1. The United States has launched President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” as scheduled. The measures are imposed on countries and regions with large trade surpluses with the United States. The levies came into force on Wednesday. Trump has already imposed a 10-percent baseline tariff worldwide from April 5. The rates will be raised for certain countries and regions based on the sizes of their respective trade surpluses with the US. The rate for Japan is 24 percent.
2. Billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the US Department of Government Efficiency, and White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro have exchanged barbs over tariff policy.
3. The US Senate has officially confirmed George Glass as the new ambassador to Japan. The Senate approved his nomination by a majority vote on Tuesday. The former investment banker was picked for the post by US President Donald Trump. Glass is known to have been a major donor to Trump. He served as ambassador to Portugal for more than three years during Trump’s first term.
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