Author: Finance for Sight

BEIJING: China will impose 84% tariffs on US imports, up from 34%, the finance ministry said Wednesday, hours after similar levies by the United States came into force. US President Donald Trump’s latest salvo of tariffs came into effect on dozens of trading partners Wednesday, including punishing 104% duties on imports of Chinese products. Beijing has consistently opposed tariff rises and said Wednesday it would take “firm and forceful” steps to protect its interests. Its finance ministry later said in a statement that “additional tariff rates” on imports originating in the United States would “rise from 34% to 84%”, effective…

WASHINGTON: US immigration authorities said Wednesday they will look at social media accounts and deny visas or residence permits to people who post content considered anti-Semitic by President Donald Trump’s administration. Posts defined as anti-Semitic will include social media activity in support of groups classified by the United States as terrorists, including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi insurgents. The move comes after the Trump administration has controversially canceled visas for students inside the United States, where the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “has made it clear that anyone who thinks…

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs on dozens of economies came into force Wednesday, including over 100 percent on China, as Beijing vowed “forceful” action in an intensifying trade war that sparked fresh panic on the markets. Following the sweeping 10 percent tariffs that took effect over the weekend, rates on imports to the United States from exporters like the European Union or Japan rose further at 12.01 am (0401 GMT) Wednesday. China – Washington’s top economic rival but also a major trading partner – is the hardest hit, with tariffs imposed on its products since Trump returned to…

WASHINGTON: The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it was aware of the killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian American teenager in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and was seeking more information about the incident. A State Department spokesperson made the comments to reporters when asked about the killing of U.S. citizen Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, and the shooting of two other teenagers. “We are certainly aware of that dynamic,” the State Department spokesperson said. “There is an investigation that is going on. We are aware of the reports from the IDF that this was a counterterrorism act, we need…

KYIV: President Volo dymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, adding that Kyiv would demand an explanation from Beijing and a reaction from its allies. Moscow and Beijing have in recent years boasted of their “no limits” partnership and deepened political, military and economic cooperation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. “Our military captured two Chinese citizens who fought in the Russian army. This happened on the territory of Ukraine — in the Donetsk region,” Zelensky said in a post on social media. “We have the documents of these prisoners,…

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plan. U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday for a fourth straight trading day since Trump’s tariffs announcement last week, with the S&P 500 closing below 5,000 for the first time in almost a year. The index is now 18.9% below its most recent high on February 19, close to the 20% decline that defines a bear market. S&P 500 companies…

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday rejected a new Israeli proposal to control aid deliveries in Gaza, saying it risks “further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour.” “Let me be clear: We will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles: humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” Guterres told reporters. No aid has been delivered to the Palestinian enclave of some 2.1 million people since March 2. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of all goods and supplies into Gaza until Palestinian…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister arrived in the United States on Tuesday for an official visit aimed at planning US President Donald Trump’s expected trip to the kingdom later this spring, a source close to the Saudi royal court told Reuters. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud would also discuss Gaza and the status of Yemen’s Houthis during meetings with US government officials, the source said. The trip was scheduled before last week’s US tariffs announcement, the source added. Trump’s tariff offensive has rattled markets and raised fears of a global recession that could drive down the price of oil, Saudi…

KATHMANDU: Nepali mountaineers on Tuesday searched for two people swept away by a powerful avalanche on the world’s 10th highest mountain Annapurna, officials said. The 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) Annapurna is a dangerous and difficult climb, and the avalanche-prone Himalayan peak has a higher death rate than Everest. Three men were climbing the mountain as part of the first ascent of this spring season when a “huge avalanche swept down” around midday Monday, said expedition company Seven Summit Treks. The trio were ferrying oxygen cylinders used for the summit push for later climbers, when they were hit by huge blocks of snow.…

BRUSSELS: Europe experienced its warmest March since records began, as climate change continues to push temperatures to unprecedented levels, European Union scientists said on Tuesday. Globally, last month was the planet’s second-warmest March on record – exceeded only by March in 2024, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin. March continued a run of extraordinary heat, in which 20 of the last 21 months saw an average global temperature of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (35 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. Climate change, Resilience and Sustainability Facility, and beyond Last year was the planet’s hottest…