Summary
Here are today’s key developments:
China on Tuesday slapped tariffs on US imports in a rapid response to new US duties on Chinese goods, renewing a trade war between the world’s top two economies as President Donald Trump sought to punish China for not halting the flow of illicit drugs.
Trump’s additional 10% tariff across all Chinese imports into the US came into effect at midnight on Tuesday. Within minutes, China’s Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% for US coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos. The new tariffs on US exports will start on 10 February, the ministry said.
Separately, China’s Commerce Ministry and its Customs Administration said the country is imposing export controls on critical minerals tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items to “safeguard national security interests”.
China also announced a probe into Google, moments after the deadline for the US imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese goods passed. China will investigate the US tech company for alleged anti-trust violations, according to a brief statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation.
And Beijing filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization “to defend its legitimate rights and interests” in response to the US tariffs.
New York attorney general Letitia James on Monday told hospitals that they would be violating state law if they stop offering gender-affirming care for people under age 19 in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at curtailing federal funding for such treatments, the Associated Press reports.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio says El Salvador’s president has offered to accept deportees from the US of any nationality as well as violent American criminals now imprisoned in the United States.
Trump announced he’s planning to appoint Michael Ellis and the deputy director of the CIA. Ellis is a close Trump ally and worked in the president’s previous administration and helped fight allegations of collusion with Russia in the 2016 election.
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five US universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
The US Senate on Monday confirmed Chris Wright, a fracking executive, to be Donald Trump’s energy secretary. The vote was 59-38. Wright, 60, the CEO of Liberty Energy since 2011 has said he will step down from the company once confirmed. He wrote in a Liberty report last year that he believes human-caused climate change is real, but that its hazards are “distant and uncertain”. He has also said that top-down governmental policies to curb it are destined to fail.
The US interior department has unveiled a suite of orders aimed at carrying out Donald Trump’s agenda to maximise domestic energy and minerals production and slash red tape, Reuters reports. In a statement, the agency said interior secretary Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, signed six orders on his first day in office.
Trump has invited Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House next week, a White House official said, hours after a US military plane departed to return deported migrants to the country.
Senator Susan Collins, a republican from Maine, said she’ll vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence. Collins is a key swing vote and her support brings Gabbard’s nomination close to being sealed.
Trump is reportedly mulling an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, in alignment with mandates from Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” to slash federal agencies.
Musk’s Doge reportedly accessed administration systems for the federal Small Business Administration. It has also reportedly accessed secure information at USAid and the Treasury department. According to Wired, Musk has reportedly deployed six young men to lead Doge’s efforts to access federal government data.
The Trump administration made plain its intent to merge USAid with the state department under Musk’s supervision. Employees were barred from the agency headquarters today, after the website was shuttered over the weekend. Several democrats cried foul, calling the act illegal and denouncing Musk.
The Trump administration may begin using an obscure 18th-century law to deport undocumented migrants without first going through the courts.
Darren Beattie, a former White House official who wrote, “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” is reportedly set for a top role at the state department.
China files complaint with World Trade Organization
Beijing on Tuesday said it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization “to defend its legitimate rights and interests” in response to hiked US tariffs on Chinese goods.
“China has filed a case against the US tariff measures under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,” the commerce ministry said in a statement, adding the US actions were of a “malicious nature”.
What are tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium - the elements whose export China is restricting?
Among the measures announced by China in response to US tariffs on Chinese goods coming into effect is export controls on certain natural elements.
China’s Commerce Ministry and its Customs Administration said the country is imposing export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items to “safeguard national security interests”.
Tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum and ruthenium are critical minerals – materials that are essential for advanced technologies, clean energy, and national security, according to the Australian National University and US Geological Survey.
Tungsten is among the rarest elements on earth and is used in fluorescent lamps and the aerospace industry, as well as in wear-resistant metals. Tellerium is used in solar panels. Ruthenium is used in solar cells and in electrical contacts and chip resistors in computers. Among molybdenum’s uses is in jet engines.
Updated
China adds US companies to Unreliable Entity List
China has also announced it is adding the US companies PVH Group and Illumina, Inc. to the Unreliable Entity List.
