Mexico to raise tariffs on US goods

Madagascar\'s President Marc Ravalomanana has said he’s standing down and handing power to the military.



Meanwhile military leaders have said they are conferring full powers on 34-year-old opposition leader Andry Rajoelina.



Mr Rajoelina has installed himself in the president\'s office, seized yesterday by pro-opposition troops.



The BBC reports that while it seems clear that Mr Ravalomanana is conceding power, there is confusion about who is now in charge.



It’s also not clear whether the decision to transfer power to Mr Rajoelina is backed by the whole army.



Mexico to raise tariffs on US goods



Mexico will be imposing higher tariffs on a range of goods out of the United States in retaliation to a protectionist law passed in the US.



Last week the US government stopped a pilot scheme, which had allowed Mexican lorries to use roads in the US.



Economy secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateos says the decision violated a free-trade deal between the nations and that higher tariffs will affect US$2.4 billion worth of goods.



Mr Ruiz Mateos says the US decision broke a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed in 1994, which was supposed to have opened cross-border transportation by January 2000.



The US government has promised to work on a new lorry programme.