India, US close in on trade deal? In trade discussions with the US, India has put forward a proposal for zero-for-zero tariff arrangements on specific items including steel, auto parts and pharmaceuticals, based on reciprocity and limited to certain import volumes, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

According to a Bloomberg report, during their visit to Washington in the previous month, Indian trade representatives presented this proposal to accelerate discussions for a bilateral trade agreement anticipated by autumn this year.

The US administration’s April 2 tariff announcement (later paused for 90 days) is part of a broader strategy aimed at compelling foreign governments to reduce trade barriers to American goods. Moving beyond traditional tariffs, the policy targets non-tariff barriers such as agricultural regulations, taxation systems, currency practices, product standards, legal frameworks, and customs procedures.

Countries have been given a three-month deadline to make concessions or face new tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to over 50 per cent. Tariffs on Chinese goods have already taken effect.

However, many nations face major challenges in meeting US demands, particularly in lowering tariff rates and navigating ambiguous negotiation terms. Officials from several targeted countries have expressed uncertainty about the administration’s specific requirements.

Investment firm 3G Capital is acquiring footwear manufacturer Skechers in a private transaction valued at over $9 billion. The acquisition occurs during a period of uncertainty regarding the impact of US President Donald Trump’s foreign goods tariffs on companies with overseas manufacturing, particularly in China.

The footwear industry has substantial manufacturing investments across Asia. The transaction, which received unanimous approval, values Skechers at $63 per share, representing a 30% premium over its 15-day volume-weighted average share price.

The company’s shares rose by approximately 25% to $61.59 on Monday.

Whilst the acquisition announcement did not address potential tariff implications, it is noteworthy that Skechers generates approximately two-thirds of its revenue outside the United States.

According to FactSet, China contributes 15% of the company’s revenue. The timing of this acquisition coincides with Trump’s fluctuating tariff declarations.

India has put forward a proposal for reciprocal zero tariffs on specific industrial goods, including steel, auto parts and pharmaceuticals, up to a predetermined import volume in its trade talks with the US, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

Once imports exceed the specified threshold, standard duty rates would apply to these industrial products, according to the sources who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions. Indian trade representatives made this proposal during their visit to Washington in the previous month, aiming to accelerate discussions for a bilateral trade agreement anticipated by autumn this year.

Both countries are focusing on select industries to achieve a swift trade agreement before the conclusion of the 90-day suspension of President Donald Trump’s retaliatory tariffs, the sources revealed.

During an interactive discussion at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs in the US, Rahul Gandhi commented on the Indian government’s stance regarding President Donald Trump’s tariff decision, saying, “We don’t know how is it responding because they (the government) don’t tell us these things.”

Donald Trump is negotiating, and he is well within his rights to negotiate, Gandhi said, adding that “we should negotiate right back.”

“We should understand what our strengths are, (and) what we need, and we should not compromise in areas that are detrimental to us. He (Trump) is well within his rights to say that he wants to change the tariff structure, and it’s a negotiation; it’s fine. I think we are more than capable enough to negotiate ourselves a decent deal,” he said.

The US and India need to show how they can produce effectively in a democratic environment, he added.

Australia’s prime minister said Monday he held a “warm” conversation with Donald Trump, days after storming to an election victory partly shaped by voters’ distrust of the US president.

Left-leaning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won by a landslide on Saturday, defeating a conservative challenger pilloried by critics for his “Trump-lite” policy offerings.

“I had a warm and positive conversation with President Donald Trump just a short while ago,” Labor Party leader Albanese told reporters.

“It was a very warm discussion about the friendship between our two nations that’s so important.

“He was fully aware of the outcome and he expressed the desire to continue to work with me in the future,” he added, referencing his election win.

The conversation touched on the nations’ security alliance, Albanese said, as well as the rollout of punishing US tariffs.

Trump’s trade tariffs, and the chaos they unleashed, were far from the only factor in the Labor Party’s resounding victory — but analysts said they certainly helped.

Albanese’s slow-but-steady leadership resonated at a time of global tumult, analysts said, with voters deserting hard-nosed conservative leader Peter Dutton in droves.

The harshest critics likened Dutton’s offering to that of a “Temu Trump”, an unflattering comparison to the popular website offering cut-price unbranded goods.

Albanese also confirmed the first trip of his second term would be to neighbouring Indonesia.

The Federal Reserve will likely keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, despite weeks of harsh criticism and demands from President Donald Trump that the Fed reduce borrowing costs. After causing a sharp drop in financial markets two weeks ago by saying he could fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump subsequently backed off and said he had no intention of doing so. Still, he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have said the Fed should cut rates.

They argue that inflation has steadily cooled and high borrowing costs are no longer needed to restrain price increases. The Fed sharply ramped up its short-term rate in 2022 and 2023 as pandemic-era inflation spiked.

Separately, Elon Musk, the head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, last Wednesday suggested that DOGE should look more closely at the Fed’s spending on its facilities.

The heightened scrutiny shows that even as the Trump administration backs off its threats to fire Powell, the Fed is still subject to unusually sharp political pressures, despite its status as an independent agency.

The Trump administration says the sweeping tariffs it unveiled April 2, then postponed for 90 days, have a simple goal: Force other countries to drop their trade barriers to U.S. goods.

Yet President Donald Trump’s definition of trade barriers includes a slew of issues well beyond the tariffs other countries impose on the U.S., including some areas not normally associated with trade disputes. Those include agricultural safety requirements, tax systems, currency exchange rates, product standards, legal requirements, and red tape at the border.

