NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame was postponed a day because of an attack about a mile away from the Superdome early Wednesday, when authorities say a truck driver deliberately plowed into a New Year’s crowd and killed 15 people.
The game, originally scheduled for 7:45 p.m. CST at the 70,000-seat Superdome on Wednesday, was pushed back to 3 p.m. Thursday. The winner advances to the Jan. 9 Orange Bowl against Penn State.
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Superintendent of Police for the New Orleans Police Department Anne Kirkpatrick makes a statement after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The St. Louis Cathedral is seen on Orleans St is seen in the French Quarter where a suspicious package was detonated after a person drove a truck into a crowd earlier on Bourbon Street on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Emergency personnel work the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A mounted police officer arrives on Canal Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd earlier in New Orleans, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)
An aerial overall exterior general view of Caesars Superdome, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman)
“Public safety is paramount,” Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said at a media briefing alongside federal, state and local officials, including Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “All parties all agree that it's in the best interest of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game."
The casualties occurred when a driver rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day. In addition to those killed, more than 30 people were injured. The driver was killed in a firefight with police following the attack at about 3:15 a.m. along Bourbon Street near Canal Street, the FBI said.
The decision to postpone the game meant numerous traveling fans with tickets would not be able to attend. Ticket prices online plummeted in some cases to less than $25 as fans with plans to depart on Thursday tried to unload them.
“We can't get new flights,” said Lisa Borrelli, a 34-year-old Philadelphia resident who came to New Orleans with her fiance, a 2011 Notre Dame graduate.
Postponing the game “was absolutely the right call,” she said. “I completely understand.”
She said they paid more than $250 per ticket and hadn’t bothered listing them for resale yet because prices were so low.
“Of course we're disappointed to miss it and to lose so much money on it, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter,” Borrelli said. “We're fortunate enough that we'll be fine.”
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., said the decision to postpone the game “was not done lightly.”
“It was done with one single thing in mind: public safety — making sure that the citizens and visitors of this great city, not only for this event, but for every event you come to in Louisiana, that you will be safe,” Carter added.
Landry said he had a message for those thinking, “Man, do I really want to go to the Sugar Bowl tomorrow?”
“I tell you one thing: Your governor’s going to be there,” Landry said. "That is proof, believe you me, that that facility and this city is safer today than it was yesterday.”
Darrell Huckaby, 72, of Athens, Georgia, also decided to return home Thursday instead of staying for the game. He was in a hotel room overlooking the corner where the attack took place. He was asleep when it occurred, but when he woke up, he could see pink blankets covering the bodies of the dead, and later saw them being placed in bags and loaded onto trucks bound for the Orleans Parish Coroner's office.
“It was heartbreaking," he said. “I think the first instinct of most people this morning was wanting to be home. As important as football is to our Georgia culture, for a little while, the game just didn't really seem to matter.
"And I think there was a lot of uncertainty, and I understand,” Huckaby said. “It took them a long time to decide on the game time and people kind of had to make decisions without all the information.”
He added that he would “probably eat” the $360 per ticket he paid.
Hundley said work was underway to "set up a safe and efficient and fun environment" at and around the Superdome on Thursday.
The Superdome was on lockdown for security sweeps on Wednesday morning.
Both teams spent most of the day in their hotels, holding meetings in ballrooms.
Georgia's players bused to the Superdome for a walk-through practice on Wednesday evening. As they made their way to buses on Canal Street, fans in red and black stood eight to 10 deep behind barricades, cheering them on, phones held high above their heads to capture the scene.
Around that time, at a hotel on the banks of the Mississippi River, Notre Dame players gathered with family members in a ballroom where the Rose Bowl quarterfinal between Ohio State and Oregon was being shown on television.
Notre Dame offered band members the option of flying home on Thursday instead of attending the game, and some chose to do so.
Georgia president Jere Morehead said the university confirmed that a student was among those critically injured. Morehead said the university was in contact with the student’s family.
Statements from the University of Georgia Athletic Association and from Notre Dame said both schools had accounted for all team personnel and members of official travel parties.
New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno told WDSU-TV earlier Wednesday, before the postponement was announced, that the security perimeter around the Superdome was being "extended to be a larger zone.”
"There are more police officers who are coming in,” she said.
The Superdome, which is about 20 blocks away, also is scheduled to host the Super Bowl on Feb. 9.
The first Super Bowl after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, also was held in New Orleans, and there was a massive security perimeter for that game including street closures surrounding the Superdome and officers — including snipers — on the tops of surrounding high-rise buildings, as well as on the roof of the dome itself.
“We are deeply saddened by the news of the devastating incident in New Orleans,” the NFL said in a statement.
“The NFL and the local host committee have been working collaboratively with local, state and federal agencies the past two years and have developed comprehensive security plans,” the statement continued. "We are confident attendees will have a safe and enjoyable Super Bowl experience.”
AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Clearwater, Florida, and AP Sports Writer Paul Newberry in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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Superintendent of Police for the New Orleans Police Department Anne Kirkpatrick makes a statement after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The St. Louis Cathedral is seen on Orleans St is seen in the French Quarter where a suspicious package was detonated after a person drove a truck into a crowd earlier on Bourbon Street on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Emergency personnel work the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A mounted police officer arrives on Canal Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd earlier in New Orleans, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)
An aerial overall exterior general view of Caesars Superdome, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman)
BANGKOK (AP) — Sweeping new tariffs announced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump provoked dismay, threats of countermeasures and calls for further negotiations to make trade rules fairer.
But responses were measured, highlighting a lack of appetite among key trading partners for an outright trade war with the world's biggest economy.
