From his first moments on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV gave important clues about what kind of leader he would be for the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church.

The US “Cardinal Robert Prevost,” as he was known before becoming Pope Leo XIV, was elected as the new pope by the world’s cardinals on Thursday, the second day of the conclave held to elect the successor to Pope Francis, who passed away last month.

Leo, who made history as the first US pope, also holds dual citizenship in Peru, where he served as a missionary for decades before becoming a cardinal.

The first clue Leo gave was the name he chose. Popes usually use this choice to give the first important signal about the priorities of their new papacy.

Francis had taken his name from St. Francis of Assisi, who in the 13th century rejected wealth and wanted to care for the poor.

The last pope to take the name Leo, Leo XIII, had focused during his papacy from 1878 to 1903 on defending the rights of workers, demanding fair wages, fair working conditions, and the right to join unions.

Jesuit commentator Thomas Reese, who closely follows the papacy, claimed, “Cardinal Prevost shows his commitment to the church’s social teaching by choosing the name Leo XIV.”

Leo’s second message was his choice of language and words, which clearly emphasized the need for peace. Francis had also often focused on this issue.

Speaking to the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the new Pope chose Italian and Spanish, and did not mention the US.

Leo’s first public words were, “La pace sia con tutti voi!” (“Peace be with all of you!”)

Before entering the secret conclave on May 7, the world’s cardinals had issued a statement condemning the conflicts in “Ukraine, the Middle East, and many other regions of the world” and making a “heartfelt call” for peace.

The new pope stated that he wanted to “share God’s peace,” describing it as “an unarmed peace and a disarming peace,” and added that he was “humble and determined.”

Leo also recounted Pope Francis, who passed away, blessing the crowd in Rome for the last time on Easter Sunday, one day before his death.

The new Pope said, “Pope Francis’s weak but always courageous voice is still in our ears.”

Leo asked for permission to give the blessing Francis had given a few weeks earlier and said, “God loves us, God loves everyone, and evil will not prevail. We are in God’s hands.”

According to Reuters, Leo’s third clue was his choice of clothing. Unlike Francis, who rejected all symbols of the papacy, including on his first day after being elected in 2013, Leo wore the traditional red papal cape over his white cassock.

Thus, although Leo followed Francis’s tradition, he showed that he was “a new and different pope.”

On the other hand, although the new pope is US, there is no sign yet that relations between the Donald Trump administration and the Vatican will be much better.

Furthermore, a social media account opened in the new pope’s name appears to have repeatedly criticized the Trump administration, especially Vice President JD Vance, in the months and years before he began his papal duties.

A series of posts published under the “Robert Prevost” account show that the Chicago-born Cardinal shared an article criticizing Vance’s interpretation of faith and the strict immigration policies he advocated along with President Donald Trump.

In mid-April, the same account reposted someone else’s criticism of Trump’s meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office and pointed to an op-ed by Washington, D.C. Auxiliary Catholic Bishop Evelio Menjivar, which drew attention to the suffering of migrants deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration.

The op-ed reposted by Prevost asks, “Don’t you see the suffering? Doesn’t your conscience bother you?”

As a more striking example, in February, this account shared an op-ed published in the liberal-leaning Catholic newspaper National Catholic Reporter, titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others”.

Catholics are the largest Christian denomination in the US, and Trump heavily sought Catholic votes in key states to win the 2024 presidential election.

Trump appointed several Catholics, as well as Vance, to high cabinet positions. Pope Francis, who died on April 21, had regularly criticized the Trump administration and had once sharply rebuked Vance for his interpretation of the church’s teaching on love.

Like his predecessor, Leo also comes from a “more progressive and inclusive” wing of Catholicism, but still seems to defend traditional Catholic views on issues like LGBT rights.

The President on Thursday immediately congratulated Leo, who spent most of his adult life in Peru, on his election and promised to meet with the new pope soon.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, “It is a great honor to realize that he is the first American pope. How exciting and what a great honor for our country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

The US and the United Kingdom have signed a significant trade agreement after years of negotiations.

