Author: News Room

Facing the threat of tariffs from President Trump after he took office, Mexico bent over backward to comply with his demands.Almost immediately, the government moved to secure its northern border, severely stanching migration to the United States. Then it hunted cartel leaders in a dangerous fentanyl stronghold. And just last week, in a once-in-a-generation move, it delivered into U.S. custody 29 of the country’s most powerful drug lords.But even after all of that, Mr. Trump imposed the tariffs anyway, shaking global markets. The move left officials in both countries baffled about what the White House was trying to accomplish and…

Selwyn Raab, an investigative reporter for The New York Times and other news organizations who in exacting detail explored the Mafia’s many tentacles, and whose doggedness helped lead to the exoneration of men wrongly convicted of notorious 1960s killings, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 90. His son-in-law, Matthew Goldstein, a Times reporter, said the cause of his death, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, was intestinal complications.Though the phrase surely fit him, Mr. Raab didn’t much care to be described as an investigative journalist. Rather, he said, “I believe in enterprise and patience.” He had both qualities in abundance across a…

Sweeping tariffs imposed by President Trump threatened economic upheaval for consumers and businesses in the United States on Tuesday as the country’s biggest trading partners struck back, raising fears of a burgeoning trade war.Canada and China swiftly condemned the U.S. tariffs and announced retaliatory tariffs against American exports. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said that if the U.S. tariffs were still in place on Sunday, she, too, would announce countermeasures.“This is a time to hit back hard and to demonstrate that a fight with Canada will have no winners,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said in a stern and,…

A trade war with China during President Trump’s first term hit American farmers hard. This time, it could be worse.On Tuesday, China’s Ministry of Finance said it would add tariffs of as much as 15 percent on a wide range of food imports from the United States, including chicken, wheat, corn and cotton. Beijing’s retaliation for escalating American tariffs on Chinese-made products also includes 10 percent tariffs on imports of sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.Without specifying which products, Canada said on Tuesday that it would impose retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent on $30 billion…

President Trump made one of the biggest gambles of his presidency Tuesday by initiating sweeping tariffs with no clear rationale on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, triggering a trade war that risks undermining the United States economy.His actions have upended diplomatic relations with America’s largest trading partners, sent markets tumbling, and provoked retaliation on U.S. products — leaving businesses, investors and economists puzzled as to why Mr. Trump would create such upheaval without extended negotiations or clear reasoning.Mr. Trump has offered up a variety of explanations for the tariffs, saying they are punishment for other countries’ failure to stop…

On Monday, ABC said that the Oscars audience declined by about 8 percent this year compared with last year, citing Nielsen data. Well, it turns out the awards show did not suffer from an audience decline after all, the network said on Tuesday.The Academy Awards attracted 19.7 million viewers, strong enough to eclipse last year’s total of 19.5 million, ABC said, citing final data from Nielsen. That new number means that the Oscars has increased viewership for four straight years.And there might be a simple explanation for the next-day change: The Oscars streamed live on Hulu for the first time.The…

The sweeping tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese products that President Trump imposed on Tuesday could strain the system that collects import duties and the government agencies that enforce those fees, trade and legal experts said.Collecting import duties is usually a routine task, but the new tariffs are being imposed on Mexican and Canadian goods, many of which have been imported into the United States duty-free for many years. Adding to the challenge is the sheer volume of goods subject to the new tariffs — U.S. imports from China, Mexico and Canada totaled over $1.3 trillion last year, or about…

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from firing Cathy Harris, the chair of an independent board that protects government workers from political discrimination and unfair labor practices, including wrongful termination.The order was the second time a judge had sided with a government watchdog who sued to prevent their own removal. Lawsuits challenging President Trump’s ability to reshape entire agencies and traditionally independent panels have advanced all the way to the Supreme Court, providing an early test of courts’ willingness to check the president’s ambitions.Judge Rudolph Contreras, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said…

An investment group led by BlackRock, a giant American asset manager, has agreed to buy two ports in Panama that are owned by a Hong Kong company and that have become the subject of tensions between Panama and the Trump administration.BlackRock will buy the ports, which sit at either end of the Panama Canal, and over 40 others from the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison for about $19 billion.American politicians have raised the possibility that the Chinese government might influence the operation of the canal through CK Hutchison. Without offering any evidence, President Trump has said China runs the canal.…

Global stocks tumbled on Tuesday as investors’ concerns over the future health of the economy mounted after President Trump’s broad tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China went into effect.The S&P 500 fell over 1.8 percent, adding to the 1.8 percent loss on Monday that was its sharpest decline this year. The Nasdaq Composite index also dropped over 1 percent, putting the index in what is known as a correction, defined as a drop of 10 percent or more from its recent peak, which was set in December, although much of the sell-off has materialized over the past two weeks.Investors appeared…