Evening Briefing: Americas

Donald Trump is escalating his global trade war, issuing increasingly wild threats as targets from China to Canada and Europe retaliate with tariffs of their own rather than retreat. In the meantime, the resulting chaos has driven the S&P 500 into a correction.

The European Union has had the most detailed and reciprocal response, which apparently has Trump “totally annoyed,” according to his commerce secretary. In response, the 78-year-old US president threatened a 200% tariff on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from France and elsewhere in the EU.

In a social media post, the Republican said he would move forward with the import duties if Brussels follows through with a 50% tax on American whiskey exports, a measure aimed at retaliating against Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. Brussels’ 50% tax has American distillers rushing to prepare, ferrying as much product as possible to the EU—one of the industry’s biggest export markets—before the April 1 deadline.

But even when taken at face value, the stated goal of Trump’s tariff war may have a critical flaw. One of its goals, he says, is to boost domestic production, but the US trade deficit with the rest of the world is a result of broader factors powering the US economy. These include the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, Americans’ appetite for cheap goods from abroad as well as company supply chains that extend across different countries and which took decades to develop. —Jordan Parker Erb and David E. Rovella

What You Need to Know Today

It’s always a bad time for a market selloff—but especially for baby boomers. The S&P 500’s nosedive from a recent high has immediate economic consequences for them as they see their investments continue to shrink. Much of the cohort is already in the early years of retirement, or preparing to leave the workforce. And if they were to suffer persistent and deep losses while needing to withdraw money for living expenses, it’s likely their portfolios would never fully recover.

A judge ordered six federal agencies to offer to reinstate probationary employees who were fired by Trump last month, ruling their terminations were unlawful. The order is directed at the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury. The decision came shortly after a group of states sued Trump over his alleged plan to effectively dismantle the US Education Department by slashing its workforce in half. The plan to fire about 1,378 employees, on top of buyouts (also potentially illegal) taken earlier by 600 workers, will undermine the Education Department’s ability to perform work mandated by federal law, states said in the suit. They were the latest lawsuits and court rulings against Trump’s unprecedented effort to expand executive power. It’s unclear however whether his administration has been following orders issued by the judiciary.

The Trump administration withdrew Dave Weldon’s nomination for the top job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it grew clear there were not enough Senate votes to confirm him. Weldon, who like his would-be-boss Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a vaccine skeptic, was set to go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday morning. The committee canceled the hearing less than an hour before it was set to begin. As head of the CDC, the 71-year-old doctor—who has previously spread debunked theories linking childhood vaccination to autism—would have been in charge of the vaccine schedule doctors typically follow to administer shots to kids.

Mercedes just unwrapped its most affordable electric sedan yet. Expected to start around €50,000 ($54,100), the new CLA will go up against models produced by Tesla and BYD. Mercedes will begin making the vehicle in the coming weeks, with sales starting in early summer. The CLA is Mercedes’ only new EV this year, putting extra scrutiny on its technology at a time when the automaker’s profitability comes under growing pressure.

Mercedes’ only new EV this year. Photographer: Mercedes-Benz AG

Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped short of committing to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, saying he wants to discuss the proposal with Trump. He warned that any truce should lead to a long-term resolution of the war he started 11 years ago. Trump is seeking to persuade the Kremlin leader to join a 30-day ceasefire Ukraine said it’s ready to accept. His comments came after Russia said it expelled Ukrainian troops from a key town in the Kursk region, bringing Putin closer to his goal of completely dislodging Kyiv’s forces from his country and depriving Ukraine of a crucial bargaining chip.

The US is exploring ways to work with Gazprom on global projects, Russian and European officials say. A partnership with the Russian energy giant would mark a step toward even closer ties with the Kremlin at a time when Trump has been trying to force Ukraine into a peace deal. European assessments suggest there have been contacts between US and Russian representatives on the issue, but it’s not clear who’s leading the conversations. Putin alluded to potential US-Russia energy cooperation on Thursday, telling reporters it could pave the way for restoration of supplies to Europe. European gas futures dropped as much as 4.5% after his comments.