The United States and Russia have agreed on four principles after talks that lasted more than four hours in Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, CNN reported. The senior official listed them.
“Restore the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and Moscow. In order for us to continue down this path, we have to have diplomatic institutions that are open and functioning properly,” he said.
“We’re going to appoint a high-level team from our side to help negotiate and work to end the conflict in Ukraine in a way that is lasting and acceptable to all parties involved,” Rubio said.
“To begin discussing, contemplating and exploring both geopolitical and economic cooperation that could result from an end to the conflict in Ukraine,” the Secretary of State added.
“The five of us who were here today… will continue to be engaged in this process to make sure it moves forward in a productive way,” the State Department head summarized.
The five people Rubio mentioned were himself, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Special Envoy Steve Vitkoff, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
“President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its power in the world to bring countries together. President Trump is the only leader in the world who can convince Ukraine and Russia to agree to this,” Rubio added.
The secretary of state also said that “one phone call followed by one meeting is not enough to establish a lasting peace. We must act, and today we took an important step forward.”
Rubio expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting him under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
As reported, on Tuesday, the first round of talks between US and Russian officials took place in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), which lasted more than four hours. As previously reported by the media, the main topic of the talks should be the end of the Russian war in Ukraine.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has instructed the country’s Economy Ministry to prepare all possible measures in response to the US imposition of import duties on Mexican goods, calling the White House’s accusations against the Mexican government regarding its ties to criminal organizations slanderous.
“I am instructing the Minister of Economy to implement Plan B, which we are working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures to protect Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum wrote on social media platform X.
She also accused the United States of ineffectively combating the spread of fentanyl and supplying weapons to criminal groups in Mexico.
Sheinbaum suggested that Trump create a working group with the participation of the best experts in the field of public health and security, solving the problems “not through the introduction of tariffs, but through negotiations and dialogue.”
As reported, Trump is set to sign an executive order next week imposing 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada and 10% on goods imported from China. At the same time, duties on energy from Canada will be 10% and will affect the entire Canadian energy sector, including oil, gas, and electricity.
Canada will impose a 25% duty on $155 billion worth of imports from the United States in response to the US tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
“In response to the US trade actions, Canada will impose a 25% duty on $155 billion worth of goods,” the prime minister said in a video message.
He explained that starting Tuesday of next week, the duties will affect $30 billion worth of goods, then $125 billion worth of goods within three weeks so that Canadian companies have time to find alternative partners.
The government and the leadership of the provinces and territories are also considering the possibility of imposing non-tariff restrictions on the United States regarding critical minerals, energy and other goods, Trudeau said.
US President Donald Trump has signed a decree imposing duties on goods from Canada, China and Mexico. The rates for products from Canada and Mexico will be up to 25%, and for Chinese goods – 10%.
Trump explained this decision by the need to combat illegal migration and drug smuggling.
Previously, the US, Canada, and Mexico had a free trade agreement, the USMCA, signed by Trump in his first term in office. The new duties could have a negative impact on the economies of Canada and Mexico, which could lose up to 2% of GDP. For the United States, the consequences will be less severe, with a 0.3% decline in GDP projected.
Canada and Mexico have already expressed disappointment with Washington’s decision. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that Canada would be forced to respond with tough measures. Mexico, which is the largest trading partner of the United States, may also suffer significant losses, as more than 80% of its exports go to the United States.
The new duties will also affect German automotive companies such as Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, which use Mexico as a production base for supplies to the US market. Experts fear that Chinese manufacturers, faced with barriers in the US, will increase pressure on European markets, which could lead to price wars.
The United Steelworkers trade union called on the White House to reconsider the decision, emphasizing that the duties harm both Canada and the United States. At the same time, Canada is considering diversifying its trade ties to reduce its dependence on the United States.
Source: https://amp.dw.com/ru/prezident-ssa-vvel-posliny-na-tovary-iz-kanady-kitaa-i-meksiki/a-71484154
Donald Trump has said that the United States absolutely needs to establish control over Greenland. He already wanted to buy the island during his first presidential term. He wrote about it on the social network Truth Social.
“For the purpose of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America believes that possession and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote.
The publication reminds that the United States has repeatedly tried to buy Greenland, the world’s largest island that is not a continent, since 1867. Greenland is considered part of the continent of North America, but has close geopolitical ties with Europe and receives funding from the European Union, as it is classified as an overseas territory connected to the bloc through Denmark.
Greenland’s natural resources include gold, silver, copper, and uranium, and the waters off the coast are believed to contain significant oil reserves.
Trump put forward the idea of the US buying Greenland in 2019 during his first presidential term. At the time, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen rejected the proposal, calling it “absurd.” After that, Trump canceled his trip to Denmark.
The U.S. Department of Commerce (U.S. Department of Commerce) has maintained the existing anti-dumping duties on construction steel rebar from Ukraine, Belarus, Indonesia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland and China.
According to the Ministry of Commerce in the Federal Register on December 13 this year, such conclusions are contained in the findings of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) dated December 10, 2024, following the fourth five-year review of the duties.
The document emphasizes that the USITC believes that the elimination of duties on rebar from Belarus, China, Indonesia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine “is likely to result in continued or recurring material injury to the U.S. industry within a reasonable foreseeable time.”
It is specified that the Commission decided to conduct the review of the duties on November 1, 2023. Hearings on this topic were held on October 3, 2024.
As reported, on November 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce published information on the initiative of the fourth review of anti-dumping duties on rebar from seven countries.
The amount of the duty on the supply of Ukrainian reinforcing bars (Steel Concrete Reinforcing Bars) to the US market since their introduction (2002) is 41.69%.
It was also reported that in mid-2000, the Rebar Trade Action Coalition (RTAC), an association of American producers of iron bars, and its individual members, Ameri Steel (Tampa, FL), Auburn Steel Co, Inc. (Auburn, NY), Birmingham Steel Corp. (Birmingham, AL), Border Steel, Inc. (El Paso, TX), CMC Steel Group (Seguin, TX), Marion Steel Co. (Marion, OH), Nucor Steel (Darlington, SC) and Riverview Steel (Glassport, PA) – filed a petition with the International Trade Commission to initiate an anti-dumping investigation against imports of these products, in particular from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian respondent in this investigation was Kryvorizhstal, which was later acquired by Mittal Steel, renamed ArcelorMittal.
In mid-2001, the Commission recognized that rebar supplies, in particular from Ukraine, were harming U.S. producers of similar products by supplying them at dumped prices, and in 2002 an anti-dumping duty of 41.69% was imposed.
Under US law, anti-dumping duties are reviewed every five years.
“ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is the largest rolled steel producer in Ukraine. It specializes in long products, including rebar and wire rod.
