Wednesday Briefing

Trump pressed ahead with a trade war

President Trump’s tariffs took effect earlier this morning, hitting nearly all U.S. allies with punishing new levies and raising import taxes on Chinese goods to more than 100 percent. Trump said 70 governments have already approached the U.S. to make deals, and that officials would begin talks with Japan and South Korea. (See our cheat sheet to the tariffs.)

China has already responded with its own levies, and the E.U. is preparing its own retaliatory tariffs on American products starting next week. These plans, and others like them, have heightened fears of an economically damaging trade war and a global recession, as losses mount in stock markets around the world.

“The global trading system is only one example of the Trump administration tearing something apart,” my colleague David E. Sanger writes in this analysis, “only to reveal it has no plan for how to replace it.”

Markets: The S&P 500 posted a big gain at the start of trading, but ended down 1.6 percent, putting the benchmark index on the verge of a bear market. The market turmoil, according to Jason Karaian, our deputy business editor, “was partly because investors underestimated Trump’s willingness to follow through on steep tariffs.” Stocks in Asia slumped earlier today.

The clock is ticking as Iran and the U.S. prepare for talks

Talks on Saturday between the U.S. and Iran are expected to focus on nuclear disarmament, an option almost certain to be rejected by Iran’s leaders. This may be the West’s last chance to limit Tehran’s nuclear capability and avoid a war.

Though Trump recently threatened Iran with “bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,” he has made it clear that he would prefer a deal. The time for talking is narrow. By the end of July, the E.U. must signal whether it will reimpose punishing U.N. sanctions against Iran. If that happens, Iran has said it would pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. In that event, Israel, with U.S. help, may move to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.

A high bar: The pressure is now on for Trump to get a deal that is far tougher on Iran than what was agreed to during the Obama administration. For leverage, his administration is already threatening the possibility of military strikes if the talks don’t go well.

More news from Israel:

• Many Israelis were surprised when Trump announced the negotiations with Iran. Some simply favored attacking the country.

• The U.N. Secretary General, António Guterres, sharply criticized Israel’s renewed blockade of aid to Gaza and said it had opened “the floodgates of horror.” No food, fuel or medicine had entered the territory for more than a month, he said.

• The Supreme Court paused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to fire the domestic security chief, and set a deadline for the government to find a “creative solution.”

• Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza is unlikely to receive blowback from President Trump, leaving the country’s leadership with fewer guardrails.

Deadly flooding hits Congo’s capital

Dozens of people have been killed after days of torrential rains flooded Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The river running through the megacity of 17 million people — one of the largest in Africa — burst its banks and submerged major roads. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed, and thousands of people have been displaced.

The death toll was likely to rise, officials said. The country was already reeling from a rebel offensive in the east.

An ever-present danger: African countries frequently face deadly floods and droughts, which scientists attribute to climate change. Floods in Congo kill hundreds nearly every year.

MORE TOP NEWS

• Dominican Republic: Rescuers frantically searched for survivors of a roof collapse at a nightclub in Santo Domingo. At least 98 people died.

• Jeju Air crash: The pilots of Jeju Air Flight 2216 discussed differing plans for landing minutes before the plane crashed, killing 179, a transcript showed.

• Ukraine: Two Chinese citizens were captured while fighting alongside Russian forces in the east, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

• International Criminal Court: The leaders of Israel, Hungary and the U.S. have moved to neutralize the judiciary both at home and abroad. This is why.

• Panama: A senior Panamanian official said he had uncovered evidence of misconduct by a Hong Kong port operator, a finding that could threaten a $19 billion deal.

• Royals: Prince Harry arrived at London’s Court of Appeal yesterday for the start of a two-day hearing in his legal case over his police protection in Britain.

• Defense: American military officials say the Pentagon might need to dip into stockpiles in Asia intended to deter China to replenish supplies in the Middle East, congressional aides say.

• Belgium: Is being a royal a job? The king’s younger brother argued in court that it is, and that he should receive a state pension.

• U.S.: A 32-year-old man said he had been held captive in a room since he was 12. To escape, he set fire to it.

SPORTS NEWS

• Soccer: Some saw it coming; others were blindsided. Here’s what it’s like to be fired as a team manager.

• Formula 1: Yuki Tsunoda’s debut with Red Bull held more positives for him than results would suggest.

• Golf: The Masters could be a breakout moment for 25-year-old Ludvig Aberg, whose career is already brimming with highs.

MORNING READ

Workers in the rural city of Arida, Japan, built a new train station in the time between the night’s last train and the morning’s first — a six-hour window. This feat, which rail operators said was a world first, was accomplished with 3D-printed parts.

As Japan’s population shrinks, maintaining rail service in remote areas is a challenge, and officials hope this method could be the answer. Watch a train station take shape in hours.

Lives lived: Clem Burke, whose energetic, versatile drumming provided the beat for the band Blondie, died at 70.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

The International Booker Prize shortlist

One book satirizes expats in Berlin. In another, a bookseller becomes stuck in a time loop. And a third is a collection of short stories about Muslim women in southern India.

The six titles shortlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize, the award for fiction translated into English, capture different worlds. Though four are under 200 pages long, each is “mind-expanding,” said Max Porter, who chaired this year’s judging panel.

The winner will be announced next month in London. See the full list.