Kia ora and welcome to your Friday summary of the key international business and political stories dominating headlines.
First, there has been a wave of global reaction, including on NBR, to the court decision that US President Donald Trump overstepped the mark with his restrictive trade tariffs.
Overnight, the Trump administration said it would go to the US Supreme Court on Friday local time if it is unable to block the ruling, the BBC reported.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "we will win this battle in court" as the administration attempted to tackle “rogue judges”.
The court ruling did not address tariffs imposed on some specific goods – such as vehicles, steel, and aluminium. BBC reporters Peter Hoskins and Yang Tian said a higher court might be more Trump-friendly. But they said if all the courts in the appeal process upheld the ruling, businesses who had to pay tariffs would receive refunds with interest.
Meanwhile, Trump’s efficiency manager Elon Musk said he was leaving his role in the Trump administration, after leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote on social media.
“The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Former DOGE leader Elon Musk.
In developing news, a US judge issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University's ability to enrol international students, the ABC reported. The university denied allegations that it had a bias against conservatives and was antisemitic.
The Trump administration said it would use a lengthier process to attempt to stop Harvard from enrolling international students. It marked the latest twist after Trump removed billions of US dollars in federal funding to the university.
As well, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it planned to “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in the country. Rubio announced the decision, in addition to a State Department statement titled: “New Visa Policies Put America First, Not China”.
“We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong,” the statement said.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised the decision, noting it “seriously damaged” the rights of Chinese students, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, manufacturer Boeing said airplane deliveries to China would resume in June after handovers were paused amid the trade tariff war, CNBC reported. Chief executive Kelly Ortberg said China had originally paused deliveries but was now ready to take planes again.
Boeing had been paying tariffs on imported components from Italy and Japan for its wide-body Dreamliner planes, made in South Carolina. Ortberg said much of that could be recouped when the planes get exported.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
Trump has held a heated meeting with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, when he asked the top banker to lower interest rates, Bloomberg reported. It was their first in-person meeting since the Trump’s inauguration.
Leavitt told reporters that Trump thought Powell was making a mistake by not lowering rates. “[That] is putting us at an economic disadvantage to China and other countries, and the President’s been very vocal about that, both publicly and, now I can reveal, privately.”
Powell’s term expires in May 2026.
Finally, Israel accepted a new proposal for a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to officials, CNN reported. Hamas said it was reviewing the Witkoff proposal. That proposal included the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages, as well as a 60-day truce. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families that he had accepted Witkoff’s proposal.
