World powers on Thursday blasted US President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on imported vehicles and parts, urging retaliation as trade tensions intensify and price hikes appear on the horizon.Major car exporter Germany called for a firm response from the European Union, while Japan said it “will consider all options.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that the “old relationship” of deep economic, security and military ties with Washington “is over,” adding that he expected to speak with Trump in the next day or two.The 25 percent US duties, which take effect on April 3 at 12:01 am (0401 GMT), impact foreign-made cars, light trucks and vehicle parts.Experts warn of higher vehicle costs, and Italian carmaker Ferrari said it would raise prices on many models sold to the United States by up to 10 percent from next week.Global stock markets slumped with shares in automakers like Toyota, Hyundai, Mercedes and others falling. Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower as shares in General Motors and Ford fell.French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said the only solution for the European Union is to “raise tariffs on American products in response.”Carney, who earlier called the tariffs a “direct attack” on his country’s workers, said he convened a meeting to discuss trade options.Trump stepped up threats overnight, saying on social media that Canada and the EU could face “far larger” surcharges if they worked together “to do economic harm to the USA.”- Price surge -JPMorgan analysts estimate the tariffs on vehicles and parts over time could cause an increase of around $4,000 to $5,300 in average auto prices.It said around 82 percent of Ford’s US sales are produced domestically, with the corresponding figures for Stellantis at 71 percent and General Motors at 53 percent.The American Automotive Policy Council representing the big three automakers warned tariffs must be implemented in a way that “avoids raising prices for consumers” and preserves the industry’s competitiveness.Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association president Brian Kingston said the measures would bring higher costs for producers and consumers, alongside “a less competitive industry.”While Trump invoked emergency economic powers for some earlier tariffs, his auto levies build on a government investigation completed in 2019.- ‘Cheaters’ -About one in two cars sold in the United States are manufactured in the country. Among imports, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany also major suppliers.The White House estimates that of the US-made cars, their average domestic content is likely around 40 percent.Top Trump trade aide Peter Navarro on Wednesday blasted “foreign trade cheaters” who he said turned the US manufacturing sector into a “lower wage assembly operation for foreign parts.”He took aim at Germany and Japan for reserving construction of higher-value parts to their countries.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has imposed tariffs on imports from major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China — alongside a 25 percent duty on steel and aluminum.The latest levies add to those already in place for autos.But the White House said vehicles entering the United States under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower rate depending on their American content.USMCA-compliant auto parts will remain tariff-free as officials establish a process to target their non-US content.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said tariffs were contrary to the North American trade deal, but noted her country would wait until April before responding.- ‘Bargaining chip’ -Uncertainty over Trump’s trade plans have roiled financial markets, while consumer confidence slips.Trump has defended tariffs as a way to raise government revenue and revitalize US industry.Targeting imported cars however would have “a devastating impact” on many close US trading partners, said Asia Society Policy Institute vice president Wendy Cutler.Abby Samp of Oxford Economics said she expects “additional investments in US plants could be used as a bargaining chip to lower tariffs.”Besides automobiles, Trump is considering other sector-specific tariffs, including on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber.He has promised “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies tailored to different trading partners, to address practices deemed unfair.

