US President Donald Trump says all imported steel and aluminum will be hit with a 25 percent tariff, with new reciprocal tariffs to be rolled out for all global trading partners that tax American imports. China's retaliatory tariffs on American goods come into effect, and Nigeria faces the fallout from a lithium boom.

The Artificial Intelligence Action Summit kicks off in Paris with scientific and technical forums as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to position France at the centre of the AI boom. Also in this edition: China calls US President Donald Trump's latest tariff justification "unfounded and false", and France finally gets a 2025 budget after months of political crisis.

After running on an extension of the 2024 budget for more than a month, France is finally set to have a formal 2025 budget after Prime Minister François Bayrou forced the text through parliament without a vote but survived a vote of no-confidence over the move. The plan aims to bring the budget deficit down to 5.4 percent of GDP and save €50 billion through spending cuts and tax hikes. Plus, amid US President Donald Trump's tariff threats, new data shows the US trade deficit with other countries widened to a new record in 2024. 

The US Postal Service has suspended the shipments of parcels from China and Hong Kong, rattling Chinese e-commerce brands like Shein and Temu. While no explanation was given, the statement comes a day after the Trump administration closed the "de minimis" loophole, which allowed parcels under $800 to enter the US duty free. Also in this edition, Canadian consumers are turning their backs on US-made goods after Donald Trump's threat of imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports.

After Donald Trump's 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports took effect, China immediately hit back with a raft of targeted measures and said it would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization. That's not likely to go anywhere, however, as the WTO's dispute settlement system has been in crisis with its appellate body paralysed for years. Plus, Honda is now reportedly eyeing making Nissan a subsidiary, rather than merging under a holding company. 

The Trump administration's 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports came into effect this Tuesday, leading to immediate retaliation from Beijing. In this special edition, we look at the different ways China retaliated to the US president's measures, which are supposed to stop the flow of the drug fentanyl to American shores. In addition, we see how last-minute talks led to both Mexico and Canada avoiding 25 percent US tariffs for at least 30 days and how businesses have reacted.

US President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China is partly aimed at curbing the flow of fentanyl into the United States, where the opioid is blamed for some 70,000 deaths annually. So how do those countries play a role in the trafficking of the drug? Plus, we take a closer look at how global car companies are particularly vulnerable to tariffs. 

Editors' note: Since this update, the US has also agreed to pause tariffs on Canadian imports. 

EU leaders say they're prepared to respond if and when US President Donald Trump imposes new tariffs on European imports to the US. But first, we take a closer look the US-Canada trading relationship. Meanwhile, North America's highly integrated auto manufacturing sector is threatened by Trump's latest trade salvo, and markets tank as investors flee high-risk assets.

Italy's data protection agency has moved to block the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek after its developers failed to hand over information about how personal data is collected and whether it's stored on Chinese servers. Meanwhile, the French privacy watchdog also says it's questioning DeepSeek. Plus, luxury cars, designer bags and gold bars were among some 300 items that went under the hammer in an auction of confiscated goods held by France's anti-fraud agency. 

America's central bank has held its main interest rate steady as President Donald Trump's trade policies threaten to rekindle inflation in the world's largest economy. The Federal Reserve resisted pressure from Trump to continue with cuts, in its first rate decision since his return to office. Also in this edition: France's GDP shrinks 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2024 amid a budgetary impasse in parliament.