The Morning: A trade weapon

Plus, artificial intelligence, Lebanon and a poet's guide to Venice.

View in browser|nytimes.com January 28, 2025 Good morning. Today, my colleague Ana Swanson explores Trump's use of tariffs as a political tool. We're also covering artificial intelligence, Lebanon and a poet's guide to Venice. —David Leonhardt President Trump Kenny Holston/The New York Times A new cudgel By Ana Swanson I cover trade. For most of U.S. history, tariffs were a solution to specific economic problems. Washington used them to raise money and to protect U.S. industries from foreign competitors. And after World War II, presidents used tariffs selectively. President Trump has upended this practice. He says he'll use tariffs to solve a raft of policy problems, such as migration and territorial expansion. On Sunday, he threatened Colombia with 25 percent tariffs after it turned away two airplanes carrying deported immigrants. The government in Bogotá quickly reversed course. It's a strategy rarely seen from other presidents — and one that Trump is now deploying almost daily, as my colleague Alan Rappeport and I describe in a story The Times published this morning. In today's newsletter, I'll explain. An all-purpose tool Since taking office, Trump has told several nations he would tax imports from their countries if they didn't do what he wants. He said he would put a 25 percent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tariff on products from China unless those countries stopped flows of drugs and migrants into the United States. He has also said he would put tariffs on Russia for waging war in Ukraine and on Denmark if it refused to cede the territory of Greenland. Colombia's quick capitulation this weekend may embolden Trump, raising questions for the rest of the world about how far he will take the strategy. Past presidents have typically issued tariffs in response to trade issues — a surge of imported tires from China that hurt American tire makers, subsidies Canada gave to its loggers, a European quota on banana imports. Trump isn't the first president to use trade to shape other foreign-policy goals. Richard Nixon, for instance, said he'd return Okinawa to Japan only if it sent fewer textiles to the United States. But Trump's "very overt and transactional" approach is unique in American history, said Douglas Irwin, an economic historian at Dartmouth College. Is this allowed? Countries that belong to the World Trade Organization pledge that they won't harass one another with tariffs just to boost their own economies. But the international rules have a national security exception. And one U.S. law gives presidents broad powers if they declare a national emergency. In the past, that law — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 — has been used to issue sanctions but not tariffs. After North Korea tested a nuclear weapon in 2008, for example, Washington used the law to bar trade with the country and to punish its officials. Trump's tariff threats suggest that he considers the bar for national emergencies to be low, said Ted Murphy, a trade specialist at the law firm Sidley Austin. Other countries are still fumbling for the best way to respond to these threats. Many have drawn up lists of American goods to tax if a trade war ensues. But they also worry about tit-for-tat tariffs. The United States is an immense market, and they need access to it. "An escalating tariff war will hurt other countries a lot more than it hurts the U.S. economy," said Eswar Prasad, a trade policy professor at Cornell. "This is true of practically every major U.S. trading partner, including Canada, China, the European Union and Mexico." Which is why many leaders have chosen to acquiesce to Trump's demands. Mexico is doing more to deter migration and has seized more illicit opioids. Canada sent more drones and helicopters to the border. It boasted that tighter visa rules had lowered illegal crossings by 86 percent in the last two months. What next? Still, many allied governments hate the idea of being strong-armed over policy disagreements. The European Union is expanding trade agreements with South America and Mexico. On Monday, Europe's top diplomat said that it needed to "close ranks" as the Trump administration threatened more tariffs. She said that Europe was "an economic heavyweight and geopolitical partner." It would not, she seemed to be saying, submit to bullying. More on tariffs During the diplomatic debacle between Trump and Colombia, there were no Situation Room meetings or calls to de-escalate — just threats and counterthreats. Denmark, Panama and other countries are shopping for D.C. lobbyists with connections to the Trump administration. THE LATEST NEWS Artificial Intelligence Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A new A.I. system from a Chinese company, DeepSeek, matches the abilities of U.S. systems like ChatGPT but the company says it uses fewer, and cheaper, computer chips. DeepSeek's breakthrough caused American tech stocks to fall yesterday. Nvidia, which makes advanced chips for A.I., lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value. "At the very least," our tech columnist writes, "DeepSeek has shown that the A.I. arms race is truly on." Read more about the little-known Chinese start-up. The Times tech podcast "Hard Fork" analyzed the chaos in a special episode. Trump Administration The White House budget office ordered a pause in all federal loans and grants. The directive could upend funding for local governments, disaster relief and education. Trump authorized the Defense Department to potentially bar transgender soldiers from military service. He also ordered that some service members dismissed for refusing the Covid vaccine be reinstated. The acting attorney general fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on