WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump still plans to make good on his promise to issue tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Saturday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.

Ms. Leavitt told reporters in her first White House press briefing that Mr. Trump also is still “very much” considering fresh tariffs on China for Saturday.

Shortly after taking office last week, Mr. Trump set a Feb. 1 deadline for imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada unless the countries move to halt flows of illegal immigrants and the deadly opioid fentanyl into the US. He also said he would slap a 10% tariff on Chinese goods over that country’s role in the fentanyl trade.

Asked about the Saturday deadline for Canada and Mexico, Ms. Leavitt said Trump has said it “still holds.”

“The president has also put out specific statements in terms of Canada and Mexico, when it comes to what he expects in terms of border security.” Ms. Leavitt added. “We have seen a historic level of cooperation from Mexico. But again, as far as I’m still tracking, and that was last night talking to the president directly, Feb. 1 is still on the books.”

She did not specify what actions Canada, Mexico and China needed to take to avert the tariffs. Trump, who first threatened the punitive duties in late November, has said that the tariffs would remain in place until the flows of migrants and drugs stop.

On Sunday, Trump forced Colombia to accept US deportations of illegal immigrants, including via military aircraft, after threatening Latin America’s fourth largest economy with 25% tariffs. For about 10 hours, Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s refusal to accept military aircraft loaded with deported Colombian nationals and threats to match Trump’s tariffs had the two free trade partners reeling toward an unexpected tariff war.

FAR BIGGER STAKES
The stakes are far higher in Trump’s tariff threats against Mexico, Canada and China, the three largest US trading partners accounting for over $2.1 trillion in annual imports and exports.

Colombia was the US’ 23^rd largest trading partner in 2023, accounting for $33.8 billion worth of two-way trade, and a $1.6-billion US trade surplus, according to US Census Bureau data. Colombia’s economy is highly dependent on exports to the US, which made up 29% of its total exports for the first 11 months of 2024, according to the country’s statistics agency.

Disrupting trade flows within the highly integrated North American economy would be very costly, said Mary Lovely, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Among the biggest impacts would be the auto industry, where parts and components can cross national borders several times before a vehicle’s final assembly in the US, Canada or Mexico.

“That’s kind of a sobering fact that lays in the direction of doing something that either pushes this can down the road or which finds a way to resolve this,” Ms. Lovely said.

She added that Canada and Mexico “have to be thinking the US has a lot to lose here, too. They’re not Colombia.”

Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for Commerce secretary who has been designated leader of trade strategy, faces senators on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing. His prepared remarks revealed no new details about Trump’s trade plans. — Reuters

WASHINGTON — Atomic scientists on Tuesday moved their “Doomsday Clock” closer to midnight than ever before, citing Russian nuclear threats amid its invasion of Ukraine, tensions in other world hot spots, military applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and climate change as factors underlying the risks of global catastrophe.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock to 89 seconds before midnight — the theoretical point of annihilation. That is one second closer than it was set last year. The Chicago-based nonprofit created the clock in 1947 during the Cold War tensions that followed World War II to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world.

“The factors shaping this year’s decision — nuclear risk, climate change, the potential misuse of advances in biological science and a variety of other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence — were not new in 2024. But we have seen insufficient progress in addressing the key challenges, and in many cases this is leading to increasingly negative and worrisome effects,” said Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board.

“Setting the Doomsday Clock at 89 seconds to midnight is a warning to all world leaders,” Mr. Holz added.

The organization said the United States, China and Russia have the prime responsibility to pull the world back from the brink, and urged good-faith international dialogue. At a news conference announcing the decision, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s former president, said, “This is a bleak picture but it is not yet irreversible.”

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine launched Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

“The war in Ukraine continues to loom as a large source of nuclear risk. That conflict could escalate to include nuclear weapons at any moment due to a rash decision or through accident and miscalculation,” Mr. Holz said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in November lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, a move the Kremlin described as a signal to the West amid a war in which Ukraine has received arms supplied by the United States and its allies. Russia’s updated doctrine set a framework for conditions under which Mr. Putin could order a strike from the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal.

Russia said in October it will not discuss signing a new treaty with the United States to replace the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty limiting each side’s strategic nuclear weapons that expires in 2026 because Moscow believes it must be broadened and expanded to cover other countries.

“Russian aggression in Ukraine, including repeated use of nuclear threats since the war began, has been disturbing. In addition, Russia’s recent backtracking from important arms control treaties is an alarming sign of increasing nuclear risk,” Mr. Holz said.

‘DANGEROUSLY UNSTABLE’
The Middle East has been another source of instability with the Israel-Gaza war and broader regional hostilities involving countries including Iran. Nuclear-armed China has stepped up military pressure near Taiwan and nuclear-armed North Korea continues testing various ballistic missiles.

“We are watching closely and hope that the ceasefire in Gaza will hold. Tensions in the Middle East including with Iran are still dangerously unstable,” Mr. Holz said. “There are other potential hot spots around the world, including Taiwan and North Korea. Any of these could turn into a conflagration involving nuclear powers, with unpredictable and potentially devastating outcomes.”

Artificial intelligence made rapid gains in capability and popularity in 2024, prompting increasing concern among some experts about its military applications and its risks to global security. In the United States, then-President Joseph Biden in October signed an executive order intended to reduce the risks that AI poses to national security, the economy and public health or safety. His successor Donald Trump last week revoked it.

“Advances in AI are beginning to show up on the battlefield in tentative but worrisome ways, and of particular concern is the future possibility of AI applications to nuclear weapons. In addition, AI is increasingly disrupting the world’s information ecosystem. AI-fueled disinformation and misinformation will only add to this dysfunction,” Mr. Holz said.

Last year was the hottest in recorded history, according to the UN World Meteorological Organization. Climate change is worsening storms and raising the risk of wildfires, according to scientists.

“While there has been impressive growth in wind and solar energy, the world is still falling short of what is necessary to prevent the worst aspects of climate change,” Mr. Holz said.

The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by scientists including Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. — Reuters

BANGKOK — Thailand expects its 609-kilometer (378 miles) portion of a high-speed railway that will connect it with China through Laos to begin operations in 2030, its government said on Wednesday, nearly a decade later than originally planned.

More than a third of construction has been completed in the segment connecting the capital Bangkok to the city of Nakhon Ratchasima, about 220 km away and the whole line to Nong Khai at the border with Laos would be ready by 2030, said Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub.

A $6 billion, 1000 km rail line from the Laotian capital Vientiane to the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming began service in 2021, a venture 70% owned by Beijing. That line will connect with Thailand’s Nong Khai via Vientiane, about 25 km away.

“This is an opportunity for Thailand to connect to the global economy,” Mr. Jirayu said, adding it would bring Thailand closer to its goal of becoming a logistics hub.

The announcement comes a year after China urged Thailand to progress faster on the rail link.

Discussions on the rail line started nearly two decades ago and Thailand and China signed agreements on its construction in 2017 with plans to begin operations in 2021. But construction met delays over disagreements on financing and design, and disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road trade and infrastructure initiative, which includes plans for three routes originating in Kunming that pass through Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Vietnam plans to build a 1,541 km (958-mile) high-speed rail line linking its two biggest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, at a cost of more than $67 billion, targeting the start of operations in 2035. It also plans a $7.2-billion railway from its border with China’s Yunnan province to Hanoi, the port city of Haiphong and Ha Long City. — Reuters