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US President Donald Trump’s widest-ranging tariffs to date took effect Saturday, in a move which could trigger retaliation and escalating trade tensions that could upset the global economy.A 10 percent “baseline” tariff came into place past midnight, hitting most US imports except goods from Mexico and Canada as Trump invoked emergency economic powers to address perceived problems with the country’s trade deficits.The trade gaps, said the White House, were driven by an “absence of reciprocity” in relationships and other policies like “exorbitant value-added taxes.”Come April 9, around 60 trading partners — including the European Union, Japan and China — are set to face even higher rates tailored to each economy.Already, Trump’s sharp 34-percent tariff on Chinese goods, set to kick in next week, triggered Beijing’s announcement of its own 34-percent tariff on US products from April 10.Beijing also said it would sue the United States at the World Trade Organization and restrict export of rare earth elements used in high-end medical and electronics technology.But other major trading partners held back as they digested the unfolding international standoff and fears of a recession.Trump warned Friday on social media that “China played it wrong,” saying this was something “they cannot afford to do.”- Markets collapse -Wall Street went into freefall Friday, following similar collapses in Asia and Europe.Economists have also warned that the tariffs could dampen growth and fuel inflation.But Trump said on his Truth Social platform that his “policies will never change.”Trump’s latest tariffs have notable exclusions, however.They do not stack on recently-imposed 25-percent tariffs hitting imports of steel, aluminum and automobiles.Also temporarily spared are copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, alongside “certain critical minerals” and energy products, the White House said.But Trump has ordered investigations into copper and lumber, which could lead to further duties soon.He has threatened to hit other industries like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as well, meaning any reprieve might be limited.Canada and Mexico are unaffected as they face separate duties of up to 25 percent on goods entering the United States outside a North America trade agreement.- Retaliation risk -While Trump’s staggered deadlines allow space for countries to negotiate, “if they can’t get a reprieve, they are likely to retaliate, as China already has,” Oxford Economics warned this week.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the bloc, which faces a 20-percent tariff, will act in “a calm, carefully phased, unified way” and allow time for talks.But he said it “won’t stand idly by.”France and Germany have said the EU could respond by imposing a tax on US tech companies.Japan’s prime minister called for a “calm-headed” approach after Trump unveiled 24-percent tariffs on Japanese-made goods.Meanwhile, Trump said he held a “very productive” call with Vietnam’s top leader, with imports from the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub facing extraordinary 46-percent US duties.Since returning to the presidency, Trump has hit Canada and Mexico imports with tariffs over illegal immigration and fentanyl, and imposed an additional 20-percent rate on goods from China. Come April 9, the added levy on Chinese products this year reaches 54 percent.Trump’s 25-percent auto tariffs also took effect this week, and Jeep-owner Stellantis paused production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants.Trump’s new global levies mark “the most sweeping tariff hike since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the 1930 law best remembered for triggering a global trade war and deepening the Great Depression,” said the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Oxford Economics estimates the action will push the average effective US tariff rate to 24 percent, “higher even than those seen in the 1930s.”

Los Angeles County has agreed to pay $4 billion to settle thousands of sex abuse claims dating back decades, it said Friday, in what looks set to be the largest-ever such settlement.The agreement, which must still be approved by the board of supervisors, is intended to compensate almost 7,000 people who were subjected to abuse while in juvenile facilities and children’s homes in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.”On behalf of the county, I apologize wholeheartedly to everyone who was harmed by these reprehensible acts,” County Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport said. “The historic scope of this settlement makes clear that we are committed to helping the survivors recover and rebuild their lives —- and to making and enforcing the systemic changes needed to keep young people safe.”A 2020 state law gave victims of childhood sexual abuse an extended window to take legal action, long after the usual statute of limitation had lapsed.Thousands of adults came forward with horrifying stories of systematic sexual abuse they had suffered in juvenile detention facilities.Many more claimed they were the victims of predatory staff at the now-shuttered MacLaren Children’s Center, a home for foster children.Attorneys for the victims called it a “house of horrors” and an investigation found no background checks had been carried out on staff there for decades.News of the proposed settlement was bittersweet for victims.”I’m in total shock,” Shirley Bodkin, 58, who recalled being drugged, beaten and sexually abused in bathtubs and closets at MacLaren, told the Los Angeles Times.”I’ve been waiting all these years for this outcome.”MaryAlice Ashbrook, 65, who was abused at MacLaren in the 1960s, said hearing the news “felt like my heart had a door and it slammed shut.””I’ve gone to great lengths to block this out, and still, I deal with reoccurring nightmares.”The enormous sum dwarfs previous agreements for victims of abuse, including the $2.46 billion that the Boy Scouts of America agreed to pay to youngsters molested while in their care.Officials warned that the payout would have “a significant impact” for years to come on the finances of the county — America’s largest by population, with almost 10 million residents and an annual budget of around $49 billion.”The County’s plan to pay for the settlement includes cash from reserve funds, issuance of judgment obligation bonds and proposed cuts in departmental budgets,” a statement said.”The financing will require annual payments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars through 2030 and substantial continuing annual payments through fiscal year 2050-51.”

