Beijing was swift to retaliate after Trump’s tariffs
China struck back yesterday against President Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on all Chinese products with tariffs of its own on U.S. coal and gas as well as restrictions on exports of some minerals.
China’s tariffs will not take effect until Feb. 10, according to the Chinese government, meaning there is still some time for negotiations. The White House press secretary said that a call between Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, was being scheduled and would happen very soon. Here’s the latest.
Details: China’s tariffs would cover about $20 billion of U.S. exports, compared with Trump’s tariffs on more than $450 billion of Chinese goods, economists estimated. Chinese authorities also started an antitrust investigation into Google.
Context: As Trump alienates allies and partners with the threat of tariffs, his actions give Beijing an opening to strengthen its global standing.
Trump was set to host Netanyahu in Washington
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was set yesterday to become the first foreign leader to hold an in-person meeting with President Trump at the White House since his return to power.
The meeting was expected to focus on negotiations for the second phase of the cease-fire in Gaza, Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear weapon, arms shipments and a possible deal with Saudi Arabia. Follow our live coverage here.
Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Trump said that Palestinians had no choice but to leave Gaza after the devastation wrought by Israel’s war with Hamas. He said he wanted Egypt and Jordan to take them in.
West Bank violence: Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shooting attack in the northern West Bank as Israel pressed ahead with a military operation there.
“We have seen a brutal act of violence,” Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said in a televised address. “This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.”
Context: Shootings are rare in Swedish schools, but the country has been grappling with a steady surge in gun violence.
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Lives lived: Merle Louise Simon, the only person to play roles in the original Broadway productions of four Stephen Sondheim musicals, died at 90.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
Ukrainian musicians wonder if they’ll ever go home
Russia’s invasion turned the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra’s players into refugees. As they try to build new lives in Germany, they face shifting views on migrants while an unending war continues back home.
Three years into the conflict, they continue to perform to highlight their homeland’s struggle. Always on their minds are faraway loved ones, fears about what might happen next and worries over how long they will be allowed to stay.
“It’s a whole soup of anxiety,” one violinist said. “At some point, you start to wonder, ‘Will we ever go home?’” Read their story here.
