Following the implementation of a 10% U.S. tax, China declares retaliatory actions. Some people are doubting Elon Musk’s impact because of his decision to close USAID. And get to know the Black tourists who have discovered a sense of belonging while traveling the world.
What to know today is as follows.
China hits back with its own tariffs; Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada
At midnight, a 10% tariff on Chinese imports went into effect, and China promptly announced retaliation tariffs on select U.S. commodities. The administration announced a number of measures, including 10% and 15% tariffs on Chinese goods, which increase the likelihood of a trade war between the two largest economies in the world.
China announced that it would levy a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural equipment, large-displacement cars, and pickup trucks, and an additional 15% duty on coal and liquefied natural gas. A probe into Google for suspected antitrust violations and export restrictions on goods using tungsten and other rare earth elements—essential parts of technology—was also announced by Beijing.Learn more about the punitive actions taken by China.
President Donald Trump decided to postpone the 25% tariffs she had proposed on imports from Canada and Mexico, so the U.S. tariff on China was the only one to go into effect. Following announcements by the leaders of both nations to increase border security, the 30-day postponement was implemented. In an effort to combat drug trafficking, President Claudia Sheinbaum said early yesterday that Mexico would bolster its northern border with 10,000 soldiers of the National Guard. Hours later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada would invest $1.3 billion in a strategy to block the influx of fentanyl by strengthening its border with extra staff, equipment, and helicopters.
Uncertainty persists even though Trump administration officials celebrated the announcements from Canada and Mexico. Few Congressional Republicans have publicly stated if they back Trump’s efforts despite the potential financial impact on Americans, and it is still uncertain how the tariff battle will conclude.
Musk s influence within the federal government raises concerns
Elon Musk’s announcement that the government efficiency department would close the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has put the organization at the center of a political battle. The government’s worldwide humanitarian development arm, USAID, assists other countries in reducing poverty, illness, and other disasters.
President Donald Trump implied that USAID had committed fraud following Musk’s revelation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was named the agency’s acting administrator last night. Rubio asked State Department Foreign Assistance Director Pete Marocco to start going over all of the agency’s work, and Democratic Senator Brian Schatz stated that he placed a blanket hold on Trump’s State Department nominees, which could cause the confirmation process to move very slowly.
Musk, the tech billionaire who has never been elected to office or confirmed by the Senate for a high-level government position, is advancing a broad agenda in the meanwhile.A White House official claims that he is exempt from certain of the disclosure requirements associated with full-time positions because he is a special government employee. Through a series of unusual bureaucratic maneuvers, he has been granted access to the Treasury Department’s payment system and key federal databases, all at Trump’s encouragement.
Many Democrats and several Republicans are now deeply concerned that Musk and DOGE employees, who are not employed by the government and are therefore exempt from its ethics and regulations, are acting covertly, without accountability, and possibly in violation of the law. A former Republican Senate staffer referred to Musk and Trump’s apparent disregard for congressional power as a possible constitutional catastrophe.
Go here to read the entire story.
More politics news:
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Senate committees will vote today on whether to advance Cabinet nominations of RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to the full Senate.
Follow our live blog
for updates throughout the day.
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Trump
will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
today at the White House, the first foreign leader to meet with him since starting his second term.
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Trump
appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as he continues efforts to consolidate parts of the federal government.
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Darren Beattie, a Jan. 6 conspiracy theorist who has written on social media that competent white men must be in charge, has been
named to a top post at the State Department
.
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More than 1,000 EPA employees were notified by the Trump administration that
they could be dismissed immediately
.
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Trump announced he would
create a sovereign wealth fund
, a pool of assets that can help pay out regular funds to ordinary citizens.
Plane crash wreckage recovered from Potomac River
After American Airlines Flight 5432 crashed into the Potomac River and hit with a military chopper in midair, crews will continue the difficult task of recovering the wreckage. Crews pulled the plane’s fuselage and engine out of the river yesterday. The goal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today is to raise the aircraft’s cockpit above the water. The recovery of the Black Hawk helicopter’s remnants will be the next focus.
Using synced data from flight and voice recorders, air traffic controller communications, and radar scope, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that it has recovered training and flight logs for crews from both aircraft and is creating a timeline of the collision. Within 30 days following the occurrence, a preliminary report is anticipated.Go here to read the entire story.
Read All About It
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The judge presiding over the legal feud between It Ends With Us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni
declined a gag order request
restricting what lawyers can say about the case publicly.
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Men in South Carolina and Pennsylvania have been
accused of impersonating ICE officers
.
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A 73-year-old woman and decades-long volunteer at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
was found dead
after she failed to return from a planned hike in the park.
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The Philadelphia Eagles have built one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.
Here’s how the team got to this point
and the general manager who helped make it happen.
Staff Pick:
Traveling the world and finding friendships along the way
NBC BLK is celebrating the various ways that Black people find joy throughout Black History Month. Claretta Bellamy, a contributor, dug deep into the social media communities that motivate and inspire Black individuals to get their passports and go overseas. She discovered women wearing traditional saris to celebrate Holi in India, skiers soaring through the Japanese Alps, and volunteers in African nations. Beyond exchanging jaw-dropping images, however, these thousands of travelers unite as intentional communities prepared to support one another in times of need and inspire individuals who have never traveled across international borders to do so. We support one another, in the words of Nomadness Travel Tribe founder Evita Robinson.Michelle Garcia, editorial director of NBC BLK
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Do you have mixed feelings about upgrading your Apple Watch? To learn how the newest Apple Watch Series 10 is different from previous versions, Harry Rabinowitz, an NBC Select reporter, spent months testing and wearing the device. Additionally, our editors looked up the top sales of the week online.
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