The first cardinal to be defrocked by the Pope over allegations of sexual abuse has died in the United States, a senior US churchman said Friday.Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington and the most senior American prelate in the Catholic Church to face claims of abuse, died in the state of Missouri at age 94, the New York Times reported, citing a Vatican statement.His death was also confirmed by the current Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy.”Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington,” a statement said.”At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse.”McCarrick’s career in the Catholic Church had been long and distinguished, having served as an emissary on human rights for former pope John Paul II, a role that took him to conflict zones and brought him into contact with world leaders like Cuba’s Fidel Castro.A former archbishop of New York, he was made archbishop in the US capital in 2000 where he rubbed shoulders with US presidents including Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.He also was made a cardinal — one of the most senior members of the clergy and part of a slate of electors tasked with selecting a new pope.But after allegations of historical misconduct emerged in 2018, a Vatican probe found he had assaulted a teenager five decades earlier. He was also suspected of other sexual assaults against minors and young men. Pope Francis, under fire for a growing abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, expelled him from the priesthood in 2019, stripping him of his right to say Mass, even in private.The Catholic Church has struggled for decades to root out abusers within its ranks, with frequent accusations of cover-ups extending to its highest levels.The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), which campaigns for sexual predators to be held accountable, on Friday called McCarrick “one of the most notorious and powerful abusers in the modern history of the Catholic Church.”McCarrick “was never held accountable for his crimes,” a statement said.”While he was eventually removed from public ministry, defrocked, and stripped of his red hat, he never stood trial for the vast harm he inflicted on children, young adults, seminarians, and others under his power. “His death marks the end of his life — but it does not mark justice for his survivors.”

A federal judge on Friday ordered the return to the United States of a Salvadoran migrant who was mistakenly deported last month to a notorious prison in El Salvador.Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, who was living in the eastern state of Maryland, was among a group of undocumented migrants who were flown to El Salvador by the Trump administration on March 15.Justice Department lawyers admitted in court filings that Abrego Garcia, who is married to a US citizen, had been deported due to an “administrative error.”District Judge Paula Xinis, at an emergency court hearing on Friday, said Abrego Garcia was taken into custody “without legal basis” on March 12 and deported three days later “without further process or legal justification.”Xinis ordered his return to the United States no later than 11:59 pm on April 7.”His continued presence in El Salvador, for obvious reasons, constitutes irreparable harm,” the judge said in her order to the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted to the judge’s ruling in a post on X.”We suggest the Judge contact President @nayibbukele because we are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador,” Leavitt said in a reference to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.Three planeloads of undocumented migrants were flown to El Salvador on March 15 as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.The Trump administration alleged that most of the deportees were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and it invoked the little-known 1798 Alien Enemies Act to justify their summary removal.Attorneys for several of the deported migrants have said that their clients were not Tren de Aragua members, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in El Salvador.The White House, citing unreleased evidence, insisted earlier this week that Abrego Garcia was a member of the Salvadoran gang MS-13.”The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.Another district judge, James Boasberg, has barred the Trump administration from carrying out further deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, which has only been used previously during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.The Trump administration has used images of the alleged gang members being shackled and having their heads shaved in the El Salvador prison as proof it is serious about cracking down on illegal immigration.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said Friday that he will seek agreements with the rest of the world to avoid the expected retaliations against US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.”California is not Washington, DC,” Newsom said in a video posted to social media.”Donald Trump’s tariffs do not represent all Americans, particularly those that I represent here in the fifth largest economy in the world, the state of California.” The majority of goods that enter the United States from China pass through Californian ports, and the state has considerable trade with Mexico and Canada. These three countries represent 40 percent of California’s imports and are also the countries the state exports to most.”The Golden State will remain a steady, reliable partner for generations to come, no matter the turbulence coming out of Washington,” Newsom added in a statement.He did not specify how new agreements could bypass Trump’s protectionist policies.Newsom, 57, faces term limits that bar him from running for re-election in 2026. His political ambitions remain unknown, but the Democrat is seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.In a trade offensive that is unprecedented since the 1930s, Trump unleashed broad spanning global tariffs this week, sending markets into a record-breaking slump and resulting in retaliatory tariffs.Trump’s latest levies mean Chinese products must be taxed at a total of 54 percent, and those from the European Union at 20 percent.On Friday, China retaliated by announcing additional tariffs of 34 percent on American products starting April 10, “in addition to the currently applicable tariff rates.” “We will not stand idly by during Trump’s tariff war,” Newsom said on X.As the most populous state in the country, with nearly 40 million inhabitants, California accounts for 14 percent of the American GDP and would be the fifth-largest economy in the world if it were a country, Newsom said.The cradle of tech, California is also a leading manufacturer and agricultural producer in the country.After fires ravaged Los Angeles in January, California faces concerns that tariffs will hinder the city’s reconstruction by making frequently imported construction materials like wood, steel, aluminum, and drywall more expensive.

