2025-06-02 23:05

Reynolds, Greer hold talks in Paris UK Steel warns of 'body blow' if tariffs rise Reynolds to meet EU trade commissioner after US talks LONDON/WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday announced it would skip doubling steel and aluminum tariffs for Britain, hours after the UK government said the two countries agreed on the need to implement a tariff relief deal as soon as possible. The U.S. announcement, which exempts British steel and aluminum from a doubling of tariffs to 50%, came in a proclamation signed by U.S. President Donald Trump , opens new tab on Tuesday that will raise metals tariffs for other countries from June 4. Sign up here. British trade minister Jonathan Reynolds and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met in Paris on Tuesday during a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. “The UK was the first country to secure a trade deal with the U.S. earlier this month and we remain committed to protecting British business and jobs across key sectors," a UK government spokesperson said. “We’re pleased that as a result of our agreement with the U.S., UK steel will not be subject to these additional tariffs. We will continue to work with the U.S. to implement our agreement, which will see the 25% U.S. tariffs on steel removed.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump on May 8 agreed to reduce tariffs on UK imports of cars and steel to the U.S., with Britain agreeing to lower tariffs on beef and ethanol, but implementation of the deal has been delayed. Industry body UK Steel had earlier warned that doubled tariffs would be a "body blow" to the British steel sector. Britain's trade ministry said Greer and Reynolds met to discuss the pace of implementation of the May 8 bilateral trade deal, and both sides agreed that businesses and consumers in each country needed to start feeling its benefits. "The pair discussed their shared desire to implement the Economic Prosperity Deal, including implementing agreements on sectoral tariffs as soon as possible," Britain's trade ministry said in a statement after the meeting. Greer's office had no immediate comment on the meeting. Before the meeting, Starmer's spokesperson said, once implemented, the deal with Washington would eliminate tariffs on the "majority of steel products" exported to the United States, and that "we'd continue to expect that to be the case" regardless of the 50% tariff announced by Trump. He also said that industry minister Sarah Jones was meeting with representatives from the steel sector on Tuesday. Asked earlier if the 50% tariffs would go ahead on Wednesday, Greer, speaking French with reporters in Paris, said: "We'll see." Reynolds is on a three-day trip to Paris and Brussels. After meetings with Group of Seven and OECD counterparts in Paris, he will hold talks with EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic. Britain struck deals with the U.S. and the European Union - its two biggest trading partners - last month, but both are political pacts rather than formal trade agreements, and the details of their implementation have not been set. With the EU deal, plans to remove red tape on the food sector are yet to be finalised. In advance of that agreement coming into force, Britain on Monday said it would scrap border checks on fruit and vegetables imported from the EU that had been due to be effective beginning in July. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-trade-minister-meet-ustr-greer-discuss-implementing-tariff-deal-2025-06-02/

2025-06-02 22:52

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Monday said it had approved a $1.5 billion, two-year precautionary flexible line of credit for Costa Rica, saying it would enhance Costa Rica's external buffers against potential risks. In a statement, the IMF said its Flexible Credit Line arrangements were reserved for countries with very strong policy frameworks and track records in economic performance. Sign up here. "The arrangement is intended to send a very clear signal of the quality of the country’s very strong policies and institutional frameworks," it said. The IMF said Costa Rican authorities planned to treat the arrangement as precautionary, for use if future external shocks materialized, and could request reduced access in the future if external risks were to decline. IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura said Costa Rica had an impressive reform track record which had spurred economic growth, reduced public debt, and lowered poverty. But the country was vulnerable to increased external risks, including a prolonged increase in global uncertainty, slower growth in major trading partners, tighter global financial conditions, and higher oil prices. The IMF last month said Costa Rica's growth was expected to ease to around 3.5% in 2025 and inflation was expected to return to the central bank's target of 3%. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/imf-approves-15-billion-2-year-flexible-line-credit-costa-rica-2025-06-02/

2025-06-02 22:36

Ukrainian shelling, drone strikes knock out substations Attack one of largest of kind on Russian-held territory Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reported to be under control MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) - At least 700,000 people across a swathe of southern Ukraine controlled by Russian forces were without power on Tuesday after Ukrainian drone attacks and shelling knocked out electricity substations, Russia-installed officials said. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, but the attack, which targeted the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, appeared to be one of the largest of its kind on Russian-held territory since the war began in February 2022. Sign up here. Russia lays claim to both regions, large areas of which it already controls and is trying to capture the rest of them, part of what it casts as its push to ensure its own security and secure the future of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers. Ukraine rejects Russia's portrayal of the conflict, calling it a colonial-style land grab by Moscow and vowing to retake the lost territory through a mixture of force and diplomacy. The drone attacks came hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey for peace talks where Moscow said it would only agree to end the war if Kyiv cedes big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army. Russian-backed officials said the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station - Europe's largest nuclear facility which was seized by Russia in 2022 - was under control but difficult. Russian officials running the plant said radiation levels were normal at the facility, which operates in shutdown mode and produces no power at the moment. WIDESPREAD OUTAGE Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of Zaporizhzhia, said more than 600,000 people in nearly 500 settlements across the region had no electricity after Ukrainian shelling damaged high-voltage infrastructure. "As a result of shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces, high-voltage equipment was damaged in the northwestern part of the Zaporizhzhia region," Balitsky wrote on Telegram. "There is no electricity throughout the region. The Ministry of Energy ... has been instructed to develop reserve sources of electricity as soon as possible. Health care facilities have been transferred to backup power supply sources." In the adjacent Kherson region, further west, Russia-appointed Governor Vladimir Saldo said debris from fallen drones had damaged two electricity substations, knocking out power to more than 100,000 residents of 150 towns and villages in Russian-held areas. Emergency crews were working to restore power quickly, Saldo added. Separately, emergency services in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy said on Tuesday that a Russian attack on it had killed three people and injured at least 16 more. "The Russians launched a savage strike on Sumy – directly targeting the city and its ordinary streets with rocket artillery," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X. The attack damaged an apartment building, three private residences, a warehouse and a hospital building, according to a statement from the emergency services. Sumy regional prosecutors said earlier that children were among those wounded in the attack. There was no immediate comment from Russia on these Ukrainian reports. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in their attacks. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. For many long months in the winter, it was Ukrainian towns and villages that endured repeated electricity cuts as Russian forces focused strikes on generating capacity. Each side has repeatedly accused the other of launching attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and running the risk of a nuclear accident. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said last week in response to a Ukrainian complaint that it saw no sign of Russia preparing to restart the Zaporizhzhia plant and connect it to the Russian grid. The IAEA has stationed monitors permanently at Zaporizhzhia and Ukraine's other nuclear power stations. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-strikes-cut-power-russian-held-areas-officials-say-2025-06-02/