PVH Group is an American clothing company which owns brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Illumina Inc is a biotech company specialising in genomic sequencing, which recently partnered with Nvidia on health related AI tech.
“The above two entities violated normal market trading principles, interrupted normal transactions with Chinese companies, adopted discriminatory measures against Chinese companies, and seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the commerce ministry said, without detailing what exactly the companies were accused of.
“The Unreliable Entity List Working Mechanism will take corresponding measures against the above entities in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.”
Listing likely means fines, and restrictions on sales and investments in China for the two companies.
Updated
China retaliates within minutes of US tariffs taking effect
More now on China’s response to US tariffs taking effect, via Reuters:
China on Tuesday slapped tariffs on US imports in a rapid response to new US duties on Chinese goods, renewing a trade war between the world’s top two economies as President Donald Trump sought to punish China for not halting the flow of illicit drugs.
Trump’s additional 10% tariff across all Chinese imports into the US came into effect at 12:01 am ET on Tuesday (05:01 GMT). Within minutes, China’s Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% for US coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos. The new tariffs on US exports will start on 10 February, the ministry said.
Separately, China’s Commerce Ministry and its Customs Administration said the country is imposing export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items to “safeguard national security interests”.
China also announced a probe into Google, moments after a deadline for the US imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese goods passed, restarting a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
China will investigate the US tech company for alleged anti-trust violations, according to a brief statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation.
Trump on Monday suspended his threat of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada at the last minute, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighbouring countries.
But there was no such reprieve for China, and a White House spokesperson said Trump would not be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping until later in the week.
Updated
China to impose export controls on certain elements
China’s Commerce Ministry and its Customs Administration said on Tuesday that to “safeguard national security interests” the country is imposing export controls on tungsten, tellurium, ruthenium, molybdenum and ruthenium-related items, Reuters reports.
Updated
As the US readied higher tariffs on China on Monday, the White House announced that Trump would speak with China’s president, Xi Jinping, later this week. Beijing has pledged to hit back with “countermeasures” and file a legal case against the US at the World Trade Organization.
Economists have warned Trump’s tariff plans risk raising prices for millions of Americans, just weeks after he pledged, upon taking office, to “rapidly” bring them down.
But addressing reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump maintained that tariffs were a “very powerful” means of both strengthening the US economically and “getting everything else you want”.
Every country wants to agree a way to avoid US tariffs, the president claimed. “In all cases, they all wanna make deals.”
Trump had conceded over the weekend that they could cause “a little pain” in the US. “WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!),” he wrote on social media. “BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”
Beijing retaliates moments after deadline for US tariffs on China passes
China has announced a probe into Google in an apparent retaliatory move, moments after a deadline for the US imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese goods passed, restarting a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
China will investigate the US tech company for alleged anti-trust violations, according to a brief statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation.
China’s finance ministry has also announced 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas and 10% on crude oil and agricultural equipment from the US. A 10% tariff also applies to pickup trucks and large-displacement vehicles.
Updated
China announces retaliatory tariffs moments after US levies take effect
Donald Trump has fired the opening salvo of his trade war, imposing tariffs on China on Tuesday in a move he claims will strengthen the US economy, despite warnings it will increase prices and knock growth.
The US president pulled back from the brink of an economic conflict with Canada and Mexico, however, delaying threatened duties for another month following 11th-hour talks.
He pushed ahead with higher tariffs on China, introducing a 10% levy on all goods exported from the country to the US and further straining relations between the world’s two largest economies.
For exports from China, the US is also scrapping an exemption through which shipments valued at less than $800 have not faced tariffs. Popular Chinese retailers such as Shein and Temu have relied on the exemption to sell cheap goods in the US.
After a call with Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Monday, Trump agreed to postpone tariffs of 25% on Mexico – the latest of several delays – after she offered to send 10,000 of the country’s troops to its border with the US.
Talks with Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, also prompted Trump to postpone 25% tariffs on the country. Canada is implementing a $1.3bn border plan, Trudeau said, and will appoint a fentanyl czar, list cartels as a terrorists and “ensure 24/7 eyes on the border”.
Updated
US tariffs on China come into effect as deadline passes
US tariffs of 10% on Chinese imports has come into effect, risking a renewed trade war between the world’s top two economies as President Donald Trump punishes China for not halting the flow of illicit drugs.
