US Congress adopts budget paving way for Trump tax giveaway

The Republican-led US Congress adopted a budget Thursday that unlocks trillions of dollars for President Donald Trump’s agenda, jump-starting what Democrats say is a plan to dismantle social welfare in favor of tax cuts for the rich.House Speaker Mike Johnson said the blueprint would deliver on promises Trump made in his election campaign, including “historic” spending reductions, as well as an extension of his expiring 2017 tax relief.”We want to make government more efficient, effective and leaner for the American people, and I think that will serve every American of every party, and we’re happy to do that,” Johnson told reporters in a briefing at the US Capitol.But opponents say the framework will trigger a major downsizing of essential services, after Trump’s tech billionaire advisor Elon Musk led a campaign of slashing federal agencies.The budget resolution raises the country’s borrowing limit by $5 trillion to cover a renewal of Trump’s expiring 2017 tax cuts through 2034, expected to add roughly the same amount to the country’s debt.Democrats say it is the opening salvo in long-held Republican plans — spelled out last year in the conservative Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” manifesto — to drastically rein in the federal bureaucracy. The budget blueprint, which passed the House after getting the green light Saturday in the Senate, sets targets for overall spending and mandates $4 billion in cuts.But Republican leaders in both chambers are eyeing much more ambitious savings of $1.5 trillion, including $880 billion that opponents say would have to come mostly from the Medicaid health care program for low income families. Democrats have voiced fears that Trump will also break his promise not to touch Social Security — the federal welfare program for seniors and the disabled that makes up more than fifth of federal spending.- ‘Massive tax breaks’ -They argue that Trump’s 2017 tax cuts disproportionately benefited wealthy individuals and corporations, and extending them would compound inequality.House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted Republicans for what he called “the largest Medicaid cut in American history in order to pass massive tax breaks for your billionaire donors like Elon Musk.””House Republicans broke their promise to address the high cost of living and they lied about their intention to enact their extreme Project 2025 agenda,” he said in a letter to his members.”The harm being unleashed by Donald Trump and the (Republicans) is staggering.” The two sides of Congress were required to adopt identical versions of the budget before lawmakers can move on Trump’s domestic agenda, led by the tax relief, beefed-up border security and boosted energy production.It advanced from the Senate with votes to spare but barely made it through the rubber-stamp vote in the House, put in jeopardy by a rank-and-file rebellion over spending cuts.Both chambers of Congress are Republican-led but right-wing fiscal hawks in the House were furious over what they saw as insufficient cuts in the final version, after it was amended by the Senate.Johnson vowed to pursue his much more ambitious $1.5 trillion spending cuts figure, and this public commitment appeared to have assuaged some on his back benches.Final passage of the budget will be a relief to Trump, after opposition within his party exposed limits to his iron grip and raised doubts over the Republicans’ ability to coalesce around his agenda.

Le recyclage du plastique stagne à moins de 10% des volumes produits dans le monde, selon une étude

La part du plastique recyclé stagne à moins de 10% des volumes produits dans le monde, la vaste majorité des plastiques étant toujours fabriquée à base de matières premières fossiles, selon une étude publiée jeudi.Des chercheurs de l’université de Tsinghua à Pékin ont établi une première analyse détaillée du secteur du plastique en 2022 en se fondant sur des statistiques nationales, des bases de données internationales et des rapports publiés par les industriels, dans la revue Communications Earth & Environment.Seulement 9,5% des 400 millions de tonnes de plastique produits l’ont été à partir de matériaux recyclés en 2022 — un taux quasi stable donc, mais sur des volumes totaux qui explosent. Le reste a été fabriqué à partir de matières fossiles, essentiellement le pétrole et le gaz.Ces conclusions sont publiées alors que les négociations en vue de parvenir à un traité international contre la pollution plastique ont pour l’instant échoué, après une réunion infructueuse en décembre à Busan en Corée du sud. Une nouvelle session doit se tenir du 5 au 14 août à Genève.Des millions de tonnes finissent chaque année dans la nature ou dans les océans, sous forme de micro-plastique qui s’infiltre dans les nappes d’eau, dans les aliments et même dans le corps humain. Le cycle de vie du plastique représente aussi quelque 4% des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre.Le recyclage est compliqué par la présence de restes de nourriture ou d’étiquettes sur les emballages ou encore la diversité et la complexité des additifs employés dans les matériaux.Un autre obstacle est économique: il est souvent moins cher de produire du plastique vierge que de le recycler. “Cette barrière économique décourage l’investissement dans des infrastructures et des technologies de recyclage, perpétuant ainsi le cycle des faibles taux de recyclage”, écrivent les chercheurs.Ils ont identifié les États-Unis, premier consommateur de plastique par habitant, comme ayant l’un des plus faibles taux de recyclage, à seulement 5%.Ils ont aussi noté un changement “significatif” avec un déclin de la mise en décharge et environ un tiers des déchets plastiques étant désormais incinérés.