Lawyers for the Associated Press (AP) urged a federal judge on Thursday to restore the news agency’s reporters access to the White House press pool that covers US President Donald Trump’s events.AP journalists and photographers have been barred from the Oval Office and traveling on Air Force One since February 11, because of the outlet’s decision to continue referring to the “Gulf of Mexico” — and not the “Gulf of America” as decreed by Trump.District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, did not issue a ruling at the conclusion of a hearing in the case on Thursday but said he would do so in a “timely fashion.” The AP, in a suit filed against three White House officials, said the denial of access to the wire service violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press.AP lawyer Charles Tobin said at the hearing that the exclusion of the AP from certain official White House events was “abject retaliation” that has had “an adverse impact and chilling effect on the entire journalism industry.”Evan Vucci, chief White House photographer for the AP, testified that the access ban has left the agency “struggling to keep up.””It’s hurting us big time. We are basically dead in the water on major news stories,” said Vucci, who took the iconic photograph of Trump pumping his fist in the air after an assassination attempt last year.Two weeks after barring the AP, the White House stripped journalists of the nearly century-old power to decide which of the profession’s own number will be members of a pool of reporters and photographers covering presidential events.On Air Force One, the press pool consists of 13 newspaper and wire service reporters, photographers and TV and radio reporters, while for events in the White House itself it is slightly larger.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the independent White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) would no longer have a “monopoly” on choosing members of the press pool.- ‘No First Amendment right of access’ -Brian Hudak, a Justice Department attorney, said at Thursday’s hearing that pool membership is at the discretion of the White House and the president.”There is no First Amendment right of access to the press beyond what is afforded to the general public,” Hudak said.Tobin said the AP has not been admitted to the press pool for 44 days. “The White House changed its policy to a rotation system that happens to exclude the AP,” he said.”The only thing that seems to be consistent is that the AP is not allowed,” added Vucci.The WHCA — of which AFP is a member — condemned the decision by the White House to choose pool members, saying it “tears at the independence of the free press.” In its style guide, the AP notes that the Gulf of Mexico has “carried that name for more than 400 years” and the agency “will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.””As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” the AP said.The 180-year-old organization has long been a pillar of US journalism and provides news to print, TV and radio outlets across the United States and around the world.

A US judge ordered Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday to preserve messages from a chat group used by top national security officials to discuss plans for an attack on Yemen’s Huthi rebels.The ruling adds to the pressure on the White House after the Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor had been accidentally added to the group on the commercially-available Signal app.Republican Trump has dismissed the scandal as a “witch-hunt” while attacking the Atlantic and its editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who broke the story earlier this week.District Judge James Boasberg — who has already incurred Trump’s wrath after ruling against the administration in a separate migration case — said he would order the government to “preserve all Signal communication between March 11 and March 15.”He also ordered the government to file details by Monday showing the steps it had taken to preserve the messages.The dates cover the period between when National Security Advisor Mike Waltz set up the chat — and mistakenly added Goldberg — and the day of deadly US airstrikes on the Iran-backed Huthis.The Atlantic said that Waltz had set some of the Signal messages to disappear after one week, and others after four. “That raises questions about whether the officials may have violated federal records law,” Goldberg wrote.The magazine published the full chat on Wednesday, including sensational messages in which Hegseth revealed the timings of strikes hours before they happened and details of planes and missiles used.Waltz sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing that US forces had identified the target “walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”Trump has largely pinned the blame on Waltz — saying he had admitted he was “responsible” — while denying that any classified material was shared in the group.But he has also dismissed calls by Democrats for top officials to resign and insisted instead on what he called the success of the raids on the Yemeni rebels.- ‘Mistake’ -Trump had also launched a fresh attack on Boasberg the night before the latest ruling, saying it was “disgraceful” that he was dealing with the Signal case and calling the judge “highly conflicted.”The president earlier this month called for Boasberg to be impeached after the judge barring the administration’s use of an obscure wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador.Pressure continues to mount on the White House over “Signalgate,” however.The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee issued a bipartisan call on Thursday for a Pentagon watchdog to probe the claims in the Atlantic.”If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information,” said a letter from Republican committee chair Roger Wicker and ranking Democrat Jack Reed.Democrats have claimed that the lives of US service members could have been put at risk by the breach, and the row has raised serious questions about potential intelligence risks.Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the prospect of a watchdog investigation “doesn’t bother me.”White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that “we have never denied that this was a mistake” and insisted that Waltz had taken “responsibility.”- ‘Successful mission’ -US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday that the breach was unlikely to face a criminal investigation.”It was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released, and what we should be talking about is that it was a very successful mission,” Bondi told a news conference.Washington has vowed to use overwhelming force against the Huthis until they stop firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with the rebels threatening to resume attacks in protest over the Gaza war.The Huthis said Thursday they had targeted an Israeli airport and army site as well as a US warship, soon after Israel reported intercepting missiles launched from Yemen.