Under the agreement, the 10% “reciprocal” tariff rate applied to British goods remains unchanged, while the United Kingdom will benefit from exemptions on steel and automobiles and increased market access for agricultural exports.

The agreement also leaves the door open for further negotiations in the future. US President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “The final details will be written in the coming weeks.”

Speaking by phone at the White House press conference, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the agreement as “historic,” stating, “This will increase trade between our countries. It will not only protect jobs but also create employment and open up market access.”

Although the agreement is far from a comprehensive free trade agreement, the United Kingdom became the first country to sign such a deal with Trump.

British automotive sector breathes a sigh of relief

The most significant change is the exemption from the general 25% additional tariff applied to steel, aluminum, and automobiles. Under the agreement, tariffs on British car exports will be reduced to 10%, with an annual quota of 100,000 units.

British prime ministerial sources say this figure is almost equal to the total amount the United Kingdom exported last year. If this quota is exceeded, vehicles will be subject to the 25% tariff.

On the other hand, this rate is four times the 2.5% tariff the UK benefited from before Trump’s second presidential term.

Nevertheless, the reduction in tariffs will provide much-needed relief to British car manufacturers, who exported £9 billion last year and are the United Kingdom’s largest goods exporter to the US.

Reciprocal steps in the steel and aerospace sectors

The agreement completely removes tariffs for the UK’s struggling steel industry, which is facing a crisis under the threat of blast furnace closures and job losses.

The US is currently the United Kingdom’s second most important steel export market after the EU: the American market accounts for 9% of the country’s steel exports by value and 7% by volume.

The US also promises exemptions for UK aerospace parts, while in return, the United Kingdom gains “preferential access” to aerospace components.

Speaking in the Oval Office, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, “We have agreed to allow Rolls Royce engines and aircraft parts of that nature to be imported tariff-free.”

Initially, aerospace parts, including those previously exempted for security reasons, were included in the general 10% reciprocal tariff.

London did not compromise on digital tax

It came as a surprise to many that the United Kingdom did not compromise on the digital services tax despite US pressure to reduce the tax. The 2% tax targets the revenues of tech giants like Amazon, Meta, and Google and is estimated to generate £800 million this year. This tax had long drawn criticism from the US on the grounds that it discriminated against American companies.

But as POLITICO first reported on Thursday, the tax did not change as part of the agreement.

Instead, both countries decided to work on a digital trade agreement to eliminate bureaucracy for exporters and simplify customs procedures.

Christine Bliss, President of the Coalition of Services Industries, said in a statement, “The UK’s digital services tax needs to be discussed and addressed in more detail to ensure it is applied fairly to American service providers.”

The technology agreement also envisages greater cooperation in areas such as biotechnology, life sciences, quantum computing, nuclear fusion, and aerospace.

There was also no compromise on the United Kingdom’s online safety rules, which was a great relief for campaigners.

The London government had announced last month, under pressure from Washington, that online safety rules would be reviewed in trade talks with the US, drawing significant backlash.

The United Kingdom’s US Ambassador Peter Mandelson told POLITICO he was “very pleased with the outcome,” adding that his country had “achieved all its main demands and that the agreement will now open the door to a deeper and longer-term US-UK technology partnership.”

Reciprocal market openness and food standards in agriculture

In a move met with skepticism by the agricultural lobby in Great Britain, the countries signed a new reciprocal market access agreement on beef. Under the agreement, British farmers were granted a tariff-free quota of 13,000 metric tons and a reduced tariff rate of between 4% and 10%.

On the other hand, US farmers will also be able to export the same amount of beef to the UK tariff-free.

But more importantly, all imported meat must comply with United Kingdom food standards. This means British farmers can breathe a sigh of relief that hormone-treated beef will not be arriving at their doors anytime soon.

Food standards had been a contentious issue since the United Kingdom-US free trade agreement negotiations began under the first Trump administration in May 2020.

A boon for ethanol exports to the US

In a surprise move, the US was also granted a new tariff-free ethanol quota for the first 1.4 billion liters. Previously, US ethanol exported to the United Kingdom was subject to a tariff of between 10% and 50%, depending on its use.

Speaking at the White House press conference, Trump said the agreement would “significantly” increase market access for American beef, ethanol, and almost all products produced by large farmers.

