Good morning. US and Russian foreign officials are set to meet. Nvidia reaches a key milestone. And Meta is paying more than $200 million for an Apple engineer. Listen to the day’s top stories.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov today on the sidelines of an Asean gathering in Kuala Lumpur. Donald Trump recently reiterated his displeasure with Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine and confirmed he’s sending more defensive weapons to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government. Separately, Ukrainian allies are gathering in Rome to discuss the nation’s postwar revival.
The US president unveiled a new round of tariff demand letters, including a 50% rate on Brazil, one of the highest so far announced for the levies which are set to hit in August. The Philippines will hold further negotiations after the US increased the planned tariff rate to 20%.
Trump also said negotiators are “very close” to a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, indicating a temporary truce may be agreed upon in a week or two. “We want to have peace. We want to get the hostages back. And I think we’re close to doing it,” he told reporters.
Linda Yaccarino. Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg
Corporate roundup: Linda Yaccarino is stepping down as CEO of social media platform X, after two years in the role. France’s antitrust regulator said it notified Meta of a potential violation of competition rules relating to online advertising. And Wall Street banks have begun early pricing discussions for a $4.25 billion debt package to help finance a buyout of Boots, according to people familiar.
And finally, Nvidia became the first company in history to achieve a $4 trillion market valuation, cementing its status as a kingpin in the global financial market. The stock has risen more than 20% in 2025, and is up more than 1,000% since the beginning of 2023.
Copper anodes ready for shipment at a processing facility in Chile. Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg
Copper traders racing to get cargoes into the US are looking to shift deliveries into Hawaii and Puerto Rico to cut shipment times, as Trump’s plan for 50% tariffs threatens to slam the door on a hugely profitable arbitrage trade. Listen to our podcast to catch up on copper market chaos.
Frazzled traders described pulling all-nighters through the turmoil as they responded to Tuesday’s news, making decisions over what to do with cargoes already on their way to the US, and whether to try to squeeze in further shipments.
But the journey to Hawaii is roughly ten days, and at least one trader has already completed a shipment to the Pacific state, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Traders now face a race against time—especially those that paid large premiums to get their hands on copper cargoes. They now face the risk that the tariffs will be implemented while the metal is on the water.
Reform UK isn’t Labour’s only problem now, Rosa Prince writes. Keir Starmer should take the prospect of a split on the left just as seriously as he does the challenge from the right.
Meta offered a more than $200 million package to lure a distinguished Apple engineer to its "superintelligence" team, according to people familiar. Apple didn’t try to match the offer, as it far exceeds pay at the company for leaders other than CEO Tim Cook.