Trump on Monday suspended his threat of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada at the last minute, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighbouring countries.
But there was no such reprieve for China, with new levies coming into effect at 12:01am ET on Tuesday (05:01 GMT).
Updated
For now, analysts believe the latest tariff measures against Chinese imports won’t bite too hard, AFP reports.
“The 10 percent tariff is not a big shock to China’s economy,” Zhang Zhiwei at Pinpoint Asset Management said in a note.
“It’s unlikely to change the market expectation on China’s macro outlook this year, which already factored in higher tariffs from the US,” he added.
And that could allow China to keep its powder dry in the event Trump’s first wave of tariffs are the prelude to a bigger showdown.
The US president has ordered an in-depth review of Chinese trade practices, the results of which are due by 1 April.
That could serve as a “catalyst for more tariffs”, said Murphy Cruise, pushing Beijing to shift tactics.
“This strategy of no retaliation may change if the US imposes additional significant tariffs later on,” UBS economists said.
“In such a case, we think China may retaliate on a targeted basis and in a restrained manner, imposing tariffs on selected agricultural products, auto parts, energy,” they said.
Experts added that China could also let the value of its currency devalue, increasing the competitiveness of its exports.
Trump’s flagged talks with Beijing offer the two sides a chance to step back from the brink of a trade war that could hit hundreds of billions’ worth of goods.
“China is looking to diffuse tensions,” Murphy Cruise said.
“China’s economy is in a much weaker position this time around; it will be substantially harder to withstand a barrage of tariffs.”
As the clock nears midnight in Washington DC, signalling the beginning of Trump’s tariffs on China’s imports, here is a look at how China might respond, via AFP:
From retaliatory tariffs on US goods like car parts and soya beans to controls on raw minerals essential for American manufacturing – analysts say China has plenty of options if it wants to reply to fresh US levies.
US President Donald Trump over the weekend announced 10% tariffs on Chinese products, upping the stakes in a trade confrontation between the global superpowers that started eight years ago in his first term.
Beijing in response warned there were “no winners” in a trade war and vowed as yet unspecified countermeasures.
News that Canada and Mexico had agreed a deal with Trump to delay 25% tariffs on their goods was followed by his announcement that he would be holding talks with China “probably in the next 24 hours” to try for an agreement.
But, as the threat of new measures continues to hang over Beijing, eyes are on what officials there have lined up as a response.
With its economy still struggling with sluggish consumption and slow growth, observers expect China to keep its powder dry for now – at least until another round of tariffs that could do greater damage.
“We expect China not to jump to immediate retaliation following the 10 percent tariff hike, but will keep the doors of negotiation and cooperation open,” UBS bank analysts wrote in a note.
“We do not expect China to follow the same strategy as in the first round of tariff hikes in 2018-19.”
Bilateral trade totalled more than $530bn in 2024, according to US data, with exports of Chinese goods to the United States exceeding $400bn. That was second only to Mexico.
But that yawning trade imbalance – $270.4bn in January-November last year – has long raised hackles in Washington.
The White House has released US President Donald Trump’s schedule for tomorrow, when he will meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
They will hold two meetings, a press conference, and have a dinner together. Trump is also expected to sign more executive orders.
Here is the schedule:
9:00 AM In-Town Pool Call Time
2:00 PM THE PRESIDENT signs Executive Orders
Oval Office
Closed Press
4:00 PM THE PRESIDENT greets the Prime Minister of the State of Israel
Stake Out Location
Open Press
4:05 PM THE PRESIDENT hosts a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the State of Israel
Oval Office
In-House Pool
4:20 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in an expanded bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the State of Israel
Cabinet Room
Closed Press
5:10 PM THE PRESIDENT holds a press conference with the Prime Minister of the State of Israel
East Room
Pre-Credentialed MediaMedia Sign Up Here
Media Link closes Tuesday, at 10am EST
5:40 PM THE PRESIDENT has dinner with the Prime Minister of the State of Israel
State Dining Room
Closed Press
Why hasn’t the US created a sovereign wealth fund before, and why now?
