U.S. President Donald Trump is set to imminently ask the conservative-majority Supreme Court to validate his broad emergency tariffs after two setbacks at lower courts, but will face tough legal questions as his administration presses ahead with backup plans.

Legal and trade experts said that the Supreme Court's 6-3 majority of Republican-appointed justices may slightly improve Trump's odds of keeping in place his "reciprocal" and fentanyl-related tariffs after a federal appeals court ruled 7-4 last week that they are illegal. (Reuters – Continue Reading)

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Kyiv on Wednesday there was a chance to end the war in Ukraine via negotiations "if common sense prevails", an option he said he preferred, but that he was ready to end it by force if that was the only way.

Speaking in Beijing at the end of a visit that resulted in an agreement on a new gas pipeline to China, Putin said he perceived "a certain light at the end of the tunnel", given what he said were sincere efforts by the United States to find a settlement to Europe's biggest land war since World War Two. (Reuters – Continue Reading)

The United States has told countries to reject a United Nations' marine fuel emissions-cutting deal or face tariffs, visa restrictions and port levies, U.S. and European officials and sources told Reuters.

The Trump administration is looking to boost U.S. economic might, including by taking a bigger role in global shipping, and has used tariffs as a weapon to extract better terms from Washington’s trade partners.

In April, countries struck a draft agreement through the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO) that would impose a fee on ships that breach global carbon emissions standards.

Washington pulled out of the talks in April leading up to the draft deal, and said in August it would retaliate against countries that supported the accord. It has argued the measures would place unnecessary burdens on the shipping industry, and would be of little help to reduce emissions. (US News – Continue Reading)

US economic activity saw “little or no change” across most of the country in recent weeks, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book survey of regional business contacts.

“Most of the twelve Federal Reserve districts reported little or no change in economic activity since the prior Beige Book period,” according to the report published Wednesday. “Across districts, contacts reported flat to declining consumer spending because, for many households, wages were failing to keep up with rising prices.” (Bloomberg – Continue Reading)