
Trump says BRICS nations may face 'additional' US tariffs
Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation, explains why Trump has called BRICS nations 'anti-American' and said he'll impose higher tariffs on members.
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Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US State Department begins layoffs in Trump's shake-up of diplomatic corps
More than 1,350 US State Department employees have been fired in a major diplomatic shake-up ordered by President Donald Trump, in a move critics predict would curb the United States' influence around the world. Friday's mass layoff, which affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers based in the United States, come at a time when Washington is grappling with multiple crises on the world stage: Russia's war in Ukraine, the almost two-year-long Gaza conflict, and the Middle East on edge due to high tension between Israel and Iran. Diplomats and other staff clapped out departing colleagues in emotional scenes at the Washington headquarters of the department, which runs US foreign policy and the global network of embassies. Some were crying as they walked out with boxes of belongings. 'It's just heartbreaking to stand outside these doors right now and see people coming out in tears, because all they wanted to do was serve this country,' said US Senator Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat who worked as a civilian adviser for the State Department in Afghanistan during the administration of former President Barack Obama. The layoffs at the department came three days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to begin carrying out its plan to gut entire government positions. The conservative-dominated top court lifted a temporary block imposed by a lower court on Trump's plans to lay off potentially tens of thousands of employees. The 79-year-old Republican says he wants to dismantle what he calls the 'deep state'. Since taking office in January, he has worked quickly to install fierce personal loyalists and to fire swaths of veteran government workers. Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the foreign policy department is too cumbersome and requires thinning out of some 15 percent. 'It's not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don't need those positions,' Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of his ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 'Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.' The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) – the union representing State Department employees – condemned the 'catastrophic blow to our national interests'. 'We oppose this decision in the strongest terms.' The State Department employed more than 80,000 people worldwide last year, according to a fact sheet, with about 17,700 in domestic roles. The US Agency for International Development (USAID), long the primary vehicle to provide US humanitarian assistance around the world, has already been mostly dismantled. According to The Washington Post, State Department employees were informed of their firings by email. Foreign Service officers will lose their jobs 120 days after receiving the notice and will be immediately placed on administrative leave, while civil service employees will be separated after 60 days, the newspaper said. Ned Price, who served as State Department spokesman under former Democratic President Joe Biden, condemned what he called haphazard firings. 'For all the talk about 'merit-based,' they're firing officers based on where they happen to be assigned on this arbitrary day,' Price said on X. 'It's the laziest, most inefficient, and most damaging way to lean the workforce.'


Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,234
Here is how things stand on Saturday, July 12: A Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv damaged a maternity hospital, authorities said, terrifying patients as windows shattered and shards of glass fell onto the beds, leaving families rushing to shelter their babies. Three women and three newborns suffered acute stress and received medical help. Nine people were injured in Kharkiv, and an apartment building was also damaged in Russian attacks over the past day, while one person was killed and five others injured as a result of various Russian attacks in the surrounding region, governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Ukraine said its drones struck a Russian fighter aircraft plant in the Moscow region and a missile production facility in the Tula region, causing explosions and fires at both. The Russian Ministry of Defence said that 155 Ukrainian drones were downed between Thursday and Friday, including 11 bound for Moscow. Dmitry Milyaev, Tula regional governor, said on Telegram that one person was killed and another injured in a Ukrainian attack on the region, approximately 200km (124 miles) south of Moscow. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had taken the village of Zelena Dolyna in Donetsk, northeast of the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, as their troops move westward. The United States has resumed military supplies to Ukraine, and senior officials in Kyiv will work on military cooperation next week with US special envoy Keith Kellogg, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian media covering his ASEAN meeting in Malaysia that he outlined Russian President Vladimir Putin's position on settling the Ukraine war during a meeting with top US diplomat Marco Rubio the day before. Lavrov has arrived in North Korea, according to North Korea's state media KCNA, the latest visit by a senior Russian official to the isolated state amid warming ties between the countries. The visit, scheduled for Sunday, includes a meeting with the country's foreign minister. After North Korea, Lavrov is expected to travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, which is set to take place on Monday and Tuesday. South Korean intelligence service said North Korea may be preparing to deploy additional troops in July or August, after sending more than 10,000 soldiers to fight with Russia in the war against Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described as 'unacceptable' French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine should Moscow and Kyiv agree to an elusive ceasefire. He also accused European leaders of a 'pattern of militaristic anti-Russian sentiment'. Russia is awaiting the 'major statement' that US President Donald Trump announced he would deliver on Monday, Peskov said. Peskov also said wartime censorship in Russia is justified amid the conflict with Ukraine and the closure of opposition-minded media. Several Russian-language media outlets have been blocked since the start of the war in February 2022, as well as social media platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fatigue over the war in Ukraine and US-led foreign aid cuts are jeopardising efforts to support people fleeing hardship, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director-General Amy Pope warned, a day after a Ukraine recovery conference in Rome mobilised over 10 billion euros ($11.69bn) for the country. The United Nations trade and development agency, UNCTAD, has announced that its agreement with Moscow to facilitate exports of Russian foodstuffs and fertiliser to international markets in a bid to rein in global food prices 'will not be renewed' when it expires on July 22, citing disagreements. Germany has no plans to procure additional F-35 fighter jets, a Federal Ministry of Defence spokesperson said on Friday, denying a Politico report that the country planned to grow its planned fleet to 50 amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. NATO will need more long-range missiles in its arsenal to deter Russia from attacking Europe because Moscow is expected to increase production of long-range weapons, US Army Major-General John Rafferty told the Reuters news agency. Kyiv will allocate 260 million hryvnias ($6.2m) for a drone interceptor programme to defend the capital's skies from Russian drones, city authorities said.


Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump's new Brazil tariffs could raise US beef prices
United States President Donald Trump's newly announced tariffs of 50 percent on Brazilian imports could drive up beef prices for US consumers. Unless the White House delays or reverses course, the tariffs are set to take effect on August 1. After China, the US is the second-largest importer of Brazilian beef. Brazil is currently the fifth-largest source of foreign beef for the US, and its share has grown in the past year, accounting for 21 percent of all US beef imports. That surge has been driven by domestic supply challenges, including widespread droughts and rising grain costs. In fact, imports doubled in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2024 including because of the threat of upcoming tariffs. Analysts say should the tariff go into place, it will hit importers of ground beef, commonly used in hamburgers, particularly hard. 'They [US beef importers] will either have to pay the higher cost of Brazilian beef or obtain it from other higher-cost sources. That could lead to higher prices for certain beef products, particularly ground beef and hamburger meat. This comes at a time when the US cattle herd is at the lowest level in many decades, demand for beef is strong, and as a result beef prices are up,' David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University, told Al Jazeera. The 50 percent tariff would bring the rate on Brazilian beef to about 76 percent for the rest of the year, Reuters news agency reported, citing livestock analysts. Some domestic trade groups, including the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), have praised the White House for the looming tariffs. 'NCBA strongly supports President Trump holding Brazil accountable with a 50 percent tariff,' NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera. 'For many years, NCBA has called for full suspension of imported Brazilian beef due to their abysmal lack of accountability on cattle health and food safety. Brazil's failure to report cases of atypical BSE [a neurological disease affecting cattle] and their history of [foot and mouth disease] is a major concern for America's cattle producer. 'A 50 percent tariff is a good start, but we need to suspend beef imports from Brazil so we can conduct a thorough audit and verify Brazil's claims [of safety and health practices].' In the 2024 election cycle, almost 95 percent of the political action committee representing the NCBA's donations went to Republican candidates, according to OpenSecrets. Rising costs The tariffs come as the US is already facing a decline in domestic beef production and increased reliance on imported beef. There are already other strains on the US beef market because livestock imports from Mexico are at a standstill following new health concerns — the spread of a flesh-eating parasite called a screwworm. At the same time, imports from Brazil were down in June on the back of the 10 percent tariffs the White House imposed in April across all countries while they each negotiated their trade deal with the US. 'Domestic beef producers may benefit in the short term from reduced competition. However, producers are facing high input costs and weather-related challenges that limit their ability to expand quickly,' Ortega added. Farmers in the US also have the smallest cattle herds in more than 70 years, and production is expected to decrease further by two percent by the end of the year. Because of pains in domestic supply, imports doubled in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year. That began to decline last month as a result of the 10 percent blanket tariffs. Robert Perosa, president of Brazilian Beef Exporters Associations (ABIEC), an industry trade group, told reporters that the new tariffs would make it 'economically unfeasible' to continue to export to the US market. The move will raise costs for restaurants across the US. 'Dramatic tariff increases could affect menu planning and food costs for restaurants as they attempt to find new suppliers,' Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs at the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera. 'As we have said from the outset, our industry relies on a steady supply of imported goods that cannot be produced here in the US, and we urge the Trump administration to pursue policies that will secure fair trade agreements.' Al Jazeera reached out to the largest fast food restaurant chains in the US, including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Sonic Drive-In and Jack in the Box, but none responded. JBS and Marfrig, two of Brazil's largest beef producers, also did not reply to a request for comment. Markets respond Stock markets have been relatively muted in their response to Trump's tariff announcements this week. At the market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.6 percent, and the S&P 500 is down 0.33 percent for the day. The Nasdaq Composite Index is down 0.2 percent. JBS, which also has substantial beef production operations in the US, made a $200m investment earlier this year to expand two facilities in the US. The company's stock is up 0.4 percent for the day despite the challenges the tariffs will pose to its Brazilian beef business. Marfrig is down 3.98 percent for the day, although this comes as the company postponed a shareholder meeting for the second time for an unrelated pending acquisition of a poultry and pork processor.