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China announces retaliatory tariffs on US goods

China announces retaliatory tariffs on US goods
By Lyndal Rowlands, Alastair McCready, Umut Uras, Maziar Motamedi, Alex Kozul-Wright, Alice Speri and Virginia Pietromarchi
Published On 4 Feb 2025

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4 Feb 2025 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

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Read here for more on how Elon Musk has tightened his grip on power in the two weeks since US President Donald Trump took office.

To learn more about what the humanitarian aid agency USAID is, and why it was shut down, read this explainer.

Trump enacted controversial immigration plans in his first week back. What are the short and long-term effects? Learn more here.

4 Feb 2025 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

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But before that, it’s time for a recap:

  • Mexico has begun the 10,000-strong border troop deployment it had promised Donald Trump in exchange for delaying a 25-percent tariff on exported goods, President Claudia Sheinbaum says.
  • Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday effectively banning transgender girls and women from participating in female sports events in schools and colleges, a White House official has said.

  • Unions representing more than 800,000 US government employees have filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from offering workers nearly eight months of pay and benefits to leave their jobs.

  • Trump says he is in no hurry to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping amid an escalating trade war between the two economic powerhouses.

  • Mexico’s Finance Ministry says it is implementing measures to guarantee the stability of financial markets, as the peso currency and local stock exchange have undergone extended volatility amid the threat of US tariffs on Mexican exports.

  • The European Union wants to engage swiftly with the US over Trump’s planned tariffs, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic has said, while his boss Ursula von der Leyen forecast negotiations with Washington would be tough.
  • The first US military aircraft carrying detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay is expected to depart later today, US officials have said, as Trump’s administration prepares to potentially house tens of thousands of migrants at the naval base in Cuba.
4 Feb 2025 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

Trump criticises UN, says it must ‘get their act together’ for continued US support

Trump has said the UN has “great potential” but has to “get their act together”, as he stopped US engagement with the UN Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and ordered a review of the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO.

“It’s got great potential, and based on the potential, we’ll continue to go along with it, but they got to get their act together,” Trump told reporters. “It’s not being well run, to be honest, and they’re not doing the job.”

“A lot of these conflicts that we’re working on should be settled, or at least we should have some help in settling them. We never seem to get help. That should be the primary purpose of the United Nations,” Trump said.

The UN Security Council, of which the US is a permanent member, is charged with maintaining international peace and security.

Trump said that he was not looking to take away money from the 193-member world body, though he complained that Washington had to pay a disproportionate amount.

4 Feb 2025 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

Trump says he would like to close the Education Department

Donald Trump has said that he would like to be able to close the US Department of Education using an executive order.

The president made the comment a day after a White House official said the administration would take steps to defund the department, adding that an announcement on the planned actions may come later in February.

4 Feb 2025 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

IMF calls on US, China, Canada and Mexico to settle disagreements

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the United States, China, Canada and Mexico to work on settling their disputes and keep global trade flows going.

Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on China but paused for 30 days the steep tariffs he had announced on imports from Mexico and Canada.

An IMF spokesperson said: “We are following the announcements by the United States of tariffs on Chinese and potentially Canadian and Mexican goods. It is in the interests of all to find constructive ways to resolve disagreements and enable trade.”

4 Feb 2025 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Pete Hegseth to visit Panama to seek cooperation on migration, drugs

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to travel to Panama in April, his Panamanian counterpart has said, as the two officials aim to work together on strategies to combat irregular migration and the flow of drugs.

Panamanian Security Minister Frank Abrego confirmed that the two officials had spoken on the phone on Tuesday, in a post on X, adding he hoped to reach “important agreements” with Hegseth during his visit.

4 Feb 2025 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

China tariffs to have limited impact on energy prices: Goldman Sachs

The global bank Goldman Sachs has said that it expects Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs in response to new US restrictions against Chinese goods to have only a limited impact on energy prices.

Minutes after Trump’s 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods kicked in early on Tuesday, China’s Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15 percent for US coal and LNG and 10 percent for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos.

“We believe near term implications to commodity markets will be limited given that neither global supply nor demand of these commodities are changed by China’s tariffs,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

4 Feb 2025 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Trump to ban transgender girls, women from female sports: Official

Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday effectively banning transgender girls and women from participating in female sports events in schools and colleges, a White House official has said.

The order, entitled, “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports”, would fulfil a pledge Trump made during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump’s administration has taken aim broadly at transgender rights since taking office. Officials have already started taking steps to remove at least one transgender service member from the US military, and have turned away transgender applicants, according to an emergency legal filing.

4 Feb 2025 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

WATCH: How plausible is Trump’s plan to send 30,000 deportees to Guantanamo?

Trump wants to send up to 30,000 undocumented immigrants to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

But is the plan really plausible?

4 Feb 2025 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Trump’s buyout offer for US federal workers challenged in lawsuit

Unions representing more than 800,000 US government employees have filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from offering workers nearly eight months of pay and benefits to leave their jobs.

At least 20,000 workers have reportedly opted to take the buyout with more expected to join before the offer’s deadline on Thursday.

4 Feb 2025 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

Americans expect price hikes due to US tariffs: Poll

About 67 percent of Americans believe goods they typically purchase will increase due to US tariffs on imports, according to a YouGov poll.

At least 17 percent said prices will remain the same, while 4 percent said they think prices will decrease.

4 Feb 2025 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Trump says he’s in no rush to speak to China’s Xi amid duelling tariffs

President Donald Trump says he is in no hurry to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping amid an escalating trade war between the two economic powerhouses.

He said “that’s fine” when asked about China’s decision to issue retaliatory tariffs on US imports.

