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FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement about a trade deal with the U.K., in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. REUTERS
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Trump may cut China tariffs to 80% in order to de-escalatetrade war
President Donald Trump on Friday floated cutting tariffs on China from 145% to 80% ahead of a weekend meeting among top US and Chinese trade officials as he looks to deescalate the trade war.
Top US officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation in Switzerland in the first major talks between the two nations since Trump sparked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports.
“80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B,” Trump wrote on his social media account on Friday morning, referring to Scott Bessent, his Treasury chief, who has been a point person on trade. The Republican president also called on China to open its markets to the US, writing: “WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON'T WORK ANYMORE!!!”
Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with their counterparts in Geneva in the most-senior known conversations between the two countries in months, the Trump administration announced this week.
It comes amid growing US market worry over the impact of the tariffs on the prices and supply of consumer goods.
No country has been hit harder by Trump's trade war than China, the world's biggest exporter and second largest economy.
When Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, China retaliated with tariffs of its own, a move that Trump viewed as demonstrating a lack of respect. The tariffs on each other's goods have been mounting since then, with the US tariffs against China now at 145% and China tariffs on the US at 125%.
Trump had previously said that he wouldn't lower the tariffs against China to hold substantive talks. But he showed signs of softening during an Oval Office appearance on Thursday, when he said he “could” lower the 145% rate charged on Chinese goods if the weekend talks go well.
“We're going to see,” Trump said. “Right now, you can't get any higher. It's at 145, so we know it's coming down.” The president's team has acknowledged that the 145% tariff was not sustainable, as taxes at that rate were effectively an embargo on any trade between the two countries.
Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as Pope
Pope Leo XIV, history's first US-born pontiff, said his election was both a cross to bear and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass as the head of the Catholic Church. Leo spoke off-the-cuff in English in the Sistine Chapel to the cardinals who elected him to follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who put a commitment to social justice at the core of his papacy. He acknowledged the great responsibility they had placed on him before delivering a brief but dense homily on the need to joyfully spread Christianity in a world that often mocks it. It was in the same frescoed chapel that Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday afternoon as the 267th pope, overcoming the traditional taboo against a pope from the United States because of the secular power the country wields. Leo will be formally installed as pope at a Mass on May 18, the Vatican said Friday, and will preside over his first general audience May 21.
Fisheries sector gets agriculture status in Maharashtra
The Maharashtra government on Friday issued a GR to accord agriculture status to the fisheries sector to enable it to avail electricity concessions and Kisan credit cards, among other benefits. The state cabinet recently approved a proposal for the same, and the move will bring significant relief to the fishing communities in the state.
Maharashtra is an agriculture-driven state, and the rural economy relies on farming and allied sectors like animal husbandry and fisheries. With this move, facilities and concessions available to the agriculture sector from the state and Central governments would be extended to fisheries.
As per the GR, fish farmers and conservation projects will get concessions in electricity, benefit from the Kisan credit card scheme, and bank loans at agricultural rates.
Fish farmers will be eligible for low-cost insurance, and benefits of solar energy initiatives will also be extended to them, the resolution stated. For the first time, the GR defines various terms related to fisheries, such as fishermen, fishery cultivators, fish businessmen, fish seed producers, and fish management professionals.
GPS on the moon: Spanish firm launches lunar navigation system
Spanish technology company GMV has unveiled a GPS-like navigation system for the moon that aims to make lunar missions as intuitive as a drive across town with apps such as Google Maps or Waze.
Called LUPIN, the project is part of a programme by the European Space Agency to test new positioning, navigation and timing techniques as interest in lunar surface exploration picks up again, whether for scientific research, potential mining opportunities or even future tourism.
"With this software, we bring Europe closer to establishing a presence of humans on the moon and, potentially, this would be a stepping stone towards Mars exploration or human presence on Mars," Steven Kay, the project's director, said.
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The new technology was put to the test in the otherworldly landscapes of Fuerteventura - one of Spain's Canary Islands - where GMV conducted field trials with the prototype in a part of the Earth that bears some resemblance to the lunar surface. By using signals similar to GPS from moon-orbiting satellites, LUPIN would allow rovers and astronauts to pinpoint their location on the moon in real time.
Currently, navigating the Earth's largest natural satellite is difficult, as spacecraft on its surface have to rely on complex calculations and data relayed from Earth, which is neither quick nor precise.
"Communication depends on direct visibility with Earth or the use of relay satellites in lunar orbit, which create communicative shadow zones and latency times that hinder immediate decision-making," GMV said in a statement.
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The lack of real-time updates on changes in the moon's terrain caused by recent impacts or lunar dust movements also hinder ground trips on the satellite.
The company wants to combine existing lunar cartography with information gleaned from moon-orbiting satellites targeting dark spots, such as the lunar south pole and the "far side", the area generally in shadow.
"We want these rovers to map the surface of the moon in a fast and safe way so that astronauts can return in a few years, work there and set up permanent bases," said GMV's head of strategy, Mariella Graziano.
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