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Stock markets diverged while the dollar strengthened Monday as countries fought to hammer out trade deals ahead of US President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline.Oil prices rose, even if OPEC and its allies agreed over the weekend to increase output more than expected.”Tariff threats look likely to take centre stage yet again this week, following further developments over the weekend,” noted Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.Trump announced he would send the first tariff letters to various countries on Monday ahead of his deadline Wednesday for trading partners to reach a deal expires.He warned that US levies on imports will snap back to the high levels he set in April if countries failed to make agreements. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, however, that the measures would not be applied until August 1, instead of the July 9 cut-off that had been set by Trump.Trade Nation analyst David Morrison said added time wasn’t calming markets.”While (Bessent) downplayed the idea of this being a ‘new deadline’, the market took little comfort, interpreting the remarks as an extension of trade risks,” he said.The White House has said several deals were in the pipeline but only two have been finalised so far, with Britain and Vietnam. Major trading nations, including Japan, India, the European Union and South Korea, have fought for the past three months to get agreements.Uncertainty prevails, with Trump declaring that an extra 10 percent import levy would be added to any country “aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS” — the 11-member alliance including Brazil, Russia, India and China.Despite the tariff uncertainty, official data Monday showed German industrial production rose strongly in May, boosting hopes that Europe’s top economy has turned a corner. The news boosted German equities which gained 1.2 percent for the day.Paris added 0.4 percent, while London dipped 0.2 percent.Asia’s main stock markets mostly steadied.Wall Street slipped after record finishes by the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Thursday before the long holiday weekend in the United States.”There is a little trade uncertainty in the mix today… but it isn’t a stretch to think the market is also simply adhering to some consolidation interest after making such a massive run,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. – OPEC+ hike -The oil market was also in focus after Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other key members of the OPEC+ alliance said they would increase oil output in August by 548,000 barrels per day, more than expected.The group said in a statement that “a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories” led to the decision.IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said that crude prices would ordinarily be expected to drop when additional supply is being brought to market.”Crude’s strength today suggests that buying momentum is clearly picking up,” he said.”The bearish theme that has dominated for so long seems to have run its course, even if more increases are expected in September,” he added.Shares in Shell dropped around 2.9 percent after the British energy giant posted a weak trading update.- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.7 percent at 44,513.28 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,242.40New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 20,461.12London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,806.53 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,723.47 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1.2 percent at 24,073.67 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 39,587.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 23,887.83 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,473.13 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1732 from $1.1783 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3640 from $1.3641Dollar/yen: UP at 145.86 yen from 144.53 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.04 pence from 86.37 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1. percent at $69. per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0. percent at $67. per barrelburs-rl/tw

Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy faces a critical week as the US president races to secure the bilateral deals he promised, ahead of a shifting deadline for re-imposing steep tariffs on dozens of economies.Trump is due to send a first batch of letters to up to 15 trading partners from noon local time (1600 GMT), warning that US levies on imports will snap back to elevated levels if foreign governments fail to reach agreements with Washington.The duties will not bounce back until August 1, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said over the weekend, a move that appears to give more room for dealmaking.Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on imports from almost all trading partners in early April, but some economies including the European Union were slated to have this rate increase further.As markets plunged at the time, Trump halted the steeper levies to allow for talks. That pause expires on Wednesday.”We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours,” Bessent told CNBC in an interview Monday.”We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,” Bessent said.He reiterated that higher tariff rates for countries would not return until August 1.There was no immediate response from the White House on whether Trump would formally extend the Wednesday deadline.Asked about the letters Trump plans to send out, Bessent said these would inform partners of the tariff rate their products face when trading with the United States, unless they want to “come back and try to negotiate.”- Limited results? -While the Trump administration has signaled hopes of striking dozens of deals by early July, there have been limited results so far.Washington has unveiled pacts only with Britain and Vietnam, while the United States and China agreed to temporarily lower tariff levels on each other’s products that earlier reached three-digits.Bessent told CNBC Monday that he would “be meeting with my Chinese counterpart sometime in the next couple of weeks.”The two sides have so far held high-level talks in Geneva and London.But Washington and Beijing’s pause on tit-for-tat tariffs is due to expire in mid-August.On whether he was disappointed in the number of trade deals achieved so far, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro maintained that he is “happy with the progress we’ve had.””Every country that we run a major deficit with is fully engaged,” he told CNBC on Monday.On Sunday night, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Washington would deliver “tariff letters” or deals to various countries on Monday.In a separate post that night, Trump threatened another 10 percent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “Anti-American policies” after they slammed his duties at a summit.For now, partners are still rushing to avert Trump’s tariffs altogether.The European Commission said that EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had a “good exchange” with Trump on trade when the pair spoke Sunday.Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, however, said Sunday that he “won’t easily compromise” in trade talks with Washington.

