President Donald Trump said he would sign what he called a “very large and comprehensive” initial trade deal with China on January 15.
Trump had previously said the two leaders would have a signing ceremony for Phase One next month. Through the deal, first announced on December 13, China will increase purchases of American farm goods and be subject to lower tariffs on some goods.
The U.S. and China reached the deal after almost two years of an escalating trade war between the world’s largest economies. The U.S. said it would decrease current tariffs and cancel new tariffs. China will increase purchases of U.S. goods and services.
The White House will leave 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods in place but halve tariffs to 7.5 percent on $120 billion in products such as smartphones.
Trump said he will go to Beijing to begin talks on the second phase of the trade deal "at a later date."
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
