Trump says Iran might get sanctions relief if it can be peaceful
US President Donald Trump suggested he might back eventual sanctions relief for Iran 'if they can be peaceful,' combining threats and the prospect of diplomacy after US strikes aimed at destroying Iranian nuclear sites.'We have the sanctions on,' Trump said in comments on Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. 'And if they do a job, and if they can be peaceful, and if they can show us they're not going to do any more harm, I would take the sanctions off.'Trump said Friday he considered easing sanctions on Iran after a ceasefire but would instead keep them in place, while lashing out at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for claiming victory in the war with Israel.That followed his comments last week hinting at relief when he said he doesn't mind China continuing to buy Iranian oil. White House officials later indicated that didn't mean an easing of US restrictions.In the Fox News interview, which was taped Friday, Trump renewed his argument that Iran was weeks away from getting a nuclear weapon and that US strikes 'obliterated' a key underground site of Iran's nuclear program.
He also injected a note of caution, saying that Iran's nuclear ambitions had been set back 'at least for a period of time.'US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a foreign-policy hawk who's close to Trump, suggested the US require that Iran recognize Israel's right to exist as a condition for resuming US-Iranian talks which went through several inconclusive rounds this year.'They have to say, for the first time — the Iranian regime — we recognize Israel's right to exist,' Graham said Sunday on ABC's This Week. 'If they can't say that, you're never going to get a deal worth a damn.'The head of the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency disputed the Trump administration's claims about the level of damage to Iran's nuclear program from US strikes, which targeted its uranium enrichment capabilities.
'One cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,' Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on CBS's Face the Nation. 'It is clear that there has been severe damage, but it's not total damage.' Iran has industrial and technological capabilities to resume producing enriched uranium possibly 'in a matter of months,' he said. 'So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.'He cautioned that damage assessment isn't the IAEA's job and the agency's information on the state of Iran's nuclear program is limited.
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Mint
20 minutes ago
- Mint
US allies still waiting for tariff relief on autos and steel
TOKYO—In return for billions of dollars of investment pledges and promises to buy more American goods, U.S. allies in Asia and Europe say President Trump agreed to lower tariffs on key exports such as cars and steel. Weeks later, they are still waiting. Earlier this year, Trump threatened many of the U.S.'s trading partners with lofty import duties. Then, in a rapid series of deals culminating this month, he lowered them in pacts that, in some cases, included pledges by those countries to invest in the U.S. The administration, however, has so far left in place a series of tariffs levied for national-security reasons on sensitive products such as cars, steel and aluminum. The delays in addressing those tariffs—as well as discrepancies over investment and other issues—have created uncertainty for businesses and policymakers over future U.S. trade policy. Japan and South Korea said agreements they struck with the U.S. included reducing to 15% a 25% tariff on imported automobiles—but for now that levy is still being collected, adding to mounting losses at some of the world's biggest carmakers. Toyota Motor estimates tariffs will cost it around $9.5 billion in lost operating profit in the fiscal year ending in March, an estimate that had assumed tariffs on U.S. car imports would be reduced this month. Even the U.K., which was the first country to agree to a new trade pact with Trump back in May, is still waiting for a reduction in steep tariffs on steel. The two sides are thrashing out final terms on exactly which U.K. steel exports will qualify. A U.S. administration official said the U.S. agreed to discuss and possibly adjust these so-called Section 232 tariffs but said the administration didn't make a firm commitment to change them as part of these initial agreements. Such teething problems illustrate the challenge of putting Trump's rapid-fire trade pacts into practice. Traditional trade agreements run to hundreds of pages and seek to define clear rules for cross-border commerce to encourage companies to take the risky step of engaging in international trade. Trade lawyers painstakingly haggle over tariffs and regulatory barriers to broaden market access. In his second term, Trump prefers bold pledges and handshake agreements to detailed legal texts with binding commitments. His trade policy is less about expanding international trade than it is about narrowing chronic U.S. trade deficits and recouping what he believes are billions of dollars lost to foreign countries under the existing global system. Trading partners, too, have shied away from formal agreements that would impose specific legal obligations on their side. That partly reflects a desire to avoid bureaucratic entanglements and move swiftly, according to analysts and government officials, as well as a wariness of Trump's commitment to agreements he does make. Trump in his first term signed new trade accords with Japan, South Korea, Canada and Mexico, among others, all of which he has effectively repudiated by unilaterally raising tariffs. Answering critics in Japan's Parliament who wanted to see a written version of Tokyo's trade pact with Trump, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told lawmakers a formal treaty would mean even greater delays in implementation—without a guarantee that Trump would stick with it. The EU is pushing for a written statement—but has said it won't be legally binding. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview on CNBC on Tuesday that documents with deal terms for countries including Japan and South Korea are 'weeks away," but that investors shouldn't expect '250-page trading agreements." Unlike the stability and confidence-building brought by traditional trade deals, this new, looser approach to trade policy means delays, disputes and misunderstandings are the new normal for trade relations with the U.S., said Simon Evenett, a professor at IMD Business School in Switzerland who runs Global Trade Alert, which monitors trade policy. 