European stock markets and the dollar strengthened Monday as countries fought to hammer out trade deals days before US President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline.Oil prices rose, even if OPEC and its allies agreed over the weekend to increase output more than expected.”Tariff threats look likely to take centre stage yet again this week, following further developments over the weekend,” noted Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.Trump announced he would send the first tariff letters to various countries on Monday ahead of his deadline Wednesday for trading partners to reach a deal expires.He warned that US levies on imports will snap back to the high levels he set in April if countries failed to make agreements. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, however, that the measures would not be applied until August 1.While the White House has said several deals were in the pipeline, only two have been finalised ahead of the July 9 cut-off set by Trump.Governments from major trading partners including Japan, India, the European Union and South Korea have fought for the past three months to get agreements.Uncertainty prevails, with Trump declaring that an extra 10 percent import levy would be added to any country “aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS” — an 11-member alliance including Brazil, Russia, India and China.Despite the tariff uncertainty, official data Monday showed German industrial production rose strongly in May, boosting hopes that Europe’s top economy has turned a corner. The news helped to lift German equities more than in London and Paris.Asia’s main stock markets mostly steadied.- OPEC+ hike -The oil market was also in focus after Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other key members of the OPEC+ alliance said they would increase oil output in August by 548,000 barrels per day, more than expected.The group said in a statement that “a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories” led to the decision. Shares in Shell dropped 3.2 percent around midday after the British energy giant posted a weak trading update.- Key figures at around 1040 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,828.24 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 7,704.63Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 23,944.13Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 39,587.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 23,887.83 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,473.13 (close)New York: Closed for a public holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1726 from $1.1783 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3598 from $1.3641Dollar/yen: UP at 145.46 yen from 144.53 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.35 pence from 86.37 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $68.75 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $67.08 per barrelburs-bcp/ajb/rl

Equities struggled Monday as countries fought to hammer out trade deals days before Donald Trump’s tariff deadline, with the US president saying he would begin sending letters to some capitals outlining the rates he had decided upon.While the White House has said several deals were in the pipeline, only two have been finalised ahead of the July 9 cut-off set by Trump.Governments from major trading partners including Japan, India, the European Union and South Korea have fought for the past three months to get agreements.But Trump said he will send his first tariff letters at 1600 GMT Monday, setting out what Washington will charge for doing business with the United States.He said an extra 10 percent would be added to any country “aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS”, an 11-member alliance including Brazil, Russia, India and China.”I am pleased to announce that the UNITED STATES TARIFF Letters, and/or Deals, with various Countries from around the World, will be delivered starting 12:00 P.M. (Eastern), Monday, July 7th,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.The announcement on BRICS came after leaders of the group warned Trump’s “indiscriminate” import tariffs risked hurting the global economy.The deadline for a deal is Wednesday, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Sunday that the measures would not be applied until August 1.”It’s not a new deadline. We are saying, this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,” Bessent told CNN.He said the rates will then “boomerang back” to the sometimes very high levels Trump announced on April 2, before the president suspended the levies to allow for trade talks. “I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” Bessent said.The president told reporters Sunday on Air Force One that “I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal”, adding that some deals have already been made.Tariff uncertainty weighed on equity markets, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok all down, though there were small gains in Singapore, Seoul, Jakarta and Manila. Shanghai