China hits back against Trump’s tariffs

Good morning. In right now’s publication:

• China retaliates towards Trump’s tariffs

• Microsoft poaches DeepMind workers behind AI podcast characteristic

• Bangladesh rewrites its previous

Beijing has retaliated towards Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports from China with duties of its personal however restricted their scope in a potential try to keep away from a full-blown commerce battle.

China will impose tariffs of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent on US liquefied pure fuel, coal, crude oil and farm gear. Beijing may also impose tariffs on some automobile imports from the US and extra export controls on 5 uncommon metals. The measures will take impact on February 10.

China’s new tariffs goal about $14bn of products, Citigroup analysts stated — lower than 10 per cent of whole imports from the US in 2023, the final yr for which there was full information.

China additionally introduced yesterday it had revived antitrust investigations into US tech giants Google and Nvidia, whereas contemplating a brand new probe towards Intel.

The investigations “could also be a part of the retaliatory measures”, made by Beijing in response to Trump’s new tariffs towards the nation, stated Liu Xu, a researcher on the Nationwide Technique Institute of Tsinghua College. Xu added that the probes may very well be used as a instrument in commerce negotiations. Here’s what else we know about China’s moves.

• Extra on Trump’s tariffs: The US president’s crackdown on tariff-free entry for small items may threaten the enterprise fashions of Chinese language ecommerce teams Shein and Temu while benefiting Amazon, analysts stated.

For extra protection of world commerce, join Alan Beattie’s weekly Commerce Secrets and techniques publication here for those who’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription. Right here’s what else we’re conserving tabs on right now:

• Financial information: South Korea and Philippines report January inflation information. Indonesia publishes fourth-quarter GDP.

• Outcomes: Toyota, Nomura, Novo Nordisk, Uber and Disney report earnings.

• China: Monetary markets reopen after the lunar new yr vacation.

• Delhi state legislature elections: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata social gathering is hoping to recapture the capital metropolis, which it has not gained for over 27 years. (Related Press)

Have questions concerning the Modi authorities’s plans to reinvigorate the Indian economy? Ship them to us and we’ll reply them in a particular weekend version of the publication. Hit reply or e-mail firstft@ft.com.

5 extra high tales

1. Microsoft’s synthetic intelligence head Mustafa Suleyman has poached his former colleagues at Google DeepMind who constructed its in style podcast-generating characteristic, because the rival firms race to construct profitable functions from the cutting-edge expertise. The characteristic, “Audio Overviews”, permits customers to remodel textual content into audio that has the style of an engaging conversational podcast.

2. FBI brokers are suing the Trump administration to forestall it from publicly naming workers concerned in an investigation into the January 6 Capitol assault in 2021 amid an intensifying crackdown towards the president’s perceived enemies. They allege {that a} justice division try to establish these concerned within the probes risked placing them and their households in “immediate danger of retribution”.

3. Alphabet’s revenues undershot estimates within the fourth quarter because the search big’s cloud enterprise grew slower than anticipated. The Google mum or dad additionally revved up its spending on data centres because it competes with Silicon Valley rivals within the synthetic intelligence race.

4. Apollo International Administration chief government Marc Rowan says a wave of partnerships between different and massive asset managers will shake up Wall Avenue. He stated firms equivalent to Apollo may create co-branded funding funds or “massive managed accounts” with conventional asset managers that may widen buyers’ possession of unlisted belongings.

5. Unique: Citigroup will proceed to permit most workers to work remotely not less than two days every week in a transfer that places it out of step with some rivals and the Trump administration. Right here’s why chief government Jane Fraser described versatile in-office work necessities as a competitive advantage.

Information in-depth

Barely half a yr after Bangladesh’s student-led revolution overthrew Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule, the interim authorities led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is rewriting the nation’s official historical past. College textbooks printed by his authorities have revised the country’s independence narrative and challenged the cult of personalty that was constructed round Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the late father of Sheikh Hasina. However Yunus’s crew faces a spread of obstacles on this effort to remake the nation.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• ‘Honest’ algorithms: Merely including a human evaluation course of to automated techniques doesn’t make tricky trade-offs disappear, writes Sarah O’Connor.

• The Massive Learn: Have America’s industrial giants misplaced their means by measuring success only in financial terms?

• Market Perception: Shifts within the international financial and monetary order are making the idea of the “international south” less effective, writes Mohamed El-Erian.

Chart of the day

Chinese language producers say they’ll speed up efforts to move production to other countries to bypass US tariffs, after Donald Trump introduced a brand new commerce offensive towards Beijing. Chinese language firms have already been diversifying their commerce lately, and China’s share of US imports has fallen markedly since Trump launched tariffs in his first time period in workplace.

Take a break from the information . . . 

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