Washington, March 31 (IANS) Senior US lawmakers have pressed the Commerce Department to release detailed data on exports of American-made semi-automatic weapons, citing concerns that such sales are fuelling criminal violence abroad.In a letter to Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Gregory Meeks said US firearm exports account for a significant share of crime guns traced globally.Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobac…
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Washington, Feb 27 (IANS) Democratic Senators have questioned US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over a $1.6 billion rare-earth minerals deal, warning that the arrangement could benefit his immediate family and his former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald.In a February 25 letter, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Chris Van Hollen said the agreement brokered by the Department of Commerce with USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR) “could enrich your immediate family.”“This follows in a long string of …
Washington, Feb 24 (IANS) US President Donald Trump is considering fresh national security tariffs on a half-dozen industries after the Supreme Court struck down many of his second-term levies, a media report said.According to a Wall Street Journal report, the proposed measures could target sectors including large-scale batteries, cast iron and iron fittings, plastic piping, industrial chemicals, and power grid and telecom equipment.The tariffs would be issued under Section 232 of the Trade Expa…
Washington, Feb 23 (IANS) US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has sought to shift the spotlight away from whether the Trump administration will refund nearly $134 billion collected under now-invalidated emergency tariffs, saying that the Supreme Court’s decision was “very narrow” and that the White House is moving quickly to new tariff authorities that keep 2026 revenue projections “unchanged”. In an interview with the CNN on Sunday, Bessent rejected the premise that refunds are the central issu…
Washington, Feb 7 (IANS) US President Donald Trump lifted a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, citing India’s commitments to stop buying Russian oil and to deepen security and economic ties with the United States.Trump signed an executive order ending the additional duty that had been imposed in August 2025 under a national emergency related to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.“I have determined that India has taken significant steps to address the national emergency described in Executive O…
Seoul, Jan 31 (IANS) South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Saturday that he thinks “unnecessary misunderstandings” were resolved through his talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington over renewed trade tensions this week.Kim made the remark upon his return home at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, west of Seoul, after holding meetings at the Commerce Department on Thursday and Friday (US time), which ended without reaching a conclusion, reports Yonha…
Washington, Jan 31 (IANS) South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said that his talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over renewed trade tensions ended without reaching a conclusion, but their understanding of each other’s positions has “deepened.”They met at the Commerce Department in Washington for the second straight day, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened on Monday to raise “reciprocal” tariffs and auto duties on Korea to 25 percent from 15 percent, citing a delay…
Washington, Jan 17 (IANS) US President Donald Trump’s administration will seek “separate” semiconductor tariff agreements for “separate countries,” a U.S. official said, after the United States and Taiwan reached a deal on the chip levies this week.”Separate agreements for separate countries,” a U.S. official said, responding to a question from Yonhap News Agency regarding whether the deal with Taiwan would set a standard for chip tariffs or the U.S. would conduct separate negotiations with othe…