Sovereign wealth funds generally exist in countries that either have large foreign exchange reserves, such as China, or revenue from the sale of oil or other commodities, like Norway and Saudi Arabia. The US, however, has consistently run budget deficits in recent years.
There are in fact some US states that do have smaller wealth funds, generally funded by commodities or land. The largest is the Alaska Permanent Fund, started in 1976, which currently manages about $82bn.
But the size of the American private investment sector on Wall Street and beyond is such that various investment managers and private equity firms manage large pools of capital. That reduces both the need for and availability of capital for a sovereign wealth fund to exist, absent political will.
Bessent said the US sovereign wealth fund would be set up in the next 12 months. While on the election campaign trail in September, Trump proposed setting up a fund which would finance “great national endeavours,” including infrastructure projects such as highways and airports, manufacturing and medical research.
Trump also suggested, without providing specifics, that the fund could be used to keep TikTok operating in the US. TikTok is now operating due to an extension Trump granted prolonging the deadline for a forced sale or shutdown.
New York Attorney General tells hospitals to keep offering gender-affirming care
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday told hospitals that they would be violating state law if they stop offering gender-affirming care for people under age 19 in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at curtailing federal funding for such treatments, the Associated Press reports.
In a letter, James, a Democrat, told health care facilities that refusing to provide the treatments would violate New York’s anti-discrimination laws.
“Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws,” her letter reads.
Trump, a Republican, last week signed an executive order that directed agencies to take steps to make sure that hospitals receiving federal research and education grants “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.” The language in the order – using words such as “maiming,” “sterilizing” and “mutilation” – contradicts what is typical for gender-affirming care in the United States.
The letter from James came as some hospitals in Colorado, Virginia and Washington DC, said they were pausing gender-affirming treatments for young people while administrators evaluate the order. The White House on Monday released a statement that said the executive order was “already having its intended effect.”
A spokesperson for the Greater New York Hospital Association said they were in close contact with member hospitals about the gender-affirming care executive order.
“We are collaboratively working through every aspect of the EO to determine its legal and clinical implications. That work is ongoing,” Brian Conway said in an email.
Gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth is not common but such treatments have been the subject of fierce political debate. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 adolescents in the US with commercial insurance received puberty blockers or hormones during a recent five-year period, according to a new study.
Rubio says El Salvador has offered to accept deportees as well as US criminals
US secretary of state Marco Rubio says El Salvador’s president has offered to accept deportees from the US of any nationality as well as violent American criminals now imprisoned in the United States.
President Nayib Bukele, “has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world,” Rubio said.
“He’s also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentence in the United States even though they’re US citizens or legal residents.”
Bukele said in a post on X that he had offered the US “the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system”.
“We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison... in exchange for a fee,” he wrote shortly after Rubio’s announcement, referring to El Salvador’s so-called terrorism confinement center.
“The fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”
Bukele is seen by the Trump administration as a key ally in its migration efforts in the region. The Salvadoran president has launched an unflinching security crackdown in his country, arresting more than 80,000 people, and bringing the number of homicides down sharply. His policies are credited by Washington with reducing the number of Salvadorans seeking to enter the US illegally.
Since taking office on 20 January, President Donald Trump has stepped up the number of migrants the US deports to Latin America, including using military planes for repatriation flights.
The Trump administration on Monday removed protection against deportation from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the US.
Updated
California’s Democratic-dominated assembly endorsed up to $50m in funding Monday to defend the state’s progressive policies against challenges by the Trump administration.
The legislation sets aside $25m for the state department of justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and another $25m for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation.
The proposals won approval on party-line votes after assembly Democrats delayed an expected vote last week. They now head to Democratic governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.
“We do not trust President Donald Trump,” assembly speaker Robert Rivas said before the votes, describing the president’s administration as “out-of-control” and a threat to constitutional rights.
Mexico had agreed to send 10,000 members of its national guard “to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the US, in particular of fentanyl”, Sheinbaum said. In return, the US had agreed to work to prevent high-powered weapons crossing the border into Mexico.
Trump confirmed the deal shortly afterwards on his Truth Social network. He said 10,000 Mexican soldiers would be “specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our country”.
Negotiations involving senior Mexican officials, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, would take place during the pause, he said.
