China has imposed retaliatory tariffs on the US, its embassy in Washington said on Sunday — hitting about $14bn worth of goods and dashing hopes that a trade war between the world's two largest economies could be avoided. Beijing announced the tariffs last week in response to a US decision to impose an additional 10 per cent levy on Chinese products, which US President Donald Trump called an "opening salvo" in a renewed trade offensive against China.

Compared with the blanket US tariffs, China's measures — which target US exports of liquefied natural gas, coal, crude oil and farm equipment as well as some automotive goods with levies of 10 per cent to 15 per cent — were seen as creating space for negotiations to avert a wide trade conflict.

China imposes retaliatory tariffs on $14bn worth of US goods

Asked by a moderator if the EU had a "list of cruelties" with which to respond if the U.S. imposed tariffs, Scholz, well behind Merz in the polls, said: "Yes, to phrase it in the most cautious diplomatic way. We as the European Union can act within an hour."

Europe can act "within an hour" if US levies tariffs - Germany's Scholz

Plus, these imports more heavily target Republican areas of the US. 

Canada wants to deepen its economic ties with the EU and uphold global trading rules in the face of threatened U.S. tariffs, its trade minister Mary Ng told Reuters on Saturday. The EU and Canada have benefited from a free trade agreement since 2017, which has boosted bilateral trade by 65%, and set up a raw materials partnership in 2021.

Ng met EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic for a lunch on Saturday following a meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organization in Geneva on Friday. "Trade agreements are one thing, and we have seen really great numbers, but what more can we be doing to help Canadian businesses enter into any of the 27 member states...and what more can we do to the same in Canada" Ng said.

She said critical minerals and smaller businesses would be among the focus areas with the EU. The EU, in particular, is keen to forge partnerships to secure metals that are key for the energy transition - cobalt, lithium and nickel - to reduce its dependence on China. Canada is also pushing to diversify its exports and set itself a target in 2018 of increasing non-U.S. exports by 50% by 2025. Ng said the country was on track to meet or exceed the target.

Canada seeks stronger EU trade ties in face of Trump tariffs | Reuters

Who could have seen this coming /s.

China bout to cripple American farmers, again, on top of them losing billions from USAID being gutted, Lol.

And unfortunately thousands of chickens being slaughtered. 

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will announce on Monday 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., another major escalation in his trade policy overhaul.

Trump says he will announce 25% steel and aluminum tariffs on Monday | Reuters

Yeah, they’re going full unitary power of the executive:

JD Vance posts, “Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.”

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— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath.bsky.social) 9 February 2025 at 15:26

i wonder why these guys hate the CFPB so much

ohh


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— Matt Binder (@mattbinder.bsky.social) 9 February 2025 at 03:34

EXCLUSIVE: Candidates for national security roles in the new administration have been posed loyalty questions, such as: Was Jan. 6 an inside job, and Was the 2020 presidential election stolen? They were asked to give straight "yes" or "no" answers. Here's our story.

wapo.st/3EF3aWN

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— Ellen Nakashima (@ellenwapo.bsky.social) 9 February 2025 at 00:48

Andrew Bailey told the BBC he was "following extremely closely" whether the Trump administration will change its support for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Sources in Washington said the two institutions were caught by a White House executive order for a review of United Nations (UN) and other international organisations.

Bank of England boss urges US support for IMF and World Bank - BBC News

China is probably edging at the thought of America no longer supporting the IMF and World Bank.

Should an "unconventional audit" be applauded if it results in significant death and disease?

Is this death and disease inherently better than the "status quo" of spending some money inefficiently?

Significant death and disease? Really?? OK The USA does know a lot about causing death and disease all over the world LoL.

No matter, I'm just a spectator talking to a bubble.

If Trump claims something good, he lies. If he claims something you'd get mad about, he's telling the truth.

Confirmation bias is strong on this forum.

As a non American, I thought it would be good place to openly discuss US politics openly on this forum.  I should have known better.

Its one sided and funny enough not representative of the American vote.

I don't like Trump, but I am openminded to the things he does right. And I believe in this case auditing his departments is a good thing.

classic:

"I just think it's funny you guys don't want to talk about the things Musk is finding. I mean neither do I because I haven't read anything about it but I can't believe all you guys are so unhappy with the audit just because it's Musk. I mean yeah you said a bunch of reasons why these things are bad, but I don't want to engage with any of those and will instead just insinuate that everyone else is bad faith and in a bubble because I'm the smartest centrist around."

Excuse me while I throw up in my mouth a little. You have brought nothing to the conversation beyond youtube link homework with little commentary. 

Well yeah, USAID funds programs preventing TB for example. 

It's a little harder to say what the future holds with the CDC and FDA.

Trump, Musk move to oust EPA staff in the Great Lakes region, including dozens responsible for protecting drinking water for 30 million in U.S. and Canada

I feel like I want to make 3 very different responses here. 

- This isn't how any of this conversation works. I don't assume Trump is lying. We tell he's lying or not by the facts. No one has even been talking about any Trump claims in this conversation. So what are you even talking about?

- That's also fundamentally how lying works. You usually try to make yourself look better than you are, and if you're still coming up short, then the real truth must be pretty dire.  

- I haven't really seen Trump claim much of anything. Aside from genociding Palestine. 

A lot more focus has been on Musk. 

Being disagreed with, is an important part of "open discussion". In fact, it's a pretty critical part of being able to openly discuss things - it's what happens when you have conversations outside of an echo chamber; you end up talking with people who have disagreements. 

Oh, I'd be happy if I saw him do some things right. 

Musk finding cherry picked expenditures that he doesn't agree with, isn't an audit. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/elon-musk-boosted-false-usaid-conspiracy-theories-global-aid-rcna190646

>On Wednesday, Musk shared a faked video claiming USAID had sponsored celebrity visits to Ukraine. Darren Linvill, a co-director of Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, told NBC News the video was manufactured Russian propaganda. 

Especially when he's actually even lying about things to justify his actions.