Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. tariff threats against China, violent clashes between Colombia’s armed groups, and Turkey’s deadly ski resort fire.
Trade War 2.0?
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. tariff threats against China, violent clashes between Colombia’s armed groups, and Turkey’s deadly ski resort fire.
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Trade War 2.0?
The Chinese economy took a hit on Wednesday following new tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Trump announced that he was considering a 10 percent duty on all Chinese imports, beginning next month, to punish Beijing for allowing the flow of opiate fentanyl into Mexico and Canada. Washington has accused China of sending the chemicals used to make the addictive drug to the United States’ neighbors, where cartels then manufacture it before trafficking the drug across U.S. borders.
Efforts to combat the illegal flow of fentanyl have resulted in rare U.S.-China cooperation, such as Beijing agreeing last August to tighten regulations on three ingredients used to make the substance. But throughout the presidential race, Trump argued that more needs to be done.
His latest tariff threats are significantly less than the 60 percent blanket levy on all Chinese imports that he proposed on the campaign trail, but they could still be detrimental to U.S.-China relations. Already, several Chinese stocks—including the CSI 300 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indexes—fell on Wednesday, and Beijing’s renminbi weakened by 0.3 percent to the U.S. dollar.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it is willing to “properly handle differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation” to combat fentanyl production. However, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning warned that “we always believe that there is no winner in a trade war or tariff war,” adding that “China will always firmly safeguard its national interests.”
Fear of another trade war during Trump’s second term has many on edge. Trump has also vowed to impose sweeping 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada starting Feb. 1 unless both countries crack down on undocumented migration and fentanyl trafficking. Mexico and Canada are the United States’ two biggest trading partners, with trade facilitated under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement reaching $1.8 trillion in 2022.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken a cautious approach to Trump’s threats, saying she would respond to U.S. actions “step by step” while reminding Trump that the three countries’ free trade deal is not up for review until 2026.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appeared more forceful in his response. “If the [U.S.] president does choose to proceed with tariffs, Canada will respond—and everything is on the table,” Trudeau warned this week. Ottawa is reportedly preparing counter-tariffs to the tune of billions of dollars.
Trump also said on Tuesday that he is considering imposing duties on the European Union. “It’s the only way you’re going to get fairness,” Trump said, blaming a trade deficit of $350 billion. Among the dozens of presidential actions that Trump signed during his first day in office on Monday, he ordered U.S. federal agencies to review trade issues—including deficits, unfair practices, and potential currency manipulation among partner countries—by April 1.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
State of emergency. Nearly 32,000 people have fled the northeastern Colombian region of Catatumbo in recent days after violent clashes intensified last week between rival armed groups. Fighting between the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has killed at least 80 people thus far, and many others have fled to neighboring Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro has promised to send aid to the displaced.
The two militant organizations reached a precarious truce in 2022 despite both sides seeking control of Catatumbo’s lucrative drug trafficking routes. However, peace talks dissolved last Friday, when ELN members attacked civilians who they accused of collaborating with the FARC splinter group.
In response, Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared a state of emergency on Monday, reactivated arrest warrants for 31 top ELN commanders, and began an initial deployment of 5,000 soldiers to the region. The office of the United Nations secretary-general also called for an “immediate cessation of acts of violence against the civilian population and for unhindered humanitarian access.”
Seeking accountability. Turkish authorities detained 11 people on Wednesday as part of an investigation into Tuesday’s deadly ski resort fire, which killed at least 79 people. The blaze occurred at the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel in the Bolu Mountains. It is unclear what ignited the fire, but survivors said no alarms went off to warn them of the threat, forcing some to flee down smoke-filled corridors or jump from hotel windows.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a day of national mourning on Wednesday. “Our hearts and souls are hurting,” Erdogan said, adding that those who were found responsible would be punished. The hotel has pledged full cooperation with the investigation. According to Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, authorities inspecting the resort in 2021 and 2024 found “no issues related to fire safety.”
Phone hacking case. The United Kingdom’s Prince Harry settled a long-running lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) on Wednesday in a multimillion-dollar payout. The tabloid agency admitted to “unlawful” conduct regarding the Sun hiring private investigators more than a decade ago to hack Harry’s phone, along with other unlawful information-gathering techniques.
“We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to the duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” the company said, referring to Harry by his title as the Duke of Sussex. The case held particular emotional importance for Harry, as his mother, Princess Diana, was killed by injuries sustained in a car accident in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.
NGN agreed to pay damages to Harry and Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party who was among the others targeted during the phone hacking scandal. Their legal team called the settlement a “monumental victory.”
Odds and Ends
Beautiful statues from ancient Greece can be seen in the Louvre, the Uffizi Gallery, and … in the trash. Greek police announced on Wednesday that they are investigating how a headless statue dating from the Hellenistic period (between 323 and 31 BC) found its way inside a black plastic bag near garbage cans in the northern city of Thessaloniki. The illegal trafficking of antiquities remains a rampant problem in Greece, where accidental archeological discoveries are somewhat common. And here I was proud that I once found a cool-shaped rock in my childhood backyard.
The post Trump Enflames Fear of Trade War With New China Tariffs appeared first on Foreign Policy.