After two calls with Trump on Monday, Trudeau announced that tariffs would be “paused” for 30 days. “Canada is implementing our $1.3bn border plan – reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl,” he said in a statement. “Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border.”
Trump to pause Canada tariffs for at least 30 days as China levies set to take effect on Tuesday
Donald Trump has pulled back from the brink of a trade war with Canada and Mexico, postponing sweeping new US tariffs on goods from its two closest economic partners by one month.
It is the third time in two weeks the US president has delayed his threatened 25% tariffs on the two countries. China is still set to face additional 10% levy on its exports to the US from Tuesday.
Following talks with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Monday, Trump agreed at the last minute to hold off from imposing new duties on the two countries.
The agreements came on a day of extreme volatility in global financial markets as rattled investors reacted to the prospect of a dramatically escalating dispute involving the world’s largest economies.
The US president had upended US-Mexico ties over the weekend when he announced 25% tariffs and accused Sheinbaum’s administration of engaging in an “intolerable alliance” with Mexican crime groups.
Sheinbaum rejected that “slanderous” accusation, but on Monday morning struck a softer note as she announced “a series of agreements” with Trump after a conversation between the two leaders during which they agreed to pause US tariffs for a month to allow for fresh negotiations.
The Guardian’s Tom Phillips, Richard Partington and Callum Jones report:
What is USAid and why does Trump dislike it so much?
Donald Trump’s administration has confirmed plans to merge the US international aid agency USAid into the state department in a major revamp that would shrink its workforce and align its spending with Trump’s priorities.
The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, declared himself the acting administrator of the agency and employees have been locked out of its Washington DC headquarters, while others have been suspended.
Trump has entrusted Elon Musk, the billionaire heading his drive to shrink the federal government, to oversee the project. On Sunday, Trump said USAid had “been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out”, while Musk called it “a criminal organization” without providing any evidence and said it was “time for it to die”.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live US politics coverage. This is Helen Sullivan bringing you the latest.
Donald Trump has pulled back from the brink of a trade war with Canada and Mexico, postponing sweeping new US tariffs on goods from its two closest economic partners by one month.
It is the third time in two weeks the US president has delayed his threatened 25% tariffs on the two countries. China is still set to face additional 10% levy on its exports to the US from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, confusion over the fate of USAid continues. Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, said he was taking over the agency and then named controversial figure Peter Marocco to be the deputy administrator.
Here’s what else has happened today:
Trump announced he’s planning to appoint Michael Ellis and the deputy director of the CIA. Ellis is a close Trump ally and worked in the president’s previous administration and helped fight allegations of collusion with Russia in the 2016 election.
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five US universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
The US Senate on Monday confirmed Chris Wright, a fracking executive, to be Donald Trump’s energy secretary. The vote was 59-38. Wright, 60, the CEO of Liberty Energy since 2011 has said he will step down from the company once confirmed. He wrote in a Liberty report last year that he believes human-caused climate change is real, but that its hazards are “distant and uncertain”. He has also said that top-down governmental policies to curb it are destined to fail.
The US interior department has unveiled a suite of orders aimed at carrying out Donald Trump’s agenda to maximise domestic energy and minerals production and slash red tape, Reuters reports. In a statement, the agency said interior secretary Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, signed six orders on his first day in office.
US President Donald Trump has invited Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House next week, a White House official said, hours after a US military plane departed to return deported migrants to the country.
Senator Susan Collins, a republican from Maine, said she’ll vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence. Collins is a key swing vote and her support brings Gabbard’s nomination close to being sealed.
Trump is reportedly mulling an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, in alignment with mandates from Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” to slash federal agencies.
Musk’s Doge reportedly accessed administration systems for the federal Small Business Administration. It has also reportedly accessed secure information at USAid and the Treasury department. According to Wired, Musk has reportedly deployed six young men to lead Doge’s efforts to access federal government data.
The Trump administration made plain its intent to merge USAid with the state department under Musk’s supervision. Employees were barred from the agency headquarters today, after the website was shuttered over the weekend. Several democrats cried foul, calling the act illegal and denouncing Musk.
The Trump administration may today begin using an obscure 18th-century law to deport undocumented migrants without first going through the courts.
Darren Beattie, a former White House official who wrote, “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” is reportedly set for a top role at the state department.