OpenAI countersues Musk as feud deepens

Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI has filed counterclaims against multi-billionaire Elon Musk, accusing its former co-founder of waging a “relentless campaign” to damage the organization after it achieved success without him.In legal documents filed Wednesday in northern California’s federal court, OpenAI alleges Musk became hostile toward the company after abandoning it years before its breakthrough achievements with ChatGPT.”Musk could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed,” OpenAI said in the filing.The lawsuit is the latest round in a bitter feud between the generative AI (genAI) start-up and the world’s richest man, who sued OpenAI last year, accusing the company of betraying its founding mission.In its countersuit, the company alleges Musk “made it his project to take down OpenAI, and to build a direct competitor that would seize the technological lead — not for humanity but for Elon Musk.”Musk founded his own genAI startup, xAI, in 2023, and has invested tens of billions of dollars to compete with OpenAI and the other major AI players.OpenAI was established in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab with the mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI) — the term used for human-level AI — would “benefit all humanity.”Musk was among its initial backers alongside CEO Sam Altman, giving a key investment to get the project up and running.According to the counterclaims, Musk’s involvement was short-lived.The filing alleges that in 2018, Musk departed after OpenAI’s leadership refused “to bow to Musk’s demands for control of the enterprise or, alternatively, its absorption into Musk’s electric car company, Tesla.”OpenAI also contends that Musk never fulfilled his financial commitment to the organization, delivering “not even close” to a promised $1 billion.The company is now valued at $300 billion after its latest funding round of $40 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup.OpenAI claims that Musk’s assault has included press attacks and malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk’s more than 200 million followers on X, the platform he owns, as well as “a sham bid for OpenAI’s assets.”The legal battle between Altman and Musk has intensified amid OpenAI’s plans for a restructuring that would transform the company into a public benefit corporation while maintaining the nonprofit parent organization.OpenAI claims Musk is deliberately misrepresenting this move as a full conversion from nonprofit to for-profit status.The AI lab is seeking an injunction to halt Musk’s “further unlawful and unfair action” and compensation for damages allegedly caused by his actions.OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup.

STMicroelectronics précise sa transformation malgré la brouille entre coactionnaires français et italien

