Beiyi Seow

Delivering remarks in Rehoboth, President Biden says plans to speak to former president Trump soon, hopes to speak to him tonight.

Trump says he’ll try to pay TSA agents by executive order. (It’s not at all clear he can, to put it mildly.)

Trump expects to visit China in "about five or six weeks," delaying a visit originally planned for Mar 31 - Apr 2 due to his war on Iran -- @AureliaEndAFP reports: channelnewsasia.com/world/china-us…

Financial Times reports that Trump says he’s expecting China to help unblock Strait of Hormuz before he travels to Beijing at the end of the month — also said his trip could be delayed.

US-China talks taking place in Paris this Sunday and Monday, with top economic officials meeting at OECD’s headquarters. This comes ahead of President Trump’s planned travel to China where he’s expected to meet Chinese leader Xi.

A US federal judge has quashed subpoenas in the Justice Department's probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, sparking sharp criticism from US prosecutor Jeanine Pirro. She vows that the DOJ will appeal the judge's "outrageous decision," per @AsadHashim

This morning: US GDP growth revised sharply lower for the fourth quarter, from 1.4% initially estimated to a 0.7% annual rate.

In other news, US also confirmed Bessent, USTR Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet in Paris on Sunday and Monday, ahead of President Trump's visit to China in less than 3 weeks -- where he's expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping: barrons.com/news/top-us-ch…

US on Thursday temporarily authorized the purchase of more Russian oil that is already at sea -- a move that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says aims to "increase the global reach of existing supply" as energy prices surge.

USTR says launching new section 301 probes that could lead to further tariffs. These include investigations on excess capacity in manufacturing, targeting partners ranging from the EU to Japan and India, even Singapore.

US Customs says in a court filing that it is preparing a new process to handle tariff refunds, which could be ready for use in 45 days. But it cannot immediately comply with a court order to refund tariffs ruled illegal as it lacks capabilities: macaubusiness.com/us-customs-say…

China prepares landmark law curtailing minority language rights - @FT One of many developments at the Two Sessions in Beijing that will get overshadowed by the Middle East Story quotes a report I co-authored, saying the law "will expand the legal basis for restricting religious, cultural and political activities among minority groups" From the story by @leahyjoseph : "China is set to enact a landmark law requiring ethnic minorities to use Mandarin Chinese as their main language of instruction, overturning decades-old policies that date back to the era of Mao Zedong. The new law, which analysts expect to be passed at the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament this week, is aimed at 'forging a sense of community in the Chinese nation', according to a draft of the legislation. It also threatens legal action against anyone, inside or outside China, who undermines 'national unity' or provokes 'separatism'. The sweeping law marks the latest effort in a 'Sinicisation' campaign under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which critics say aims to force the country’s dozens of ethnic minorities to assimilate into Han-dominated society in the name of promoting inter-ethnic harmony. China’s Han majority accounts for about 90 per cent of its population of 1.4bn, but the country recognises 56 official minorities, a dozen languages — some with their own written scripts — and hundreds of dialects. Under the new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, while minority languages may still be taught as a second language, groups such as Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians will no longer be entitled to use their native tongues for core subjects in schools and universities."

All eyes on the Court of International Trade’s next moves when it comes to tariff refunds:

President Trump gave the order for Iran strikes at 3.38pm, Gen. Caine says. Trump was on Air Force One at the time, along with the press pool, shortly before landing in Corpus Christi, Texas. At about 4.29pm my pool colleague @BernieDebusmann asked him: ‘How close are you to making a decision on strikes?’ Trump replied ‘I’d rather not tell you. You would have had the greatest scoop in history, right?’ Then he gave a speech and went to a Whataburger restaurant

Flights across the Middle East were cancelled Saturday as several countries slammed their airspace shut after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the UAE announced at least partial closures of their skies. timesofmalta.com/article/airspa….

Trump concludes longest State of the Union speech

Trump’s new, temporary 10% global tariff has taken effect after the Supreme Court struck down a large part of his duties last Friday. But the 15% he threatened over the weekend to impose has yet to come into force.

Recall that the Section 232 exemptions from this new tariff, alongside USMCA exclusions, are expected to remain in place.

So Trump is raising his incoming global tariff from 10% to 15% — this new rate was imposed after Supreme Ct struck down his countrywide tariffs yesterday. Still expected to be under Sec 122, meaning they last up to 150 days while govt works out more durable actions:

The 10% duty takes effect February 24, 12:01am ET, and covers the same exemptions that reciprocal tariffs did. This spares sectors separately targeted like steel, aluminium and autos, and those under existing Sec 232 probes like semiconductors and pharma products.

Trump says he has signed a new 10% tariff, after Supreme Court struck down a swath of his global duties on Friday.