ZELENSKYY DISTRACTION
On Friday, however, Trump and his top economic officials were also consumed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House which erupted into a shouting match between the two president over the Russia-Ukraine war and Zelenskyy’s failure to sign a US minerals agreement.
The Tuesday tariff deadline for China coincides with the start of its annual parliamentary meetings on Wednesday, a set-piece political event where Beijing is expected to unveil its main economic priorities for 2025.
Trump’s announcement leaves Beijing with less than a week to publish countermeasures, as the Trump administration shows signs of a hardening stance towards its strategic rival despite backing down on the threat of 60 per cent tariffs when Trump took office on January 20.
“There are ongoing discussions with the Chinese, Mexico and Canada,” a White House official told Reuters on Thursday. “We’ve gotten a good handle on the migration issue, but there are still concerns on the other issue of fentanyl deaths”.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 72,776 people died from synthetic opioids in 2023 in the US, chiefly from fentanyl.
