The main events by the morning: February 14

• Trump has signed executive orders imposing retaliatory duties equal to the tariffs that other countries apply to American goods. The decision will affect the States individually and will not take effect immediately to allow time for negotiations. The new measures will have the strongest impact on developing countries such as India, Brazil, and Vietnam, where the tariff gap is most noticeable.

• The United States and India plan to more than double the volume of bilateral trade by 2030, bringing it to $500 billion. The leaders aim to strengthen cooperation for economic growth, security and new jobs. To achieve this goal, the parties intend to conclude a mutually beneficial multisectoral agreement by the fall of 2025.

• Copper prices have reached a three-month high. This happened against the background of supply shortages and expectations of the US president's tariff measures. On the London Metal Exchange, the price of copper for delivery in three months increased by 0.8% to $9,559 per ton, which was the peak since November 8, 2024.

• Representatives of the United States and Russia will meet today on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The main issue between them is the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated by Trump, noting that «Russia will be there with our people, Ukraine is also invited.» Overall, Trump has completely upended the political mainstream. He said that Biden was to blame for the conflict in Ukraine, and also suggested that China, the United States and Russia cut military budgets. 

• The French president called for increasing Europe's independence from the United States. Macron made such an appeal against the background of Donald Trump's coming to power and a change in US foreign policy. He called the security issue in the context of the United States and the energy issue in the context of relations with Russia vulnerable points.