He’s given countries three months to come up with concessions before tariffs ranging from 10% to more than 50% go into effect. Tariffs on China are already in effect.

On many issues it will be difficult, or in some cases impossible, for many countries to make a deal and lower their tariff rates.

In addition, many trade officials from targeted countries say privately that it isn’t always clear what the Trump administration wants from them in the negotiations.

Vice President JD Vance announced that India has agreed to the terms of trade talks with the United States, but other countries are still trying to set the contours for any negotiations. The White House has highlighted conflicting goals for its import taxes: It’s seeking to raise revenues and bring manufacturing back to the U.S., but it also wants greater access to foreign markets and massive changes to other nations’ tax and regulatory policies.

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur on Monday criticised American President Donald Trump for threatening a 100 percent tariff on films imported to the US, saying the move could backfire and instead push Hollywood filmmakers to leave the country. In a post Sunday night on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he has authorised the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative to slap a 100 per cent tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands”.

Kapur, known for films such as “Mr India”, the “Elizabeth” franchise starring Cate Blanchett and “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”, said over “75% of box office” of Hollywood films comes from outside the US.

“And significant part of the budget of those films are spent outside the US. President Trump’s imposition of 100% tarif on all films imported into the US may encourage Hollywood to move outside the US! Quite the opposite of what he intended. #Hollywood #tarrif #DonaldTrump #tarrifonfilm (sic)” the director wrote on X.

The ongoing transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to reshape the auto component industry by increasing content per vehicle and creating new avenues for suppliers, according to a recent report by Ambit Capital.

However, it also highlighted that while the rise of EVs poses a threat to manufacturers dependent on internal combustion engine (ICE) components, it also unlocks significant growth opportunities.

The report said “While EV disruption poses existential risk for the suppliers of ICE-dependent components, it opens up several opportunities for the component suppliers to provide a) EV components like li-ion batteries, traction motors, controllers, BMS etc”

It added that the component makers can diversify into EV-specific parts such as lithium-ion batteries, traction motors, controllers, and battery management systems (BMS).

Additionally, EVs enable the adoption of advanced technologies like regenerative braking, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and smart cockpits, further boosting the role of suppliers in the value chain.

President Donald Trump said Sunday he was ordering new tariffs on all films made outside the United States, claiming Hollywood was being “devastated” by a trend of US filmmakers and studios working abroad.

“I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Donald Trump said in an interview on Sunday that the “good parts” of today’s US economy flow from his policies while the bad can be blamed on his predecessor Joe Biden, who “did a terrible job.”

“Ultimately, I take responsibility for everything,” the US president said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” talk show.

“But I’ve only just been here for a little more than three months.”

At a time of mixed economic signals and mounting concerns over his aggressive use of tariffs, Trump said “certain aspects” of the economy are his doing. “I was able to get down the costs,” he said.

“I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job.”

While surveys point to growing public concern over the economy, most official indicators are not yet flashing red, with unemployment last month at a moderate 4.2 percent and inflation in March at 2.3 percent, just above the Federal Reserve’s target.

It felt much longer, but the U.S. stock market needed just a few weeks to roar all the way back to where it was on President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day.” That’s when he shocked Wall Street by announcing much steeper tariffs than expected on nearly all U.S. trading partners.

Those tariffs unveiled on April 2 were so severe that they raised fears Trump did not worry about causing a recession in his attempt to reshape the global economy. Within just four days, the S&P 500 fell about 12%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 4,600 points, or about 11%.

This past Friday, though, the S&P 500 rallied 1.5% for a ninth straight gain and pulled back to where it was on April 2.

Of course, the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is still more than 7% below its all-time high set earlier this year. And stocks could easily fall again as uncertainty remains high about what Trump’s tariffs will ultimately do to the economy. But the run for U.S. stocks back upward has been just as wild and unexpected as its fall.

US President Donald Trump said in remarks airing Sunday that he does not know whether he must uphold the US Constitution, the nation’s founding legal document.

In a wide-ranging NBC News interview, the 78-year-old Republican also said he was not seriously considering running for a constitutionally-barred third White House term, and blamed his presidential predecessor Joe Biden for the “bad parts” of the current economy.

Trump has drawn widespread criticism for repeatedly brushing up against constitutional guardrails since returning to the White House in January, notably over his policy of mass deportations of undocumented migrants, some without the benefit of a court hearing.

He insists such rapid expulsions are necessary in the face of what he has declared to be a “national emergency,” and that giving every migrant a court trial would take “300 years.”

When NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker asked if people in the United States — citizens and non-citizens alike — deserve the due process of law, as the US Constitution states, Trump said: “I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”

Pressed more generally on whether he believes he needs to uphold the supreme law of the land, Trump repeated: “I don’t know.”

The remarks in the interview — recorded Friday and broadcast Sunday — quickly made waves in Washington, including among some Republicans.

Donald Trump said in a Sunday interview that the “good parts” of today’s US economy flow from his policies while the bad can be blamed on his predecessor Joe Biden, who “did a terrible job.”

“Ultimately, I take responsibility for everything,” the US president said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” talk show.

“But I’ve only just been here for a little more than three months.”

At a time of mixed economic signals and mounting concerns over his aggressive use of tariffs, Trump said “certain aspects” of the economy are his doing. “I was able to get down the costs,” he said.

“I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job.”