9 May 2025

China’s exports to US sink, offset by trade with other economies, as US tariffs hit global trade

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By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Business Writer

China’s exports to the United States tumbled in April while its trade with other economies surged, suggesting that President Donald Trump’s tariffs offensive is hastening a shakeup in global supply chains.

Total exports from China rose 8.1% last month from a year earlier, much faster than the 2% pace most economists had been expecting. That was much slower than the 12.4% year-on-year increase in March. Imports fell 0.2% in April from the year before.

A staff member wipes a shelf at the American toy store FAO Schwarz before it opens business at a popular shopping mall in Beijing, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Shipments to the U.S. sank 21% in dollar terms as Trump’s tariffs on most Chinese exports rose to as high as 145%. With Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods at 125%, business between the two biggest economies has grown increasingly uncertain.

China’s imports from the U.S. dropped more than 13% from a year earlier, while its politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States was nearly $20.5 billion in April, down from about $27.2 billion a year earlier.

In the first four months of the year, China’s exports to the United States fell 2.5% from a year earlier, while imports from the U.S. fell 4.7%.

A potential break in the tariffs stalemate could come as soon as this weekend. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior trade officials are due to meet with Chinese officials in Geneva on Saturday. But Beijing and Washington are at odds over a raft of issues, including colliding strategic interests that will may impede progress in the talks.

Some of the punitive tariffs, including Beijing’s retaliatory 125% tariffs on U.S. exports, could be rolled back, but a full reversal is unlikely, Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a report.

“This means China’s exports to the U.S. are set for further declines over the coming months, not all of which will be offset by increased trade with other countries. We still expect export growth to turn negative later this year,” Huang said.

Whatever the outcome of those discussions, the rapid increase in Chinese exports to other countries reflects a restructuring that began years ago but has gained momentum as Trump has raised barriers to exporting to the U.S.

Global manufacturers have been looking for alternatives to a near total reliance on manufacturing in China after disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for more diverse options.

The need for more versatile supply chains grew more apparent as Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese exports during his first term in office. Most of those remained during former President Joe Biden’s term.

Exports to the United States accounted for about a tenth of China’s total exports in April and the U.S. is still China’s largest single-country market. But the European Union and Southeast Asia are larger regional export markets.

Trade with a broader grouping, the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which does not include the United States, is still bigger. And exports to countries participating in China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” a vast network of Beijing-supported infrastructure projects, are bigger still.

In the first four months of the year, exports to the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations rose 11.5% from a year earlier, and those to Latin America also climbed 11.5%. Shipments to India jumped nearly 16% by value, and exports to Africa surged 15%.

Some of the fastest growth was in Asia, reflecting moves by Chinese and other manufacturers to diversify their supply chains outside of the Chinese mainland. Most notable were exports to Vietnam, which jumped 18% year-on-year. Exports to Thailand were up 20%.

Back in China, preliminary data have shown a sharp decline in shipping and other trade activity. Earlier this week, Beijing announced a barrage of measures meant to counter the impact of the trade war on its economy, which was already struggling to regain momentum after the pandemic and a lengthy downturn in its housing sector.

Associated Press researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed.

9 May 2025

Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass as pope, says his election is a cross and a blessing

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By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, history’s first North American pope, said Friday that his election was both a cross and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass in Sistine Chapel.

Leo spoke off-the-cuff in English to the cardinals who elected him to lead the Catholic Church and follow in Pope Francis’ social justice-minded footsteps. He acknowledged the great responsibility they had placed on him before delivering a brief but dense homily on the need to joyfully spread Christianity in a world that often mocks it.

“You have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community, as friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news to announce the Gospel,” he said.

It was in the same frescoed chapel that Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday afternoon as the 267th pope, overcoming the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States.

A Mass that may suggest his priorities

Two women delivered the Scripture readings at the start of the Mass, perhaps an indication of Leo’s intention to follow Francis’ priority to expand women’s role in the church. As a cardinal, Leo put into practice one of Francis’ most revolutionary reforms by having three women serve on the board that vets bishop nominations.

Speaking in near-perfect Italian, Leo lamented that the Christian faith in many parts of the world is “considered absurd,” mocked or opposed when there were temptations such as money, success and power. He complained that in many places Jesus is misunderstood, “reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.”