Le groupe franco-italien de composants électroniques STMicroelectronics a détaillé jeudi la poursuite de son plan de transformation de l’entreprise, avec “jusqu’à 2.800” départs volontaires à l’échelle mondiale, sur fond de passe d’armes entre Paris et Rome au sujet de son PDG.Au cœur d’une montée des tensions entre ses coactionnaires, la France et l’Italie, amorcée mercredi, le groupe a déroulé plusieurs points de son projet de “remodelage de son empreinte industrielle et de redimensionnement de sa base de coûts globale”. “Jusqu’à 2.800 personnes” pourraient ainsi être concernées par des départs à l’échelle mondiale sur une période de trois ans et “sur la base du volontariat”.Ces départs s’ajouteront à “l’attrition naturelle” des effectifs et “devraient intervenir principalement en 2026 et 2027″, a précisé STMicroelectronics. Le détail des pays et des sites concernés n’a pas encore été indiqué.En parallèle, l’entreprise aux 50.000 salariés dans le monde a indiqué qu’elle concentrerait ses investissements des prochaines années sur quelques modèles essentiels à la construction de semi-conducteurs, et mise sur l’intelligence artificielle (IA) pour augmenter la productivité de ses sites.”En nous concentrant sur des infrastructures de fabrication de pointe et sur les technologies +mainstream+ (les plus vendues, NDLR), nous continuerons à tirer parti de tous nos sites existants, avec des missions redéfinies pour certains d’entre eux afin de soutenir leurs succès à long terme”, a indiqué le PDG du groupe Jean-Marc Chéry, cité dans le communiqué. Les contours du projet, annoncé en octobre, ont commencé à se dessiner fin janvier, quand STMicroelectronics a indiqué prévoir des économies sur ses charges d’exploitation à hauteur de 300 à 360 millions de dollars (entre 288 et 345 millions d’euros) à l’horizon 2027.- Opposition franco-italienne -Ces annonces surviennent en parallèle d’une vive montée des tensions entre Rome et Paris. Les deux pays, qui détiennent conjointement 27,5% des parts du groupe, tiennent des positions diamétralement opposées sur la gouvernance de l’entreprise et son PDG. Nommé en 2018, renouvelé pour un mandat de trois ans en 2023, Jean-Marc Chéry a vu le ministre italien des Finances Giancarlo Giorgetti lui retirer son soutien, dans des propos rapportés mercredi par Bloomberg et confirmés par le gouvernement à l’AFP. Une prise de position en lien avec le refus du conseil de surveillance de l’entreprise de soutenir l’une des deux candidatures proposées par Rome pour intégrer cette instance interne, qualifié d'”incompréhensible, très grave et inacceptable”. Le directeur général de Bpifrance et président du conseil de surveillance de STMicroelectronics, Nicolas Dufourcq, s’est inscrit en faux : selon lui, ce rejet de la candidature de Marcello Sala n’est en rien le fait de la France, mais des membres indépendants. Le conseil de surveillance a réaffirmé son soutien à M. Chéry jeudi.Rome, en parallèle, ne dévie pas de sa position. L’Italie compte proposer à nouveau M. Sala, proche de la Première ministre Giorgia Meloni, pour le poste resté vacant. Jeudi, un autre ministre italien, Adolfo Urso, en charge des Entreprises, s’est rangé aux côtés de son collègue de l’exécutif. “C’est le moment de s’attaquer aux questions liées au développement industriel et donc aux investissements en Italie”, a martelé M. Urso, avant que le groupe n’annonce les détails de son plan de transformation. STMicroelectronics, qui a enregistré sur l’année 2024 une baisse de plus de 60% de son bénéfice, à 1,56 milliard de dollars (1,5 milliard d’euros), doit en parallèle faire face à une “class action”, ou action de groupe, lancée à l’été 2024 aux États-Unis. Dans sa plainte, un actionnaire reproche à Jean-Marc Chéry et au directeur financier du groupe, Lorenzo Grandi, d’avoir fourni “des déclarations extrêmement positives” avant la publication de mauvais résultats qui ont provoqué la chute du cours de Bourse.Le conseil de surveillance a qualifié de “fausses” les accusations portées contre les membres de la direction d’avoir vendu leurs actions avant publication des résultats. “Les ventes d’actions effectuées pendant la période d’interdiction de la société ont été réalisées par l’administrateur du plan d’actions de la société, par le biais d’une procédure automatique, afin de se conformer aux règles fiscales suisses”, a indiqué l’organe.Il assure ainsi que “la société dispose d’une bonne défense contre les allégations” à son encontre. 