Trump said the import taxes, ranging from 10% to 49%, would do to U.S. trading partners what they have long done to the U.S. He maintains they will draw factories and jobs back to the United States.
“Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”
Trump's announcement of a new 20% tariff on the European Union drew a sharp rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said it was a “major blow to the world economy.”
“The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe,” von der Leyen said. Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, she said while visiting Uzbekistan, “And this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens.”
Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the U.S. but also was prepared to respond with countermeasures.
British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said the U.K. government would react with “cool and calm heads.”
“Clearly, there will be an economic impact,” he said, telling business leaders in London that he hopes to get the tariffs lifted with a trade deal with Washington.
“Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest,” Starmer said.
Japan, America's closest ally in Asia, plans to closely analyze the U.S. tariffs and their impact, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, while refraining from talk of retaliation. But he said the moves would have a big impact on relations with the U.S.
Italy’s conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni said the higher tariffs would benefit neither side.
“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players,” Meloni said in a Facebook post.
Brazil, hit with a 10% tariff, said it was considering appealing to the World Trade Organization. Its congress unanimously passed a bill to allow retaliation for any tariffs on Brazilian goods.
Financial markets were jolted, with U.S. stock futures down by as much as 3% early Thursday and a 2.8% drop in Tokyo’s benchmark leading losses in Asia. Oil prices sank more than $2 a barrel.
“The magnitude of the rollout — both in scale and speed — wasn’t just aggressive; it was a full-throttle macro disruption,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
While the longer-term ramifications could encompass a dismantling of supply chains built up over decades, a more immediate concern is the higher risk of recession.
“The (average) U.S. tariff rate on all imports is now around 22%, from 2.5% in 2024. That rate was last seen around 1910," Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings’ head of U.S. Economic Research, said in a report.
"This is a game changer, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy. Many countries will likely end up in a recession. You can throw most forecasts out the door, if this tariff rate stays on for an extended period of time,” Sonola said.
The burden falls heaviest on Asia-Pacific nations, with the highest tariffs for impoverished, financially precarious countries like Laos at a 48% tariff, Cambodia at 49% and Myanmar at 44%.
Asian countries that are among the biggest exporters to the U.S. pledged to act fast to support automakers and other businesses likely to be affected.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told officials to work with business groups to analyze the impact of the new 25% tariff to “minimize damage,” the trade ministry said.
China's commerce ministry said Beijing would “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” without saying exactly what it might do. With earlier rounds of tariffs China reacted by imposing higher duties on U.S. exports of farm products, while limiting exports of minerals used for high-tech industries such as electric vehicles.
“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue,” it said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would wait to see how Trump’s announcement will affect Mexico, which like Canada was spared for goods already qualified under their free trade agreement with the United States, though previously announced 25% tariffs on auto imports took effect Thursday.
“It’s not a question of if you impose tariffs on me, I’m going to impose tariffs on you,” she said Wednesday morning. “Our interest is in strengthening the Mexican economy.”
Canada had imposed retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, has imposed taxes on 26 billion euros’ worth ($28 billion) of U.S. goods, including bourbon, prompting Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol.
Some countries took issue with the White House's calculations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tariffs were totally unwarranted, but Australia will not retaliate.
“President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10%,” said Albanese. The U.S. and Australia have a free trade agreement and the U.S. has a $2-to-$1 trade surplus with Australia. “This is not the act of a friend.”
Trump said the United States bought $3 billion of Australian beef last year, but Australia would not accept U.S. beef imports. Albanese said the ban on raw U.S. beef was for biosecurity reasons.
A 29% tariff imposed on the tiny South Pacific outpost of Norfolk Island came as a shock. The Australian territory has a population of around 2,000 people and the economy revolves around tourism.
“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, told the AP Thursday. “We don’t charge tariffs on anything. I can’t think of any non-tariff barriers that would be in place either, so we’re scratching our heads here.”
“We don’t have a 20% tariff rate,” said New Zealand's Trade Minister Todd McClay. But he said New Zealand did not intend to retaliate. "That would put up prices on New Zealand consumers and it would be inflationary,” he said.
As Trump read the list of countries that would be targeted, he repeatedly said he didn’t blame them for the trade barriers they imposed to protect their own nations’ businesses. “But we’re doing the same thing right now,” he said.
“In the face of unrelenting economic warfare, the United States can no longer continue with a policy of unilateral economic surrender,” Trump said.
Speaking from a business forum in India, Chilean President Gabriel Boric warned that such measures challenge “principles that govern international trade.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump before, said via X that the tariffs marked a milestone: “Today the neoliberalism that proclaimed free-trade policies all over the world has died.”
Analysts say there’s little to be gained from an all-out trade war, for the United States or other countries.
“If Trump really imposes high tariffs, Europe will have to respond, but the paradox is that the EU would be better off doing nothing,” said Matteo Villa, a senior analyst at Italy’s Institute for International Political Studies.
“On the other hand, Trump seems to understand only the language of force, and this indicates the need for a strong and immediate response,” Villa said. “Probably the hope, in Brussels, is that the response will be strong enough to induce Trump to negotiate and, soon, to backtrack.”
AP journalists around the world contributed to this story.
People walk past an electronic stock board showing the day's early loss of Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Tokyo.(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a screen as currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Containers are stacked at the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Cranes and shipping containers are seen at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Employee Jon Vazquez-DeAnda cuts keys for a customer at employee-owned Devon Hardware, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
This photo shows vehicles bound for foreign countries at a logistics center in Kawasaki near Tokyo, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Michi Ono/Kyodo News via AP)
President Donald Trump departs after signing an executive order at an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