was flat.London fell at the open, Paris was flat and Frankfurt edged up.”Whether deadlines get extended remains uncertain given Trump’s unpredictable style,” said IG market analyst Fabien Yip. “Our base case expects several important trade partners to agree on a high-level basis before the deadline.”This would provide more time for detailed discussions over the following two months. The other risk factor is sector-specific tariffs covering semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and materials may also be announced in due course.”Oil prices slipped after Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers in the OPEC+ alliance said they would boost output far more than expected in August, fuelling demand worries just as Trump’s tariffs are about to begin.The group said “a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories” led to the decision to further hike output. – Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 39,587.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 23,887.83 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,473.13 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,810.80 West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $66.54 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $68.26 per barrelEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1750 from $1.1783 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3607 from $1.3641Dollar/yen: UP at 145.20 yen from 144.53 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.35 pence from 86.37 penceNew York: Closed for a public holiday

BRICS leaders at a summit on Sunday took aim at US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” import tariffs and recent Israeli-US strikes on Iran.The 11 emerging nations — including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — account for about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output.The bloc is divided about much, but found common cause when it comes to the mercurial US leader and his stop-start tariff wars — even if it avoided naming him directly.Voicing “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff” measures, BRICS members said the tariffs risked hurting the global economy, according to a summit joint statement.Trump fired back at the bloc directly on social media Sunday night. “Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.Earlier, BRICS also offered symbolic backing to fellow member Iran, condemning a series of military strikes on nuclear and other targets carried out by Israel and the United States.In April, Trump threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties, before offering a months-long reprieve in the face of a fierce market sell-off.Trump has warned he will impose unilateral levies on partners unless they reach “deals” by August 1.In an apparent concession to US allies such as Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia, the summit declaration did not criticize the United States or its president by name at any point.  – No show -Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to US and western European power.But as the group has expanded to include Iran, Saudi Arabia and others, it has struggled to reach meaningful consensus on issues from the Gaza war to challenging US global dominance.BRICS nations, for example, collectively called for a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict — despite Tehran’s long-standing position that Israel should be destroyed. An Iranian diplomatic source said his government’s “reservations” had been conveyed to Brazilian hosts. Still, Iran — a BRICS member since 2023 — stopped short of rejecting the statement outright.The bloc also called for an “immediate” ceasefire and the “full withdrawal of Israeli forces” from the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been at war with Palestinian militant group Hamas for 21 months. Hamas’s armed wing welcomed BRICS’s position, calling on them to “exert pressure” on Israel to “lift the criminal siege imposed on two and a quarter million people.”In perhaps a further sign of the diplomatic sensitivities, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister skipped Sunday’s discussions entirely, according to a Brazilian government source.Saudi Arabia is among the world’s leading beneficiaries of high-tech US military exports and is a long-standing US partner.The political punch of this year’s summit has been depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who skipped the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.The Chinese leader is not the only notable absentee. Russian President Vladimir Putin, charged with war crimes in Ukraine, also opted to stay away, participating via video link.He told counterparts that BRICS had become a key player in global governance.The summit also called for regulation governing artificial intelligence and said the technology could not be the preserve of only rich nations.The commercial AI sector is currently dominated by US tech giants, although China and other nations have rapidly developing capacity.

