China has warned Donald Trump to “stop whining” about being a victim of tariffs in the escalating trade war between the two nations.
It comes as the president claims the U.S is “taking in RECORD NUMBERS in Tariffs,” which was helping fight inflation, after he raised import duties on nearly all trading partners.
However, it is Beijing that is facing the most stringent measures. The U.S, which raised duties on Chinese products to 145 percent, has tightened export rules, with computer chip manufacturing giant Nvidia among those affected.
A fact sheet published by the White House on Tuesday said that China “now faces up to a 245 percent tariff”, and China’s foreign ministry urged reporters to question the Trump administration over the figure.
Beijing, which raised tariffs on U.S. goods to 125 percent, has reportedly told airlines to halt ordering Boeing jets and other U.S aircraft parts. In an editorial on Wednesday, state media outlet China Daily said the U.S. “should stop whining about itself being a victim in global trade.”
Wall Street ended the day sharply lower on the Nvidia news, and as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that U.S. economic growth appears to be slowing.
Trump claims his tariffs are bringing in $2 billion a day — but is it true?
Those figures would make it impossible for the U.S. to be bringing in $2 billion a day, despite Trump’s promises otherwise.
Katie Hawkinson reports from Washington, D.C.
Trump admin closes State Department office battling foreign disinformation
Secretary of State Marco Rubio put all 40 staffers at the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub on paid leave on Wednesday morning. It’s the initial step to having them fully removed from the department this spring. Last month, the department fired about 80 contractors working at the office and cut nearly all the contracts related to the office.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Environmental groups say Trump administration is working to end habitat protections for endangered animals
Julia Musto reports.
ANALYSIS: RFK Jr plays medical detective as he contradicts his own department on autism
Richard Hall writes:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr sits atop a government agency that spends $45 billion a year on medical research. The best scientists in the world, with access to the most technologically advanced equipment and cutting-edge artificial intelligence, are at his disposal.
But with confidence that only a Kennedy heir could muster, the health secretary dismissed the findings of those scientists Wednesday, instead announcing his intention to find the real truth behind what he described as an “epidemic” of autism.
Read on…
El Salvador won’t let Democratic senator visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia: ‘We have an unjust situation here’
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said he was denied a meeting with a wrongfully deported Maryland father imprisoned in a brutal Salvadoran jail following Donald Trump’s refusal to return him to the United States.
The Maryland senator traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday to help secure Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release from the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where he faces the prospect of indefinite detention.
But he was denied a meeting with Abrego Garcia, and Salvadoran officials would not let the senator or Abrego Garcia’s family speak with him by phone, he said.
Alex Woodward reports.
Huge dip in U.S. border crossings from Canada
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Trump says ‘Big Progress!’ in meeting with Japanese trade delegation
President Donald Trump posted the following on Truth Social just now:
A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!
Trump claims the cost of gas and groceries has gone down. Have they?
President Donald Trump claims he’s driving down the cost of everyday goods such as groceries and gasoline with his policies but data from the consumer price index indicates only some products are getting cheaper.
The average prices of gasoline, bread and tomatoes have gone down since Trump took office in January but the cost of other goods such as eggs and beef have risen. Those numbers, reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also have not reflected the impact of tariffs.
But that hasn’t stopped the president from touting confidence about consumer prices, as Ariana Baio reports.
California becomes the first state to sue Trump over his tariff plan
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, argues that as a “global leader in trade,” the Golden State will bear “an inordinate share” of the costs that result from the sweeping levies.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Source: independent.co.uk