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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Leaders from Canada, Europe and China are threatening stiff countermeasures against the U.S. in response to President Trump’s surprisingly steep tariffs on nearly all imports.

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariff plan comes with a “fallback” for free trade partners Canada and Mexico if a national emergency declaration on border controls and fentanyl used in February to justify 25 per cent tariffs on them doesn’t hold up. 

A resolution that challenges United States President Donald Trump’s national security justification for tariffs against Canada, passed in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday evening with bipartisan support.

Reportedly, no party is forecast to win an overall majority, and the chances of a Reform-Conservative coalition government are mounting. Nevertheless, a deal between their parties has been ruled out by both Mrs. Badenoch and Mr. Farage. As voter trust in major leaders remains low, the future remains uncertain. For the first time today, a mega-poll asserts that if a general election were held now, reform would garner the most seats, positioning Nigel Farage to become prime minister, as per reports. The new right-wing party is expected to receive 25% of the vote, according to an analysis of a survey of 5,180 people. Labour and the Conservatives are tied at 23% each.

And he belaboured global trade with them on Wednesday. Much of the planet is in shock. This includes penguins and seals who are the sole inhabitants of Heard and McDonald Islands, an Australian external territory near Antarctica, which has been slapped with a 10% tariff. India is mildly disappointed that its constructive and radical offer to Washington — zero-for-zero tariffs on 70% of manufactured goods — didn't give it a reprieve beyond pharma. But GoI has sensibly taken a 'Keep Calm and Carry On' attitude to what it has come to recognise is a period of geopolitical upheaval, as the US, Russia and China, in their separate ways, disorder the global order.

Trump claims to have fixed tariffs at half the level of those imposed by other countries. Hardly any country has only one tariff on everything. So, presumably, he — or his arithmetically-educated advisers — would have to calculate an average of country tariffs. A simple average would make no sense. Although the assumption that he distinguishes between sense and nonsense would be too strong. So, the average would have had to be weighted by the relative importance of the imported goods. We have no idea how the weights were calculated. USTR has given the formula used to calculate the tariff. But it has a symbol — ε (epsilon) — in it that makes all the difference. It has neither given the symbol’s value, nor how it was calculated. All that Trump has told us is that his closeness to the leader of the exporting country made no difference to the tariff. In other words, the rate of return on our PM’s conviviality has been zero. Should we worry about Trump’s abrupt, startling aggression? The US is our biggest customer among all countries. In 2023-24, it took 17.4% of our exports. Optimists may say that it’s wrong to take physical exports. Our biggest exports to the US have been intellectual services. But that only adds to America’s importance.

The sudden move is expected to disrupt commercial contracts and could lead to a wave of renegotiations and disputes, legal experts said. Businesses are considering a range of options, including renegotiation of pricing terms, alternative sourcing strategies, and lobbying for relief measures through trade bodies and bilateral agreements, they said. “Many Indian businesses are seeking clarity on whether existing pricing and delivery terms can hold in the face of sudden tariff impositions,” said Sanjay Notani, partner and co-head of international trade and customs practice at Economic Laws Practice (ELP). “Such abrupt tariff changes can destabilise ongoing commercial arrangements, especially where goods are already in transit. Contract enforcement may become contentious if parties seek to renegotiate or walk away, citing economic impracticability,” he said.

dispute settlement system, say experts. US President Donald Trump on April 2 announced reciprocal tariffs ranging from 10-49 per cent on about 60 countries, including India and China. It will come into effect from April 9. International trade expert Abhijit Das said that these duties clearly violate the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. He said it breaches both MFN (most favoured nation) obligations and the bound rate commitments and a WTO member country has all the right to approach the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism. A government official said that the US has stated in its executive order for these tariffs that America has imposed import levies on national security grounds. The WTO appellate body, the highest platform for dispute resolution, is not functional at present.

It empowers aircraft leasing companies to repossess planes if airlines fail to pay lease rentals. Once enacted, the bill is expected to align Indian law with international aviation standards and provide stronger protections for lessors, improving the investment climate for aircraft leasing in India.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Anurupa Roy, a puppeteer and theatre practitioner, is an integral part of the performing arts ecosystem in India. She set up Katkatha, an organisation for the promotion and preservation of the puppet arts in India, 26 years ago.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. It wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke after all. As soon as the invite to Vivienne Westwood’s 1 April show in Mumbai landed as a WhatsApp text, many thought it was a prank.

