World Report - July 12: Saturday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: July 12, 2025

U.S. imposes 30% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, E.U. to go into effect August 1. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Mark Carney erred in imposing deadline on US trade talks. A preliminary report says fuel switches cut off before June Air India crash that killed 260. Russian, North Korean foreign ministers meet as Pyongyang backs Ukraine war. The family of an Afghan man detained in a U-S immigration detention centre is calling on Ottawa to act. 

It's finally summertime. I'm Nala Ayed, host of Ideas. These last several months, maybe longer, have tested our Canadian pride. So that's why this summer we have some special programming lined up for you. We're revisiting conversations with Canadian artists and thought leaders who are moving this country forward. You'll also hear a special series I did where we traveled across the country asking people how to make Canada better. So join me for a special Canadian summer on ideas. This is a CBC podcast.

This is World Report. Good morning. I'm Jennifer Yoon. We begin with new tariffs announced by the US President Donald Trump, this time targeting the European Union and Mexico. The 30% duty on imports into the US are set to begin on August 1st. The CBC's Linda Ward joins me in studio. Linda, what can you tell us?

Well, Trump is continuing his tariff blitz, this time targeting some of his closest trading partners and neighbours, announcing 30% tariffs against the European Union and Mexico. In a letter posted to his social media platform this morning, he says Mexico hasn't done enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US. In that letter, he says Mexico still has not stopped the cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a narco trafficking playground. In his letter to the EU he says these tariffs are necessary to correct many years of trade deficits. This deficit he says is a major threat to our economy and indeed our national security.

The Office of the US Trade Representative says last year the US trade deficit with the EU was more than $235 billion. And what are we hearing from EU officials? Well, reaction has been pouring in since these letters were posted. Mexico's economy minister says Mexico is negotiating a working group they have set up with the United States will now aim for an alternative before August 1st. EU officials are calling this a negotiating tactic. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says imposing 30% tariffs on EU

exports would disrupt essential supply chains. She says we will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required. Now Trump just like in his letter to Canada says retaliate and whatever the number you choose to raise them by will be added on to the 30%. So not the 35% tariffs that Trump has warned about on non-CUSMA compliant Canadian goods, but the same deadline, August 1st, in order to reach a deal. And he says if they deal with these issues, then he will consider an adjustment.

CBC's Linda Ward. Thank you, Linda. You're welcome. Pierre Poilier is criticizing the way Prime Minister Mark Carney is handling trade negotiations with the US. In an interview with CBC radio's The House, the Conservative leader says the Prime Minister Mark Carney is handling trade negotiations with the US. In an interview with CBC radio's The House, the Conservative leader says the Prime Minister should not have imposed a deadline for a deal. It's Poliev's first national interview with CBC News since becoming party leader three

years ago. Host Catherine Cullen has more. Pierre Poliev says the Prime Minister needs to step up. Well, I think it's important that he be transparent and demonstrate he has a plan. The Conservative leader is offering to help with that plan, saying Mark Carney should let the International Trade Committee sit to offer advice on negotiations with the U.S. Donald Trump introduced a new upset to those talks Thursday when he threatened a 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods as of August 1st.

Carney initially imposed a deadline on those trade talks last month. The finish line has moved though and Carney now says it's August 1st in accordance with Trump's new stance. Poliev says the deadline was a mistake, saying it tells the other party you're working on a clock but one that only applies to you. I personally think it would have been better not to show that upfront to the Americans because we know that President Trump will try to take advantage of it. Polyev also reflected on his by-election race in Alberta. One of his MPs stepped aside so he could run. Polyev says he deserves a second chance because he grew the party's support in the last election.

But how does he explain losing the seat he held in Ottawa for two decades? It was very simple. I was very clear that we would be cutting the federal bureaucracy if I was prime minister. He says there were many public servants in his riding and public sector unions opposed him. But he argues he was more transparent and that the liberals hid their plans to cut the bureaucracy. Catherine Cullen, CBC News, Ottawa.