'The upshot is we inject uncertainty rather than remove it," Evenett said. 'It's the price you have to pay with Washington these days." An administration official said the documents being prepared 'will more precisely lay out deal terms and put to bed any lingering uncertainty." The official added that the president reserves the right to adjust tariff rates if he judges the other side has reneged on its commitments. As well as Japan, South Korea and the European Union, the U.S. has also reached preliminary agreements with smaller but significant trade players such as Vietnam. A deal with China has proved tougher, but Trump this month extended a deadline for higher tariffs on China to come into effect to allow further talks and a possible meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The typical format for a Trump deal includes a pledge by the U.S. trading partner to invest big sums in the U.S., promises to buy more American exports, and a lower tariff rate in return. Almost as soon as some of these pacts were announced, cracks in what exactly they entailed started to show. Following a deal with Seoul, the White House announced that South Korea would provide 'historic market access to American goods like autos and rice." Yet Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, one of South Korea's top trade negotiators, told reporters when he returned home that he didn't discuss rice with the U.S. team at all. An administration official said White House announcements have laid out what trading partners have agreed to and 'we expect them to abide by these commitments." Investment pledges have proved especially controversial, with U.S. allies pushing back on Trump's insistence that he will have considerable discretion over how those funds are invested. For instance, a $350 billion investment fund that was the cornerstone of the pact with South Korea, of which $150 billion is earmarked for cooperation in shipbuilding, would be 'owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself, as president," Trump said. Kim Yong-beom, South Korea's presidential chief of staff for policy, said that the fund 'is not a structure where the U.S. unilaterally decides," and that South Korea will also require the investment projects proposed by the U.S. to be 'commercially meaningful." Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, flew back to Washington only days after striking Japan's trade deal. In meetings with Trump officials, he protested that a July 31 White House executive order seemed to 'stack" a new levy of 15% on top of any pre-existing tariffs on U.S. imports from Japan. He had told Japanese lawmakers the 15% wouldn't be piled on top. He ultimately returned with a commitment from U.S. officials, he said, to revise the order. The U.S. has agreed not to stack the new tariffs for Japan, an administration official said, though the official added that this wasn't part of the deal Japan had initially negotiated. The EU is also waiting for relief on auto tariffs and is negotiating improved terms for steel producers. Asked about the vehicle tariffs recently, an EU spokesman said, 'The U.S. has made political commitments to us in this respect and we look forward to them being implemented." Write to Jason Douglas at
Mint
20 minutes ago
- Mint
The US and China are headed for a dud of a deal. What went wrong.
About the author: Christopher Smart is managing partner of the Arbroath Group, an investment strategy consultancy, and was a senior economic policy advisor in the Obama administration. Lost in the fanfare around the deals President Donald Trump has either agreed to or imposed on America's trading partners is the uncomfortable fact that the world's two largest economies have yet to come to terms. The good news is that both Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping appear eager to reduce trade tensions. They agreed this month to pause their full tariffs until Nov. 10, and have alluded to plans for more talks before then. The bad news is that they seem likely to sign one of the least consequential deals in nearly a half-century of their countries' diplomatic relations. Trump, who built his political career off a vendetta against Chinese goods, still seems poised to try to address supply-chain issues and secure Chinese orders for U.S. goods. But it is unlikely a deal will properly address Chinese export distortions. China's manufacturing export juggernaut will keep growing, undercutting industrial production worldwide and aggravating trade tensions. If anything, Trump's tariffs will reroute U.S. orders through other countries, making the problem worse. The deal will likely include what has been agreed temporarily and what each side wants most. China will provide assurances of a steady supply of rare earths. The U.S. will expand access to advanced technology. There may also be a pledge to let Chinese students continue their studies at American universities. Beyond that, there will likely be echoes of Trump's first-term 'phase one" deal with Chinese commitments to buy lots of American soybeans, beef, and airplanes. If they work hard, there may be something that can stop the flow of fentanyl and save TikTok. Tariffs will settle roughly where they are now in this suspended phase, with China's 10% on American goods and America's 30% on China's. None of this will change the status quo of global trade or manufacturing. With China's domestic growth slowing, it is flooding its goods into world markets in breathtaking quantities. China's manufactured trade surplus clocked in at $1.14 trillion in the 12 months through June—more than a 30% increase from the year prior. China now accounts for a third of the world's manufactured output, surpassing the combined output of the U.S., Germany, Japan, South Korea, and Britain. The effects of this are inescapable. Long before Trump's re-election, the cautious European Union began anti-dumping investigations, which led to tariffs placed on Chinese electric vehicles, solar panels, and textiles. Even developing countries like Brazil and South Africa have attempted to push back by increasing restrictions on Chinese imports. China