Ford Motor said on Friday it has halted shipments of its SUVs, pick-up trucks and sports cars to China, as it starts to face the heat from retaliatory tariffs that have seen vehicles face taxes as high as 150%.
"We have adjusted exports from the U.S. to China in light of the current tariffs," Ford said in a statement.
The company this week halted shipments of its F-150 Raptors, Mustangs and Michigan-built Bronco SUVs as well as Kentucky-made Lincoln Navigators to China.
The development comes as U.S. automakers scramble to find ways to tackle President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs, which are expected to dent profits of carmakers and parts suppliers likewise.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the halt, citing people familiar with the matter.
Ford's exports of U.S.-built engines and transmissions to China are expected to continue despite the pause on exports of assembled vehicles.
Its Lincoln Nautilus model, which is manufactured in China, is also expected to have continued shipments, despite heavy tariffs.
Ford is among the best-placed automakers to weather tariffs, as it produces about 80% of its U.S.-sold vehicles domestically.
Still, the automaker is expected to raise prices of its new vehicles if tariffs continue, according to an internal memo sent to dealers that was seen by Reuters.
An analysis by the Center for Automotive Research published earlier this month said that Trump's 25% tariffs on automotive imports will escalate costs for automakers by about $108 billion in 2025.
Trump earlier this week floated the idea that he was considering a modification to the auto-related tariffs, indicating he might allow exemptions on existing levies.
Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday lifted its two-decade-old ban on the Taliban, the Tass news agency said, reopening opportunities for business and investment between the two countries, and aligning with the Kremlin's bid to stabilize Afghanistan.
The move is undoubtedly a diplomatic win for the Taliban, which has been largely ostracized on the world stage after it wrested back power in a swift and chaotic takeover when the US withdrew its troops from the country in 2021.
Russia aims to build mutually beneficial ties with Afghanistan in all areas, including the fight against drugs and terrorism," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Moscow has kept its embassy in Kabul operational since the Taliban takeover nearly four years ago.
The two countries have a shared interest in fighting the Islamic State group offshoot, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province, which has carried out deadly attacks in both Afghanistan and Russia. They also have a bloody history between them.
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to back the communist government at risk of being toppled by rebels known as the "mujahideen". The CIA famously backed the mujahideen in the decade-long war that drew fighters from all over the world to Afghanistan, including a notable Saudi citizen: Osama Bin Laden.
Up to three million Afghans were estimated to have been killed by the time the Soviets withdrew in 1989. The Taliban, which emerged from the militias that helped defeat the Soviets, then came to power in 1996. It was toppled in 2001 after the US invasion, and rose to power again twenty years later.
The Taliban has been eager to gain recognition in the international community, but the Western Hemisphere in particular has been reluctant to engage with the group, given its human rights violations and laws banning women and girls from pursuing an education.
In recent months, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan de-listed the Taliban, with the goal of regional integration.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, China, Pakistan, and India are among the nations that have kept their diplomatic channels open since the Taliban takeover.
Chairman John Moolenaar of the House Select Committee on China urged JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan to withdraw from the Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology's (CATL) initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, citing "serious national security threatsand due diligence failures."
"If JPMorgan and Bank of America proceed with this IPO, they risk complicity in underwriting genocide, undermining American industry, and endangering U.S. service members," Moolenaar stated in a press release, referring to the letter he sent the heads of JPM and BofA.
He continued: "The letters outline serious national security threats and due diligence failures. The company's reported aggressive pursuit of the CATL deal, despite its low fee structure and their defense ties, adds to concerns over risk and regulatory oversight," adding, "As Chairman, I am closely monitoring how major financial institutions engage with companies linked to the Chinese Communist Party. The House Select Committee on China is actively examining these relationships, and we urge JPMorgan and Bank of America to prioritize national security and human rights in their decision-making."
Moolenaar emphasized that CATL was designated as a "Chinese military company" under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act earlier this year.
JPM and BofA's potential participation in the HK IPO "directly aids the Chinese Communist Party's military buildup and ongoing human rights abuses," the chairman of the House Select Committee on China warned.
Moolenaar noted that CATL has ties "to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC)—a sanctioned paramilitary entity involved in the genocide of Uyghur Muslims—and its role in modernizing China's submarine fleet with advanced lithium-ion batteries."
According to public trade data compiled by counterparty and supply chain risk intelligence firm Sayari, CATL is 1 to 3 hops away from entities with "high" to "elevated" forced labor concerns.
Public data shows that Tesla is a major buyer of lithium-ion batteries from the Chinese entity.
Well ahead of the incoming US crackdown on CATL, we asked back in August 2024: "Is Tesla At Risk From Marco Rubio's Push to 'Blacklist' Chinese Battery Firm CATL?"
Is Tesla At Risk From Marco Rubio's Push to 'Blacklist' Chinese Battery Firm CATL? https://t.co/KMsW0XW1e0
One afternoon sometime in the late 1960s, I was sitting in the cardiology clinic of Boston Children’s Hospital waiting to see a late-arriving patient along with several of my medical school classmates and Dr Don Fyler, a cardiologist who would eventually inherit the cardiology department chair. To pass the time, Dr Fyler related a recent encounter with a patient’s mother. With tears of thanks in her eyes, the woman told him that the previous week was the first time she had ever bought her 6-year-old son new shoes because he had worn them out. Although he had continued to grow, his activity had been limited before the recent repair of his cardiac defect.
William G. Wilkoff, MD
That five-decade-old scenario sprang into my mind as I read a paper published recently in JAMA Network Open. In a cross-sectional study of 207 participants, investigators found that “levels of cardiovascular fitness and physical activity were lower in children and adolescents with inherited cardiac disease than healthy controls.” Using a multivariable model, the authors found that “[o]verall, the clinical, functional, sociodemographic, and behavioral parameters” could explain 80% of the VO2 max.
