TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that he would speak with US President Donald Trump in the coming days after Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on auto imports.
Carney, who hasn’t spoken with Trump since becoming Canada’s new leader nearly two weeks ago, said that the US president reached out Wednesday night to schedule a call.
“We will be speaking soon, certainly in the course of the next day or two,” Carney said.
Carney said that Trump has to respect Canada’s sovereignty. “That’s not much to ask, but apparently it’s a lot for him,” he said.
Trump has declared a trade war on Canada and continues to call for the United States’ northern neighbor to become the 51st US state, a position that has infuriated Canadians.
“It is clear that the United States is no longer a reliable partner. It is possible the negotiations that, with comprehensive negotiations, we will be able to restore some trust, but there will be no turning back,” Carney said. “We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States. We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere.”
The former central banker was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister on March 14. It’s unusual for a US president and Canadian prime minister to go so long without talking after a new leader takes office.
Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau as Canada’s leader and the head of the Liberal Party, is at the start of a five-week campaign after calling an early election for April 28.
The governing Liberals had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared a trade war and challenged Canada’s sovereignty. The crisis has created a surge in patriotism among Canadians, with many in the country feeling that Carney is the best person to lead the country at the moment.
Trump has acknowledged himself that he has upended Canadian politics.
Carne called the tariffs unjustified and left the election campaign to chair his special Cabinet committee on US relations in Ottawa. He said many Canadians are feeling worried and anxious about the future.
He said over the coming years Canadians must fundamentally reimagine the economy in a drastically different world. More than 75 percent of Canada’s exports go to the US
“The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” he said.
Carney is asking Canadians for a clear and strong mandate given “the biggest crisis in our lifetimes.”
Automobiles are Canada’s second-largest export and the sector employs 125,000 Canadians directly and almost another 500,000 in related industries.
Carney announced this week a CA$2 billion ($1.4 billion) “strategic response fund” that will protect Canadian auto jobs affected by Trump’s tariffs.
Trump previously had granted a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on auto imports from Mexico and Canada for US automakers.
In the auto sector, parts can go back and forth across the Canada-US border several times before being fully assembled in Ontario or Michigan.
Trump previously placed 25 percent tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products — as well as on all of America’s trading partners — on April 2.
The president has plunged the US into a global trade war — all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty.
The tax hike on auto imports starting in April means automakers could face higher costs and lower sales.
“This is not an industry that is Donald Trump’s to steal or take,” said Lana Payne, the National President of Unifor, the union that represents auto workers in Canada.
Payne said that Carney should tell Trump that if US automakers are going to sell cars and trucks in Canada, they are going to have to build in Canada.
Canada’s new prime minister says he’ll be speaking soon with Trump for the first time
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Canada’s new prime minister says he’ll be speaking soon with Trump for the first time
- “We will be speaking soon, certainly in the course of the next day or two,” Carney said
- “It is clear that the United States is no longer a reliable partner”
China imposes a 34 percent tariff on imports of all US products starting April 10
China’s customs administration said it had suspended imports of chicken from some US suppliers after detected furazolidone
BANGKOK: China announced Friday that it will impose a 34 percent tariff on imports of all US products beginning April 10, part of a flurry of retaliatory measures following US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” slate of double-digit tariffs.
The new tariff matches the rate of the US “reciprocal” tariff of 34 percent on Chinese exports that Trump ordered this week.
The Commerce Ministry in Beijing also said in a notice that it will impose more export controls on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries.
Included in the list of minerals subject to controls was samarium and its compounds, which are used in aerospace manufacturing and the defense sector. Another element called gadolinium is used in MRI scans.
China’s customs administration said it had suspended imports of chicken from some US suppliers after detected furazolidone, a drug banned in China, in shipments from those companies.
Separately, it said had found high levels of mold in the sorghum and salmonella in poultry meat from some of the companies. The announcements affect one company exporting sorghum, C&D Inc., and four poultry companies.
Additionally, the Chinese government said it had added 27 firms to lists of companies subject to trade sanctions or export controls.
Among them, 16 are subject to a ban on the export of “dual-use” goods. High Point Aerotechnologies, a defense tech company, and Universal Logistics Holding, a publicly traded transportation and logistics company, were among those listed.
Beijing also announced it filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization over the tariffs issue.
“The United States’ imposition of so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ seriously violates WTO rules, seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of WTO members, and seriously undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic and trade order,” the Commerce Ministry said.
“It is a typical unilateral bullying practice that endangers the stability of the global economic and trade order. China firmly opposes this,” it said.
Other actions include the launch of an anti-monopoly investigation into DuPont China Group Co., a subsidiary of the multinational chemical giant, and an anti-dumping probe into X-ray tube and CT tubes for CT scanners imported from the US and India.
In February, China announced a 15 percent tariff on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas products from the US It separately added a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars.
Dozens of US companies are subject to controls on trade and investment, while many more Chinese companies face similar limits on dealings with US firms.
The latest tariffs apply to all products made in the US, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance’s State Council Tariff Commission.
While friction on the trade front has been heating up, overall relations are somewhat less fractious.
US and Chinese military officials met this week for the first time Trump took office in January to shared concerns about military safety on the seas. The talks held Wednesday and Thursday in Shanghai were aimed at minimizing the risk of trouble, both sides said.