itself suffers from the distortions caused by its trade surplus. Deflationary pressures are spilling back into its domestic market, aggravating the drag from the country's real estate bust. Western politicians and analysts are quick to call out Chinese subsidies as cheating global trade rules. Still, Xi Jinping believes that his country's best path to what he has called a 'great rejuvenation." Trump's decision to focus on a narrow deal may simply reflect an understanding that not even U.S. tariffs at nosebleed levels will force China to rethink its economic model. Indeed, in search of an agreement, Trump has stripped out the most contentious issues that might stand in the way of a deal. Not only has he effectively ignored the most geopolitically charged questions over Taiwan, Ukraine, and the Uyghurs, but he has also frozen engagement in areas where there had been potential for cooperation, such as climate. Trump has also dropped talk on China's need to protect intellectual property or free its exchange rate. Even his tariffs related to fentanyl enforcement are starting to look more like a bargaining chip than a sticking point, as he pursues any kind of agreement that might have any effect on narrowing America's trade deficit with China. For Xi, anything that keeps the conversation squarely in the realm of economics and trade is a double victory. Not only does it block the West's finger-wagging on human rights abuses and Taiwanese sovereignty, but it also allows the Chinese president to portray himself as the defender of an international trading system that Trump is actively trying to dismantle. And so Trump's sky-high 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi's 125% riposte have been paused until Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent works out some agreement with Vice Premier He Lifeng. The hope is that their teams can hammer out something the two presidents might sign at a Beijing summit, possibly timed to coincide with an October meeting of the leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. After a deal is struck, the bilateral trade deficit may narrow somewhat as direct Chinese shipments decline. But many Chinese goods will continue to find their way to the U.S. after being finished in Vietnam or Malaysia. This is where any licensed economist would insist on saying that bilateral trade deficits reflect differences in savings and demand within countries, more than any trade practices. Overall, Chinese exports were up 7.2% annually in July, despite the tariffs. Previous U.S. administrations tried to present a common front in negotiations with China, working with Europeans, Japanese, and others to convince Chinese officials that 'fair trade" wasn't just a Washington concern. But if all Trump and Xi want is a deal that temporarily lowers tensions without addressing the underlying causes, that is just what they will get. Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barron's newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors. Submit feedback and commentary pitches to ideas@
The Hindu
22 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Polar bear waltz: Fake Trump-Putin AI images shroud Ukraine peace effort
From a fake image of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin dancing in the snow with a polar bear to a fabricated photo of European leaders waiting somberly outside the Oval Office, AI-enabled disinformation has clouded the diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine. The online fakery, dubbed widely as AI slop, underscores how easily artificial intelligence tools can flood the internet with false and satirical content around major global events. These creations also highlight the challenge of policing bogus content as tech platforms offer creators monetisation incentives for viral posts. In hundreds of online posts mocking European leaders as powerless mediators snubbed by Trump, one such image purported to show French President Emmanuel Macron and other top officials waiting somberly in a White House corridor with their heads bowed. "This is utter humiliation of these corrupt scumbags. Absolutely beautiful," said one post on X from a conservative political commentator that AFP has previously fact-checked for spreading misinformation about Ukraine. Such posts, in multiple languages including Greek, German and French, gained traction as European leaders joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House Monday for talks with Trump following the US president's summit with Putin in Alaska. AFP fact-checkers identified visual inconsistencies that indicate the image including Macron was AI-generated. Some of the individuals depicted in the image also do not match those seen in official photographs from the high-stakes meeting. Macron and other European leaders represented a group of Ukraine's allies known as the "Coalition of the Willing" for White House consultations. But multiple pro-Kremlin sources sharing the AI-generated image ridiculed them as the "coalition of those in waiting." The image was also amplified by sites operated by the Pravda network, a well-resourced Moscow-based operation known to circulate pro-Russian narratives globally, the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard said in a report. The falsehood was an illustration of how "pro-Kremlin sources often seize on high-profile meetings involving European leaders to spread false claims," NewsGuard said. In other viral posts, an AI-generated clip purported to show Trump and Putin skidding down snow-covered slopes, eating ice-cream beside a snowman, and waltzing with a polar bear to country music. And in another AI video, Trump and Putin were depicted brawling on a red carpet leading from an airplane staircase, trading punches and kicks as secret service agents idle in the background. The tongue-in-cheek posts offer a window into a social media landscape increasingly filled with AI-generated memes, videos and images competing for attention with, and sometimes drowning out, authentic content. As tech platforms scale back content moderation, AI videos spread rapidly, muddying the waters around serious diplomatic efforts to end the three-year war in Ukraine. Trump on Tuesday ruled out sending American troops to back up any Ukraine peace deal but suggested air support instead, as European nations began hashing out security guarantees ahead of a potential Russia summit.