Lebanon’s civil war fighters working for reconciliation, 50 years on

Near front lines where they once battled each other, former fighters in Lebanon’s civil war now gather to bear the same message, half a century after the devastating conflict erupted: never again.The war killed 150,000 people, destroyed the country and left an indelible mark on the Lebanese psyche.Years after it ended in 1990, some buildings in the freewheeling capital remain riddled with bullet holes, and 17,000 people who went missing were never found.”It was a useless war,” said Georges Mazraani, a Christian who took up arms in Beirut’s working-class neighbourhood of Ain al-Remmaneh, where the conflict started.The Christian district is separated from the Muslim neighbourhood of Shiyah by just one street that went on to become a key front line.On April 13, 1975, members of the right-wing Christian Phalange militia machine-gunned a bus of Palestinians, leaving 27 dead, hours after assailants opened fire outside a nearby church, killing one of theirs.The incident that ignited the war remains seared in Lebanon’s memory.- ‘Reconciliation’ -The country had been on a knife-edge, with Palestinian fighters, and their Lebanese leftist and Muslim allies preparing for a confrontation against Christian groups, who were doing the same.For 15 years, a country once known as “the Switzerland of the Middle East” was ravaged by war along sectarian lines, with alliances shifting year after year with warlords building and breaking loyalties.And while the civil war ended in 1990, Lebanon has never recovered its former glory, remaining until 2005 under Syrian control, and with part of the country under Israeli occupation for two decades.Now grey, Mazraani was just 21 when he and other young men in his neighbourhood took up arms. He later went on to command hundreds of fighters.”I lost 17 years of my life and 14 family members,” he said, now 71 and ill.Near him plaques commemorating the “martyrs” of the Christian “resistance” adorn street corners.Today, “some people are encouraging civil war in Lebanon”, Mazraani said.”They should be quiet and open up to reconciliation, so we can be finished with this problem.” – ‘Ask for forgiveness’ -With Mazraani is Nassim Assaad, who fought for the Lebanese Communist Party, a onetime foe.”It’s the poor” on both sides “who paid the price”, not the militia leaders, said Assaad, who was 18 when the war began.He and Mazraani are now part of Fighters for Peace, which brings together former enemies for peace-building activities including community outreach and awareness-raising at schools and universities.Assaad said many people were worried about a possible return to civil war in the country still reeling from a recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.”Today, the circumstances are even more conducive for it than in 1975,” he said.The key issue dividing Lebanon today is the arsenal of Hezbollah, the only group which refused to surrender its weapons to the state after the civil war ended.In Shiyah, the fighters of old have disappeared.Israel’s 1982 invasion and siege of Beirut dislodged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his fighters, while the leftist presence was replaced by Hezbollah, created with Iranian backing that year to fight the Israeli troops.The civil war ended with the Saudi-brokered Taif agreement, which established a new power-sharing system between Lebanon’s religious sects.An amnesty for war crimes left victims and their families without justice, and the country has chosen collective amnesia in order to move on.”We must go back over our experience of war and ask for forgiveness in order to reach a real reconciliation,” said Ziad Saab, president of Fighters for Peace. The power-sharing system was meant to be temporary, but in practice has enshrined the control of some former warlords, who swapped their military fatigues for suits, or their family members.Still today, periodic violence shakes the fragile balance.- ‘Lessons of the past’ -In the town of Souk al-Gharb, overlooking Beirut, former fighters from different backgrounds walk through grass covering the old front line to an abandoned bunker.The strategic town saw ferocious battles during the Mountain War between Christians and Druze that began in the wake of the Israeli invasion.”When I walk here, I’m afraid — not of mines, but because the ground is stained with the blood of my comrades,” said Soud Bou Shebl, 60, who fought with Christian militia the Lebanese Forces.Karam al-Aridi, 63, who led Druze fighters from the Progressive Socialist Party, said “war only causes death and problems”, saying his village of Baysur alone lost 140 men.”We must learn the lessons of the past,” he said. “No party must feel stronger than another, otherwise our country will be lost.”

Airbags Takata: Toyota et Mercedes vont aussi immobiliser des véhicules en France, selon le ministère des Transports

Les constructeurs automobiles Toyota et Mercedes vont devoir immobiliser à leur tour des milliers de véhicules en France pour changer leurs airbags, rendus dangereux par des composants défectueux, a indiqué jeudi le ministère français des Transports.Comme l’ont déjà fait Citroën et Volkswagen, Toyota et Mercedes vont notamment devoir identifier et rappeler “prochainement” vingt modèles commercialisés entre 2001 et 2018, en déconseillant à leur propriétaire de rouler tant que la réparation n’a pas été faite (une procédure appelée “stop drive”). Des populaires Toyota Yaris (produites entre 2001 et 2017) et Corolla (2001-2010) sont notamment concernées, ainsi que les Mercedes Classe A II produites entre 2004 et 2016 et Classe C II et III (2004-2016). Les airbags de 2,3 millions de véhicules restent encore à remplacer en métropole, a précisé le ministère dans un communiqué. Un porte-parole de Toyota a confirmé le lancement prochain d’une campagne de rappel en métropole après celle lancée outre-mer.Les propriétaires concernés doivent consulter le numéro d’identification de leur véhicule sur leur carte grise et vérifier sur le site internet des constructeurs.La situation des véhicules de la marque Chevrolet, plus rares sur les routes françaises, est également “sous surveillance particulière suite à des signalements”, a précisé le ministère dans un communiqué. Le scandale des airbags du fabricant japonais secoue le secteur de l’automobile depuis 2014: à cause d’un gaz qui vieillit mal, ces équipements de sécurité risquent d’exploser en projetant des pièces au visage des conducteurs. En France, 29 accidents liés à ces airbags ont été recensés, provoquant 11 décès outre-mer et un en métropole, selon le ministère des Transports. Le ministère des Transports oblige désormais les constructeurs automobiles à intensifier la recherche des véhicules encore équipés d’airbags dangereux, sous peine de lourdes sanctions financières, allant jusqu’à un million d’euros par jour de retard, selon un arrêté transmis à des concessionnaires le 7 avril et consulté par l’AFP.Les constructeurs doivent notamment “adresser un nouveau courrier à l’ensemble des propriétaires de véhicule concernés, leur demandant d’arrêter de conduire leur véhicule et de procéder au changement de leur airbag”, et mettre en place “un système d’information centralisé permettant un suivi des véhicules concernés” jusqu’au remplacement effectif de l’airbag.