Democrats expressed outrage on Friday that President Donald Trump had fired the head of the highly sensitive US National Security Agency at the apparent urging of far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.Loomer, who is known for claiming that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job, is reported to have pushed for the dismissal of various senior US security officials including NSA chief Timothy Haugh, putting her in an unprecedented position of influence over some of the most secretive and powerful parts of the government.”I am alarmed and angered that, at the insistence of a far-right conspiracy theorist, President Trump dismissed one of the most skilled, accomplished officers in the US military,” Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, referred to the Trump administration’s inadvertent inclusion of a journalist in a Signal group chat on plans for Yemen air strikes in his criticism of Haugh’s dismissal.”It’s so crazy it defies belief: Trump refused to fire the people that embarrassed America and risked service members’ lives in the Signalgate scandal,” Warner wrote on X, “but fired Gen. Haugh, a nonpartisan national security expert, at the advice of a self-described ‘pro-white nationalist.”And a group of Democrats from the House Armed Services Committee issued a joint statement condemning the firing of Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble, saying reports that the dismissals were the result of them “being accused of being disloyal by a far-right conspiracy theorist are deeply disturbing.”Loomer posted on X early on Friday — after Haugh’s firing was reported — that he and Noble “have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired.”- ‘I listen to everybody’ -“Given the fact that the NSA is arguably the most powerful intel agency in the world, we cannot allow for a Biden nominee to hold that position,” Loomer wrote, adding, “This is called VETTING.”Trump, whose reality TV show catchphrase was “you’re fired,” on Thursday addressed reports that officials at the National Security Council had also been sacked, saying “we’re always going to let go of people — people we don’t like… or people that may have loyalties to someone else.”But while he claimed that Loomer did not play a role in the decision, Trump also said aboard Air Force One that “she makes recommendations” and “sometimes I listen to those recommendations… I listen to everybody and then I make a decision.”The New York Times reported Thursday that six people from the NSC were fired after Trump met with Loomer the previous day, including three senior officials on the body that advises the president on top foreign policy matters from Ukraine to Gaza.Loomer confirmed the meeting, but said on X that “out of respect for President Trump and the privacy of the Oval Office, I’m going to decline on divulging any details.”The 31-year-old — who often flew with Trump on his campaign plane during the 2024 election — later said she had presented “opposition research” to the Republican president.She previously sparked accusations of racism when she said on social media that Trump’s Democratic rival Kamala Harris — whose mother was of Indian descent — would make the White House “smell like curry” if she won.Trump has led a major shake-up of the armed forces’ leadership since taking office in January.The president fired top US military officer general Charles “CQ” Brown in February, offering no explanation for the dismissal less than two years into his four-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also sacked the head of the Navy and other top officers, while Trump’s administration is presiding over sweeping layoffs of federal workers and moves to dismantle government institutions.

