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Details of a US-EU trade deal published Thursday showed Brussels secured a tariff reduction for cars exported to the United States but failed to win a reprieve for its cherished wine sector.US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy. But many aspects remained unclear, as the EU sought to win carve-outs for some sectors and Trump threatened higher tariffs on others.A joint statement Thursday brought some clarity, although negotiations are not over as the EU said it would seek more tariff reductions.The “maximum, all-inclusive” 15-percent rate would apply to the vast majority of European exports, including cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, the EU said.”This is the most favourable trade deal the US has extended to any partner,” EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a press conference in Brussels, explaining the levy will not come on top of existing tariffs.In recent weeks Trump had raised the possibility of additional tariffs hitting certain sectors such as pharmaceuticals, which account for 20 percent of the EU’s exports to the United States, and semiconductors.- Bison and wine -Sefcovic said he was confident that the rate for cars, which is lower than the current 27.5 percent, will apply retroactively from August 1, having received assurances on the matter from his US counterpart.But this will happen only once the EU introduces legislation to eliminate its own tariffs on US industrial products, something Sefcovic said the commission was “working very hard” on.The 15-percent rate will also apply to wine and spirits despite a push by France, Italy and other wine-making countries to win a zero tariff exemption.”Unfortunately, here we didn’t succeed,” Sefcovic said, adding negotiations would continue. “These doors are not closed forever”.The French wine exporters federation said it was “hugely disappointed”.”We are certain that this will create major difficulties for the wines and spirits sector,” said the head of the wine and spirits federation FEVS Gabriel Picard.Christophe Chateau, a spokesman for a group representing Bordeaux wine producers, described this as “bad news” — but better than the worst case scenario, with Trump that had at one point threatened tariffs as high as 200 percent.”It further hinders the trade and export of Bordeaux wines to the United States,” which is by far their largest market, Chateau told AFP. French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said his government would seek “additional exemptions” in the trade deal.Under the agreement, the EU committed to significantly improving market access to a range of US seafood and agricultural goods, including tree nuts, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, pork and bison meat.On the other hand, a special more favourable regime will apply as of September 1 to a number of EU exports to the US including “unavailable natural resources” such as cork, all aircraft and aircraft parts and generic pharmaceuticals.These would effectively face a “zero or close to zero” rate, the commission said.”This is not the end of the process, we continue to engage with the US to agree more tariff reductions, to identify more areas of cooperation, and to create more economic growth potential,” said commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear before California’s parole board to seek freedom this week, more than 35 years after the shotgun murders of their parents in the family’s luxury Beverly Hills home.The separate hearings — Erik on Thursday, Lyle on Friday — are the latest chapter in a long campaign waged by friends, family and celebrities like Kim Kardashian to get the brothers out of prison.They come after a Los Angeles judge this year reduced their original open-ended sentence to a term of 50 years, and as the men said, they accepted full responsibility for the grisly 1989 killings.Now the brothers will be seeking to convince parole panels that they are reformed and pose no danger to the public.”For more than 35 years, they have shown sustained growth. They have taken full accountability,” said a statement from The Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, a support group that includes family members.”They express sincere remorse to our family to this day and have built a meaningful life defined by purpose and service.”- ‘Mafia hit’ -Blockbuster trials in the 1990s heard how the men killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in what prosecutors said was a cynical attempt to get their hands on a large family fortune.After setting up alibis and trying to cover their tracks, the men shot Jose Menendez five times with shotguns, including in the kneecaps.Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.The brothers initially blamed the deaths on a mafia hit, but changed their story several times in the ensuing months.Erik, then 18, confessed to the murders in a session with his therapist.The pair ultimately claimed they had acted in self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a tyrannical father.During their decades in prison, changing social mores and greater awareness of sexual abuse helped elevate the men to something approaching cultural icons.This status was nourished by a parade of docudramas and TV shows, including the hit Netflix miniseries “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”- ‘Horrific’ -The hearings in Sacramento, which will be closed to the public, are expected to last two to three hours each. One reporter will be present to act as a pool on behalf of the dozens of media outlets around the world which are expected to cover the hearings.Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, will appear by video link from the San Diego prison where they are being held.Two or three panel members, whose identity is not being publicly released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), will quiz the men on their behavior and their attitudes towards their crimes.”The hearing panel will consider all relevant, reliable information available to the panel, which includes… criminal history, department records concerning the incarcerated person, and statements from the incarcerated person, victims’ family, the district attorney’s office, and the public,” the CDCR said.Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman opposed resentencing this year, and is expected to oppose parole.He has insisted that the men’s shifting explanations for the double deaths — they gave five different accounts in the course of the murder investigation — means they have not truly admitted their guilt.”The Menendez brothers have never fully accepted responsibility for the horrific murders of their parents,” Hochman said in a statement Wednesday.”Instead continuing to promote a false narrative of self-defense that was rejected by the jury decades ago.”Even if the panel grants parole, the men will not be freed immediately, with the decision subject to review by the board’s top lawyer in a process that can take up to four months.After that, the final decision rests with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has 30 days in which he “may affirm, reverse, modify, or refer back to the Board any parole grant,” the CDCR says.In 2022, Newsom rejected a parole recommendation in the case of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

An English court on Thursday handed an American woman a 30-year jail sentence after she was convicted of trying to murder a British man caught up in a feud between families.After a years-long police hunt, would-be assassin Aimee Betro, 45, was extradited earlier this year from Armenia, where she had been living, to face trial in the central English city of Birmingham.Prosecutors told the court Betro had covered her face with a niqab before climbing out of a car in September 2019 and trying to shoot Sikander Ali at point-blank range in his own car.But the handgun jammed and Ali drove away at high-speed. Hours later Betro returned to the house, and fired three shots at his family home, the court heard.Sentencing Betro, Judge Simon Drew told her it was only a “matter of chance” that Ali had not been killed.”You were engaged in a complex, well-planned conspiracy to murder,” he added. “You were prepared to pull the trigger and did so on two separate occasions.”Prosecutors said Betro was part of a plot with co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his 31-year-old son, Mohammed Nabil Nazir. Betro had met Nazir on an online dating site, and told the jury she was in love with him.Both men were jailed last year for their roles in the “violent” feud which erupted after they were injured in a brawl at Ali’s father’s clothing store in July 2018.Graphic design graduate Betro did not know Ali and denied three charges including conspiracy to murder and possessing a self-loading pistol. She said she had no knowledge of the plot.Betro, who is originally from Wisconsin, told jurors it was “just a terrible coincidence” that she had been close to the scene of the attack.She maintained the real shooter was “another American woman” who sounded similar to her and had the same phone and brand of trainers.Police said they had seen no evidence that Betro was paid for her role in the attack.