Wall Street rally fizzles as tariff worries resurface

Wall Street shares fell Thursday as a rally faded over lingering concerns about the economic fallout from President Donald Trump’s trade war despite his U-turn on steep new tariffs.A larger-than-expected drop in US consumer inflation in March added to the pessimistic outlook, as it suggested that uncertainty over Trump’s tariff plans has already taken a toll on the world’s largest economy.Investors in response sold off the dollar, which had already taken a hit from the trade war worries, even though slowing inflation would give the Federal Reserve more room to cut interest rates to spur growth.”Is inflation moving sustainably lower or did businesses and consumers pull in the reins as they brace for an economic slowdown?” said Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at the eToro trading platform.”Getting lower inflation due to a material drop in economic activity — and thereby jeopardising the economy — isn’t the best route to take,” he added.Wall Street indices on Wednesday had posted their biggest one-day gains since 2008 after Trump announced the tariff pause, which had sent stocks lower around the globe in recent sessions.Asian and European markets staged their own rallies on Thursday.The shock decision to delay bigger levies on goods from scores of countries by 90 days drove the European Union to put its counter-tariffs on hold.The trade war fears had also pummelled US Treasuries — normally considered the safest option in times of crisis — a sign of how nervous investors had become.”The bottom line is that the tariff narrative still remains too volatile for comfort, and markets are searching for equilibrium in a sea of uncertainty,” said Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at StoneX.Trump nonetheless kept a baseline 10 percent tariff intact and ramped up his trade war with Beijing by hiking duties Chinese goods to 125 percent after facing strong retaliation.But Chinese markets still benefitted from the relief rally across Asia and Europe on Thursday, also gaining support from optimism that Beijing will unveil fresh stimulus measures to support its economy.Hong Kong rose more than two percent — a third day of gains after collapsing more than 13 percent on Monday, its worst trading day since the Asian financial crisis in 1997. “Crucially, we are currently still on course for a disorderly economic decoupling between the world’s two largest economies, with no immediate signs of either US or China backing down,” said Jim Reid, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. US Treasury yields have edged down after a successful auction of $38 billion in notes.That eased pressure on the bond market, which had fanned worries that investors were losing confidence in the United States.Tech firms were the standout performers, with Sony, Sharp, Panasonic and SoftBank chalking up double-digit gains, while airlines, car makers and casinos also enjoyed strong buying.Gold climbed two percent to $3,140 an ounce — closing in on its record touched last month — thanks to the weaker dollar and the metal’s safe-haven status. Oil prices dropped after bouncing more than four percent Wednesday, again under pressure from concerns about the global economy and its impact on demand.- Key figures around 1350 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 1.8 percent at 39,878.20New York – S&P 500: DOWN 2.1 percent at 5,339.21New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 2.8 percent at 16,641.78London – FTSE 100: UP 3.9 percent at 7,979.04 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 4.9 percent at 7,200.24Frankfurt – DAX: UP 5.3 percent at 20,704.23 Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 9.1 percent at 34,609.00 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 20,681.78 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.2 percent at 3,223.64 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1130 from $1.0948 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.80 yen from 147.82 yen on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2928 from $1.2810Euro/pound: UP at 86.12 pence from 85.45 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.5 percent at $59.51 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 4.2 percent at $62.73 per barrel

