China Retaliates as Trump Tariffs Take Effect
Good evening. Two of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks were advanced by Senate committees on Tuesday, setting up full confirmation votes for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence. In a 77-23 vote, the Senate also confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins as secretary of Veterans Affairs. Here’s your update.
China Retaliates as Trump Tariffs Take Effect
Just hours after a burgeoning trade war with Mexico and Canada was put on a one-month pause, President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on goods imported from China took effect on Tuesday, immediately followed by a new set of retaliatory tariffs by China on American-made goods.
The new Chinese tariffs range from 10% to 15%, but unlike the Trump tariffs, they are not comprehensive, applying instead to a specific set of goods. Chinese importers will pay an additional 10% fee on U.S. crude oil, agricultural equipment, large cars and pickup trucks, and 15% on U.S. coal and liquified natural gas. The Chinese government also placed new universal restrictions on the export of five minerals (tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium) used in high-tech manufacturing, and Chinese officials said they plan to investigate U.S. tech giant Google for possible anticompetitive behavior.
In a statement, China’s Ministry of Finance accused the U.S. of violating an international trade agreement. “On February 1, 2025, the U.S. government announced that it would impose a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods exported to the U.S. on the grounds of fentanyl and other issues,” the ministry said. “The U.S.'s unilateral imposition of tariffs seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organization. It is not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also undermines the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S.”
A measured response: Trade experts said the Chinese response was less severe than feared, signaling that Chinese officials are treading lightly, even as they maintain room to maneuver. Notably, China did not impose new tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, sparing Trump from a potential source of political pain among key supporters; China imports about $35 billion worth of farm goods per year from the U.S.
“They have a menu of options for retaliation,” Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator, told The Washington Post. “They wanted to respond proportionately and swiftly. There’s a lot more they can do.”
This is not the first confrontation between Trump and China. In 2018, during his first administration, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports and China retaliated with tariffs of its own. Former President Joe Biden maintained the Trump tariffs for the most part and expanded on them in some cases. One result of that continuous pressure is that China is better prepared to respond to the U.S. this time around if Trump decides to maintain or increase the new tariffs.
“They have a much more developed export control regime,” said Philip Luck, a former State Department official, per CBS News. “We depend on them for a lot of critical minerals: gallium, germanium, graphite, a host of others. So ... they could put some significant harm on our economy.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon, Trump dismissed concerns about a trade war. “That’s fine. We’re going to do very well against China and against everybody else,” he said in response to a question about the retaliatory tariffs. “Right now, they’ve taken advantage of the Biden administration like I’ve never see. The deficit with China is about a trillion dollars. Think of it, a trillion dollars. They’re using our money to build their military.”
On Monday, Trump said he was prepared to raise tariffs even higher. “That was just an opening salvo,” he told reporters, referring to the tariffs that he formally announced over the weekend. “If we can’t make a deal with China, then the tariffs will be very substantial.”
RFK Jr. Clears Key Hurdle, Appears Set for Confirmation
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved one step closer Tuesday to being confirmed as the country’s top health official as the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 along party lines to advance his nomination.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor who also heads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, joined his fellow Republicans in supporting Kennedy. Cassidy had said last week that he was “struggling” with the decision and expressed concern about Kennedy’s long history of anti-vaccine activism. In a statement posted on X Tuesday, the senator said he held “very intense” talks with Kennedy and the White House leading up to the vote and thanked Vice President JD Vance for the “honest counsel” he had provided. “With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,” Cassidy wrote.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Cassidy said he had been inundated with messages both for and against Kennedy. He said he had decided to support Kennedy’s nomination after receiving various promises and assurances, including a commitment to protect “the public health benefit” of vaccines. “Vaccines save lives,” Cassidy said. “They are safe. They do not cause autism. There are multiple studies that show this. They are a crucial part of our nation’s public health response.”
Cassidy said that Kennedy and the Trump administration had agreed to work closely with him and keep current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems. Cassidy said he had also been promised that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory committee on immunization practices would stay in place and the CDC would not remove statements from its website saying that vaccines do not cause autism.