The Texas legislature’s lower chamber passed a contentious new electoral map on Wednesday that aims to help Donald Trump’s Republican Party retain its razor-thin US House majority in the 2026 midterm elections.The vote had been delayed by two weeks after Democratic legislators fled the southern state to halt the redistricting drive, which carves out five new Republican-friendly districts.More than 50 Democrats walked out, stalling legislative business and generating national headlines as they sought to draw attention to the rare mid-decade redistricting push.The Democratic lawmakers returned this week, but not before their protest had set off a national map-drawing war, with Trump pressuring his party’s state-level officials to do everything they can to protect the majority in the US House of Representatives.The stakes are sky-high for Trump, who will be bogged down in investigations into almost every aspect of his second term if Democrats manage to flip the handful of districts nationwide needed to win back the House in next year’s midterm elections.Trump hailed the “Big WIN for the Great State of Texas” on Wednesday night.”Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Texas never lets us down.”The president also suggested Florida, Indiana and other states were looking into pursuing similar redistricting to benefit Republicans while once again calling to “STOP MAIL-IN VOTING.” Trump — who has long railed against postal ballots, even though they have benefited his party and he has voted by mail — said in a separate post: “END MAIL-IN VOTING, AND GO TO PAPER BALLOTS. 100 additional seats will go to Republicans!!!”As lawmakers in Texas debated the electoral map, Democratic representative Chris Turner called it a “clear violation of the Voting Rights Act and the constitution,” according to Austin-based news site The Texas Tribune.Republican leaders of the Texas House sped up the normal legislative process, bringing the new map to a final vote Wednesday evening. It passed along party lines 88-52.After the state House’s green light, it moves to the state Senate, where it has passed in a previous session, before heading to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.- Playing hardball -Individual states redraw their own congressional districts, usually only once every 10 years, after the US Census.But “redistricting can be done at any point in time,” argued the Texas map’s sponsor, Republican Todd Hunter, according to the Tribune. “The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance.”There is little Democrats in Texas can do to thwart the map change, but it has prompted retaliation in California, and serious discussions in other Democratic-led states alarmed that the Texas maneuver could be replicated nationwide.Republicans are mulling drawing at least 10 new seats and are targeting Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire, Indiana, South Carolina and Florida.Trump on Monday posted the proposed map of Texas on Truth Social, calling it “one of the most popular initiatives I have ever supported.”State lawmakers in Democratic stronghold California — the most populated and richest US state — introduced three bills on Monday to create a voter referendum this year for a new congressional map that would effectively counteract Texas.If approved, the referendum would appear on California’s November 4 ballot.”Nothing about this is normal, and so we’re not going to act as if anything is normal any longer,” Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters Wednesday.”Yes, we’ll fight fire with fire. Yes, we will push back. It’s not about whether we play hardball anymore, it’s about how we play hardball.”New York Democrats may follow suit, with Governor Kathy Hochul calling the Texas redistricting plan nothing short of a “legal insurrection.”

Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear before California’s parole board to seek freedom this week, more than 35 years after the shotgun murders of their parents in the family’s luxury Beverly Hills home.The separate hearings — Erik on Thursday, Lyle on Friday — are the latest chapter in a long campaign waged by friends, family and celebrities like Kim Kardashian to get the brothers out of prison.They come after a Los Angeles judge this year reduced their original open-ended sentence to a term of 50 years, and as the men said, they accepted full responsibility for the grisly 1989 killings.Now the brothers will be seeking to convince parole panels that they are reformed and pose no danger to the public.”For more than 35 years, they have shown sustained growth. They have taken full accountability,” said a statement from The Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, a support group that includes family members.”They express sincere remorse to our family to this day and have built a meaningful life defined by purpose and service.”- ‘Mafia hit’ -Blockbuster trials in the 1990s heard how the men killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in what prosecutors said was a cynical attempt to get their hands on a large family fortune.After setting up alibis and trying to cover their tracks, the men shot Jose Menendez five times with shotguns, including in the kneecaps.Kitty Menendez died from a shotgun blast as she tried desperately to crawl away from her killers.The brothers initially blamed the deaths on a mafia hit, but changed their story several times in the ensuing months.Erik, then 18, confessed to the murders in a session with his therapist.The pair ultimately claimed they had acted in self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of a tyrannical father.During their decades in prison, changing social mores and greater awareness of sexual abuse helped elevate the men to something approaching cultural icons.This status was nourished by a parade of docudramas and TV shows, including the hit Netflix miniseries “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”- ‘Horrific’ -The hearings in Sacramento, which will be closed to the public, are expected to last two to three hours each. One reporter will be present to act as a pool on behalf of the dozens of media outlets around the world which are expected to cover the hearings.Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, will appear by video link from the San Diego prison where they are being held.Two or three panel members, whose identity is not being publicly released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), will quiz the men on their behavior and their attitudes towards their crimes.”The hearing panel will consider all relevant, reliable information available to the panel, which includes… criminal history, department records concerning the incarcerated person, and statements from the incarcerated person, victims’ family, the district attorney’s office, and the public,” the CDCR said.Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman opposed resentencing this year, and is expected to oppose parole.He has insisted that the men’s shifting explanations for the double deaths — they gave five different accounts in the course of the murder investigation — means they have not truly admitted their guilt.”The Menendez brothers have never fully accepted responsibility for the horrific murders of their parents,” Hochman said in a statement Wednesday.”Instead continuing to promote a false narrative of self-defense that was rejected by the jury decades ago.”Even if the panel grants parole, the men will not be freed immediately, with the decision subject to review by the board’s top lawyer in a process that can take up to four months.After that, the final decision rests with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has 30 days in which he “may affirm, reverse, modify, or refer back to the Board any parole grant,” the CDCR says.In 2022, Newsom rejected a parole recommendation in the case of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday she will make heavy cuts to her office, which she declared has “fallen short” of fulfilling its mandate and is “rife with abuse of power.”Gabbard announced she will reduce the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) by over 40 percent by the end of fiscal year 2025, estimated to save $700 million.”Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence and politicized weaponization of intelligence,” Gabbard said in a news release.In a series of social media posts, Gabbard added that she is “cutting bloated bureaucracy, rooting out deep state actors, and restoring mission focus.”A four-page fact sheet posted to her department’s website describes the plan for “ODNI 2.0,” which involves reducing her office’s efforts to monitor biosecurity, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber intelligence threats and other areas.In explaining cuts to the Strategic Futures Group, the office’s intelligence forecasting unit, Gabbard’s team said they were “found to violate professional analytic tradecraft standards in an effort to propogate a political agenda that ran counter to all of the current president’s national security priorities.”The cuts were, at times, explained with accusations against previous Democrat-led administrations.Cuts to the Foreign Malign Influence Center — established to combat foreign threats to democracy and US interests — were conducted because it was “used by the previous administration to justify the suppression of free speech and to censor political opposition,” the fact sheet alleged, in reference to President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden.The fact sheet also touted previous cuts, saying since “Gabbard’s first day, ODNI has already reduced its size by nearly 30%, with more than 500 staffers now off the books.”In July, Gabbard accused former president Barack Obama of heading a “treasonous conspiracy” to allege Russia interfered with American elections to help Trump.But Gabbard’s findings run up against four separate criminal, counterintelligence and watchdog probes between 2019 and 2023 — each of them concluding that Russia did interfere and helped Trump in various ways.Critics have accused Gabbard, 43, of being close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The purge extends beyond slashing the agency’s current payroll. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Gabbard revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials — many of whom worked on Russia analysis or foreign threats to US elections — at the president’s direction. President Donald Trump took office on the promise of reducing the size of the federal government, and has since slashed US foreign aid contributions, the Department of Education — which required the US Supreme Court’s approval — and other agencies.