Indian patriotic movie ‘icon’ Manoj Kumar dies aged 87
- Kumar, also a member of PM Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist party, died in Mumbai due to heart-related complications
- He was the recipient of several national awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest honor for cinema
MUMBAI: Indian actor Manoj Kumar, known for his roles in Hindi-language films with patriotic themes, died on Friday aged 87.
The death of the man dubbed “Bharat” Kumar — a reference to the ancient Sanskrit word for India steeped in Hindu religious symbolism — sparked tributes from across the country.
Kumar, who was also a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), died in Mumbai due to heart-related complications.
Modi led the condolences, calling Kumar an “icon” of Indian cinema, saying that his works “ignited a spirit of national pride and will continue to inspire generations.”
Throughout his career, Kumar was known for acting — and at times directing — films that had a focus on unity and national pride.
Born Harikrishan Goswami, he renamed himself in Bollywood tradition — taking on the name Manoj Kumar.
He was the recipient of several national awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest honor for cinema.
Kumar made his debut in Indian cinema in the late 1950s.
He went on to star in several films, many with patriotic themes, including “Upkar” (1967), “Purab Aur Pachhim” (1970) and “Kranti” (1981).
Myanmar military limiting aid in earthquake areas, UN says
- The humanitarian situation in earthquake areas, especially those out of the military’s control, was catastrophic
- UN human rights office: The need for aid was particularly urgent in Myanmar’s Sagaing region
GENEVA: Myanmar’s military is limiting critically needed humanitarian aid for earthquake victims in areas where it sees opposition to its rule, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also said it was investigating 53 reported attacks by the junta against its opponents since the earthquake struck on March 28, including air strikes, of which 16 came after a ceasefire on April 2.
On Friday, the office was made aware of a further eight attacks which it was looking into, it said.
A spokesperson for Myanmar’s ruling junta did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment.
The humanitarian situation in earthquake areas, especially those out of the military’s control, was catastrophic, UN rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The 7.7 magnitude quake, one of the strongest to hit Myanmar in a century, jolted areas home to 28 million people, toppling buildings, flattening communities and leaving many without food, water and shelter. Myanmar’s junta says the death toll has risen to more than 3,100.
“Limitations of aid is part of a strategy to prevent aid getting to the populations it sees as not supporting its seizure of power back in 2021,” said James Rodehaver, head of OHCHR’s Myanmar team, speaking via video link from Bangkok.
The need for aid was particularly urgent in Myanmar’s Sagaing region, and time was working against humanitarian agencies to help those in need, he added.
“Air strikes are alarming, shocking and need to stop straight away – the focus needs to be on humanitarian recovery,” Shamdasani said.
The government on state-run MRTV late on Wednesday announced a 20-day unilateral ceasefire effective immediately to support post-quake rehabilitation, but warned it would “respond accordingly” if rebels launched attacks.
Millions of people have been affected by Myanmar’s widening civil war, triggered by the coup that ousted the government of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
It has decimated the mainly agrarian economy, driven more than 3.5 million people from their homes and crippled essential services such as health care.
Woman found guilty in UK abortion free speech case monitored by US
- Livia Tossici-Bolt was prosecuted for breaching a ‘safe zone’ in the immediate area around the abortion clinic in Bournemouth on two days in March 2023
POOLE, England: An anti-abortion activist, whose case has attracted the attention of the United States over free speech concerns, was found guilty on Friday of breaching an order which banned protest outside a clinic in southern England.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, the leader of a branch of US Christian group ‘40 days for Life’, was prosecuted for breaching a “safe zone” in the immediate area around the abortion clinic in Bournemouth on two days in March 2023. She was holding a sign that read “Here to talk, if you want.”
Following a trial last month, Tossici-Bolt was on Friday convicted of breaching the order at Poole Magistrates’ Court, on the grounds the impact on those using the clinic outweighed her right to free speech under human rights laws.
The case comes amid growing accusations in the US of infringements on free speech in Britain. US Vice President JD Vance confronted Prime Minister Keir Starmer face to face at the White House on the issue, and said in February he feared free speech in Britain was “in retreat.”
Tossici-Bolt was taken to court after refusing to pay a fixed fine for breaching a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), brought in around the British Pregnancy Advisory Service clinic in 2022 in response to concerns that women who attended were being subjected to harassment and intimidation.
An intervention on Sunday by the Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor (DRL) department of the US State Department propelled the case to the front pages of UK newspapers, with suggestions it could have far-reaching diplomatic implications.
“We are monitoring her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression,” the DRL said on X.
Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa
- Republican president tells reporters that the special visa would probably be available ‘in less than two weeks’
- Trump said that sales of the new visa would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US deficit
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump unveiled the first “gold card,” a residency permit sold for $5 million each, aboard Air Force One on Thursday.
Holding a prototype that bore his face and an inscription “The Trump Card,” the Republican president told reporters that the special visa would probably be available “in less than two weeks.”
“I’m the first buyer,” he said. “Pretty exciting, huh?”
Trump previously said that sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
The billionaire former real estate tycoon, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority for his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.
He said in February that his administration hoped to sell “maybe a million” of the cards and did not rule out that Russian oligarchs may be eligible.
