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Joe Biden has said his government will support states affected by Hurricane Helene “until the job is done” after the devastating storm left more than 100 people dead in the southeast of the US.

The American president spoke on Monday as 600 people remain unaccounted for days after Helene left a trail of destruction across several states – with deaths reported in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia.

Authorities are still struggling to get water and other supplies to isolated areas affected by floods while millions remain without power.

Mr Biden said he has spoken with the governors of Georgia and North Carolina and that he expects to visit areas affected by the hurricane later this week.

He added that he “may have to request” that Congress returns for a special session to pass a supplemental funding package to help those affected.

“We will be there with you as long as it takes,” the president said.

“The Biden-Harris administration will be there until the job is done.”

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Mr Biden was speaking days after the Category 4 hurricane struck the coast of Florida with 140mph winds before battering several states.

The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina where officials have pledged to get more water and supplies to affected areas – with 30 people having been killed in Buncombe County.

Debris lies where homes were destroyed after Hurricane Helene passed through the Florida panhandle, severely impacting the community in Keaton Beach, Florida, U.S., September 29, 2024. REUTERS/Octavio Jones
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Debris lies where homes used to be before Hurricane Helene was unleashed upon Florida. Pic: Reuters

North Carolina governor Roy Cooper predicted the number of deaths in the state would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, broken infrastructure and widespread flooding.

More than 50 search teams have spread throughout the region looking for stranded people.

One rescue effort involved saving 41 people north of the isolated city of Asheville. Another mission focused on saving a single infant.

Mr Biden has told Mr Cooper he expects to visit North Carolina on either Wednesday or Thursday.

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A drone view shows damaged vehicles, following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, U.S., September 29, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello
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Vehicles were hurled off the roads, in Asheville, North Carolina. Pic: Reuters

It comes as supplies have been airlifted to the region around Asheville, with Buncombe County manager Avril Pinder pledging to have food and water in the city by Monday.

“We hear you,” Ms Pinder told reporters. “We need food and we need water.

“My staff has been making every request possible to the state for support and we’ve been working with every single organisation that has reached out. What I promise you is that we are very close.”

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Hurricane lashes cars on Florida bridge

It comes as vice president Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for this year’s US election, has returned early from a campaign visit to Las Vegas to attend briefings about the hurricane.

Meanwhile, Republican candidate Donald Trump heads to Georgia to see the storm’s impact.

Speaking in the city of Erie in Pennsylvania on Sunday, Mr Trump described Helene as “a big monster hurricane” that had “hit a lot harder than anyone even thought possible”.

Hurricane Helene roared ashore in Florida late on Thursday before it weakened and moved through Georgia, then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded creeks and rivers and strained dams.

A drone view shows a damaged area, following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Swannanoa, North Carolina, U.S., September 29, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello
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A drone view shows the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Pic: Reuters

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Teenager rescued from flood

There have been hundreds of water rescues, including in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop on Friday.

More than two million homeowners and other utility customers were still without power on Sunday night. South Carolina had the most outages and governor Henry McMaster asked for patience as crews dealt with widespread snapped power poles.

“We want people to remain calm. Help is on the way, it is just going to take time,” Mr McMaster told reporters outside the airport in Aiken County.

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Trump says he and Starmer will meet ‘very soon’

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Trump says he and Starmer will meet 'very soon'

Donald Trump has confirmed he will meet Sir Keir Starmer “very soon” after the prime minister “asked to come” to the US.

Mr Trump discussed details of his phone call with Sir Keir while taking questions from the media in the White House’s Oval Office on Friday.

“He asked for a meeting, and I agreed to the meeting,” the US president told reporters.

“We’re going to have a friendly meeting – very good.”

Donald Trump and Keir Starmer.
Pic:Reuters
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Donald Trump and Keir Starmer will meet ‘very soon’, the president indicated. Pic: Reuters

He added: “We have a lot of good things going on. But he asked to come and see me and I just accepted his asking.”

The date for their meeting is unknown. When pressed, Mr Trump said it will happen “very soon”.

“I think he wants to come next week… or the week after,” he added.

When asked by a reporter what they will discuss, Mr Trump said: “I don’t know. It was his request, not mine.”

“I met him twice already, we get along very well, he’s a very nice guy,” the president said of Sir Keir.

Sir Keir Starmer meets with the US Special Envoy to the UK, Mark Burnett and others. Pic: Instagram/USA in UK
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Sir Keir Starmer meets with the US Special Envoy to the UK, Mark Burnett and others. Pic: Instagram/USA in UK

The call between the president and prime minister is understood to have happened on Thursday during Sir Keir’s meeting with Mark Burnett, Washington’s special envoy to the UK.

The prime minister and Mr Burnett discussed the UK-US ‘special relationship’, and potential “further collaboration” on trade, technology, and culture.

An Instagram story for the US Embassy in London said that, during the dinner, President Trump called Mr Burnett, who “passed the phone to the PM”.

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A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The prime minister was pleased to host President Trump’s special envoy to the United Kingdom, Mark Burnett, at Downing Street last night, during which he took a call from President Trump and discussed his forthcoming visit to the US.”

She added: “Mr Burnett and the prime minister agreed on the unique and special nature of the UK-US relationship, the strength of our alliance, and the warmth of the connection between the two countries.”

Sir Keir’s upcoming trip comes as the United Kingdom faces the potential threat of trade tariffs set by the US.

Mr Trump announced plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on all countries that impose extra costs on goods from the US, including countries which charge VAT on goods, like the UK.

