Foreign
US Treasury to provide Ukraine with $500m economic aid package

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Thursday that the US will provide Ukraine with a new $500 million infusion of cash to enable the Kyiv administration keep paying salaries, pensions, and providing services.
Following a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko on Wednesday, Yellen revealed the aid, saying it was important to help their government function amid the ongoing Russian aggression.
In her words, “The needs of Ukraine are urgent, and we plan to deploy this direct aid to Ukraine as soon as possible to be used on most urgent needs.”
“We know this is only the beginning of what Ukraine will need to rebuild. And I’m committed to working with Congress and with our international allies and partners to build on this support in the medium and long term.”
The money comes after another $500 million package of economic aid for Ukraine was revealed last month, and Shmyhal claimed this week that his administration requires $5 billion per month just to keep operating after the invasion decimated the country’s economy.
As conflict rages in Ukraine’s east and south, Western countries, particularly the United States, have increased aid, and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have also increased support.
Despite billions in Western military help, which has forced Russia to refocus its offensive away from Kyiv and towards the east, President Volodymyr Zelensky has begged for more weaponry, saying Ukraine still lacks them.
The IMF has warned that the war will cause economic havoc both in Ukraine and elsewhere.
The conflict will cause the country’s economy to collapse by 35% this year, while Russia’s will fall by 8.5 percent, according to the Washington-based crisis lender, which also said this week that the war’s “seismic” effects are spreading globally, lowering global growth to 3.6 percent, nearly a point lower than first estimated in January.
Foreign
Trump calls for Keystone XL pipeline plans to be revived

U.S. President Donald Trump has called for the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the U.S.
Trump took to his online platform Truth Social to urge the company building the pipeline to come back to America.
“The Trump administration is very different, easy approvals, almost immediate start.
“If not them, perhaps another pipeline company. We want the Keystone XL pipeline built,’’ he said.
The pipeline, first proposed in 2008, has been controversial from the start.
It would carry crude oil from oil sands in Alberta, Canada to Nebraska in the Midwestern U.S., where it would link up existing pipelines that connect to the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River.
It was opposed by environmental groups and Native American tribes.
A long-standing battle between the oil industry and environmentalists trickled into politics and U.S. and Canadian courts.
Then U.S. president, Barack Obama, rejected the project in 2015 due to environmental concerns before Trump revived it during his first term in office.
Then, in one of his first actions as U.S. president in 2021, Joe Biden revoked Trump’s permit for the pipeline, stating that its construction was not consistent with his administration’s economic and climate goals.
Foreign
Trump plans 25% tariffs on steel, aluminium imports

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and aluminium imports into the United States, he said on Sunday.
“Any steel coming to the United States is going to have them, 25 per cent tariff,” Trump said, according to journalists travelling with the president. When questioned about tariffs on aluminium imports, Trump replied, “25 Per cent for both.”
Trump also confirmed his plan to announce further reciprocal tariffs in the coming week.
He spoke of an announcement on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“Very simply, if they charge us, we charge them, Trump told reporters, adding that the tariffs would go into effect almost immediately.”
U.S. tariffs of 10 per cent on Chinese goods took effect from Feb. 4.
The planned tariffs of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada were suspended for an initial period of 30 days following promises from the two countries to increase border security measures.
Trump won November’s presidential election promising to slap high tariffs on foreign goods to reduce U.S. trade deficits.
He implemented a number of duties during his first term from 2017 to 2021.
Foreign
U.S. president considering 25% tariffs on Canada, Mexico starting in February

Donald Trump said tariffs of 25 per cent on products from Canada and Mexico could be introduced as early as February, hours after taking office as US president on Monday.
Speaking at the White House while signing various orders shortly after his inauguration, Trump said, “We’re thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing vast number of people … to come in.”
“I think we’ll do it Feb. 1,” Trump added, referring to the potential start date for the tariffs.
Earlier on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump did not intend to impose tariffs on trading partners like Canada, Mexico, and China.
Instead, he planned to instruct the authorities to assess trade relations with China and its neighbours on the North American continent, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a summary of a planned memorandum and Trump’s advisers.
Shortly after winning the election in November, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China.
There are also fears in the EU that Trump could impose new tariffs.
Tariffs are a type of surcharge on imported goods. They are paid as goods enter the country.
Trump imposed a range of tariffs on imported goods during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021.
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