U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau discussed on Friday with Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha the importance of an ongoing audit of Hutchison’s management of concessions of two ports at either end of the Panama Canal, the State Department said in a readout of their conversation.
Though the canal itself is operated by Panama, the two ports on either side are run by publicly listed Hong Kong company CK Hutchinson, while other ports nearby are operated by private companies from the United States, Singapore and Taiwan.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed tariffs with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the State Department said in a readout of their conversation on Friday, in the aftermath of a sweeping new tariff policy announced by the United States.
Unspecified Israeli goods exports to the United States, Israel's largest single trading partner, face a 17% tariff.
The head of Taiwan's National Security Council arrived in the United States for talks with President Donald Trump's administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday, days after China concluded war games around Taiwan.
Joseph Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the "special channel," the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump's first use of the channel since returning to the White House on January 20.
Earlier this week, China's military concluded two-day war games around Taiwan in which it held long-range, live-fire drills in the East China Sea, marking an escalation of exercises around the island.
Taiwan has denounced China for holding the drills. The United States, Taiwan's most important international supporter and main arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations, condemned the latest exercises earlier this week.
Taiwan is only one area of tension between the United States and China whose ties have been tested by multiple issues such as human rights, the origins of COVID-19 and trade tariffs, including measures put in place by Trump this week.
Trump's tariffs this week also upset Taiwan which called them unreasonable.
Trump has also been critical of Taiwan for taking U.S. semiconductor business, saying he wants the industry to re-base to the United States. Taiwan's top security official has said the Trump administration's support for Taiwan remains "very strong."
China has stepped up rhetoric against Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, calling him a "parasite" on Tuesday in the wake of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Asia visit, during which he repeatedly criticized Beijing.
The White House and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly denounced Lai as a "separatist". Lai, who won election last year, rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Taiwan has lived under the threat of Chinese invasion since 1949 when the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, though the two sides have not exchanged fire in anger for decades.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy offered the notoriously spendthrift transit agency the help of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team after taking a two-stop subway ride with Mayor Eric Adams in New York City Friday.
Duffy ripped the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for greenlighting $250 million in contracts for consultants on the next Second Avenue subway extension — which already carries a whopping price tag of $7.7 billion — or $4.3 billion a mile.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy offered the MTA help from DOGE during a two-stop subway ride Friday.Paul Martinka
“I see how much MTA spends, right?” Duffy said. “I suspect there is waste… fraud, and so I’m going to make an offer at MTA.
“I know a few people in DC who are very successful at rooting out fraud, waste and abuse: DOGE,” he said, referring to the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.
“So, I’m going to offer folks from DOGE to come down and take a look at what MTA is doing, how they’re spending their money, and can they be more efficient for the taxpayers in the state of New York?”
The transportation secretary’s visit and ride along with the increasingly MAGA-friendly Adams is his latest high-profile stunt targeting the MTA amid a spat with Gov. Kathy Hochul.
No one from the MTA was on the tour, an apparent snub that came after Duffy threatened to pull funding from the agency last month.
Adams also did not give Hochul a heads up about his meeting with Duffy, despite talking with her on the phone the previous night, a source familiar with the situation said.
Hochul has been feuding with Duffy over congestion pricing and MTA funding.Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
Duffy — who was shown how to use a MetroCard by Adams for their short ride from the DeKalb Avenue to Broadway-Lafayette stations — said he wanted to make sure the subway system is “safe.”
His desire came a day after NYPD officials touted subway crime levels finally falling to pre-pandemic levels — including no murders so far this year — amid a surge of police orchestrated by the city and Hochul.
“Secretary Duffy has literally no idea what he’s talking about,” a Hochul spokesperson said.
“As Mayor Adams and most New Yorkers know, Governor Hochul stepped up to add NYPD officers and security resources on public transit. Now, subway crime has declined by double digits and ridership continues to grow.”
MTA representatives referred The Post’s questions to remark made by the agency’s Chair and CEO Janno Lieber at an unrelated news conference.
“Don’t let the moment pass to remind people crime is down 40% from where it was before COVID,” he said. “The March numbers confirm the trajectory. The NYPD and all of our partners in trying to create a safer New York and a safer subway system have done a hell of a job. Fare evasion is also down 30% from last summer.”
Duffy said he wanted to make sure the subway was “safe.”Paul Martinka
Duffy also continued to lambast the $9 congestion pricing tolls for drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street as creating a two-tier “class system” in which the wealthy drive on the streets while those who make less take the bus or subway.
He also spoke with Adams about the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which the mayor wants to rebuild.
“It took four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge, but we’re going to take probably eight years to repair the BQE,” Adams said. “And (Duffy) asked the question of, what is in the way? What can we do on the city level, on the federal level, to stop slowing down these important projects?
“And I’m excited about doing this, but also here in the subway system, the secretary has been clear over and over again that if the federal dollars that come into the city must have an excellent product, we must have a good product to make sure that passengers are moving safer, not only in the stats, but how they feel.”
President Trump said Fridayhe had a “productive call” with a top Vietnamese official, adding that the Communist Southeast Asian nation “wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO” pending a free trade agreement.
“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future.”
Vietnamese General Secretary of the Communist Party To Lam had a phone call with President Trump on Friday that gave some popular US brands a boost in the stock market.AP
“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.,” Trump posted on his Truth Social.AP
US trade with Vietnam was valued at roughly $149.6 billion last year, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative — with exports totaling $13.1 billion and imports accounting for $136.6 billion.
That includes the manufacturing of toys, furniture and apparel, such as On and Skechers.
Vietnam is the largest supplier of Nike and Adidas shoes globally — and nearly a third of US footwear imports came from the nation in 2023, according to the trade group Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America.
Shares rose several percentage points for Nike, On Holding and Skechers after Trump’s call with the Vietnamese secretary general, Bloomberg reported.AFP via Getty Images
Clothiers like Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap and Victoria’s Secret also saw stocks jump as much as 8% or more following Trump’s announcement.
Vietnam became a favored manufacturing location for some US businesses after the 45th president’s trade war with China during his first term.
Two days before Trump’s proposed “Liberation Day” for US trade, Hanoi had eliminated at least 23 tariffs on US imports to try to forestall any conflict, according to Vietnam News.
Other pathways for American investments and cooperation in tech initiatives were also cleared by the nation’s deputy prime minister, the outlet noted.
