2025-04-04 00:07

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Mexico's "cool-headed" approach to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff offensive has paid off in preferential treatment in his sweeping tariff announcement this week and a close working relationship with his trade team, Mexico's deputy economy secretary told Reuters on Thursday. Luis Rosendo Gutierrez, undersecretary for international trade, said in an interview that Mexican officials will meet next week with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to review U.S. tariffs on auto imports and steel and aluminum, and the state of those industries. Sign up here. The talks also will commence a review of the nearly five-year-old U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that underpins North American trade. "The instruction of President Claudia Sheinbaum was to work closely and cool-headed with the United States government looking for a fair and preferential treatment," Gutierrez said. "And I think that strategy was best. To be close, to be constructive, and to bring proposals for the United States." Mexico, along with Canada, largely escaped Trump's new 10% global baseline tariff and steeper "reciprocal tariffs" for many trading partners on Wednesday. It still faces a 25% fentanyl-related tariff, but an exemption from these duties for USMCA-compliant goods was extended indefinitely. Those tariffs would fall to 12% if the fentanyl problem is solved. Mexico still faces separate, 25% tariffs on vehicles and auto parts, minus U.S. content, and 25% duties on steel imports. Unlike Canada, Mexico has not imposed retaliatory measures against U.S. exports in the trade dispute, preferring to engage in more constructive dialogue. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced limited countermeasures against about $25 billion worth of U.S. imports on Thursday. "Obviously, we would like that these tariffs were reduced," Gutierrez said. "Nevertheless, we need to negotiate to try to improve conditions, not only for Mexico, but also for United States, and this idea to be complimentary in our economies." At next week's meetings he said Mexican officials would bring up USMCA side letters agreed by Trump's first administration that granted generous duty-free automotive import quotas to Mexico and Canada in the event that Section 232 national security tariffs on autos were imposed at that time. Trump's administration has indicated no plans to honor the quota commitments. https://www.reuters.com/world/mexico-says-cool-headed-approach-trumps-tariffs-has-paid-off-2025-04-04/

2025-04-03 23:33

April 4 (Reuters) - Anglo-Swiss commodities giant Glencore (GLEN.L) , opens new tab said that it has approached both Queensland's and the Federal Government of Australia about the future of its Mount Isa copper smelter and Townville copper refinery assets. In October 2023, Glencore first announced the closure of its Mount Isa copper mines in the second half of 2025, citing studies and reviews stating it was not possible to further extend the life of the underground mines. Sign up here. "Through the work undertaken we now expect this (impact on workforce) to be about 500 people and we're actively working to redeploy as many people as possible over the coming months," Sam Strohmayr, chief operating officer for the Swiss miner's Australian zinc and copper assets, said on Wednesday in an address to Mount Isa's local communities, adding that the original estimate was around 1,200 roles. "We are assessing the future of our copper processing assets against a backdrop of the largest drops in treatment and refining charges in 25 years, with smelters in countries like China and Indonesia heavily subsidised by their governments," Strohmayr added. With this announcement, Glencore becomes the second international commodities firm to reconsider the status of its Australian assets, following Swiss trading house Trafigura's decision to place its struggling Nyrstar zinc smelter in Tasmania under strategic review. Speaking about the decision in a late March onstage interview at the FT Commodities Global Summit , opens new tab, Trafigura's CEO, Richard Holtum, said mineral processing facilities such as smelters should be considered "a national security issue", adding that unless governments provided more support, the West would never reduce its dependence on China for supplies of critical minerals. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/glencore-seeks-australian-government-bailout-local-copper-assets-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 23:12

April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas developer Venture Global (VG.N) , opens new tab exported 29 cargoes from its Plaquemines facility in Louisiana during the first quarter of 2025, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. Venture Global realized an average fixed liquefaction fee of $7.26 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from the Plaquemines plant, it said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Sign up here. The company has played a major role in helping the U.S. become the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas by producing LNG at its plants ahead of schedule, even as parts remain under construction. Plaquemines is Venture Global's second LNG facility and was on Thursday pulling 2.15 billion cubic feet of gas as it quickly ramps up production, according to data from LSEG. The plant only produced its first LNG in December and is now operating at 140% of its design capacity, according to a note on Tuesday from investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. Plaquemines is pulling more gas than the company's first plant, Calcasieu Pass, also located in Louisiana. That facility exported 34 cargoes at an average liquefaction fee of $8.80/mmBtu for the first quarter 2025, according to the same regulatory filing. Venture Global is commissioning Phase 1 of Plaquemines with Phase 2 under construction. The company has already asked permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to start introducing natural gas to parts of Phase 2 of the plant, documents show. The timing of Plaquemines LNG Phase 2 and Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between QatarEnergy (QATPE.UL) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab, could significantly affect the forecast for U.S. natural gas demand because the two facilities represent 19% of incremental U.S. LNG export capacity for 2025 and 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Agency said on Thursday. Golden Pass has said it expects to produce first LNG from its first train in the second half of 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venture-global-says-it-exported-29-cargoes-plaquemines-lng-plant-q1-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 23:07

