Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with members of Russia’s business community at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on May 26. (AP)

WASHINGTON, May 31, (AP): Hundreds of foreign companies left Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including major US firms like Coca-Cola, Nike, Starbucks, ExxonMobil and Ford Motor Co. But after more than three years of war, President Donald Trump has held out the prospect of restoring U.S.-Russia trade if there’s ever a peace settlement.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin has said foreign companies could come back under some circumstances. “Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree,” Trump said in a statement after a phone call with Putin. “There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED.”

The president then shifted his tone toward Putin after heavy drone and missile attacks on Kyiv, saying Putin “has gone absolutely crazy” and threatening new sanctions. That and recent comments from Putin warning Western companies against reclaiming their former stakes seemed to reflect reality more accurately – that it’s not going to be a smooth process for businesses going back into Russia.

That’s because Russia’s business environment has massively changed since 2022. And not in ways that favor foreign companies. And with Putin escalating attacks and holding on to territory demands Ukraine likely isn’t going to accept, a peace deal seems distant indeed. Here are factors that could deter US companies from ever going back: Russian law classifies Ukraine’s allies as “unfriendly states” and imposes severe restrictions on businesses from more than 50 countries.

Those include limits on withdrawing money and equipment as well as allowing the Russian government to take control of companies deemed important. Foreign owners’ votes on boards of directors can be legally disregarded. Companies that left were required to sell their businesses for 50% or less of their assessed worth, or simply wrote them off while Kremlin-friendly business groups snapped up their assets on the cheap. 

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the rain after arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md on May 30. (AP)

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa, May 31, (AP): US President Donald Trump on Friday told Pennsylvania steelworkers he’s doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50% to protect their industry, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods. In a post later on his Truth Social platform, he added that aluminum tariffs would also be doubled to 50%. He said both tariff hikes would go into effect Wednesday.

Trump spoke at US Steel’s Mon Valley Works-Irvin Plant in suburban Pittsburgh, where he also discussed a details-to-come deal under which Japan’s Nippon Steel will invest in the iconic American steelmaker. Trump told reporters after he arrived back in Washington that he still has to approve the deal. “I have to approve the final deal with Nippon and we haven’t seen that final deal yet, but they’ve made a very big commitment and it’s a very big investment,” he said.

Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based US Steel, he reversed course and announced an agreement last week for “partial ownership” by Nippon. It’s unclear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.

Nippon Steel has never said it is backing off its bid to outright buy and control US Steel as a wholly owned subsidiary, even as it increased the amount of money it promised to invest in US Steel plants and gave guarantees that it wouldn’t lay off workers or close plants as it sought federal approval of the acquisition. “We’re here today to celebrate a blockbuster agreement that will ensure this storied American company stays an American company,” Trump said as he opened an event at one of US Steel’s warehouses.

“You’re going to stay an American company, you know that, right?” As for the tariffs, Trump said doubling the levies on imported steel “will even further secure the steel industry in the US.” But such a dramatic increase could push prices even higher. Steel prices have climbed 16% since Trump became president in mid-January, according to the government’s Producer Price Index.   

Kuwait’s Finance Minister Noura Al-Fassam with Google Cloud’s Vice President of Customer Engineering for the Middle East, Africa and Europe Chris Lindsay in a group photo.

KUWAIT CITY, May 29: Kuwait’s Finance Minister Noura Al-Fassam held talks on Wednesday with Google Cloud’s Vice President of Customer Engineering for the Middle East, Africa and Europe Chris Lindsay, focusing on efforts to push forward a national digital drive. The digital transformation, including a transition into a cloud-based financial system that guarantees more “flexibility and transparency,” represents the focal point of economic reforms in Kuwait, according to a finance ministry statement.
Kuwait’s finance ministry will be among the first state bodies to make the transition into a digital system, which is a testament to its “commitment” to employ cutting-edge technology, such as Artificial Intelligence tools, in a bid to improve the quality of its services, the statement underlined. The talks come as part of the “strategic partnership” agreement between Kuwait and the US tech giant, which aims to develop advanced digital infrastructure across all state bodies, added the statement. It went on to espouse the merits of a full-fledged digital transformation, citing streamlined processes, data-driven decision-making and greater efficiency as chief among those benefits.(KUNA)