US President Donald Trump announced he would send the first tariff letters to various countries on Monday, days before his deadline for trading partners to reach a deal expires.Trump said on Sunday that he will send a first batch of up to 15 letters, warning that US levies on imports will snap back to the high levels he set in April if countries fail to make agreements. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the tariffs would not “boomerang” back until August 1 — giving some extra breathing space for dealmaking on a subject that has injected uncertainty into global markets.”I am pleased to announce that the UNITED STATES TARIFF Letters, and/or Deals, with various Countries from around the World, will be delivered starting 12:00 P.M. (Eastern), Monday, July 7th,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.In a later post he threatened a further 10 percent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of “anti-Americanism” after they slammed his tariffs at a summit on Sunday.Trump had announced sweeping tariffs on April 2 — which he called “Liberation Day” — imposing a 10 percent duty on imports from almost all trading partners. Some countries, including some within the European Union, were slated to have far higher rates as well.As markets plunged Trump paused the tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks — a deadline which expires on Wednesday.But so far there have been limited results, with Washington unveiling deals only with Britain and Vietnam, while agreeing with China to temporarily lower staggeringly high levies on each other’s products.Trump told reporters as he boarded Air Force One earlier Sunday that it “could be 12, could be 15” letters that he would send on Monday.- ‘Maximum pressure’ -“I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal,” Trump said, adding that some deals had been made already.Standing at his side, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed tariffs would kick in on August 1 but denied that it was a way of delaying the deadline. “The President is setting the rates and the deals right now.”Bessent also denied that Trump was setting a new deadline with the August 1 date.”It’s not a new deadline. We are saying, this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,” he said.Bessent added that the playbook was to apply “maximum pressure” and cited the European Union as an example, saying they are “making very good progress” after a slow start.Earlier he hinted at “several big announcements” on deals in coming days but would not say with which countries.EU and US negotiators are holding talks over the weekend, and France’s finance minister said Saturday he hoped they could strike a deal as well.Other countries were still expressing unease, however.Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday he “won’t easily compromise” in trade talks with Washington.And BRICS leaders of fast-growing economies meeting in Rio de Janeiro raised “serious concerns” that the “indiscriminate” import tariffs were illegal and risked hurting global trade.Trump lashed out at the group — which comprises 11 nations including Brazil, Russia, India and China — in response.”Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote.

Most Asian markets fell Monday as countries fought to hammer out trade deals days before Donald Trump’s tariff deadline, though investors took heart after he said the levies would not kick in until the start of next month.While the White House has said several deals were in the pipeline, only two have been finalised ahead of the July 9 cut-off set by the US president.Governments from major trading partners including Japan, India, the European Union and South Korea have fought for the past three months to get agreements.But Trump said he will send his first tariff letters at 1600 GMT Monday, setting out what Washington will charge for doing business with the United States.He said an extra 10 percent would be added to any country “aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS”, an 11-member alliance including Brazil, Russia, India and China.The announcement came after leaders of the group warned Trump’s “indiscriminate” import tariffs risked hurting the global economy.The deadline for a deal is Wednesday, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Sunday that the measures would not be applied until August 1.”It’s not a new deadline. We are saying, this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,” Bessent told CNN.He said the rates will then “boomerang back” to the sometimes very high levels Trump announced on April 2, before the president suspended the levies to allow for trade talks. “I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” Bessent said. The president told reporters Sunday on Air Force One that “I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal”, adding that some deals have already been made.Tariff uncertainty weighed on equity markets, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington and Taipei all down, though there were small gains in Singapore, Seoul, Manila and Jakarta.Wall Street was closed Friday for a holiday.”Whether deadlines get extended remains uncertain given Trump’s unpredictable style,” said IG market analyst Fabien Yip. “Our base case expects several important trade partners to agree on a high-level basis before the deadline.”This would provide more time for detailed discussions over the following two months. The other risk factor is sector-specific tariffs covering semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and materials may also be announced in due course.”Oil prices sank after Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers in the OPEC+ alliance said they would boost output far more than expected in August, fuelling demand worries just as Trump’s tariffs are about to begin.The group said “a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories” led to the decision to further hike output. – Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 39,628.41 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 23,842.39Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,467.81West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $65.81 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $67.61 per barrelEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1773 from $1.1783 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3634 from $1.3641Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.51 yen from 144.53 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.34 pence from 86.37 penceNew York: Closed for a public holidayLondon – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,822.91 (close)