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, second from left, concelebrates Mass with the College of Cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican the day after his election as 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

“This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism,” he said. “Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.”

The cardinals applauded as the Mass concluded. Leo was seen wearing simple black shoes, not the red loafers of the papacy preferred by some traditionalist popes.

Francis had his eye on the new pope

Francis, the first Latin American pope, clearly had his eye on Prevost and in many ways saw him as his heir apparent. He sent Prevost, who had spent years as a missionary in Peru, to take over a complicated diocese there in 2014. Francis then brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 to head of the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which vets bishop nominations around the world and is one of the most important jobs in church governance.

Since arriving in Rome, Prevost had kept a low public profile but was well-known to the men who count, and respected by those who worked with him. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope.

In a 2023 interview with Vatican News, the then-cardinal said the women had enriched the process and reaffirmed the need for the laity to have a greater role in the church.

“Even the bishops of Peru called him the saint, the Saint of the North, and he had time for everyone,” said the Rev. Alexander Lam, an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the new pope.

An Augustinian pope

The last pope to take the name Leo was Leo XIII, an Italian who led the church from 1878 to 1903. That Leo softened the church’s confrontational stance toward modernity, especially science and politics, and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. His most famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum of 1891, addressed workers’ rights and capitalism at the beginning of the industrial revolution and was highlighted by the Vatican in explaining the new pope’s choice of name.

That Leo also had close ties to the Augustinian order: He rebuilt an ancient Augustinian church and convent near his hometown of Carpineto, outside Rome, which is still in use by the new pope’s order today.

Vatican watchers said Prevost’s decision to name himself Leo was particularly significant given the previous Leo’s legacy of social justice and reform, suggesting continuity with some of Francis’ chief concerns. Specifically, Leo cited one of Francis’ key priorities of making the Catholic Church more attentive to lay people and inclusive, a process known as synodality.

“He is continuing a lot of Francis’ ministry,’’ said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University in the Bronx. She added that his election could send a message to the U.S. church, which has been badly divided between conservatives and progressives, with much of the right-wing opposition to Francis coming from there.

“I think it is going to be exciting to see a different kind of American Catholicism in Rome,’’ Imperatori-Lee said.

Leo said in a 2023 interview with Vatican News that the polarization in the church was a wound that needed to be healed.

“Divisions and polemics in the church do not help anything. We bishops especially must accelerate this movement towards unity, towards communion in the church,” he said.

Leo’s brother, John Prevost, was so shocked that his brother had been elected pope that he missed several phone calls from Leo during an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. He called the pope back and Leo told him he wasn’t interested in being part of the interview.

John Prevost described his brother, a fan of Wordle, as being very concerned for the poor and those who don’t have a voice. He said he expects him to be a “second Pope Francis.”

“He’s not going to be real far left and he’s not going to be real far right,” he added. “Kind of right down the middle.”

Looking ahead

In his first hours as pope, Leo went back to his old apartment in the Sant’Uffizio Palace to see colleagues, according to selfies posted to social media. Vatican Media also showed him in the moments after his election praying in the Pauline Chapel before emerging on the loggia.

On Sunday, he is to deliver his first noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s and attend an audience with the media on Monday in the Vatican auditorium, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

Beyond that, he has a possible first foreign trip at the end of May: Francis had been invited to travel to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a landmark event in Christian history and an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations.

The new pope was formerly the prior general, or leader, of the Order of St. Augustine, which was formed in the 13th century as a community of “mendicant” friars — dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization. Vatican News said Leo is the first Augustinian pope.

Franklin Briceno in Lima Peru, Obed Lamy and Hallie Golden in New Lenox, Ill, Colleen Barry in Schiavon, Italy and Vanessa Gera and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

9 May 2025

Movie review: ‘Clown in a Cornfield’ a light, breezy slasher

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Is there anything as dependable as the slasher movie formula? It waxes, wanes and winks its way through cultural cycles, but it is enduring; malleable yet sturdy, high or lowbrow (usually low), and requires just a few key elements: some teenagers and a masked killer, a small town would be nice. Change up the masks and the weapons, and it practically writes itself. Enter “Clown in a Cornfield,” from “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” filmmaker Eli Craig.

