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China, the US, India, Ecuador, and El Salvador.
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The five things you need to know today:
CHINA. UNITED STATES. A change of negotiator won’t change negotiations.
CALIFORNIA. UNITED STATES. Gavin Newsom begins the push-back.
INDIA. Modi rolls the red carpet for JD Vance.
ECUADOR. Mexico and Colombia keep the door shut.
EL SALVADOR. Bukele may find his loyalty unrewarded.
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CHINA. UNITED STATES. Same as the old boss
A change of negotiator won’t change negotiations.
Beijing appointed its WTO envoy as lead US negotiator and said it would ignore the “tariff numbers game”. Donald Trump unexpectedly joined talks with visiting Japanese officials. Asian markets rose Thursday despite a rocky US overnight.
INTELLIGENCE. Ambassador Li Chenggang, who replaces deputy commerce minister Wang Shouwen, is known for a more diplomatic style. But judging from Trump's preference for leader-level involvement, his appointment may not make much difference. Xi Jinping has rebuffed suggestions he will stoop to negotiate until respect is restored. This presumably means dropping the US's fluid tariffs, which continue to roil markets and cloud the economic outlook.
FOR BUSINESS. The Fed essentially said Wednesday it fears stagflation. This should have been obvious, but coupled with an impairment on Nvidia and bad numbers for ASML, the Nasdaq fell 3.07%. Assuming Trump realises he’s overreached, the question now is how he backs down, for China won’t. Trump may have misjudged Xi as another Kim Jong-un – a strongman who folds under pressure. Xi, by contrast, is under no illusions as to who he's dealing with.
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CALIFORNIA. UNITED STATES. Surf’s up
Gavin Newsom begins the push-back.
California sued the Trump administration Wednesday, saying it lacked authority to tariff goods "on a whim". The White House said Harvard could lose its license to enrol foreign students, a day after Princeton and Stanford issued support.
INTELLIGENCE. The government is heaping pressure on the pillars of federal power, from the courts to academia,