2025-06-02 21:35

US LNG exports drop on plant maintenance activity U.S. largest LNG facility producing at lowest levels in 22 months Most LNG exported in May sold to Europe as traders take advantage of higher prices HOUSTON, June 2 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas exports fell in May due to plant outages and maintenance at the country's largest export facility, preliminary LSEG ship tracking data show. The U.S. is the world's largest LNG exporter and monthly changes in production can impact global LNG prices. Sign up here. In May the U.S. exported 8.9 million metric tons of LNG, down from a record 9.3 MT in April, according to LSEG data. During May all U.S. plants experienced short periods of lower output when compared to April, the LSEG data showed, and Cheniere Energy (LNG.N) , opens new tab confirmed that its 30 MT per annum (mtpa) Sabine Pass facility in Texas, the biggest in the nation, was undergoing maintenance work. Gas flows to Sabine have held at a 23-month low of around 3.1 bcfd since May 31. That compares with an average of 4.3 bcfd over the prior seven days. Freeport LNG, the U.S.' third largest LNG producer, also reported several outages. Europe remained the favored market for U.S. LNG exports as traders tried to take advantage of higher prices in Europe for the superchilled gas when compared to Asia. Gas prices at the European benchmark Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands rose to $11.68 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in May, up from $11.48 in April and an average of $10.12 in May 2024. Of the 8.9 MT of LNG exported from the U.S., 6.05 MT or 68% went to Europe, the same percentage as in April, LSEG data showed. Exports to Asia remained relatively low with 1.88 MT or 21% of total exports, compared to 2.05 MT or 22% of total exports in April, LSEG data showed. Stronger domestic production, pipeline imports, renewable generation and weak industrial demand have kept Chinese demand muted and China, the world's largest LNG user, continues to resell U.S. LNG to avoid paying retaliatory tariffs as the trade dispute continues between the world's two largest economies. Prices at the Asian benchmark Japan Korea Marker (JKM) slid to $11.83 per mmBtu in May, down from $12.23 in April but up from an average of $11.10 in May 2024. Exports to Latin America also fell with .66 MT sold in May compared to .68 MT in April. Egypt bought 3 cargoes for a total of .22 MT, while Bahrain bought one cargo for .07 MT. One cargo also left Cheniere's Sabine Pass plant on May 23, but as of Monday was in the Caribbean Sea with no clear destination, LSEG ship tracking data showed. The United States is poised to increase LNG production later this year as Cheniere starts up four of its seven midscale trains at Corpus Christi, Golden Pass LNG LLC's project produces its first LNG, and Venture Global (VG.N) , opens new tab Plaquemines facility completes construction. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-lng-output-declines-may-aprils-record-2025-06-02/

2025-06-02 21:32

PANAMA CITY, June 2 (Reuters) - Chiquita Panama's administrative staff have left the country and the firm will seek authorization from the government to sack its remaining personnel in Panama, the nation's labor minister said on Monday. The news comes after the company fired some 5,000 workers of a total of 6,500 employees nationwide last month in response to a strike at its banana farms. Sign up here. Chiquita Panama did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company said on May 22 that it had fired daily workers in the western province of Bocas del Toro after what it called an "unjustified abandonment of work" at its banana farms that began late April. The company said at the time that losses from the strike had at that time amounted to $75 million. Thousands of banana workers have gone on strike as Panamanians across the country have protested against several issues including a social security reform they say will affect their future pensions. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino called the strike illegal and illegitimate. https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/chiquita-panama-lay-off-remaining-workers-after-management-leaves-country-2025-06-02/

2025-06-02 21:25

June 2 (Reuters) - 21Shares US said on Monday it will carry out a 3-for-1 share split of its ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB.Z) , opens new tab to make the fund more accessible to investors, with the move set to take effect at market open on June 16. The approval of such spot bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, marked a watershed moment for the digital assets industry, ending a decade-long wait and signaling growing regulatory acceptance. Sign up here. The funds, which have rapidly grown in popularity, offer direct exposure to bitcoin through traditional markets, allowing institutions and other investors to participate without holding the token, bolstering credibility and inflows into the sector. ARKB has gained almost 12% so far this year and nearly 27% quarter-to-date. It closed trading at $104.25 on Monday. Meanwhile, bitcoin , the world's largest and most widely recognized cryptocurrency, has also climbed above the $100,000 mark, a level seen as key by many market participants. Companies typically split shares to lower the trading price per unit, aiming to attract a broader base of retail investors and improve liquidity. The share split will not affect ARKB's net asset value, ticker symbol, or investment strategy, and its shares will continue trading under the same CUSIP, the company said. https://www.reuters.com/business/ark-21shares-bitcoin-etf-undergo-3-for-1-share-split-june-16-2025-06-02/