This slasher does exactly what it says on the tin: a murderous clown emerges from the cornfields of Kettle Springs, Missouri, and mauls misbehaving teens to shreds. In an opening prologue, set in 1991, Craig signals the silliness with which we should enjoy the film: a victim marvels at the size of a footprint in the damp soil, and the clown’s shoes give him away with a squeak as he impales our unfortunate soul.

What sets this particular movie apart is its provenance, adapted from a 2020 horror novel by Adam Cesare. That literary origin does give this otherwise light, disposable genre romp a bit more heft, though the backstory and generational history that’s alluded to isn’t entirely explored on screen. Craig and Carter Blanchard collaborated on the screenplay adaptation and the film relies on the kind of quickie reveals and twists that audiences would expect from this kind of thing.

Craig is self-reflective while being appropriately reverent to the tropes of the genre. The closest recent comparison would be Eli Roth’s “Thanksgiving,” another teens + small town + outrageously costumed killer movie, and while Craig doesn’t have Roth’s gleefully sadistic creativity when it comes to kills, his teens are a bit more fun to be around, especially the snarky Quinn (Katie Douglas), who moves to Kettle Springs with her doctor dad (Aaron Abrams), and immediately falls in with a group of popular YouTube-obsessed classmates, who make horror films on their phones about their town mascot, Frendo, of the corn syrup factory.

Quinn starts crushing on Cole (Carson MacCormac) who is the scion of the town’s founders. Every year they celebrate tradition with the Founder’s Day parade, foregrounding Frendo’s iconic visage. But it seems as soon as Quinn shows up, things start to go wrong. Teens start turning up dead, evil clowns start revving their chainsaws. But for Quinn and company, it’s initially challenging to tell what’s real and what’s not an elaborate prank.

There’s a theme that drifts through “Clown in a Cornfield” about teens and their phones and how we live our lives through screens and ever-present cameras, but Craig never fully pulls that thread. In a time where it’s increasingly difficult to discern what’s real and what’s not, especially on our phones, that more sophisticated story rock never gets unturned, in favor of more throwback-style ’80s/’90s bloodbaths, and showboating bad guy speeches.

“Clown in a Cornfield” is fun, to be sure, but feels about as substantial as a corn puff. Douglas is beguiling enough with her humorous, spunky performance, and MacCormac capably keeps up with her; Will Sasso and Kevin Durand are welcome supporting players as a few of the oddly aggressive town elders. While things get a little too “Scooby Doo” at times, Craig smartly keeps it moving: this is a light and breezy affair with a few unexpected twists, some social commentary that doesn’t entirely land, and it might not have enough staying power for it to be truly memorable. Ah well, Cesare already has two sequel novels published, so there’s already plenty more Frendo the Clown frights ready to be harvested.

‘Clown in a Cornfield’

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for bloody horror violence, language throughout and teen drinking)

Running time: 1:36

How to watch: In theaters on Friday, May 9.

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9 May 2025

Today in History: May 9, FDA approves first birth control pill

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Today is Friday, May 9, the 129th day of 2025. There are 236 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 9, 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conditionally approved Enovid for use as the first oral contraceptive pill.

Also on this date:

In 1754, the famous political cartoon “Join or Die” was first published by Benjamin Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper.

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In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson, acting on a joint congressional resolution, signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

In 1951, the U.S. conducted its first thermonuclear experiment as part of Operation Greenhouse by detonating a 225-kiloton device (nicknamed “George”) on Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee opened public hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. (The committee ultimately adopted three articles of impeachment against the president, who resigned before the full House took up any of them.)

In 1980, 35 people were killed when a freighter rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, causing a 1,300-foot section of the southbound span to collapse.

In 2019, Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.

In 2023, a jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in damages.

Today’s Birthdays:

Producer-director James L. Brooks is 85.
Musician-songwriter Sonny Curtis (The Crickets) is 88.
Actor Candice Bergen is 79.
Musician Billy Joel is 76.
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo is 74.
Actor John Corbett is 64.
Singer Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) is 63.
Hockey Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman is 60.
Rapper Ghostface Killah is 55.
R&B singer Tamia (tuh-MEE’-ah) is 50.
Actor Rosario Dawson is 46.
TV personality Audrina Patridge is 40.
Actor Grace Gummer is 39.
Musician Shaboozey is 30.