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Donald Trump triggers prospect of global trade war over ‘reciprocal’ tariff plan – increasing risk of tensions and inflation

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Donald Trump triggers prospect of global trade war over 'reciprocal' tariff plan - increasing risk of tensions and inflation

The US president has promised to target countries which charge tax on US imports by matching them with a reciprocal tariff.

Donald Trump has ordered his team to start calculating duties by early April – increasing fears of a global trade war that could also accelerate US inflation.

“On trade, I have decided for purposes of fairness, that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less,” he posted on Truth Social.

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What is America’s trade position?

It is set to spark negotiations with dozens of countries aimed at lowering their tariffs and trade barriers. The US wants to shrink its goods trade deficit which topped $1.2trn (£954bn) last year.

A White House official said that countries with large US trade surpluses could be targeted first. The top five are China, Mexico, Vietnam, Ireland and Germany, according to the US Census Bureau.

Trump’s total trade war


Paul Kelso - Health correspondent

Paul Kelso

Business and economics correspondent

@pkelso

Taken at face value Donald Trump’s embrace of reciprocal tariffs is a declaration of total trade war.

It would amount to perhaps the single biggest peacetime shock to global commerce.

In promising to levy import taxes on any nation that imposes tariffs or VAT on US exports, he is following through on a campaign promise.

The aim is to address a near trillion dollar trade deficit – the difference between the value of America’s exports and its imports – that he believes amounts to a tax on American jobs.

In response, he wants to deploy tariffs to simultaneously ease the US deficit and – in theory – price out imports in favour of domestic production.

His primary targets appear to be the major trading partners with whom the trading deficit is greatest.

It is a blow to the emerging view in Whitehall that Britain might wriggle through the chaos relatively unscathed.

Read more from Paul here.

UK government minister Pat McFadden told Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that Britain will take a “wait and see” approach when it comes to the tariffs. He refused to say if the government would retaliate.

Trump latest: New tariffs signal ‘total trade war’

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The UK could be hit with tariffs as high as 24% if Mr Trump follows through on his threats to treat VAT as a tariff, according to Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

Although some estimates are lower, he thinks Britain would be the fourth hardest hit, following India (29%), Brazil (28%) and the EU (25%).

This is based on VAT rates combined with existing tariffs, but the Trump administration also intends to take into account regulations, government subsidies, digital services taxation policies and exchange rate policies.

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“Most people would consider VAT to be a non-discriminatory tax since it is also applied to domestically-produced goods making a level playing field,” said Mr Ashworth.

But the US still argues that VAT is a form of discriminatory tariff because America applies a much lower average sales tax at state level.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Narendra Modi and Donald Trump at the White House. Pic: AP

On Thursday, Mr Trump also held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, agreeing to join forces on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and strategic minerals.

During a news conference afterwards, Mr Trump said India has been “very strong on tariffs” and “it’s very hard to sell into India”, adding: “They’re going to be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas.”

India’s tariff rates are the highest, according to the World Trade Organisation, with a simple average 17% rate for all products compared to 3.3% for the US.

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Risk of rising US prices could be biggest brake on Donald Trump’s tariff plan

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Risk of rising US prices could be biggest brake on Donald Trump's tariff plan

Taken at face value Donald Trump’s embrace of reciprocal tariffs is a declaration of total trade war, that would amount to perhaps the single biggest peacetime shock to global commerce.

In promising to levy import taxes on any nation that imposes tariffs or VAT on US exports, he is following through on a campaign promise to address a near trillion dollar trade deficit – the difference between the value of America’s exports and its imports – that he believes amounts to a tax on American jobs.

In response, he wants to deploy tariffs as an “external revenue service”, simultaneously easing the US deficit and, so the theory goes, pricing out imports in favour of domestic production.

Follow latest: Trump’s trading tariffs

With a promise to reestablish industries, from chip production lost to Taiwan, and car and pharmaceutical manufacturing to Europe, he is promising a country-by-country tailored assault on the status quo.

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Donald Trump unveils new tariffs for trading partners

Risk to Britain remains uncertain

His primary targets appear to be the major trading partners with whom the trading deficit is greatest.

Mexico and Canada, the European Union (whose 10% tariff on US cars is a particular irritation), as well as the ‘BRICS’ nations – Brazil, Russia, India (which imposes 9% tariffs on US imports), China and South Africa.

What it means for the UK will not be certain until the details are revealed in April, but it is a blow to the emerging view in Whitehall that Britain might wriggle through the chaos relatively unscathed.

To begin with, the US runs a trade surplus with the UK – in a quirk of statistics, the UK thinks it has a surplus too – and Brexit has placed it outside the EU bloc with the ability at least in theory to be more agile.

The UK also imposes direct tariffs on very few US goods following a deal in 2021, brokered by then trade secretary Liz Truss, that removed tariffs on denim and motorcycles bound for Britain, and cashmere and Scotch whisky heading the other way.

But we do add VAT to imports, and Mr Trump’s threat to treat the sales tax as a tariff by another name will chill British exporters.

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President Donald Trump listens as he meets with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Donald Trump accepts his tariffs will be inflationary for the US. Pic: AP

Tariffs set to raise prices in US

Analysts have estimated tariffs could add 21% to the cost of exports, amounting to a £24bn blow to national income.

Pharmaceuticals, cars, chemicals, scientific instruments and the aerospace industry – the main components of our £182bn US export trade – will all be potentially affected.

But the pain will certainly be shared.

Tariffs are paid by the importer, not the exporter, and even Mr Trump accepts they will be inflationary.

Rising prices on Main Street could yet be the biggest brake on the president’s tariff plan.

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