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it would launch an investigation after the crew on a United Airlines (UAL.O) , opens new tab Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab 737 flight from Key West, Florida to Newark, New Jersey, reported a fire in the cabin. The airplane diverted and landed safely at Washington's Dulles airport around 4:45 p.m. ET (2045 GMT) on Thursday, the FAA said in a statement. United said the diversion was prompted by light smoke venting from a galley oven. Sign up here. All passengers deplaned normally at the gate and the airline arranged for a different aircraft to take passengers to Newark on Thursday evening, United added. The plane had 98 passengers and five crew on board. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/faa-investigate-after-fire-reported-cabin-united-airlines-boeing-flight-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 22:17

April 3 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said on Thursday that he saw a "positive dynamic" in relations between Moscow and Washington, though more meetings were needed to sort out differences. "Without doubt, we note a positive dynamic in our relations," Russian news agencies quoted him as telling journalists in Washington after he met with Trump administration officials. Sign up here. "A series of meetings will still be needed for us to resolve all our differences. But the main thing we see a positive, creative attitude," he was quoted as saying. "We see absolutely clearly that the president's administration is intent on solving questions, unlike President (Joe) Biden. They conduct themselves with great respect, ask a lot of questions, find compromises," he said. Dmitriev said among the topic discussed in Washington were cooperation in rare metals production and the Arctic. He said work was proceeding on restoring direct air links between Russia and the United States. https://www.reuters.com/world/russian-investment-envoy-sees-positive-dynamic-us-relations-2025-04-03/

2025-04-03 22:15

Severe storms from Texas to Ohio have killed at least seven people National Weather Service issued 'moderate' risk warning for storms on Friday Flash flood warnings in effect across the Ohio River Valley, with heavy rainfall threatening flooding April 3 (Reuters) - A deadly spring storm killed at least seven people and spawned tornadoes and drenching thunderstorms in a swath of the U.S. stretching from Texas to Ohio for a second day on Thursday, raising the risk of flooding. The powerful system is expected to stall over the country's midsection, the National Weather Service said, fueling further deluges and possible tornadoes in areas already drenched with heavy rain. Sign up here. "We're concerned there could be some strong but essentially intense tornadoes across Northeast Texas up into Western Arkansas," said Evan Bentley, a forecaster at the NWS' Storm Prediction Center. The NWS upgraded the storms to a risk level four out of five on a scale used to measure the expected intensity of severe weather. Only 10 to 12 storms are given a four rating per year, making them "pretty rare," Bentley said. The extreme weather has killed at least seven people since Wednesday, according to media reports. The fatalities include a father and his 16-year-old daughter who were killed when a tornado hit their modular home in Tennessee, according to the New York Times. Five people in total died in Tennessee in weather-related incidents, one in Indiana and one in Missouri, NBC News reported. At least 13 were injured across the region. About 34 tornadoes were reported across the region on Wednesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. It confirmed that at least one tornado touched down in Wilmington, Ohio, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Cincinnati. Twisters were confirmed overnight in six states: Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Climate change is bringing heavier rainfall and related flood risks in most parts of the U.S., with the upper Midwest and Ohio River Valley among the regions most affected, according to Climate Central, an independent nonprofit that researches weather patterns. In July 2023, for example, days of historic flash flooding spread across western Kentucky into portions of southern Illinois after six to 12 inches (152 to 305 mm) of rain fell, mostly within 10 hours, the NWS said. On Thursday, the risk of rainfall topping flash-flood guidance was at 40% or higher for an area stretching from western Arkansas northeast to southwestern Ohio, according to NWS maps. Flash-flood warnings are in effect in the Ohio River Valley from the northwestern corner of Mississippi to northeastern Kentucky. "Any flash and riverine flooding across these areas will have the potential to become catastrophic and life-threatening," the NWS Weather Prediction Center said on social media. The NWS is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The wave of severe weather is one of the first since the Trump administration began to sharply cut NOAA's workforce, part of an initiative by the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, to slash the size of the federal payroll. The weather service is housed within the NOAA. The layoffs and a buyout program are expected to shrink NOAA's headcount by roughly 20% and could hamper some of its operations, scientists and researchers have said. Despite those concerns, there were no apparent delays or disruption in the weather service's forecasts for the areas affected by this week's storm system. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/deadly-us-storm-system-may-intensify-friday-after-killing-7-2025-04-03/