And you can hear Catherine's full interview with conservative leader Pierre Poilier on The House right after the 9 o'clock edition of World Report on CBC Radio 1 or wherever you get your podcasts. The preliminary report into June's deadly crash of an Air India plane reveals the pilot seemed confused over an engine switch movement. The aircraft's fuel control switches were cut off moments before it came down. Audio from the cockpit suggests the two pilots weren't sure how that happened. 260 people died when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed in Ahmedabad 40 seconds into the flight. Rebecca Bundon has more from Mumbai.

The preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau offers some insights into what happened in the cockpit in the moments leading up to the crash. But it also raises questions about why the fuel control switches had shifted to their cut-off position just three seconds after take-off. It's a mode that is normally used to shut down the engines when the plane is on the ground. Mark Martin, a consultant who specialises in aviation safety, is among the experts who's puzzled by this, partly because the switches are designed so they can't be accidentally moved easily. There's no way that your hand is going to meander back and fiddle around with the steel

tarot switch. It's impossible. The report reveals that one of the pilots, without identifying whether he was the captain or first officer, asked the other why he had cut off the fuel. He responded that he had not done so. Both were very experienced pilots. Martin thinks there could have been some kind of malfunction. My personal assumption would be that it centres on technical. With the final report not due for a year and investigations continuing, families mourning the loss of loved ones are still waiting for

answers. Rebecca Bunzin for CBC News, Mumbai. Russia's top diplomat is in North Korea today. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met leader Kim Jong-un. Lavrov is on a visit to North Korea to discuss deepening their country's economic and military ties. Moscow is relying on Pyongyang to support its ongoing war in Ukraine. Dominic Velaitis reports. A guard of honor for Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Hwansan, a city known for its missile and naval bases and now home to North Korea's new tourist resort, which was officially opened earlier this month. Lavrov's three-day visit is the latest high-level meeting between Russia and North Korea, a

partnership which now includes a mutual defense pact. And Lavrov wasted no time thanking his North Korean counterpart, Choi Sung-hui, for Pyongyang's support for Russia with its war on Ukraine. We are sincerely grateful to the leadership of North Korea, he says, to all military personnel, soldiers and officers who demonstrated excellent combat training and made a very important contribution to the just cause of liberating Russian territories. With North Korean troops now directly involved in battles alongside Russian forces in Ukraine,

military collaboration between the two countries has deepened significantly. And according to South Korean intelligence, the relationship could soon go even further. With reports Pyongyang is now preparing to send thousands more troops to Ukraine in the coming weeks. And this morning, in a further show of solidarity, Lavrov accused the US, South Korea and Japan of what he called their military buildups around North Korea. Responding to an uptick in recent joint military exercises in the region, he warned the three countries against building alliances opposed to Pyongyang and Moscow.

Dominic Velaitis for CBC News, Riga Latvia. And finally in Canada, the family of an Afghan man being held in a US immigration detention centre is calling on Ottawa to act. The 27-year-old was arrested in September after trekking from Brazil using a well-trodden migrant route. His entire family also made the journey and had been accepted, has been accepted in Canada as refugees. Ifil Musa has the details. Shafika Jilali is pleading to the federal government to help release her son.

Mohamed Younisi has been stuck in an ICE detention center in Texas for nearly a year. He was arrested in the U.S. after traveling with human smugglers to North America from Brazil. His lawyer, Aaron Simpson, says he fled Afghanistan after being kidnapped and beaten by the Taliban because of his work with an NGO that supported women. He is currently facing removal to Afghanistan and so that is incredibly dangerous for Mohammed. It is a matter of life and death. Simpson says a US judge has granted UNICEF permission to travel to Canada to claim asylum but the federal government has refused to issue the permit to allow that to happen.

The biggest obstacle we have faced is that there has not yet been a willingness to issue a temporary resident permit. And removing that obstacle could help save Eunice's life says Simpson. Thank you for the tea. And reunite him with his family in Canada. Ivo Musa, CBC News, Toronto. And that's the latest national and international news from World Report. For more news Toronto.