Donald Trump hit the golf course ahead of a candlelight dinner Friday despite global turmoil over his tariff plans — underscoring his desire to do things his way in an increasingly hardline second term.As he spent a long weekend at his Florida getaway, the 78-year-old US president was increasingly defiant even as markets plunged, insisting it was a “great time to get rich.”And as he punishes America’s trade rivals, Trump is also hitting out at perceived political opponents at home, purging his national security team at the apparent urging of a far-right conspiracy theorist.”He’s at the peak of just not giving a f— anymore,” The Washington Post quoted a White House official as saying.Trump relished being the boss in his first term as president too, but since his return to the White House he has appeared more unbowed than ever in the face of criticism.Less than 24 hours after his world-shaking tariff announcement, and as markets were still plunging into the red, Trump headed to Florida for dinner on Thursday at Trump National Doral golf club.The club is hosting an event this weekend by the Saudi-owned LIV Golf tour, for which Trump is trying to broker a merger with the PGA tour.Television footage showed Trump, wearing a read “Make America Great Again” hat, being driven in a golf cart after arriving on his Marine One helicopter.”What a disgrace,” said the Republicans Against Trump group in a post on X sharing the footage, noting that it came as  “the market is crashing, a recession is looming, and the country is more isolated than ever.”On Friday morning Trump then headed to another of his golf courses near his grand Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, just as US markets were opening for a second day’s bloodbath.”This is a great time to get rich,” he declared in a social media post shortly before heading to the course, adding that “my policies will never change.”- ‘Fired’ -Democrats criticized Trump for missing the return ceremony on Friday for four US troops killed during an exercise in Lithuania.As battered US markets close, Trump will be attending a “MAGA Inc Candelight Dinner” on Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, according to the White House.Trump is due to speak at the dinner and tickets cost $1 million each, CBS News reported, with the funds going towards MAGA Inc, a pro-Trump so-called “Super PAC” — an entity used for political funding.The gilded trappings of Trump’s weekend come amid growing fears that the tariffs may spark a recession and tank his promises to foster a new “Golden Age” for the US economy.”The irony is that while everyone but the super-rich will feel pain, his base of blue collar, middle-income whites will feel the most pain,” Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, told AFP.Trump made the final decision on his strategy at the last minute after a “ping pong match” between officials trying to meld apparently contradictory goals, The Wall Street Journal reported.The first rumblings of Republican dissent have already started.Senator Ted Cruz — who fought a bitter battle with Trump for the 2016 Republican nomination — said on his podcast that if there is a recession, next year’s US midterm elections “in all likelihood politically, would be a bloodbath.”But Trump’s allies say that he should be left to be in charge.”Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing,” Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary and major cheerleader for the president, said on Thursday.Trump’s tariffs gamble is also in tune with a growing sense that he wants to be the sole captain of a ship where everyone is loyal.Trump on Thursday fired National Security Agency chief Timothy Haugh, his deputy and other senior national security officials following an intervention by right-wing conspiracist Laura Loomer.Both NSA officials were appointed by Trump’s predecessor as president, Joe Biden.Loomer, who is known for claiming that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job, said on X that Haugh and Noble “have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired.”

US President Donald Trump on Friday extended the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the United States, allowing 75 more days to find a solution.”My Administration has been working very hard on a deal to save TikTok, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump said on Truth Social, just hours before the deadline was to expire.”A transaction requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”The hugely popular video-sharing app, which has more than 170 million American users, is under threat from a US law passed last year that orders TikTok to split from its Chinese owner ByteDance or get shut down in the United States.Trump has insisted his administration is near a deal to find a buyer for TikTok and keep it from shutting down that would involve multiple investors, but has given few details.ByteDance, while confirming that it was in talks with the US government towards finding a solution, warned that there remained “key matters” to solve.”An agreement has not been executed” and whatever was decided would be “subject to approval under Chinese law,” the company added.Motivated by national security fears and belief in Washington that TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government, the ban took effect on January 19, one day before Trump’s inauguration, with ByteDance having made no attempt to find a suitor.TikTok temporarily shut down in the United States and disappeared from app stores, to the dismay of millions of users.But the Republican president quickly announced an initial 75-day delay and TikTok was restored to users, returning to the Apple and Google app stores in February.The new 75-day delay pushes the deadline to June 19.Trump has repeatedly downplayed risks that TikTok is in danger, saying he remains confident of finding a buyer for the app’s US business.The president added on Friday that he would “continue working in good faith with China,” whose government will need to sign off on the transaction.The president suggested TikTok could even be part of a broader deal with China to ease the stinging tariffs he imposed on Beijing as part of a worldwide blitz of levies.”We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal,” he added.According to reports, the solution in the works would see existing US investors in ByteDance roll over their stakes into a new independent global TikTok company.Additional US investors, including Oracle and Blackstone, the private equity firm, would be brought on to reduce ByteDance’s share in the new TikTok.Much of TikTok’s US activity is already housed on Oracle servers, and the company’s chairman, Larry Ellison, is a longtime Trump ally.ABC News reported on Friday that Walmart was also in the mix, spurred on by a late expression of interest by retail archrival Amazon to buy the app.Walmart and Oracle were previously rumored to be buying TikTok in the US when Trump tried to wrest the company from its Chinese owners during his first administration.Trump long supported a ban or divestment, but has lately defended TikTok, seeing it as a reason more young voters supported him in November’s election.- What about the algorithm? -Uncertainty remains, particularly over what would happen to TikTok’s valuable algorithm.”TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand — it’s simply not as powerful,” said Forrester Principal Analyst Kelsey Chickering.Various media reports suggest the new company could license the algorithm from ByteDance, which would remain invested in TikTok.But such an arrangement would go against the spirit of the law, which is in part based on the premise that TikTok’s algorithm can be weaponized by the Chinese against US interests.

