What to know today
- China announced tariffs of 10% to 15% on some U.S. products shortly after a 10% U.S. tariff on imports from China took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET.
- U.S. tariffs on key trading partners Canada and Mexico are not moving forward immediately. Instead, there will be a 30-day pause.
- Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, two days after he announced tariffs on the two countries and China.
- Sheinbaum said the deal came after she agreed to send 10,000 troops to the border to help stem the flow of fentanyl and illegal migration. Trudeau said that nearly "10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border" and that he had signed a directive "on organized crime and fentanyl" that will be backed by $200 million.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio tapped Pete Marocco, a State Department official, to oversee operations at the U.S. Agency for International Development as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle it.
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China outlines which U.S. products will be subject to tariffs
The Chinese government has released a long list of U.S. imports that will be affected by targeted tariffs in response to a 10% U.S. tariff on all goods imported from China.
China will impose a 10% tariff on U.S. crude oil; a long list of agricultural machines and tools, including tractors and fertilizer; and larger cars and pickup trucks.
Coal and liquefied natural gas will be subject to a 15% tariff.
The U.S. tariff on China went into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET, while the Chinese tariffs on the U.S. will take effect starting Feb. 10.
China hits back at Trump tariff with its own levies on U.S. products
China retaliated immediately Tuesday as a 10% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods went into effect, announcing a series of measures including its own levies of 10% to 15% on some U.S. products.
Starting Feb. 10, China will impose an additional tariff of 15% on coal and liquefied natural gas and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement automobiles and pickup trucks, the government said.
The Chinese announcement came minutes after the U.S. tariff took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET, the only one to go ahead after President Donald Trump paused 25% tariffs he had announced on goods from Canada and Mexico.
The failure to forestall tit-for-tat tariffs with China raises the risk of a spiraling trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
China tariffs take effect as deadline passes
A 10% tariff on goods imported from China appears to be in effect now that the 12:01 a.m. ET deadline has passed.
Trump announced the tariff on Saturday along with 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, citing border security as well as the illicit international flow of drugs such as fentanyl. Though the Canadian and Mexican tariffs have been paused for 30 days after talks with those countries' leaders, no such deal appears to have been struck with China.
Mainland Chinese markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. Other Asia-Pacific markets were up on news that the Canadian and Mexican tariffs had been put on hold, CNBC reported.
Political uncertainty remains as Trump strikes temporary tariff deals
The impacts of Trump’s long-promised pledge to use tariffs as a political cudgel started to come into focus yesterday, even as the president cut last-minute deals with some of the country’s closest allies allowing him to back down from his initial threats.
On Saturday, Trump announced that he would slap broad 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, both U.S. allies, and 10% tariffs on China, a political foe. The move was expected, but it still sparked fears about the rising costs of goods across the U.S. economy.
That concern is particularly potent because Trump campaigned heavily on lowering costs and easing inflation. If they are fully implemented, Trump’s tariff proposals would affect American households’ purchasing power by $1,000 to $1,200 annually, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University.
New DNC chair: 'We have a spine,' Democrats 'not dead as a party'
Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in an interview tonight that the party is ready to fight back against the Trump administration.
Martin told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that Democrats will “fight for American values” and against Republicans’ actions under Trump.
“I remember, in 2016, someone saying that the Republicans are shameless, but the Democrats are spineless. And so it’s important for folks to know that we have a spine. We’re not dead as a party. We’re still alive and kicking,” he said.
He added that one of the next steps for the party is to set up a “war room” to fight misinformation and disinformation and define a Democratic Party identity.
“The war room isn’t just about going on the offense against Donald Trump. It’s also defining who we are as a party, giving people a sense in this country again that the Democratic Party is their party, we haven’t forgotten about them, we’re going to continue to stand up and make sure that they get their shake at the American dream,” Martin said.
Names of FBI agents who investigated Capitol riots to be handed over to Trump DOJ officials
FBI executives contemplated resisting Justice Department demands that they turn over the names of FBI personnel involved in Capitol riot cases but ultimately decided they must comply with what lawyers deemed a lawful order, current and former FBI officials told NBC News.
Among the options under consideration was to send only the names of managers and senior executives. But the FBI’s office of general counsel decided that the demand by the Trump Justice Department for all the names was legal and that compliance was not optional.
The FBI Agents Association, a group representing agents, and former FBI Director William Webster sent a letter of protest to congressional leaders condemning the removal of eight senior FBI officials Friday.
Republicans take a back seat as Trump steamrolls Congress with flurry of unilateral moves
Trump has tried to freeze up to hundreds of billions of dollars in federal money and given Musk access to sensitive Treasury payment systems that send out trillions of dollars. Trump and his team have purged agency watchdogs, top FBI executives and federal prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
Now, Trump and Musk want to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development, which gives tens of billions of congressionally approved dollars to foreign allies every year.
All are areas where members of Congress have either direct power or some level of oversight. And yet at each turn, Trump has bypassed them.
El Salvador offers to house U.S. criminals after Trump floats idea
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said his country could lodge convicted criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents, at a meeting in San Salvador today with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a readout of the meeting provided by a State Department spokesperson.
Bukele confirmed in a statement that he had proposed to the United States "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," Bukele said. "The fee would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”
Trump floated the idea last week of sending U.S. criminals to other countries for a "small fee."
The State Department said Bukele had also "agreed to take back all Salvadoran MS-13 gang members who are in the United States unlawfully" and vowed to accept and imprison "violent illegal immigrants" from Venezuela and elsewhere.
Rubio told Bukele that the United States will also "issue a waiver to unfreeze assistance to support the two countries’ joint work to detect suspicious travelers," the State Department said.
Venezuelans in U.S. call Trump’s move to end deportation protections a ‘betrayal’
The Trump administration’s latest immigration shakeup has sent tremors through the Venezuelan community as some face possible returns to a country whose regime the United States has dubbed illegal.
The Trump administration revoked Temporary Protected Status for almost 350,000 Venezuelans who are in the United States. In addition, the protection will end in 60 days instead of in October. Those affected will no longer the have temporary protection from deportation or work permits that TPS allows.
Venezuelan activist Beatriz Olavarria said that, for some, “returning would be almost suicidal.” Many Venezuelans have fled amid brutal crackdowns on protests against the government and struggles for basic goods such as food and medicine.
Biden signs with talent agency CAA
Two weeks after he left office, former President Joe Biden has signed with CAA talent agency, according to the agency's Instagram account.
CAA represented Biden from 2017 up until his election in 2020.
"President Biden is one of America’s most respected and influential voices in national and global affairs," Richard Lovett, a co-chairman of CAA, said in the Instagram post's caption.
"His lifelong commitment to public service is one of unity, optimism, dignity, and possibility. We are profoundly honored to partner with him again," Lovett added.