The Dictatorship
As markets implode, US trading partners puzzle over whether there’s room for negotiations
BRUSSELS (AP) — America’s trading partners wrestled with responses to U.S. President Donald Trump’s blast of tariff hikes and some planned to send negotiators to Washington, while the head of the European Union’s executive commission offered mutual reduction of tariffs – while warning that retaliation was an option too.
“We stand ready to negotiate with the United States,” said commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Indeed, we have offered zero for zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. Because Europe is always ready for a good deal.”
But she warned that “we are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests.”
China has already hit back against the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs and similar actions from Europe and elsewhere remain a significant possibility.
The U.S. and the EU had a zero-for-zero deal on wine and spirits from 1997 to 2018, and reducing many tariffs to zero was a goal of complex negotiations for a US-Europe free-trade deal before negotiations stalled in 2016.
Yet there was little indication Trump is ready to deal. The EU trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, spoke for two hours with Trump administration Friday and would say only that “we stay in touch.”
And White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNBC on Monday that an offer by Vietnam to eliminate tariffs on U.S. imports would not lead to a pullback on the the newly announced 46% levy on its imports to the U.S.
“Let’s take Vietnam. When they come to us and say ‘we’ll go to zero tariffs,’ that means nothing to us because it’s the non-tariff cheating that matters,” Navarro said on CNBC
Major trade partner China was taking a tougher line and accused the U.S. of “bullying” after imposing a 34% tariff on Friday on all US goods, the exact same rate Trump slapped China with in his latest round of new import taxes.
Several other countries said they were sending trade officials to Washington to try to talk through the crisis, which has cast uncertainty over the global economic outlook, hammered markets and left U.S. allies wondering about the value of their ties with the world’s largest economy.
European Union trade ministers were closeted Monday in Luxembourg to weigh possible steps that could include taxes on U.S. tech companies like Google, Apple and Amazon. The European Union’s executive commission – which handles trade issues for the 27-country bloc – is set to impose tariffs on Jeans, whiskey and motorcycles on Wednesday in response to Trumps increase in steel and aluminum tariffs.
But it hasn’t decided a response yet to Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff of 20% on European goods announced Wednesday and a 25% tariff imposed on autos from everywhere. French officials have raised imposing tariffs on services like internet commerce or financial services, where the U.S. sells more than it buys from Europe and is in theory more vulnerable than in goods trade.
Germany’s economy minister, Robert Habeck, was defiant as he arrived, saying the premise of the wide-ranging tariffs was “nonsense” and that attempts by individual countries to win exemptions haven’t worked in the past.
It’s important for the EU to stick together, he said. That “means being clear that we are in a strong position — America is in a position of weakness.”
So far the European approach has been to selectively target politically sensitive goods rather than impose sweeping retaliation since like most economists officials they view tariff wars as a lose-lose game.
China, which hit back Friday at Washington with 34% tariffs on U.S. products and other retaliatory moves, sharply accused the U.S. of failing to play fair. “Putting ‘America First’ over international rules is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters.
The ruling Communist Party struck a note of confidence even as markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai crumpled. “The sky won’t fall,” declared The People’s Daily, the party’s official mouthpiece. “Faced with the indiscriminate punches of U.S. taxes, we know what we are doing and we have tools at our disposal.”
China’s Commerce Ministry said officials met with representatives of 20 American businesses including Tesla and GE Healthcare over the weekend and urged them to take “concrete actions” to address the tariffs issue.
During the meeting, Ling Ji, a vice minister of commerce, promised that China will remain open to foreign investment, according to the readout by the ministry.
Other Asian nations seek negotiations
South Korea’s Trade Ministry said its top negotiator, Inkyo Cheong, will visit Washington this week to express Seoul’s concerns over the 25% tariffs on Korean goods and discuss ways to mitigate the damage to South Korean businesses, which include major automakers and steel makers. Asian countries are among the most exposed to Trump’s tariffs ranging from a baseline 10% to 50% since their export-oriented economies send a lot of goods to the U.S.
Pakistan also planned to send a delegation to Washington this month to try negotiate over the 29% tariffs on its exports to the U.S., officials said. The prime minister ordered Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb to assess the tariff’s potential impact on Pakistan’s fragile economy and draw up recommendations.
The U.S. imports around $5 billion worth of textiles and other products each year from Pakistan, which heavily relies on loans from the International Monetary Fund and other lenders.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s Trade Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz said his country will seek to forge a united response from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
As chair of the 10-nation body this year, Malaysia will lead a meeting Thursday in its capital Kuala Lumpur to discuss broader implications of the trade war on regional trade and investment, Zafrul told reporters.
“We are looking at the investment flows, macroeconomic stability and ASEAN’s coordinated response to this tariff issue,” Zafrul said.
He said that he had met with the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia to try to clarify how the U.S. came up with its 24% tariff.
Indonesia plans to increase imports from US
Indonesia, one of the region’s biggest economies, said it would work with businesses to increase its imports of U.S. wheat, cotton, oil and gas to help reduce its trade surplus, which was $18 billion in 2024.
Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto told a news conference that Indonesia will not retaliate against the new 32% tariff on Indonesian exports, but would use diplomacy to seek mutually beneficial solutions.
Some Southeast Asian neighbors, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, face tariffs of over 40%, giving Indonesia a slight advantage, he noted.
“For Indonesia, it is also another opportunity as its market is huge in America,” Hartoto said. He said Indonesia would buy U.S.-made components for several national strategic projects, including refineries.
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Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
In an explosive interview with NBC aired Sunday, President Donald Trump cut the grilling short and left the set after peppering “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker with insults.
“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump told Welker, who kept a cool demeanor despite the president’s barrage of disparaging slurs.
Moments before he attacked her, Trump — without providing any evidence — said he believes elections in the U.S. are rigged. Then he lambasted television news networks, singling out NBC, CBS and ABC.
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker shot back. “But let’s continue.”
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” the president told Welker, who is the second woman and first Black journalist to helm the network’s flagship program.
Trump added, “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
It was not the first time Trump has berated a female journalist on the job covering his presidency.
In November 2025, he told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey to stop talking, saying, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” One month later, he told ABC’s Rachel Scott she was “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place.” Last month, he called MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for pointing out that the cost of his White House ballroom project had doubled since it was first announced.
He has also repeatedly lashed out at CNN’s Kaitlan Collinscriticizing her for not smiling enough.
The wide-ranging interview, which was taped last week on a farm in Wisconsin, was interrupted by the loud sound of heavy rain on the metal roof of the barn where they met. Welker questioned Trump on his war with Iran, his “anti-weaponization” fund and the upcoming midterm elections.
On his nearly $1.8 billion fund aimed at compensating people who say they were wrongly prosecuted, including Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Trump said “people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated.”
He described the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as people who were “being ushered into the building” by law enforcement.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the fund last month and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week the administration would not be moving forward with the fundwhich faced bipartisan backlash.
When asked if the administration would pursue other avenues to revive it, Trump said he does not know what will ultimately happen and called Welker and her network “the fake dirty press.”
Despite campaigning on a promise to end foreign wars, Trump denied that he made such statements. He characterized the Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, as necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
When asked about the rising cost of living as a result of the war, specifically gas and fertilizer, Trump chastised Welker.
“Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions and you don’t listen to the answers,” he said.
“I love the farmers and the farmers love me,” Trump said, adding that prices will come down after the war.
Welker suggested to her viewers Sunday that she and the president had a cordial conversation Saturday, saying they both “acknowledged the complications” posed by the rain. “He agreed to sit down with me for another ‘Meet the Press’ interview,” she said.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Iran said visas were denied to key members of its national soccer team ahead of the World Cupwhich a U.S. official insisted was necessary so that Iran does not try to “sneak terrorists into the United States.”
In a post on Xthe Iranian embassy in Turkey said “visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others” on its team.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy said, accusing the U.S. of the “worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport” and “depriving Iran’s national team of its right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions.”
Iranian officials are accusing the U.S. government of violating FIFA regulations and breaching its obligations as one of the host countries of what is widely regarded to be the biggest sporting event in the world. The diplomatic standoff between the two countries comes just days before the World Cup is set to kick off and more than three months after the U.S. and Israel waged war against Iran.
A Trump administration official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the subject told MS NOW in a statement that the visas “necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.”
The official added, however, “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.”
The statement from the Iranian Embassy in Turkey came in response to a post on X by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack praising embassy staff for processing visas for the Iranian national team.
According to The Associated Presssome of the team’s officials have not received visas to enter the U.S., which is co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico and Canada. Games are set to begin Thursday.
Problems with getting U.S. visas had already led Iran to move its World Cup training base from the U.S. to Mexico. But Iran is still listed on the official World Cup schedule to play its first two games in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and against Belgium six days later before heading to Seattle to face Egypt.
The Iran Football Federation’s secretary-general and its vice president were among 14 staff and officials without U.S. visas, AP said, citing Iranian state television. The federation reportedly accused the U.S. of “vindictive behavior.”
Emily Hung contributed to this report.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
A shooting near a community festival in Toledo, Ohio, wounded at least 12 people, and police said a search for the suspects was ongoing following an outbreak of gunfire that sent crowds scrambling for cover.
Two of the wounded were in critical condition, Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan said. He said it appeared there were at least two people firing weapons who were “probably shooting at each other.”
The Toledo Police Department said the shooting happened near the Old West End Festival, an annual gathering of live music and home tours in a historic district of the city.
The department said an active search was underway for those responsible.
“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo tonight. Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement.
Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running over the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to others who appeared wounded.
Kevin Berry said he was sitting in the neighborhood arboretum listening to live music with his friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out.
“Everybody hit the deck,” he said.
When he looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet (15 meters) away from him. Police officers who were already on-site for the festival immediately responded to the scene.
Berry, who has medical training and served in the U.S. Navy, said he walked around the area looking for potential victims who might need help.
He said he saw at least five people with gunshot wounds.
“The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” he said.
The Old West End Festival is a two-day celebration in Toledo’s historic district that includes live music, food vendors, home tours and shopping.
Berry described it as the “kick-off to Toledo’s summer festival season.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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