FirstFT: Narendra Modi visits Washington as Trump threatens new tariffs

Good morning and glad Friday. Donald Trump is internet hosting Narendra Modi on the White Home. Extra on their assembly beneath, plus:

• Apple’s AI partnership with Alibaba

• Europe’s response to US-Russia talks on Ukraine

• How Indonesia turned the ‘Opec of nickel’

Narendra Modi’s assembly with Donald Trump on the White Home is underneath method. The Indian prime minister is hoping to fend off US motion on tariffs and migration.

India billed Modi’s go to as a heat assembly of like-minded leaders. Nevertheless, analysts and folks briefed on the journey mentioned Modi would search to placate a president who has beforehand known as India a “tariff king” and “big abuser”.

Whereas India shouldn’t be a prime world exporter, it has excessive common tariffs and ranks tenth amongst nations with which the US has a deficit.

Their assembly occurred hours after Trump ordered his commerce advisers to give you “reciprocal” tariffs on US commerce companions. An evaluation by Capital Economics discovered that India could be the toughest hit by the president’s plan if it components in levies on US exports and home value-added taxes.

Simply moments in the past, Trump mentioned India would “be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas” as he appeared alongside Modi on the White Home. The US president mentioned he and Modi would additionally talk about commerce and that the 2 nations had some “very big trade deals to announce in the very near future”.

Observe our reside weblog for updates on Modi’s assembly with Trump.

Right here’s what else we’re maintaining tabs on at the moment and over the weekend:

• Financial information: Singapore and Malaysia report fourth-quarter GDP.

• Munich Safety Convention: The annual convention specializing in worldwide safety challenges begins, operating till Sunday.

• Center East: In Gaza, Hamas is because of free three Israeli hostages in return for dozens of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, as a part of a ceasefire take care of Israel.

How nicely did you retain up with the information this week? Take our quiz.

5 extra prime tales

1. Alibaba’s chair has mentioned it would present expertise for Apple’s synthetic intelligence-capable iPhone fashions bought in China. The high-profile partnership comes after a prime Chinese language regulator final yr indicated that Apple wanted to associate with a neighborhood firm to win approval to launch its AI options in China. Right here’s what we all know in regards to the settlement.

• ByteDance: US non-public fairness teams have invested billions of {dollars} in information centres serving the TikTok proprietor, in a dealmaking frenzy now threatened by a US crackdown on Chinese language firms’ entry to the very best chips.

2. China’s army workouts round Taiwan have turn into so intensive that they will quickly be used as a “fig leaf” to hide an assault on the island, in keeping with the highest US army commander within the Indo-Pacific. Talking on the Honolulu Protection Discussion board, navy Admiral Samuel Paparo additionally warned about rising co-operation between China, Russia and North Korea, describing it as an “emerging axis of autocracy”.

3. European officers are reeling from being minimize out of US-Russia peace negotiations on Ukraine. Greater than half a dozen senior European officers informed the FT they anticipated Trump to inform them they need to pay for Ukrainian reconstruction and deploy troops there to keep up a peace deal during which they might not be concerned.

4. Unique: Arm plans to launch its personal chip this yr after securing Meta as certainly one of its first prospects, in a radical change to the SoftBank-owned group’s enterprise mannequin of licensing its blueprints to the likes of Apple and Nvidia. The transfer may additionally upend the stability of energy within the $700bn semiconductor trade, placing Arm into competitors with a few of its largest prospects.

5. India’s Adani Group has determined to drag out of its $440mn wind energy initiatives in Sri Lanka after the brand new authorities in Colombo launched a overview of the tariffs agreed for the deal. Adani’s withdrawal comes as governments in each Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have began to re-examine energy initiatives with the conglomerate that have been signed by their predecessors.

The Large Learn

In just below a decade, Indonesia has turn into the world’s largest producer of nickel, the metallic essential to the vitality transition due to its use in batteries for electrical automobiles. The south-east Asian nation now controls extra of the world’s provide of nickel than Opec did of oil on the cartel’s peak within the Nineteen Seventies — then about half of worldwide crude oil output. How Indonesia makes use of this newfound energy goes to be essential for the world financial system and worldwide enterprise.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Shareholder capitalism, the Japanese method: An obsession with the UN’s SDGs permits firms to create a smokescreen, writes Leo Lewis.

• ‘Steroid Olympics’: Donald Trump’s son has backed a proposed sports activities occasion for athletes utilizing efficiency enhancing medicine.

• Synthetic intelligence: Large Tech is shifting on from final month’s DeepSeek shock, writes Richard Waters. What does the speedy return to equilibrium say in regards to the funding case for AI?

Chart of the day

China’s coal plant development surged final yr to the highest stage in virtually a decade, conflicting with President Xi Jinping’s promise that carbon emissions would peak earlier than 2030, researchers have mentioned.

Take a break from the information . . . 

“I am moving into a new, more senior role and want clothes that reflect the change. How do I find the right pieces?” Type columnist Anna Berkeley solutions a reader’s query about workplace costume codes.