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A group of Democratic state attorneys general has said the Trump ​administration’s proposed tariffs of up to 12.5% on 59 countries and the European ‌Union, amid claims they failed to curb trade in goods made with forced labor, are unlawful. A letter signed by the AGs said the levies will make goods more expensive "and will continue the ​economic devastation that prior tariffs have caused." The U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) is set for a three-day ​public hearing on the proposed tariffs of 10% on 16 economies, including the European Union, ​and 12.5% on 44 other countries. The USTR is abusing its authority under "Section 301" in a bid "to paper over ‌the ⁠administration’s predetermined sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports to the United States," said the AGs of states including Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, Colorado, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey.

 

Reuters

As part of a new approach which stems from a 2025 White House executive order to reform regulations, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plans to scrap guidance on radiation exposure for power plant workers that has been in place since the mid-1970s. The NRC proposes replacing the “as low as reasonably achievable” (Alara) standard with regulations based on existing federally regulated dose limits. Critics say that ditching the standard will put workers and public health at risk, but nuclear advocates argue it could free reactor developers from potentially onerous and costly requirements.

 

Bloomberg

Donald Trump will not establish a formal licensing regime for artificial intelligence, says Sriram Krishnan, the president’s departing AI adviser. “There will not be an FDA for AI,” Krishnan said.

 

Financial Times

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller has said indications from policymakers on the future path of interest rates can be useful if done carefully. “I continue to believe that forward guidance can be a valuable tool that has, at times, significantly strengthened policymaking and will continue to be useful,” Waller said to a Bank of Italy conference in Rome on monetary policy transmission. “But forward guidance is more art than science, and there have been times when it has hindered, rather than helped, policymaking.” He said the labor market is showing signs of stabilizing, allowing policymakers to focus on inflation. “Risks have completely flipped around,” Waller said. “That changes how you might want to think about policy.” Fed communications - what information is relayed to the public about the central bank's deliberations - will be a focus of one of five task forces ​new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh plans to name to make recommendations about different aspects of U.S. monetary policymaking.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Reuters

Open Standard has unveiled Open USD, a consortium-backed stablecoin expected to launch later this year with support from more than 140 financial institutions and technology companies, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, BlackRock, and Coinbase. Unlike traditional stablecoins, Open USD will be governed collectively by its partners, allowing participants to share reserve income and help shape operating standards, a model that could influence the future of cross-border payments, treasury management, and institutional settlement if it achieves broad commercial adoption.

 

Fortune

A U.S. House Judiciary Committee report has accused South Korean authorities of systematically discriminating against Coupang, alleging the company faced an extensive regulatory campaign following a 2025 data breach. The interim report claims more than 10 government agencies launched dozens of investigations, issued over 4,000 document requests and conducted at least 652 employee interviews, arguing the actions breached the countries' bilateral trade agreement. The allegations relate to a 2025 data breach in which a former employee accessed information linked to 33.7m customer accounts, although Coupang later said only data relating to around 3,000 accounts had been retained. The report also alleges South Korea's National Intelligence Service pressured the company into undertaking a recovery operation involving retrieving devices from China. South Korea's foreign ministry described the report as one-sided, adding that it failed to fully take into account the government's position.

 

Reuters

Arch Insurance Company and At-Bay Specialty Insurance Company have sued Bank of America, seeking to recover more than $1.03m they paid to a New Jersey logistics company after allegedly fraudulent wire transfers and ACH payments were processed despite multiple fraud alerts. The insurers claim the bank allowed the transactions to proceed after the company's employees reported them as unauthorized through its fraud alert system and contacted the bank's fraud department. The lawsuit alleges Bank of America failed to follow commercially reasonable security procedures and asserts claims under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, New Jersey's commercial code, and common law, including negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. The insurers are seeking reimbursement, interest, and legal fees, although the allegations have not been proven and no court has ruled on the case.

 

Insurance Business

The Supreme Court will consider whether Americans have a constitutional right to own so-called assault weapons. The justices said they will hear appeals challenging bans on the AR-15 and similar semiautomatic firearms in Connecticut and the Chicago area. Similar laws are in place in about a dozen states. The upcoming cases are the court’s latest steps toward clarifying the doctrine set in place by the 2022 Bruen decision, which requires gun laws to pass a “history and tradition test”, said Hayley Lawrence, the executive director of the Center for Firearms Law at Duke Law School. “Bruen was this enormous sea change in constitutional interpretation. It bakes in judicial discretion, and Supreme Court justices don’t like how lower courts are applying the test they created,” she said. “[These cases] are an opportunity to further clarify the methodology and application of the history and tradition test.”

 

AP News

The Hill

The Guardian

Alibaba has announced a ban on its employees using Anthropic's artificial intelligence tools, effective July 10, amid concerns over potential security risks. The company has classified Anthropic's Claude Code as high-risk, a move which follows Anthropic's decision last month to send a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, blaming the Chinese company of “brazenly” and “illicitly” attempting to extract its AI capabilities. Anthropic claimed Alibaba had carried out “the largest known distillation attack” on it to date. Alibaba employees will be required to uninstall all Anthropic models and agent products and instead use the Chinese company’s own AI assistant, Qoder.

 

CNBC

Microsoft is eliminating 4,800 jobs, or 2.1% of its workforce, as the software giant restructures parts of its commercial and Xbox businesses. Its Xbox division will lose about one-fifth of its staff, including 1,600 jobs immediately and additional cuts in the coming months. “The way technology is built, deployed, and used is transforming faster than at any point in my time here,” Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s chief people officer, wrote in a memo to staff. Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma told employees in an email that the “business today is not healthy.”

 

CNBC

Financial Times

The Times

Uber has dismissed two top leaders at its nascent AI data labeling business. Naga Kasu, senior director of engineering, and Pankaj Kamat, director of product at Uber AI Solutions, are said to have departed the ride-hailing company recently. Uber has positioned the data labeling unit as a key growth driver. The division employs a network of gig workers to undertake tasks necessary to prepare data to be used in artificial intelligence models, such as labeling video footage for driverless technology. 

 

Bloomberg

Gabriel García Luna, Guatemala's new attorney general, has committed to dismantling the "repressive and vengeful" administration of his predecessor, Consuelo Porras. Porras faced international sanctions for obstructing anti-corruption efforts and persecuting justice officials. “Everyone has a concept of a Public Prosecutor's Office that can be used in a certain way, and we can no longer have that,” García Luna said. “It is not a political entity, nor a political weapon for anyone, and I do not intend to repeat the actions taken in previous administrations.” He has launched a review of cases involving alleged abuses during Porras' tenure. His predecessor had “formed a parallel government that destroyed the prosecutorial profession, mainly by dismissing between 800 and 1,000 employees during her eight-year tenure,” García Luna said.

 

AP News