00:00A hopefully eventful Tuesday afternoon, folks and friends.
00:06I am William Theo here and glad to bring you PTV News Now.
00:10And we hit off our stories this afternoon with, it was not a stab in the back like the
00:16Duterte trolls and diehard supporters insist.
00:20So says Palace Press Officer Claire Castro earlier today in her pushback against claims
00:26President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. sold out his predecessor to the ICC to hang him dry,
00:32so to speak, when he was arrested and flown to The Hague last week.
00:37What the president did was honor the country's commitments with the International Criminal
00:42Police Investigation, otherwise known as Interpol, which has been steadfast in assisting the
00:48Philippine government with critical information and feel back up in locating and bringing
00:53fugitives from the law.
00:55And on the run back to the country to stand trial.
00:59Castro said there would be serious repercussions had the president or the government balked
01:04and turned its back on Interpol's request.
01:07In addition, Castro said letting Interpol do its work to assist the ICC also responds
01:13to the claims of thousands of victims of the former president's brutal war on illegal
01:18drugs to hold him to account by answering charges leveled against him.
01:23A due process, thousands of Filipinos were completely denied off by the former president
01:29in enforcing his bloody war on illegal drugs.
01:33In other news, President Donald J. Trump isn't budging on the tariffs he put forth and imposed
01:39on Mexico, Canada, the EU, and others, even in the face of growing calls from titans of
01:45economists, bankers, technocrats, and financial experts at home.
01:49VOA's Carolyn Presutti has more.
01:53Tariffs and counter tariffs with no end in sight.
01:56No, I'm not going to bend at all.
01:58As of right now, the U.S. places a tariff on metals imported from the European Union.
02:03The European Union puts a 50 percent tariff on U.S. whiskey.
02:07U.S. President Donald Trump threatens a 200 percent tariff on European wine, champagne,
02:14and spirits.
02:15We've been ripped off for years and we're not going to be ripped off anymore.
02:18The U.S. imposes 25 percent tariffs on Canadian metals and an April tariff on lumber, dairy
02:25products, and cars.
02:27Canada levies, then withdraws tariffs on electricity exports, but keeps tariffs on 21 billion dollars
02:34worth of American goods.
02:37We don't need their cars, we don't need their energy, we don't need their lumber.
02:42The U.S. puts a tariff on Mexican foods, but exempts certain items included under the North
02:47American Free Trade Pact, signed in President Trump's first term.
02:51A tariff on cars from Mexico is also rescinded.
02:55Mexico says it will respond on Sunday.
02:58And for China, 20 percent tariffs overall.
03:01Now there will be a little disruption, but it won't be very long.
03:05The unpredictability drives U.S. stocks wild.
03:09Analysts say if it continues, all governments lose.
03:12They think that if they protect their economy, they're going to increase the productivity
03:18and the competitiveness of industries in their own market.
03:23And actually what they're doing is putting them at a disadvantage in terms of price and
03:28access to global markets.
03:31The U.S. argues economic pain now will yield great results later.
03:35Treasury Secretary Scott Besant.
03:37The tariffs, we've got strategic industries we've got to have.
03:41We want to protect the American worker, but a lot of these trade deals haven't been fair.
03:46The administration is sending a signal that it's not business as usual here.
03:50It's now more exports and less imports.
03:53The next round of tariffs goes into effect April 2nd.
03:57Carolyn Persutti, VOA News, the White House.
04:03And that's a wrap for this afternoon's stories.
04:05Join us in a little later on for yet another set of breaking stories in the evening.
04:10Always make it a habit to stay connected by catching the news right here.
04:13I am William Theo.
04:14Thank you for watching QTV News Now.
