Good morning. Kohl’s fired chief executive Ashley Buchanan after it discovered he had instructed the retailer to enter into a “highly unusual” business deal involving a woman with whom he has had a romantic relationship, according to people familiar with the situation.

Buchanan met the woman, Chandra Holt, when they were both working at Walmart several years ago, the people said. Buchanan went on to run crafts chain Michaels and took over as Kohl’s CEO in November. Holt went on to become the CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond. She is now a consultant and the founder of Incredibrew, a coffee brand infused with vitamins and minerals.

Buchanan declined to comment. “I’ve known Ashley Buchanan for 10 years, but I have not received any compensation for my Incredibrew business from Kohl’s,” Holt told The Wall Street Journal.

A Kohl’s board investigation found that Buchanan violated the company’s code of conduct in two instances with a vendor with whom he had a personal relationship and whom it didn’t name, according to a regulatory filing.

At the WSJ CCO Council Summit in London on May 7 attendees will hear about the most significant policy changes under the Trump administration from Jonathan Kewley, who co-chairs the global tech group at law firm Clifford Chance and is a recognized expert in AI, cybersecurity and data.

They will also hear from John Smith, co-head of law firm Morrison & Foerster’s national security practice and a former director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the primary U.S. sanctions enforcement body.

Cartels selling stolen oil stateside, U.S. says.

Mexican cartels are stealing billions of dollars worth of crude oil from the country’s state petroleum company and smuggling it into the U.S., the U.S. Treasury Department said, asking banks to be on the lookout for red flags.

Cartels are using a network of shell companies, complicit Mexican brokers and importers to move crude stolen from Petróleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state oil company, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Thursday in an alert aimed at banks.

End to de minimis rule poses challenges.

The Trump administration’s cancellation of the de minimis exemption for imports from Hong Kong and China could make for major issues getting goods from there into the U.S.

The exemption, which allows goods valued at $800 or less to enter the U.S. without duties and with relatively little scrutiny, won’t apply to imports from China and Hong Kong as of Friday.

• The Justice Department filed a complaint alleging three of the largest health insurers paid illegal kickbacks to three of the biggest health-insurance brokers.
   
• Ireland’s data-privacy watchdog fined TikTok about $600 million for failing to guarantee that user data sent to China was protected from government surveillance, a blow to the company’s efforts to convince Western countries that it is safe to use.

Beijing-backed accounts hint at U.S. outreach on trade as China keeps door open.

Beijing-backed social media accounts say U.S. officials have reached out to Chinese counterparts through multiple channels to discuss trade, as the world watches for any sign of tariff talks between the two sides.

Posts from three widely followed state-backed social media accounts in China made similar statements early Thursday, citing unnamed sources hinting at U.S. outreach.

“The U.S. is seeking contact with China ahead of formal negotiations–something China sees little downside in exploring at this stage,” state media-affiliated account Yuyuan Tantian posted on Weibo.

• China Signals Readiness to Respond to U.S. Trade Overtures
• Trade War Exposes China’s Dependence on U.S. for Auto Chips

Middle-income consumers feel pinched. That’s bad for some of America’s best known brands.

Middle-class and lower-income Americans are in belt-tightening mode.

Plunging consumer confidence is pummeling the financial results of companies that cater to middle-income households, from McDonald’s to General Motors.

• Apple said a majority of its devices shipped into the U.S. in the June quarter will originate in India and Vietnam, a move to allay investor concerns about how tariffs would crimp profit at the world’s largest company.
   
• Amazon.com reported strong quarterly earnings that weren’t affected by new tariffs on Chinese imports, but the looming levies dimmed the company’s outlook.
   
• Unexpected delays in billions of dollars of supplemental Medicaid payments have forced some hospitals across the country to cut costs including laying off staff and pausing payments to medical suppliers.
   
• Japan will act in response to any surge in Chinese imports if U.S. tariffs push unsold Chinese goods onto global markets, the country’s finance minister said, a sign of concern about the knock-on effects of President Trump’s trade war.
   
• Europe can resolve its trade dispute with the U.S. by purchasing 50 billion euros’ worth of American goods like gas and soybeans, the EU’s top trade negotiator said.
   
• Countries or entities trading in Iranian oil or petrochemicals could face secondary sanctions by the U.S., President Trump said, raising the stakes in his “maximum pressure” campaign to starve Iran of revenue.
   
• Deadly clashes this week in southern Syria, home to the Druze ethnic group, are putting new pressure on the nascent government as it tries to prevent the country from fragmenting along sectarian lines.

• Carbon-removal credits are one of the few ways companies can decarbonize, but so far demand has remained limited to just a handful of buyers.
   
• Getting a startup on its feet after a cyberattack can cost a fortune. More often than not, investors get stuck with the bill.
   
• Tariff uncertainty and geopolitical turbulence have boosted interest in private-credit investment.
   
• Brands like Mastercard and PepsiCo are shaking up their Pride spending, with some citing political pressure and economic uncertainty.

• About a month ago, with Tesla’s stock sinking and some investors irritated about Elon Musk’s White House focus, Tesla’s board got serious about looking for Musk’s successor.
   
• President Trump’s use of the wartime Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport alleged members of a foreign gang is unlawful, a federal judge in Texas ruled Thursday.
   
• Citigroup hired President Trump’s former trade chief, Robert Lighthizer, to advise the bank and its clients on how to navigate the new administration’s global trade war.
   
• President Trump is replacing national security adviser Mike Waltz roughly a month after he put a journalist on a group text chat in which advisers discussed a sensitive military operation, making him the first top official to lose his job in Trump’s second term.
   
• HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker will step down this year, kicking off a hunt for a leader who can steer the Asia-focused bank through a trade war that threatens its efforts to bridge China and the West.

Follow us on X at @WSJRisk. Send tips to our reporters Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com and Richard Vanderford at richard.vanderford@wsj.com.

You can also reach us by replying to any newsletter, or by emailing our editor David Smagalla at david.smagalla@wsj.com.