Hurricane Erin’s furthest bands began brushing the outer banks of North Carolina’s coast Wednesday, where the Category 2 storm triggered mandatory evacuation orders, and officials warned summer beachgoers along the US East Coast of life-threatening surf and rip currents in coming days.Landfall isn’t expected for Erin — welcome news for the southern US state still reeling from last year’s deadly Hurricane Helene — but North Carolina officials declared an emergency Tuesday as Erin’s predicted impacts began taking shape.Portions of coastal North Carolina and Virginia were under tropical storm warnings, according to officials at the National Hurricane Center (NHC).”Swells generated by Erin will affect the Bahamas, Bermuda, the east coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada during the next several days,” NHC said, adding that “Erin is a large hurricane.”As of Wednesday afternoon, Erin was churning northward some 245 miles (395 kilometers) southeast of North Carolina, packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), the NHC said — with the possibility it could still restrengthen to a major hurricane.Its unusually large size means tropical storm-force winds extend hundreds of miles from its center, earning it the moniker “Enormous Erin” by hurricane specialist Michael Lowry, who wrote on Substack the United States was fortunate to be spared a direct hit.Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands in North Carolina.North Carolina Governor Josh Stein urged residents to store enough food, water and supplies to last up to five days — and to safeguard important documents like insurance policies.”We have already pre-positioned three swift water rescue teams and 200 National Guard troops to various locations on the coast, along with boats, high clearance vehicles and aircraft,” he added.- Massive waves -Highway 12 — which runs through the scenic Outer Banks of North Carolina, a string of low-lying islands and spits already under threat from sea-level rise and erosion  — could be left impassable by waves as high as 20 feet (six meters).Last year’s Hurricane Helene caused approximately $60 billion in damage to North Carolina, equivalent to almost two years of the state’s budget, said Stein, who criticized what he called inadequate federal assistance from the administration of President Donald Trump.Trump has mused about dismantling the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — whose work he believes should fall to state leaders and has long been a target of conspiracy theories from the political right. – Insurance risks -The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has entered its historical peak.Despite a relatively quiet start with just four named storms so far, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration continues to forecast an above-normal season.Scientists say climate change is supercharging tropical cyclones: warmer oceans fuel stronger winds, a warmer atmosphere intensifies rainfall, and higher sea levels magnify storm surge.There is also some evidence, though less certainty, that climate change is making hurricanes more frequent.

The Texas legislature’s lower chamber passed a contentious new electoral map on Wednesday that aims to help Donald Trump’s Republican Party retain its razor-thin US House majority in the 2026 midterm elections.The vote had been delayed by two weeks after Democratic legislators fled the southern state to halt the aggressive redistricting drive, which carves out five new Republican-friendly districts.More than 50 Democrats walked out, stalling legislative business and generating national headlines as they sought to draw attention to the rare mid-decade redistricting push.The rebels returned this week, but not before their protest had set off a national map-drawing war, with Trump pressuring his party’s state-level officials to do everything they can to protect the majority in the US House of Representatives.The stakes are sky-high for Trump, who will be bogged down in investigations into almost every aspect of his second term if Democrats manage to flip the handful of districts nationwide needed to win back the House in next year’s midterm elections.As lawmakers in the Lone Star State debated the map, Democratic representative Chris Turner called it a “clear violation of the Voting Rights Act and the constitution,” according to Austin-based news site The Texas Tribune.Republican leaders of the Texas House sped up the normal legislative process, bringing the new map to a final vote Wednesday evening. It passed along party lines 88-52.After the state House’s green light, it moves to the state Senate, where it has passed in a previous session, before heading to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.- Playing hardball -Individual states redraw their own congressional districts, usually only once every 10 years, after the US Census.But “redistricting can be done at any point in time,” argued the Texas map’s sponsor, Republican Todd Hunter, according to the Tribune. “The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance.”There is little Democrats in Texas can do to thwart the map change, but it has prompted retaliation in California, and serious discussions in other Democratic-led states alarmed that the Texas maneuver could be replicated nationwide.Republicans are mulling drawing at least 10 new seats and are targeting Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire, Indiana, South Carolina and Florida.Trump on Monday posted the proposed map of Texas on his Truth Social platform, calling it “one of the most popular initiatives I have ever supported.”State lawmakers in Democratic stronghold California — the largest and richest US state — introduced three bills on Monday to create a voter referendum this year for a new congressional map that would effectively counteract Texas.If approved, the referendum would appear on California’s November 4 ballot.”Nothing about this is normal, and so we’re not going to act as if anything is normal any longer,” Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters Wednesday. “Yes, we’ll fight fire with fire. Yes, we will push back. It’s not about whether we play hardball anymore, it’s about how we play hardball.”New York Democrats may follow suit, with Governor Kathy Hochul calling the Texas redistricting plan nothing short of a “legal insurrection.”