US President Donald Trump has said he will send letters to select trade partners facing tariff hikes as early as Monday, piling pressure on countries to strike a deal with Washington before a new August 1 deadline.The White House announced sharp levies on dozens of economies in April, citing a lack of “reciprocity” in trade relations, which were set to kick in on Wednesday, July 9.Trump announced on Friday the levies’ imposition would be pushed to August 1 to allow time for talks to wrap up, but said he signed 12 letters to inform some countries of rate hikes, which will likely be sent on Monday.With Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the administration was “close to several deals,” where do things stand for economies from Taiwan to the European Union?- EU: ‘Ready’ for deal -The European Union said it is “ready for a deal” with Washington, with the bloc’s trade chief meeting his US counterparts Thursday.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was targeting an “agreement in principle” when it came to the initial July 9 cutoff.Bessent said the European Union is “making very good progress” after a slow start.With no deal, the US tariff on EU goods doubles from the “baseline” of 10 percent to 20 percent — with Trump previously threatening a 50 percent level.- Vietnam: A pact with uncertainties -Washington and Hanoi unveiled a trade pact Wednesday with much fanfare and few details, but it allowed Vietnam to avoid Trump’s initial 46 percent tariff.Under the agreement, Vietnamese goods face a minimum 20 percent tariff while products made elsewhere face a 40 percent levy — a clause to restrict “transshipping” by Chinese groups.But there remain questions on how the higher levy would apply to products using foreign parts.There is also a risk that Beijing will adopt retaliatory measures, analysts warned.- Japan: Rice, autos at stake -Despite being a close US ally and major source of foreign investment, Japan might not escape Trump’s tariff hike.Tokyo’s trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa has made numerous trips to Washington through the end of June.But Trump recently criticized what he described as Japan’s reluctance to open up further to US rice and auto exports.”I’m not sure we’re going to make a deal,” Trump said, adding that the country could pay a tariff of “30 percent, 35 percent, or whatever the number is that we determine.”- India: A good position -Indian manufacturers and exporters want to believe they can avoid a 26 percent tariff.Negotiations between both countries have been going well for weeks, and Trump himself suggested at the end of June that a “very big” agreement was imminent.Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, said the feedback he received “suggests positive developments.” But he maintained that the situation was fluid. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stressed that agriculture and dairy products remain “very big red lines.”- South Korea: Muted optimism -Seoul, which is already reeling from US tariffs on steel and autos, wants to avert a sweeping 25 percent levy on its other exports.Cooperation in shipbuilding could be a bargaining chip, but “at this stage, both sides still haven’t clearly defined what exactly they want,” said new President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday.”I can’t say with confidence that we’ll be able to wrap everything up by July 8,” he added.- Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan in the wings -Other Asian economies including Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, which faces a 49 percent tariff, wait with bated breath.Indonesia has indicated willingness to boost energy, agriculture and merchandise imports from the United States. Bangladesh is proposing to buy Boeing planes and step up imports of US agriculture products.Taiwan, for whom Washington is a vital security partner, faces a 32 percent duty without a pact.Although both sides have faced bumps along the way, Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said “negotiators from both sides are working diligently” to find a path forward.- Switzerland: Hope for delay -Switzerland’s government said Washington has acknowledged it was acting in good faith, and assumes its tariff level will remain at 10 percent on July 9 while negotiations continue.But without a decision by the president as of the end of June, Switzerland did not rule out that levies could still rise to a promised 31 percent.burs-jug-bys/jgc/aks/aha

In the heart of Data Center Alley — a patch of suburban Washington where much of the world’s internet traffic flows — Visa operates its global fraud command center.The numbers that the payments giant grapples with are enormous. Every year, $15 trillion flows through Visa’s networks, representing roughly 15 percent of the world’s economy. And bad actors constantly try to syphon off some of that money.Modern fraudsters vary dramatically in sophistication.To stay ahead, Visa has invested $12 billion over the past five years building AI-powered cyber fraud detection capabilities, knowing that criminals are also spending big.”You have everybody from a single individual threat actor looking to make a quick buck all the way to really corporatized criminal organizations that generate tens or hundreds of millions of dollars annually from fraud and scam activities,” Michael Jabbara, Visa’s global head of fraud solutions, told AFP during a tour of the company’s security campus.”These organizations are very structured in how they operate.”The best-resourced criminal syndicates now focus on scams that directly target consumers, enticing them into purchases or transactions by manipulating their emotions.”Consumers are continuously vulnerable. They can be exploited, and that’s where we’ve seen a much higher incidence of attacks recently,” Jabbara said.