the special counsel's investigations of Trump. Trump officials also reassigned the Justice Department's most senior career official to a much less powerful post. The Trump administration placed dozens of officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development on administrative leave. An email said some employees appeared to be trying to circumvent a Trump executive order. The Senate confirmed Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager, as Treasury secretary. Gulf of America Mexican and Cubans have expressed indignation and amusement at Trump's order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Google said it would display "Gulf of America" in its maps for U.S. users as soon as government sources made the update. Users in Mexico will continue to see the gulf's original name, while the rest of the world will see both. More on Politics Republicans in the Florida Legislature overrode one of Gov. Ron DeSantis's budget vetoes. It was a rare power move. Speaker Mike Johnson has been conducting himself less like the head of a coequal branch government and more like a junior partner to Trump, Annie Karni writes. Middle East In southern Lebanon. Bilal Hussein/Associated Press Israeli forces fired toward people in Lebanon trying to return to southern border towns. The people had defied Israeli warnings not to return yet. Lebanon is struggling to clear the rubble left by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Thousands of Palestinians walked miles to return to northern Gaza. "There's no moment more joyful than returning home," a 17-year-old Gazan said. The European Union will lift some sanctions on Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. More International News In Oswiecim, Poland. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press World leaders and Holocaust survivors gathered in Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Speakers warned of a dangerous rise in antisemitism. Elon Musk told a rally for Germany's far-right party that the country had "too much of a focus on past guilt." Leaders of African nations and global banks promised $35 billion to expand electricity access across the continent. Sweden is investigating damage to an undersea communications cable. The authorities boarded a ship and said they suspected "gross sabotage." New Zealand loosened visa requirements for remote workers. It will let newly arrived foreigners work for overseas employers for up to nine months. Direct flights will resume between India and China, after nearly five years, as part of a diplomatic thaw. Other Big Stories A 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Maine. It shook buildings across New England, where quakes are rare. Workers at a Whole Foods in Philadelphia voted to unionize. It's the first union at the grocery chain, which Amazon owns. At a high-school track meet in Colorado Springs, a participant threw a hammer that cleared safety barriers and killed a spectator. Opinions Robert F. Kennedy's Senate hearing is this week. Here are 13 questions he should answer, according to health experts. Musk's meddling in British politics shows he wants to be more than Trump's right-hand man. He wants to rule, Louis Staples writes. Democrats treated Latinos as an "amorphous brown bloc: neither Black nor white, not really American either." That helped Trump win more Latino votes even as he attacked Mexicans, Jean Guerrero writes. Here are columns by Thomas Friedman on China and the U.S. and Thomas Edsall on Trump's vision. Receive free access to handpicked articles via text message. Now you can get Times journalism sent right to your phone. Each article will be accessible for 30 days. Sign up now MORNING READS In Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Pictures from an investigation: How a detective looking into a cold-case murder and an angry rock star helped uncover a vast art fraud. Ask Vanessa: "Is there still a rule against wearing brown shoes with blue pants?" Culture diary: Seven surprisingly busy days in the life of an experimental theater maker. Travel: A poet's guide to Venice in winter. Lives Lived: François Ponchaud was a French Catholic priest whose book "Cambodia: Year Zero" alerted the world to atrocities by the Khmer Rouge that would take the lives of nearly two million people. He died at 86. SPORTS N.B.A.: The Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler without pay for an indefinite period after he walked out of a team shootaround. Butler has asked for a trade. N.F.L.: The new Jets coach, Aaron Glenn, refused to commit to bringing back the quarterback Aaron Rodgers next year. Soccer: Arsenal agreed to pay Gotham F.C. a $100,000 transfer fee for the star defender Jenna Nighswonger. ARTS AND IDEAS In Asheville, N.C. Erin Brethauer for The New York Times Over the past decade, American foodies have come to revere Asheville, N.C. National publications raved about its farm-to-table restaurants and craft breweries. After Hurricane Helene's floods wreaked damage on the city, Pete Wells spent four days speaking with restaurateurs, chefs and farmers as they try to rebuild. More on culture The publisher Dark Horse Comics announced that it would no longer work with the author Neil Gaiman after several women accused him of sexual misconduct. Jon Stewart joked about Trump's firing of more than a dozen inspector generals. "Who knows how many generals will now go uninspected?" he said. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times Add toasted, salted almonds to this version of a classic Italian chocolate cake. Clean your humidifier. Sleep on cotton sheets. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was bellyache. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. 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