So, although there certainly are structural limitations that may limit the congenital cardiac patient’s activity and fitness, there appear to be other possibly modifiable factors that should be considered. The authors cite previous studies demonstrating “associations between reduced cardiopulmonary fitness and poor psychosocial health, particularly among these youths with inherited cardiac diseases in which psychosocial well-being may already be compromised.”
The investigators also found that more than one third of the children with inherited cardiac disease had such poor cardiac fitness that they might be eligible for an exercise training program. Obviously, embarking on such a program might come with the risk for a life-threatening event for some individuals. With this possibility in mind, the authors suggest a multidisciplinary approach for children and adolescents with inherited cardiac disease involving cardiologists and exercise physiologists, as well as behavioral specialists and social workers.
As I reimagined that fifty-year-old scenario of the boy with new shoes, I realized I never knew the whole story. I can’t remember his cardiac defect. I had always assumed that his inactivity was entirely the result of low cardiac output or impaired oxygenation — and maybe it had been.
However, the results of this paper suggest that there may have been other factors. It may have been that his family had been discouraging physical activity because one of the child’s healthcare providers had told them that exercise might be dangerous. Or maybe, without being cautioned, the parents decided on their own that their child should avoid what they considered unsafe activities. Fifty years ago, pediatric cardiology was still in its infancy. It is very possible that physicians themselves had harbored concerns about the child being too active and communicated this to the parents.
The hesitancy of parents and providers to include physical activity in the management plan of acute and chronic pediatric illness is not unique to congenital cardiac disease. The same reluctance may occur in families who have a child with an orthopedic injury, a pulmonary problem such as asthma or cystic fibrosis, or an inflammatory joint disease — just to name a few.
In many cases, this blind spot results from both providers and caregivers focusing on what the child shouldn’t do instead of what the child can do. When parents ask what the child can do, they may be given vague guidelines instead of a menu of specific options. Unfortunately, this practice leaves it up to the discretion of the parents, some of whom may be anxious and create restrictions that prevent their child from engaging in safe and healthy activities. Other parents, who would be willing to encourage their child to be active, lack the creativity, personal experience with physical activity, or resources to develop a program on their own.
Several generations ago, surgeons were slow to realize that getting their postoperative patients up and moving dramatically improved their outcomes. More recently, concussion specialists who once restricted patients from returning to activities now realize that focusing on normalcy improves the speed of recovery.
Physical activity is one of the pillars of a healthy lifestyle. In addition to its positive effects on physiologic function are a raft of psychological and emotional benefits. There are very few situations in a which child is so ill that she or he won’t benefit from a creatively modified program of activity tailored to what the child can do rather than focused on what she or he can’t.
Iran believes reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme with the United States is possible as long as Washington is realistic, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday on the eve of a second round of talks with the Trump administration.
"If they demonstrate seriousness of intent and do not make unrealistic demands, reaching agreements is possible," Araqchi told a news conference in Moscow after talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia.
Iran had noted the United States' seriousness during a first round of talks on the deal, which took place in Oman last week, Araqchi said. The second round is set for Saturday in Rome.
Iran told the United States in talks last week it was ready to accept some limits on its uranium enrichment but needed water-tight guarantees that President Donald Trump would not again ditch a nuclear pact, a senior Iranian official said on Friday.
Trump has threatened to attack Iran if it does not reach a deal with the U.S. over its nuclear programme, which Iran says is peaceful but the West says is aimed at building an atomic bomb.
"I'm for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific," Trump told reporters on Friday when asked if he would consider letting Tehran keep a civil nuclear program.
Lavrov said Russia was "ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the U.S.A."
Moscow has played a role in Iran's nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent Araqchi to Moscow with a letter for President Vladimir Putin to brief the Kremlin about the negotiations. Araqchi will also visit Beijing within the next few days, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Friday, without providing further details.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier on Friday that the U.S. administration is looking for a peaceful solution with Iran but will never tolerate the country developing a nuclear weapon.
The White House on Friday said it will fast-track permitting for 10 mining projects across the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s push to expand critical minerals production.
The projects – which would supply copper, antimony and other minerals – have been granted FAST-41 status, a federal initiative launched in 2015 to streamline approvals of critical infrastructure. The White House said it will add more projects.
The initial 10 are listed on a US federal website where their permitting progress can be publicly tracked, part of what the Trump administration calls a push for greater transparency and faster permitting.
“This transparency leads to greater accountability, ensuring a more efficient process,” the White House said in a statement.
The move boosts a proposed Idaho antimony and gold mine from Perpetua Resources, a proposed Arizona copper mine from Rio Tinto, a proposed Montana copper and silver mine from Hecla Mining, expansion of Albemarle’s Nevada lithium mine, an Arkansas direct lithium extraction project from Standard Lithium, and an Alabama metallurgical coal project from Warrior Met Coal, among others. Metallurgical coal is used to make steel.
South32’s Hermosa zinc-manganese project in Arizona was fast-tracked by former President Joe Biden, the first mine to receive the FAST-41 treatment.
Trump earlier this week ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on all US critical minerals imports, a major escalation in his dispute with global trade partners and an attempt to pressure industry leader China.
Approval based on Phase 3 trials demonstrating Dupixent significantly reduced itch and hives compared to placebo
In the U.S., there are more than 300,000 adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older living with CSU who remain symptomatic despite antihistamine treatment
CSU is the seventh disease with underlying type 2 inflammation in which Dupixent is approved
