-granddaughter of late billionaire William Herbert Hunt, whose brother was the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Anthony Albanese accused of getting 'cozy' with China and neglecting US
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused of sidelining Australia's alliance with the United States ahead of his upcoming trip to China. Albanese acknowledged Australia's pivot towards the United States during World War II during a speech at an event commemorating former Labor leader John Curtin. 'John Curtin is rightly honoured as the founder of Australia's alliance with the United States, a pillar of our foreign policy that commands bipartisan support, respect and affection,' he told the crowd on Saturday. 'But our alliance with the US ought to be remembered as a product of Curtin's leadership in defence and foreign policy, not the extent of it. In an allusion to ongoing tensions in the AUKUS agreement, Albanese said Australia should be not be 'shackled to our past'. 'So we remember Curtin not just because he looked to America. We honour him because he spoke for Australia, he said. The comments, framed as Albanese's 'progressive patriotism', have drawn criticism for downplaying Australia's alliance with the US at a critical time. The address came just weeks after US President Donald Trump cancelled his scheduled face-to-face meeting with Albanese at the G7 Summit in Canada, to deal with escalations in the Middle East. It also follows Australia rejecting calls from Washington to raise defence spending from around two to five per cent of GDP. At the same time, key NATO allies have agreed to ramp up their military budgets to the 5 per cent target, following a summit in The Hague and pressure from the US. Sky News host Paul Murray said Albanese's attempt to draw similarities between present day and the Curtin-era was 'taking the piss'. 'What I did find offensive about the suggestion from the speech on Saturday was, "Oh, well, this is just like John Curtin. We know how to balance things",' he said. 'The only reason we need to build up our military is because of China, not because of America.' Meanwhile, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan called on Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong to be more transparent about their foreign policy strategy. 'I think the Australian people deserve to know, does the Albanese government view America as the most important friend and ally to our country... which has been the case since John Curtin made that shift,' he told Sky News. 'Or do they think we should replace the United States with the likes of a dictatorial communist regime in Beijing?' Opposition Leader Sussan Ley also criticised the Curtin speech, saying Albanese needed to do more to build on the alliance in the United States. 'At a time of global uncertainty, growing conflict and a growing list of issues in the Australia-United States relationship, now is a time to build our influence in Washington, not diminish it,' Ley said in a statement. 'Many Australians will wonder whether this speech at this time was in our national interest, given so many things crucial to Australia's future are currently being considered by the US administration.' It is understood that artificial intelligence, healthcare and a revised trade agreement will be top of the agenda when Albanese meets with his Chinese counterpart. It has also been reported the PM will address the potential sale of Darwin Port. In 2015, Chinese company Landbridge secured a 99-year lease over Darwin Port in a deal struck by the Northern Territory's then-Country Liberal Government, at a time when Anthony Albanese was serving as the federal infrastructure minister.