The United States on Wednesday defiantly expanded efforts to hobble the International Criminal Court over its prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sanctioning a judge from ally France.Secretary of State Marco Rubio also targeted a Canadian judge in a separate case in his latest volley of sanctions against the tribunal in The Hague, which is backed by virtually all other Western democracies as a court of last resort.”The Court is a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel,” Rubio said in a statement, using a term popular with President Donald Trump’s supporters.He attacked the court for investigating US and Israeli citizens “without the consent of either nation.”Among the four people newly slapped with sanctions was Judge Nicolas Guillou of France, who is presiding over a case in which an arrest warrant was issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.France — whose president, Emmanuel Macron, was in Washington two days earlier — expressed “dismay” over the action.The sanctions are “in contradiction to the principle of an independent judiciary,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in Paris.The ICC in its own statement denounced the “flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.”The court’s prosecution alleges Netanyahu is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel’s offensive in Gaza including by intentionally targeting civilians and using starvation as a method of war.Netanyahu saluted Rubio for his “decisive act against a smear campaign of lies against the State of Israel” and the Israeli army.Israel launched the massive offensive in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel in which mostly civilians were killed.The ICC has also sought the arrest of former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who has since been confirmed killed by Israel.Guillou is a veteran jurist who previously participated in trials over Kosovo and Lebanon. He worked for several years in the United States assisting the Justice Department with judicial cooperation during Barack Obama’s presidency.Under the sanctions, he will be refused entry to the United States and any assets he has in the world’s largest economy will be blocked — measures more often taken against US adversaries than citizens of friendly nations.- Defending Israel, exempting Putin -Also targeted by the latest US sanctions was a Canadian judge, Kimberly Prost, who was involved in a case that authorized an investigation into alleged crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan, including by US forces.Rubio also slapped sanctions on two deputy prosecutors — Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal. The State Department said the two were punished by the United States for supporting “illegitimate ICC actions against Israel,” including by supporting the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.Rubio imposed sanctions on four other ICC judges in June.The Trump administration has roundly rejected the authority of the court, which was set up as a court of last resort when national systems do not allow for justice.Trump on Friday welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Alaska even though Putin faces an ICC arrest warrant, a factor that has stopped him from traveling more widely since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine.The United States, Russia and Israel are among the nations that reject the ICC.Previous president Joe Biden’s administration also opposed its action against Israel but withdrew previous sanctions and was open to narrow cooperation with the ICC, including in gathering evidence in Ukraine.

Sony on Wednesday said it is bumping up the price of PlayStation 5 video game consoles by $50 in the United States due to a “challenging economic environment.”Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump hike the cost of goods brought into the US, leaving companies like Japan’s Sony to decide whether to pass that on to consumers.”Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment,” Sony Interactive Entertainment vice president of global marketing Isabelle Tomatis said in a post.After initially being threatened with a 25 percent hike, Japan negotiated a 15 percent tariff with the Trump administration.”As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the US.”The new price for PS5 will be $550, with a “Digital Edition” priced at $500 and a Pro version for $750, according to Tomatis. In May, Sony warned it was considering tweaking prices in the US, estimating that tariffs could wind up costing the company about $680 million in the fiscal year.  American companies are feeling the crunch, too.New York-based cosmetics giant Estee Lauder recently estimated the impact of the new tariffs at around $100 million for the 2026 financial year and plans to adjust its prices to offset the additional cost.US snack giant PepsiCo could increase prices of its soft drinks about 10 percent to mitigate effects of US tariffs, particularly those on imported aluminum used to make soda cans, according to trade magazine Beverage Digest.Meanwhile, California-based energy drink maker Monster Beverages is considering raising prices due to a “complex and dynamic customs landscape,” according to chief executive Hilton Schlosberg.The Commerce Department this week said the US broadened its steel and aluminum tariffs, impacting hundreds more products that contain both metals such as child seats, tableware and heavy equipment.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has imposed tariffs on almost all US trading partners.Though the impact of Trump’s tariffs on consumer prices has been limited so far, economists warn that their full effects are yet to be seen.Some businesses have coped by bringing forward purchases of products they expected will encounter tariffs. Others have passed on additional costs to their consumers, or absorbed a part of the fresh tariff burden.