According to White House documents, the agreement will create “$5 billion in new export opportunities for US farmers, ranchers, and producers.” More than $700 million of this figure will come from ethanol exports, and $250 million from other agricultural products such as beef.

Tom Bradshaw, President of the National Farmers Union, said, “Our biggest concern is that the heavy burden of tariff removal in other sectors of the economy is being placed on the shoulders of two agricultural sectors,” adding that British agriculture “cannot continue to bear such imbalances in future negotiations.”

Bradshaw also added that the inclusion of bioethanol in the agreement “raises concerns for British arable farmers,” and said they were examining what this means for the sustainability of domestic bioethanol production and its potential impact on their members.

The White House also announced that the countries have decided to work together to improve industrial and agricultural market access.

Preferential treatment for pharmaceuticals

The agreement will also allow Britain to negotiate a preferential outcome on pharmaceutical tariffs, even though the US has not yet imposed tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceuticals are the United Kingdom’s second largest export item to the US. The UK exported £6.6 billion worth of pharmaceuticals last year, and this figure accounted for 11.1% of the country’s total exports to the US.

On April 1, Trump launched an investigation into the impact of pharmaceutical imports on national security and announced on Tuesday that he would impose tariffs on this sector “in the next two weeks.”

On the other hand, it is not yet clear whether the United Kingdom will receive preferential treatment regarding the tariffs Trump will impose on the film industry.

Over the weekend, the US President threatened to impose a 100% tariff on foreign films, saying that incentives offered by other countries to attract filmmakers to their countries posed a threat to US national security.

Caroline Dinenage, Chair of the Culture Committee, argued that tariffs on films were “contrary to the interests of American companies” due to “investments in UK facilities and talent based on intellectual property rights held by the US.”

Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said, “At this stage, it is not clear exactly what kind of tariffs the US is proposing to apply in relation to films.”

The Trump administration in the US is considering a “dramatic tariff reduction” in talks with China this weekend to ease tensions and alleviate the economic strain both sides have begun to feel.

According to sources close to the preparations for the talks, which will begin on Saturday in Geneva led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, the US side aims to reduce tariffs to below 60% as a first step it believes China might accept, according to Bloomberg.

If progress is made in the two-day talks, these reductions could be implemented next week.

The sources stated that the talks would be preliminary in nature and aimed at airing grievances rather than finding solutions to the long list of issues between the two sides.

The same sources added that the situation is uncertain and a reduction in tariffs in the near term is not guaranteed.

According to the information received, high on the US wish list is the removal of China’s export restrictions on rare earth elements used in magnet production, which have disrupted various industries. Progress has also been made on fentanyl.

The sources stated that separate talks could soon be held on reducing China’s exports of this opioid derivative, which has contributed to the increase in overdose deaths in recent years.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement, “The sole purpose of the administration in these negotiations is to advance President Trump’s America First economic agenda towards fair and reciprocal trade relations. All discussions about ‘target’ tariff rates are baseless speculation.”

The biggest challenge facing the Trump administration is the extremely high level of tariffs between the world’s two largest economies. US tariffs on many Chinese imports have reached 145%.

In statements made on Thursday, US officials, including President Donald Trump, clearly indicated their intention to lower the tariffs they rapidly increased in response to China’s retaliation against the tariffs announced on April 2.

Trump told reporters on Thursday while outlining a US-UK trade deal, “They can’t go up any higher, they’re at 145%, so we know they’re coming down. I think we’re going to have a good weekend with China.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC, “De-escalating, bringing these rates down to where they could be, where they should be, I think that’s Scott Bessent’s goal. I think that’s the Chinese delegation’s goal. And that’s the good outcome the President is hoping for, a world where there’s de-escalation, where we’re back together, and we’re working on a big deal.”

US stock markets rose on Thursday as investors reacted positively to Trump’s comments on the trade talks with China.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials are cautious about their goals in the talks. On Thursday, Beijing reiterated its call for the Trump administration to lift the unilateral tariffs it imposed on China.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong said the US “should approach the talks with sincerity and be ready to correct its mistakes.”