In unleashing global tariffs, President Donald Trump has vowed to remake the world to benefit US workers. One beneficiary could be the country he sees as the primary adversary — China.Asia’s largest economy promptly slapped identical tariffs on the United States and said it would impose export controls on rare earth elements vital in consumer and medical technology.But unlike during his first term, this time Trump is targeting not just China but the entire world — including American allies that had increasingly joined Washington’s firm line on Beijing.Just days before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement, China moved to revive stalled free-trade talks with Japan and South Korea, both treaty-bound US allies with deep-rooted skepticism about Beijing.”If Trump’s unilateralism continues, I expect Beijing to court these capitals more aggressively, positioning itself as the steadier economic anchor in the region,” said Lizzi Lee, a fellow on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.”And let’s not forget the optics. China is very much framing Trump’s tariffs as proof of US decline — resorting to protectionism, bullying allies and retreating from global norms,” she said.Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, said she had expected China to be “a little more chill” in response to Trump’s tariffs but said Beijing did not appear as worried as during his first term.”I think the Chinese see this more as opportunity and believe the US is actively undermining itself,” she said.”There are a number of aggrieved parties that had been solid and loyal allies of the US,” she added. “Now their confidence in the approach that the US is taking around the world is — I wouldn’t say shattered — but at least in doubt.”- Burying US opening to China -To be sure, China will likely feel real pain from the US tariffs. It shipped more than $500 billion in goods to the United States last year, with the trade balance far in China’s favor.Critics of China hailed what they saw as a death knell for a former near-consensus in Washington on the value of integrating the Asian power into the global economy.”The idea that Communist China could be a responsible member of an international trade regime — the World Trade Organization — which should be premised on equal and fair trade, is a joke,” said Representative Chris Smith, a Republican who for decades has railed against Bill Clinton’s 1994 delinking of China’s trading privileges from human rights.”Unlike previous presidents, President Trump fully understands the nature and scope of the problem — and the existential threat posed by China — and what needs to be done,” Smith said.Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, noted that China still has a slew of issues with other countries, from territorial disputes with Japan, India and Southeast Asia to concerns in Europe over China’s embrace of Russia in the Ukraine war.”China has been adept at undermining its own positions, especially with its neighbors, through assertiveness and even aggression,” Stokes said.- Attention shifts from China -But Stokes said that former president Joe Biden had been effective in forming coalitions with other countries to put pressure on China, on issues from access to fifth-generation internet networks to security.”To the extent that Beijing was feeling a little bit isolated at the end of the Biden administration, I think that a lot of that pressure has come off as the locus of disruption is now clearly Washington,” Stokes said.While both Trump and Biden policymakers have identified China as the top US rival, Lee, of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Trump fundamentally saw President Xi Jinping “not as a villain, but as a peer — another strongman.””For Trump, economic war isn’t about economics or even the stock markets — it’s about the optics of domination and strength,” Lee said.”And that leaves just enough room for a pivot — if Xi offers the kind of win Trump can brand.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will visit Panama next week, the Pentagon said Friday, after President Donald Trump exerted significant pressure on the country to curb ties with Chinese interests.Hegseth will participate in the Central American Security Conference and will “meet with partner-nation senior civilian, military, and security leadership in a series of bilateral meetings,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.The talks will “drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere,” he said.Tensions between the United States and Panama spiraled this year over Trump’s repeated threats to “take back” the Panama Canal, including by force if necessary.Panama has made several concessions to Trump, including putting pressure on a Hong Kong company that operated ports on the Panama Canal to pull out.The last US soldier left Panama on December 31, 1999 — the day the United States, which built the Panama Canal, relinquished control of the crucial shipping route.