- Scam centers -The warning signs are clear: anything that seems too good to be true online is suspicious, and romance opportunities with strangers from distant countries are especially dangerous.”What you don’t realize is that the person you’re chatting with is more likely than not in a place like Myanmar,” Jabbara warned.He said human-trafficking victims are forced to work in multi-billion-dollar cyber scam centers built by Asian crime networks in Myanmar’s lawless border regions. The most up-to-date fraud techniques are systematic and quietly devastating. Once criminals obtain your card information, they automatically distribute it across numerous merchant websites that generate small recurring charges — amounts low enough that victims may not notice for months.Some of these operations increasingly resemble legitimate tech companies, offering services and digital products to fraudsters much like Google or Microsoft cater to businesses.On the dark web, criminals can purchase comprehensive fraud toolkits. “You can buy the software. You can buy a tutorial on how to use the software. You can get access to a mule network on the ground or you can get access to a bot network” to carry out denial-of-service attacks that overwhelm servers with traffic, effectively shutting them down.Just as cloud computing lowered barriers for startups by eliminating the need to build servers, “the same type of trend has happened in the cyber crime and fraud space,” Jabbara explained.These off-the-shelf services can also enable bad actors to launch brute force attacks on an industrial scale — using repeated payment attempts to crack a card’s number, expiry date, and security code.The sophistication extends to corporate-style management, Jabbara said.Some criminal organizations now employ chief risk officers who determine operational risk appetite. They might decide that targeting government infrastructure and hospitals generates an excessive amount of attention from law enforcement and is too risky to pursue. – ‘Millions of attacks’ -To combat these unprecedented threats, Jabbara leads a payment scam disruption team focused on understanding criminal methodologies.From a small room called the Risk Operations Center in Virginia, employees analyze data streams on multiple screens, searching for patterns that distinguish fraudulent activity from legitimate credit card use.In the larger Cyber Fusion Center, staff monitor potential cyberattacks targeting Visa’s own infrastructure around the clock.”We deal with millions of attacks across different parts of our network,” Jabbara noted, emphasizing that most are handled automatically without human intervention.Visa maintains identical facilities in London and Singapore, ensuring 24-hour global vigilance.

US tariffs will kick in on August 1 if trading partners from Taiwan to the European Union do not strike deals with Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday. The rates will “boomerang back” to the sometimes very high levels that President Donald Trump had announced on April 2 — before he suspended the levies to allow for trade talks and set a July 9 deadline for agreements, Bessent told CNN.Bessent confirmed comments by Trump to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday in which he also cited a new deadline: “Well, I’ll probably start them on August 1.” The president told reporters Sunday he had signed about a dozen letters to inform countries of rate hikes, to be sent out on Monday. “I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal,” Trump told reporters Sunday, adding that some deals have already been made.Standing at his side, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed tariffs would kick in on August 1, “but the President is setting the rates and the deals right now.”The tariffs were part of a broader announcement in April where Trump imposed a 10 percent duty on goods from almost all trading partners, with a plan to step up these rates for a select group within days.But he swiftly paused the hikes until July 9, allowing for trade talks to take place.Countries have been pushing to strike deals that would help them avoid these elevated duties.So far, the Trump administration has unveiled deals with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, while Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower staggeringly high levies on each other’s products.Bessent said the administration was “close to several deals.””I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” he said.But he would not say which countries he was referring to, adding: “I don’t want to let them off the hook.”- ‘Maximum pressure’ playbook -Aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said sending notices would be much easier than “sitting down and working 15 different things… this is what you have to pay, if you want to do business (with) the United States.”Bessent pushed back at CNN host Dana Bash’s assertion the administration was using threats rather than negotiations, and denied that Trump was setting a new deadline with the August 1 date.”It’s not a new deadline. We are saying, this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,” he said.He said the playbook was to apply “maximum pressure” and cited the European Union as an example, saying they are “making very good progress” after a slow start.EU and US negotiators are holding talks over the weekend, and France’s finance minister said Saturday he hoped they could strike a deal this weekend.Other countries were still expressing unease, however.Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday he “won’t easily compromise” in trade talks with Washington.And BRICS leaders of fast-growing economies meeting in Rio de Janeiro raised “serious concerns” that the “indiscriminate” import tariffs were illegal and risked hurting global trade.When probed about worries that steep levies could feed into broader US inflation, Bessent said there was a difference between “inflation and one-time price adjustments.””Inflation is a generalized monetary phenomenon. We’re not going to see that. And thus far, we haven’t even seen the one-time price adjustments,” Bessent told Fox News Sunday.bur-st-aks-sla/aha