Cassidy also promised that, as chairman of the Senate’s health panel, he would watch for any effort to instill public fear of vaccines and would use his oversight authority “to rebuff any attempt to remove the public’s access to life saving vaccines without ironclad causational scientific evidence that can be accepted and defended before the mainstream scientific community and before Congress.”
Democrats remain steadfastly opposed: Democrats said that Kennedy represents a threat to American health and well-being as well as the future of science in the country. They noted that he was given ample opportunity to recant anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and state publicly that the science around routine vaccinations was settled, but he had repeatedly refused to do so. “Peddling these conspiracy theories as the nation’s chief health care officer will be deadly for kids across the country,” Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said.
Democrats also warned about Kennedy’s potential financial conflicts of interest and the risk that he might allow the Trump administration to restrict access to abortion or the abortion pill mifepristone. And they pointed out that, during his confirmation hearings, Kennedy displayed a troubling lack of knowledge about the Medicare and Medicaid programs he’d be overseeing. “That alone should be disqualifying,” Wyden said.
The bottom line: A vote by the full Senate has yet to be scheduled, and Wyden told reporters he thought more no votes could emerge when the nomination is brought to the Senate floor. As of now, though, it appears that Kennedy is well on his way to a somewhat surprising confirmation. That would be another win for President Donald Trump and another display of the sway he still holds over congressional Republicans.
Negotiations to Avoid a Shutdown Next Month Stalled: Report
With the Trump administration working feverishly to overhaul the government, it may be easy to forget that Congress faces a March 14 deadline for a comparatively mundane task: funding federal agencies to prevent a shutdown.
Congressional leaders have yet to reach agreement on a topline spending total, and negotiations on a deal have reportedly stalled, in part due to the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to squeeze agencies and freeze funding that Congress previously approved — steps that Democrats and courts say are likely illegal.
Democrats will be needed to pass a funding bill, and they are looking to use that leverage to push back on Trump’s efforts. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a letter to his members this week that any House Republican attempt to “steal taxpayer money,” defund programs or “end Medicaid as we know it” have to be “choked off” in the funding bill, or sooner.
And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters today that Democrats “will insist that there be certain changes that undo these bad things,” referring to Trump’s attempted funding freeze, which has been blocked by courts, and related actions.
“We’re going to look at ways to try to confront some of these illegal actions he’s taken,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who sits on the Appropriations Committee told reporters, per NBC News. “We will use the appropriations process to try to correct some of these outrages.”
Republicans still hashing out budget reconciliation strategy: House and Senate Republicans remain divided over their approach to passing a budget resolution need to unlock the process they want to use to pass much of their agenda. While House Speaker Mike Johnson has tried to push ahead with one massive bill, he faces stiff opposition from some hardliners in his own conference and from GOP counterparts in the Senate, who have prepared a two-bill plan.
Politico reports that Senate Republicans are hoping to use a Friday night dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago to get the president’s approval to move ahead with their own budget blueprint — or find out if Trump wants them to wait for the House.
Johnson insisted that the House would move first, even as he has already slipped behind on an ambitious timeframe he had planned. “The Senate will not take the lead,” Johnson told reporters today. “We’re gonna take the lead.”
Quotes of the Day
“If it’s not possible now, it will never be possible. This is our shot. This is the best hand of cards we’re ever going to have. If we don’t take advantage of this best hand of cards, it’s never going to happen.”
− Elon Musk, in a livestream earlier this week, describing the opportunity provided by full Republican control of Washington to radically uproot and shrink the federal government, a project he is pushing through the newly created U.S. DOGE Service.
“An unelected, unaccountable billionaire with expansive conflicts of interest, deep ties to China and an indiscreet ax to grind against perceived enemies is hijacking our nation’s most sensitive financial data systems and its checkbook so that he can illegally block funds to our constituents based on the slightest whim or wildest conspiracy.”
− Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, discussing Elon Musk’s DOGE at a news conference Monday at the Capitol.
“I told Linda, ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job in putting yourself out of a job.’ I want her to put herself out of a job.”
– President Trump, telling reporters he wants his nominee for secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, to put herself out of a job by eliminating her department. The administration has reportedly begun work on an executive order that would begin that process by dismantling the department from within and then looking to have Congress shut it down. McMahon has yet to be confirmed, but the process is already underway, as department employees reportedly have been placed on administrative leave and pressured to quit.
Fiscal News Roundup
- China Counters With Tariffs on US Products. It Will Also Investigate Google – Associated Press
- Trump Moves to Put Nearly All USAID Washington Staff on Leave – Politico
- US Government Officials Privately Warn Musk’s Blitz Appears Illegal – Washington Post
- White House Opens Funding Spigot for DOGE Expenses – Roll Call
- Warren, Wyden Call for Probe of Musk Aides’ Access to Treasury Payments – Politico
- Elon Musk and DOGE Are Hacking the Government – NBC News
- Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government – New York Times
- Mystery OPM Server That Aided Buyout Offers Prompts House Democrat Probe – The Hill
- Federal Layoffs ‘Likely’ if Too Few Employees Choose to Quit, Memo Says – Washington Post
- Speaker Johnson Texts Elon Musk: 'Continue the Effort' on DOGE – NBC News
- ‘I Hope He Goes Wild’: RFK Jr.’s Nomination Is Headed to the Senate Floor – Politico
- Negotiations Stall Ahead of Shutdown Deadline as Democrats Slam Trump for Subverting Spending Laws – NBC News
- Schumer: Dems Will Insist on Trump Undoing ‘Bad Things’ in Spending Deal – Politico
- Mike Johnson’s Budget Plan Is at Risk of Collapse – Politico
- Senate GOP Seeks Trump's Blessing on Budget Strategy – Politico
- Senate Preparing to Move First on Budget Package Amid House Stalemate – The Hill
- White House Is Drafting Order to Initiate Education Dept.‘s Elimination – CNN
- EPA Spending Freeze Continues Despite Court Orders – Politico
- Republicans Take a Back Seat as Trump Steamrolls Congress With Flurry of Unilateral Moves – NBC News
- Trump Says He Will Continue Funding Ukraine's War Effort — but He Wants Something Rare in Return – NBC News
- Waffle House Adds 50 Cents Per Egg Surcharge Amid Shortages, Rising Prices – CBS News
Views and Analysis
- Can Trump Close or Reshape Federal Agencies? Experts Weigh In – Dan De Luce and Lawrence Hurley, NBC News
- Illegal Executive Spending Decisions Are Happening Now – David Dayen, American Prospect
- 25-Year-Old Elon Musk Crony Has Total Control Over Treasury Payments – Hafiz Rashid, New Republic
- ‘Trump’s Thomas Cromwell’ Is Waiting in the Wings – Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times
- Trump Blinks on North American Tariffs – Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
- What Did US Get From Deals to Pause Tariffs on Canada and Mexico? Not That Much, Observers Say – Josh Boak, Associated Press
- Democrats May Shut Down Government to Keep Trump From Gutting It – Ed Kilgore, New York
- Nothing Normal About This CFPB Takeover – David Dayen, American Prospect
- What Cutting USAID Could Cost the U.S. — and How China, Russia May Benefit – Chantal Da Silva, NBC News
- The Death of USAID: These People Are out of Their Freaking Minds – Mark Leon Goldberg, New Republic
- The US Economy Is Racing Ahead. Almost Everything Else Is Falling Behind – David Leonhardt, New York Times
- Beneath the Birthright Citizenship Fight Lurks an Old Fixation – Eduardo Porter, Washington Post
- Are Conservatives Being ‘De-Banked’? – Adam Lashinsky, Washington Post
- What Does Trump Know About California’s Water System? So Much Less Than He’d Ever Admit– George Skelton, Los Angeles Times
- An Unconventional Plan for Fixing the Federal Budget – Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times