4 Feb 2025 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)
Explainer

What are tariffs and how do they work?

A tariff is a government-imposed tax on imported goods and services, paid by businesses bringing them into the country.

Designed to protect domestic industries, tariffs often drive up costs for consumers by making foreign products more expensive, potentially reducing demand.

Here is a look at how they work.

4 Feb 2025 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

US Senate committee backs Trump nominee Gabbard to be top spy

Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation as director of national intelligence, one of President Donald Trump’s most contentious nominations, has moved closer to reality as a Senate committee backed her despite doubts about her lack of experience and past statements seen as supporting US adversaries.

Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters the panel had voted to report Gabbard’s nomination favourably to the full Senate.

4 Feb 2025 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

RFK Jr clears key Senate vote despite vaccine scepticism

By Rosiland Jordan

Reporting from Washington, DC

There was some speculation that at least one Republican senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana – who happens to be a medical doctor – might have voted against his nomination because of Kennedy’s longstanding scepticism about the effectiveness of vaccines and whether they cause autism.

Multiple health authorities say that vaccines do not cause autism. Yet Kennedy has perpetuated this myth and lie for many years now and has a rather popular fan base here in the United States because of his so-called vaccine scepticism.

It is thought that Cassidy might have voted to send his nomination to the full Senate for a vote because he is up for re-election in 2026 and could be facing a primary challenge.

Now, if this vote does happen – and we don’t know yet when it’s going to be scheduled – on Kennedy’s nomination, you can expect to see a lot of pressure on Senate republicans to oppose the nomination and to try to protect the federal health infrastructure because of arguments that Kennedy not only is unqualified, does not have the academic or practical experience to weigh in on public health issues, but also could set up the country for another health crisis such as what we saw with the COVID-19 pandemic.

4 Feb 2025 - 19:45
 (19:45 GMT)

Mexico implements measures to ensure stability of financial markets

Mexico’s Finance Ministry says it is implementing measures to guarantee the stability of financial markets, as the peso currency and local stock exchange have undergone extended volatility amid the threat of US tariffs on Mexican exports.

Among the measures, the so-called budget revenue stabilisation fund was strengthened and capitalised with more than 100 billion pesos ($4.87bn), while the government will continue to look for ways to improve the debt maturity profile and reduce short-term liquidity needs.

On January 31, the government refinanced 185 billion pesos ($9bn) in debt, extending debt maturities by an average of 2.14 years, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

“The third measure involves the implementation of a hedging program with derivative financial instruments, which contributes to reduce risk amid adverse conditions in the financial markets,” the ministry announced.

4 Feb 2025 - 19:15
 (19:15 GMT)

WATCH: Is President Donald Trump using tariffs as a negotiating tactic?

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico are on hold for a month.

But US levies on Chinese products have gone into effect – and Beijing has hit back with duties of its own.

China accuses Washington of unilateralism and has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

President Trump says America has been ripped off by “every country in the world”.

So, are tariffs the answer? And at what cost?

4 Feb 2025 - 19:00
 (19:00 GMT)

EU seeks early US talks to avert Trump tariffs

The European Union wants to engage swiftly with the US over Trump’s planned tariffs, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic has said, while his boss Ursula von der Leyen forecast negotiations with Washington would be tough.

Sefcovic, speaking at a meeting of EU ministers, said he wanted “early engagement” and was awaiting confirmations of the appointment of Trump’s picks for Commerce Secretary, financier Howard Lutnick, and for US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer.

“We are ready to engage immediately and we hope that through this early engagement, we can avoid the measures which would bring a lot of disturbance to the most important trade and investment relationship on this planet,” he told reporters.

Von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said a priority was to work on areas where EU and U.S. interests converge, such as critical supply chains and emerging technologies, adding the EU was ready for tough negotiations.

“We will be open and pragmatic in how to achieve that. But we will make it equally clear that we will always protect our own interests,” she said in a speech in Brussels.

In a sign of how tough negotiations will be, Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro said Europe was sticking it to the US with its value-added tax on cars. EU countries apply VAT to sales of all cars – domestic and foreign.

EU officials say contacts with the new Trump administration have been limited, noting Trump’s picks for top jobs are not able to speak to foreign counterparts until they are confirmed. Von der Leyen and Trump have not been in touch since Trump’s inauguration.

4 Feb 2025 - 18:45
 (18:45 GMT)

20,000 federal employees take Musk’s buyout: Report

More than 20,000 employees have accepted an offer to quit their jobs in exchange for eight months of salary, Bloomberg has reported.

The numbers — about 1 percent of the federal workforce — are increasing every day, according to an official familiar with the data cited by the news outlet. The Trump administration expects a spike in resignations as the Thursday deadline to accept the offer approaches.

Elon Musk, Trump’s “efficiency czar” has said that he hopes to cut as much as 10 percent of the federal workforce through the offer. But some Democrats have denounced the scheme as illegal and a “scam”.

4 Feb 2025 - 18:30
 (18:30 GMT)

First US military plane with detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay expected to depart today

The first US military aircraft carrying detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay is expected to depart later today, US officials have said, as President Donald Trump’s administration prepares to potentially house tens of thousands of migrants at the naval base in Cuba.

The flight to Guantanamo Bay adds to military flights that have already deported migrants to Guatemala, Peru, Honduras and India.

The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump announced last week plans to transform the detention facility into a holding centre for undocumented migrants.

Trump had campaigned for a second term on the promise of leading a “mass deportation” campaign, targeting the nearly 11 million undocumented people living in the US. Many have been in the country for decades, serving as pillars for their families and communities.