Trump pulls US from WHO pandemic reforms
Trump on returning to office on January 20 immediately began the withdrawal of the United States from the UN body, but the State Department said the language from last year would still have been binding on the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, who is a longtime critic of vaccines, said that the changes "risk unwarranted interference with our national sovereign right to make health policy."
"We will put Americans first in all our actions and we will not tolerate international policies that infringe on Americans' speech, privacy or personal liberties," they said in a joint statement.
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Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
US, China to launch new talks on tariff truce extension, easing path for Trump-Xi meeting
STOCKHOLM: Top US and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15% tariff on most EU goods exports to the U.S., including autos. The bloc will also buy $750 billion worth of American energy and make $600 billion worth of U.S. investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the U.S.-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. 'We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes,' Trump told reporters on Sunday before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. Deeper issues Previous U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing U.S. and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include U.S. complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that U.S. national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. US, China to resume tariff talks in effort to extend truce 'Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place,' said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 'I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome,' Kennedy said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption – a decades-long goal for U.S. policymakers. Analysts say the U.S.-China negotiations are far more complex than those with other Asian countries and will require more time. China's grip on the global market for rare earth minerals and magnets, used in everything from military hardware to car windshield wiper motors, has proved to be an effective leverage point on U.S. industries. Trump-XI meeting? In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said that a Trump-Xi summit would be an opportunity for the U.S. to lower the 20% tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl. In exchange, he said the Chinese side could make good on its 2020 pledge to increase purchases of U.S. farm products and other goods. 'The future prospect of the heads of state summit is very beneficial to the negotiations because everyone wants to reach an agreement or pave the way in advance,' Sun said. Still, China will likely request a reduction of multi-layered U.S. tariffs totaling 55% on most goods and further easing of U.S. high-tech export controls, analysts said. Beijing has argued that such purchases would help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, which reached $295.5 billion in 2024.
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
Thai and Cambodian leaders head to Malaysia for peace talks
BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH: The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia were set to hold talks in Malaysia on Monday to reach a ceasefire in their deadly border dispute, with the United States saying its officials would be assisting in the peace process. Thailand's government said it was attending talks arranged by Malaysia in its role as chair of the regional ASEAN bloc, while Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said the talks were co-organised by the United States with the participation of China. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said State Department officials were in Malaysia to assist peace efforts, after President Donald Trump had earlier said that he thought both leaders wanted to settle the conflict. 'We want this conflict to end as soon as possible,' Rubio said in statement released late on Sunday in the U.S. and early Monday in Asia. 'State Department officials are on the ground in Malaysia to assist these peace efforts.' Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have intensified since the killing in late May of a Cambodian soldier during a brief border skirmish. Border troops on both sides were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. Hostilities broke out last Thursday and have escalated into the worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in more than a decade. The death toll has risen above 30, including more than 20 civilians, while authorities report that more than 200,000 people have been evacuated from border areas. Anwar to chair talks Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had proposed ceasefire talks soon after the border dispute erupted into conflict on Thursday, and China and the United States also offered to assist in negotiations. Thailand had said it supported calls for a ceasefire in principle but wanted to negotiate bilaterally, while Cambodia had called for international involvement. Thai-Cambodia border shelling continues despite Trump's ceasefire call Anwar said he expected to chair the negotiations after being asked by representatives of the two governments to try to find a peace settlement, state media agency Bernama reported. 'So, I'm discussing the parameters, the conditions, but what is important is (an) immediate ceasefire,' he said late on Sunday.
Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Malaysia to mediate Thailand-Cambodia peace talks
Military vehicles are seen in Sisaket province, as Cambodia and Thailand each said the other had launched artillery attacks across contested border areas early on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said the leaders of both countries had agreed to work on a ceasefire, Thailand, July 27, 2025. Photo: Reuters Thailand and Cambodia's leaders will meet in Malaysia for peace talks on Monday, as the countries clashed for a fourth day in a deadly border dispute. At least 34 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced as the countries, both popular tourist destinations, fight over a smattering of contested border temples. Bangkok announced on Sunday that acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet will meet for talks mediated by Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the ASEAN regional bloc of which Thailand and Cambodia are members. Anwar said the expected talks were to focus on an immediate ceasefire between the two fighting neighbours. "They (government representatives of Cambodia and Thailand) have asked me to try and negotiate a peace settlement," the Bernama national news agency quoted Anwar as saying late Sunday. "I'm discussing the parameters, the conditions, but what is important is (an) immediate ceasefire," the Malaysian premier said. Cambodia has not commented on the planned talks, which are due to begin at 3:00 pm (0700 GMT). US President Donald Trump, who spoke to both leaders late Saturday, said they had agreed to "quickly work out" a ceasefire. Trump has threatened both nations with eye-watering levies in his global tariff blitz unless they agree to independent trade deals. "When all is done, and Peace is at hand, I look forward to concluding our Trading Agreements with both!" he wrote on social media. Fresh artillery clashes erupted on Sunday morning near two long-contested ancient temples in the frontier region between northern Cambodia and northeast Thailand which has seen the bulk of the fighting.