Planet Hollywood in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) had become second nature. He had spent years in the service industry, ensuring that customers had a pleasant dining experience before catching their flights. But on March 21, what started as a routine shift took an unexpected and disheartening turn. According to a report from KTLA, toward the end of his shift, Ortiz was serving a couple who, at first, seemed no different from any other travelers passing through the bustling airport restaurant. He greeted them with his usual warmth, took their order, and provided the kind of attentive service he had perfected over the years. But something about their demeanor felt off. “The way they were looking at me—you can tell when something isn’t right,” Ortiz later recalled.

April 2, 2025, was declared Liberation Day by President Donald Trump—a momentous occasion where he unveiled sweeping tariffs aimed at foreign nations. In his dramatic announcement from the White House, Trump proclaimed, “April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to 'Make America Wealthy Again.’”

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : Bangkok-headquartered Dusit International's founding family wants to make its second India innings India count with a flurry of new hotel signings. India is one of the most important markets for Thailand, the third-generation hotelier Siradej Donavanik, vice-president of development for global hotels, told Mint on Thursday.

Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs have landed, triggering measured responses from key trading partners who seem unwilling to ignite a full-blown trade war—at least for now. Branded as “reciprocal tariffs” and ranging from 10% to 49%, the new import taxes, according to Trump, are simply the U.S. giving back what it has endured for decades. “Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he declared, vowing that “it is not going to happen anymore.” Promising a resurgence of jobs and factories, Trump framed the move as more than just economics—he called it a national security necessity that threatens “our very way of life.” Here are the first reactions: China Beijing said it «firmly opposes» the new tariffs on its exports, and vowed «countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests».

Trump's 26 per cent tariff on Indian goods would have a limited impact on key agricultural exports like seafood and rice when compared to higher duties imposed on regional competitors, Gulati said. «We should not look at the tariff increase in absolute terms, but see relative tariff increases with our competitors,» Gulati told PTI. The former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) noted that while India faces 26 per cent tariffs, China faces 34 per cent, creating an 8 per cent differential advantage for Indian exporters. Other competitors face even steeper barriers, with Vietnam at 46 per cent, Bangladesh at 37 per cent, Thailand at 36 per cent, and Indonesia at 32 per cent, Gulati said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI : India’s insurtech startups are no longer content with the domestic market. Facing intensifying competition at home and comparatively smaller transaction sizes, these firms are aggressively expanding into West Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe—regions where insurers are ramping up digital adoption and willing to pay more for advanced tech solutions.

Piramal Finance raised more than ₹2,300 crore ($265 million) through an external commercial borrowing (ECB) facility. The loan was led by Standard Chartered Bank, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and First Abu Dhabi Bank. The floating-rate loan is priced just under 9%, around 15-20 bps lower than the prevailing domestic market rate. «The facility has a 3-year tenor and is fully hedged to mitigate forex and interest rate risks,» said a banker. «Landed cost of funds is more competitive compared to domestic borrowing rates, making it an attractive financing option for Piramal Finance.» Loan has a greenshoe option, allowing it to be upsized to $300 million.

Myanmar's ruling military declared a temporary ceasefire in the country's civil war Wednesday to facilitate relief efforts following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that has killed more than 3,000 people. The surprise announcement by military leaders who also head the unelected government came late Wednesday on state television MRTV, which said the halt in fighting would run until April 22 to show compassion for people affected by Friday's quake. The announcement followed unilateral temporary ceasefires announced by armed resistance groups opposed to military rule, and the military warned that those groups must refrain from attacking the state and regrouping, or else face «necessary» measures. The resistance forces have also reserved the right to fight in self-defense. Earlier Wednesday, rescuers pulled two men alive from the ruins of a hotel in Myanmar's capital, a third from a guesthouse in another city, and another in the country's second city, Mandalay, five days after the quake. But most teams were finding only bodies.