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By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump began imposing higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats has begun to cause visible damage to the U.S. economy.

Just after midnight, goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union became subject to tariff rates of 10% or higher. Products from the EU, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh are taxed at 20%. Trump also expects the EU, Japan and South Korea to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States.

“I think the growth is going to be unprecedented,” Trump said Wednesday. He said the U.S. was “taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs,” but did not provide a specific figure for revenues because “we don’t even know what the final number is” regarding the rates.

Despite the uncertainty, the White House is confident that the onset of his tariffs will provide clarity about the path for the world’s largest economy. Now that companies understand the direction the U.S. is headed, the Republican administration believes it can ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance America as a manufacturing power. read more

SpaceX was not one of Amazon’s original choices to fly up its Project Kuiper broadband internet satellites, but Elon Musk’s company is about to knock out its second launch in less than a month for the company that seeks to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 more of the satellites scrubbed a Thursday attempt, but will come back Friday for a launch attempt from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a 25-minute window that opens at 9:40 a.m.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 70% chance of good launch conditions Friday.

The first-stage booster for the mission is making its first flight and will attempt a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.

The launch comes just over three weeks since SpaceX flew the first of what is so far only three contracted flights for Amazon.

The majority of Amazon’s missions for what aims to be a 3,236-satellite constellation were contracted out to United Launch Alliance. ULA flew an Atlas V in 2023 with the first pair of test satellites, and has flown two more Atlas V missions this year marking the beginning of more than 80 operational missions planned to get them all into orbit before summer 2029. read more

By MATTHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators are warning doctors and patients about safety issues with two separate Boston Scientific heart devices recently linked to injuries and deaths.

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The Food and Drug Administration issued two alerts Wednesday about electrical problems tied to the company’s heart-zapping defibrillator systems and a separate issue with a heart implant used to reduce stroke risk.

The agency said some of the company’s Endotak Reliance defibrillator wires can become calcified, leading to failures in delivering life-saving shocks to the heart, according to the FDA. read more

By JOSH BOAK and MICHAEL LIEDTKE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will impose a 100% tariff on computer chips, raising the specter of higher prices for electronics, autos, household appliances and other essential products dependent on the processors powering the digital age.

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“We’ll be putting a tariff of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said in the Oval Office while meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook. “But if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge.” read more

NEW YORK (AP) — WhatsApp has taken down 6.8 million accounts that were “linked to criminal scam centers” targeting people online around that world, its parent company Meta said this week.

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The account deletions, which Meta said took place over the first six months of the year, arrive as part of wider company efforts to crack down on scams. In a Tuesday announcement, Meta said it was also rolling new tools on WhatsApp to help people spot scams — including a new safety overview that the platform will show when someone who is not in a user’s contacts adds them to a group, as well as ongoing test alerts to pause before responding. read more