Bétharram: François Bayrou entendu par la commission d’enquête le 14 mai

La commission d’enquête parlementaire sur les violences et les contrôles de l’État dans les établissements scolaires entendra le Premier ministre François Bayrou le 14 mai en tant qu’ancien ministre de l’Éducation nationale (1993-1997).Accusé par la gauche d’avoir menti sur sa connaissance des violences et agressions sexuelles au collège-lycée de Bétharram (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), qui a été fréquenté par plusieurs de ses enfants, François Bayrou a toujours “récusé” tout mensonge, parlant de “polémiques artificielles”. L’entourage du Premier ministre a confirmé à l’AFP qu’il se rendra bien devant la commission conduite par les co-rapporteurs Paul Vannier (LFI) et Violette Spillebout (Ensemble pour la République).”Il n’y a aucun nouvel élément” et “j’ai donné sur cette affaire tous les éléments”, a déclaré François Bayrou à la presse lors d’un déplacement à Lyon, le 13 mars.La commission d’enquête a également annoncé lors d’une conférence de presse à l’Assemblée nationale vouloir rencontrer les anciens ministres de l’Éducation nationale Nicole Belloubet, Pap N’Diaye, Jean-Michel Blanquer et l’actuelle ministre Élisabeth Borne.Évoquant les auditions de jeudi, notamment celle d’un ex-gendarme qui a répété qu’un magistrat lui avait parlé d’une “intervention” de François Bayrou quand il enquêtait sur des faits de viol visant un religieux de l’établissement en 1998, M. Vannier a jugé que ces propos “contredisent point par point” les déclarations de l’actuel Premier ministre sur le sujet.”Je pense que François Bayrou a menti”, a affirmé le député insoumis en parlant des témoignages entendus jeudi matin.La députée Spillebout a considéré de son côté que “pendant des dizaines d’années des établissements privés sous contrat n’ont vu aucun inspecteur (…) il va falloir que ça change”.

EU halts counter-tariffs but no pause in US-China trade war

The EU paused plans for retaliatory tariffs on US goods Thursday after President Donald Trump abruptly suspended higher US duties on the bloc and other countries, leaving China in the crosshairs of his trade war.Trump’s about-face on Wednesday triggered a massive market rebound but Wall Street’s rally fizzled on Thursday and the dollar slumped, as investors remain on edge over the outlook for the world economy.The US president halted steep tariffs on scores of nations for 90 days. But he kept a global baseline tariff of 10 percent intact and punished Beijing for retaliating by slapping a 125 percent duty on its goods.The European Union, which had faced a 20 percent tariff, welcomed Trump’s U-turn, saying it was an “important step towards stabilising the global economy”.The 27-nation bloc responded with its own olive branch, suspending for 90 days tariffs on 20 billion euros’ worth of US goods that had been greenlit in retaliation to duties on steel and aluminium.”We want to give negotiations a chance,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.She warned, however, that “if negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in” and that all options remain on the table.Other countries are also lining up to bargain.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Trump’s reversal a “welcome reprieve” and said Ottawa would begin negotiations with Washington on a new economic deal after elections on April 28.Vietnam said it had agreed with the United States to start trade talks, while Pakistan is sending a delegation to Washington.- China hits Hollywood -But there was no let-up in Trump’s trade war with China, which said the US tariffs policy “goes against the will of the world and goes against the whole world”.The heightened tariffs against China took effect at the same time as retaliatory levies of 84 percent imposed by Beijing on US imports.Beijing added Hollywood to its target list on Thursday as it announced it would “moderately reduce” the number of US films it imports.But China’s commerce ministry said the door remained open for dialogue.”We hope the US will meet China halfway, and, based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, properly resolve differences through dialogue and consultation,” Commerce Ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian said.Trump has predicted that trade deals will be made with all countries, including China, which has for now refused to roll back retaliatory tariffs on US goods.”A deal’s going to be made with China. A deal’s going to be made with every one of them,” Trump said at the White House. However,  China’s leaders “don’t quite know how to go about it”.Trump believes his policy will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the United States.The billionaire former property tycoon has particularly raged against China, accusing it of excess production and “dumping” inexpensive goods on other economies.- ‘A little queasy’ -Markets have been on a roller-coaster ride since Trump announced his tariff plans last week, with the 10 percent global levy taking effect on Saturday and the higher ones on Wednesday before the pause.Investors also began to dump US government bonds — a major economic red light since American sovereign debt is normally seen as a haven for investors in troubled times.”I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy,” Trump said Wednesday, though he denied that he backtracked on the tariffs.Wall Street’s main index were all down more than two percent as trading resumed on Thursday, a day after the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 12 percent higher and the S&P 500 surged 9.5 percent.Asia and Europe caught up on Thursday, with Tokyo closing 9.1 percent higher as the Japanese government welcomed the tariff pause but demanded that other levies be halted.Paris and Frankfurt were up more than five percent in afternoon deals while London rose 4.5 percent.”This will go down in American history as the greatest trade negotiating day we have ever had,” said Trump’s senior trade advisor Peter Navarro.”We’re in a beautiful position for the next 90 days” to seek trade deals with partners, he told ABC News, adding that more than 75 have sought to negotiate with Washington.burs-oho-lth/phz