Donald Trump delayed implementing tariffs on some imports from Canada and Mexico. The reprieve, which lasts until April 2nd, applies to goods that fall under the America-Canada-Mexico deal. The president said that levies on aluminium and steel would continue as planned next week, and that he would not exempt carmakers from his April deadline.
American stock indices fell on Thursday, even with Mr Trump’s tariff reversals. The S&P 500 dropped by nearly 2%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ closed down by 2.6%. Earlier at an event in New York Scott Bessent, America’s treasury secretary, defended the administration’s use of tariffs, calling it “the America First trade policy”.
MostEU leaders meeting in Brussels agreed measures to increase defence spending. These reportedly include a €150bn ($162bn) fund for loans to member states, and a review of the bloc’s spending rules. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, earlier thanked European leaders that had “stayed” with his country. Norway’s government announced €7.2bn in aid for Ukraine this year, more than double that originally planned.
The European Central Bank lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, to 2.5%. It was the bank’s sixth cut since June. The euro zone’s annual inflation rate was 2.4% in February, according to an initial estimate. But the ECB’s governor, Christine Lagarde, hinted that the bank could be more cautious about future cuts.
France offered to share intelligence with Ukraine a day after America suspended its co-operation. France’s defence minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said his country had “resources” to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion; he noted that Britain’s situation was “more complicated” as the country is in an “intelligence community” with America. On Monday America suspended military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country to negotiate with Russia.
Lithuania became the first country to withdraw from an international convention banning cluster munitions. The controversial weapons scatter hundreds of smaller “bomblets” over a large area. The Baltic country’s parliament approved the decision last July citing fears about Russia, which is not a signatory and has deployed the weapons in Ukraine. Dovile Sakaliene, the defence minister, said the move was intended as a “strategic message”.
Several homes and a church in South Korea were mistakenly bombed by the country’s air force, injuring 15 people. The accident happened during a military training exercise with America, when two South Korean fighter jets each dropped four bombs over Pocheon, a village close to the border with North Korea. Live-fire drills across the country have been temporarily suspended.
Figure of the day: 45%, the share of women across the OECD who have a degree, compared with 36.9% of men. Read the full story.
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