U.S. battery startup Lyten has agreed to buy most of bankrupt Swedish battery maker Northvolt, it said on Thursday, potentially offering a way back for the European company that was once seen as the region's answer to rivals in Asia, Reuters reported. Lyten, a Silicon Valley battery startup developing lithium-sulphur cells as a cleaner alternative to lithium-ion, is backed by Jeep-owner Stellantis and U.S. delivery services provider FedEx.

U.S. trading partners are lobbying the White House for exemptions to sweeping new tariffs that went into force on Thursday, as countries seek ways to muffle the impact on their economies of President Trump’s push to reorder global trade, the Wall Street Journal reported. The diplomatic effort shows months of trade talks are far from over despite the run of agreements trumpeted by the White House in the past month.

Ever since Donald Trump's tariff salvo on India this week, garment maker Pearl Global - whose U.S. client list includes Gap and Kohl's - has been receiving midnight panic calls with an ultimatum: share the tariff hit or move production out of India, Reuters reported. To calm U.S. customers' nerves, Pearl Global has offered to shift production to its 17 factories in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and Guatemala to bypass the steep U.S. levies on Indian imports. "All the customers are already calling me. They want us to ...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday raised tariffs on goods imported from India to 50% in response to the country's continued purchase of Russian oil, UPI reported. "I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil," President Donald Trump said in an executive order. "Accordingly, and as consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25%," the executive order said.

Steve Mallia's Toronto-based telescope accessory business was thriving until March when the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on U.S.-bound orders that do not comply with local content rules under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Reuters reported. The tariff, imposed soon after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, effectively stopped Mallia's StarField Optics from competing in its main market, as many of the components used in its products came from China. "When we started to sell into the U.S., business was very strong. We were making money," Mallia said.

Mexico's government on Tuesday said it aimed to cease funding Pemex by 2027 when the highly-indebted state energy company should become financially self-sufficient, helped by an investment vehicle, a debt offering and efforts to stabilize production, Reuters reported. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told a press conference that by 2027, Pemex "will no longer need the finance ministry's support," referring to the recent support it received from the government to pay down debt.

The European Union is pushing to exempt its wine and spirit exports to the U.S. from tariffs, an EU official said, as both sides work toward fine-tuning a deal, the Wall Street Journal reported. Wines, spirits and beer are all important products for the EU, the official said on Tuesday. French politicians have called for alcoholic beverages to be exempt from a baseline 15% tariff that will hit a majority of goods from the EU later this week as part of the trade deal.

South Korea will prepare measures to help companies cope with higher U.S. tariffs and expand into new markets, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday, as it kicked off a task force to prepare the new administration's economic policy plans, Reuters reported. On the domestic front, the government will come up with measures to boost short-term demand, as well as financial support for mid- to long-term technology development to enhance market competitiveness, it said in a statement. South Korea reached a trade deal with the U.S.

Canada will provide up to C$1.2 billion to help softwood lumber producers deal with U.S. countervailing and anti-dumping duties, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Carney, speaking to reporters in the Pacific province of British Columbia, said Ottawa would make up to C$700 million available in loan guarantees and also provide C$500 million to help speed product development and market diversification. Read more.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25% "very substantially" over the next 24 hours, in view of New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. He also said a "zero tariff" offer for imports of U.S. goods into India was not good enough, alleging that India was "fuelling the war" in Ukraine. Trump's threat to India over its purchases of Russian oil started on July 31, when he announced a 25% tariff for Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty.