Vance says Trump administration eyeing China crackdowns, with stocks in crosshairs

 The Trump administration is weighing tough crackdowns on China, including pulling Chinese stocks from U.S. exchanges, Vice President JD Vance told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo.

"I think we need to look at everything," he said in an interview segment that aired during "Mornings with Maria" on Monday. 

"We need to look at tariffs. We need to look certainly at some restrictive activities when it comes to their stock exchanges. We need to look at ways of pushing back against intellectual property theft. We need to look at ways maybe of expelling certain Chinese nationals who are using our openness as a society to take advantage of the United States of America."

Vice President J.D. Vance speaks to Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo in an interview that appeared on "Sunday Morning Futures" and "Mornings with Maria." (FOXBusiness)

Vance sat down with Bartiromo for an exclusive "Sunday Morning Futures" interview when tensions with China – especially in light of President Trump's tariffs – came into focus.

While he declined to "make any commitments" on Trump's behalf, he disclosed that Trump is considering everything as a possibility while his administration "fight[s] back against the threat to our country."

The White House announced on Saturday that the Trump administration is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China, in a move intended to hold the three countries "accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country." 

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters after signing an executive order, "Unleashing prosperity through deregulation," in the Oval Office on January 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke to reporters about tariffs against China, Canada and (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Neighboring countries Mexico and Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs. However, Trump said Monday he will pause new tariffs on Mexico for one month after its president agreed to send 10,000 troops to the U.S. border. Trump also posted on social media that he spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and "would be speaking to him again at 3:00 P.M." 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, argued that unilateral tariff hikes "severely violate" World Trade Organization rules and "cannot solve the U.S.'s problems at home and more importantly, does not benefit either side, still less the world." 

"China is one of the world’s toughest countries on counternarcotics both in terms of policy and its implementation. Fentanyl is an issue for the U.S.," the Foreign Ministry claimed in its statement released in English. 

video

Trump tariffs are a '2,000 pound bomb,' Ex-US ambassador says

Former U.S. ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker joins 'Mornings with Maria' to react to President Donald Trump's tariffs set to take effect in China, Mexico and Canada as the he vows levying tariffs on the E.U.

The spokesperson claims that China has supported the U.S.'s response to the fentanyl issue, adding that the country became the "first in the world" to "officially schedule fentanyl-related substances as a class" in 2019 at the U.S.'s request and "conducted counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S. side in a broad-based way."

The statement additionally suggested that fentanyl is America's issue to resolve, and additional tariffs could obstruct the "counternarcotics cooperation" with the U.S. in the future.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/jd-vance-trump-administration-eyeing-china-crackdowns-china-stocks-crosshairs

Cigna price target lowered to $350 from $400 at Cantor Fitzgerald

 Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the firm’s price target on Cigna (CI) to $350 from $400 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Cantor is confident that Cigna can correct their stop-loss pricing throughout the year and is optimistic on Evernorth, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm notes that the stop-loss troubles are not Cigna-specific.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cigna-price-target-lowered-350-135053431.html

'EU must stay united in face of Trump's tariff threat, Spanish minister says'

 The European Union must remain united to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to levy tariffs on its products, Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Monday.

The EU was open to trade and in favour of a globalised world market, though the bloc should not be "naive" and protect its companies and should make sure they were in a position to compete in equal conditions with rivals from other countries, Cuerpo said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE.

Newly elected Trump ordered sweeping tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China on Saturday.

In the past Trump has vowed imposing tariffs on European goods too, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday he has not made up his mind about a timeline for implementing those tariffs.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-02-03/eu-must-remain-united-to-respond-to-trumps-tariffs-threat-spanish-economy-minister-says

'Ontario Rips Up $100 Million Starlink Contract In Response To Trump's Trade War'

 Premier Doug Ford of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party announced on X that, in response to President Trump's escalating trade war—including a 25% tariff on Canadian goods—the provincial government would be "ripping up" its contract with Elon Musk's Starlink, which was set to provide high-speed internet to rural communities.

Ford's statement on X:

Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts. Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame. We're going one step further. We'll be ripping up the province's contract with Starlink. Ontario won't do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn't start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we're ready to win it.

One X user asked Ford a very good question: "Does that mean you're dropping Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure or Oracle?" 

The Starlink contract with the gov't of Ontario was announced in late 2024 and would bring high-speed internet to thousands of homes in remote and rural communities across the region.

Back to snail-slow internet... 

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/ontario-rips-100-million-starlink-contract-response-trumps-trade-war-chaos

Andreesen: "Most Exciting And High-Stakes Race In All Human History Is Now Underway"

 By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

“DeepSeek-R1 is AI’s Sputnik moment,” posted Marc Andreesen on X, talking his book as all great investors do.

Nothing could be better for the venture tech business than an existential race for AI supremacy. But given the whole world’s fascination with AI, will DeepSeek represent a broader Sputnik moment for America?

It’s important of course, because competition lifts us all. The higher the stakes, the more determined and creative our efforts. Profits tend to compound alongside our advances, and so it is that the S&P 500 index which launched in 1957, months before the Soviet Union hurled Sputnik into orbit, has rallied 91,411% (including dividends) through 2024 (that’s a +10.6% average annual return, +6.7% real).

But such financial returns pale in comparison to our engineering accomplishments. Since Sputnik ignited the American drive to dominate all rivals, our scientists have invented supercomputers that are 100 trillion times faster than the 1957 state of the art IBM 704.

Back then, Khruschev wanted to import American technology and equipment, but the US restricted such transfers. Soviet exports to the US in 1957 were $16.8mm/yr, imports were $4.5mm. That’s what that Cold War looked like.

What might today’s eventually look like? The Australian Strategic Policy Institute published a 2024 paper covering 64 critical technologies across sectors, including defense, space, energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, cyber computing, biotechnology, advanced materials, and quantum technologies.

From 2003 to 2007, the US led the world in 60 out of 64 critical technologies. However, from 2019 to 2023, China leads in 57 out of 64 technologies, while the US now leads in only 7.

China’s most recent gains have occurred in quantum sensors, high-performance computing, gravitational sensors, and advanced semiconductor chip making.

The US now has a truly formidable competitor. It should be a terrifying prospect for lazy Americans. And a wakeup call for all exceptionalists.

The most exciting and high-stakes race in all human history is now well underway.

And the question of our day, is will Americans again rise to the moment? 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/hedge-fund-cio-most-exciting-and-high-stakes-race-all-human-history-now-underway

USAID Workers Told To Stay Home, Musk 'Spent Weekend Feeding It Into The Wood Chipper'

 It's happening fast after Sunday statements of Elon Musk confirming President Trump "agreed" to shut USAID down... USAID's headquarters in Washington D.C. has been closed for the day on Monday, with employees receiving an early morning email telling them to remain at home.

Musk says the agency has effectively been shut down. The email, which is now widely circulating on social media postings, was sent from Gavin Kliger via an official usaid.gov. address. He is one among the twenty-somethings assisting Musk in implementing Trump's order to slash foreign aid and stop waste.

"Logos and photos of its aid work have been stripped from building walls," CNN writes of the HQ's sudden closure. This after all web and and social media accounts went dark over the weekend, now with a simplified version of its webpage on the State Department’s website.

"None of this could be done without the full support of the president," Musk said in a Sunday X Spaces event. “I went over it with him in detail, and he agreed with that we should shut it down. I want to be clear. I actually checked with him a few times. I said, "Are you sure?’ ‘Yes.’ So we’re shutting it down."

Thousands of staff have told media outlets that they have lost access to their email accounts, which have been deactivated.

A USAID worker has subsequently said: "We have been officially informed that the US Department of State now has access to all of our internal documents and our entire suite of files, documents, everything — all of our systems." Top officials were fired over the weekend.

Musk says "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper"...

Access to USAID's Google drive and other sensitive data has reportedly been transferred straight under the State Department. It appears any future foreign aid programs will simply be run out of the State Department, with more executive branch oversight.

One big question that remains is how much noise Congressional leaders will make. Will Congress attempt intervention, also as there are reports that Musk and DOGE have access to the US Treasury's payment system?

USAID HQ in D.C.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/usaid-workers-told-stay-home-early-morning-email-musk-spent-weekend-feeding-usaid-wood

Trump Effect: US Manufacturing Surveys Signal 'Expansion' For First Time In 16 Months

 For the first time since June 2024, the S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI broke above 50 (expansion) in final January data (rising from 49.4 in Dec to 50.1 flash PMI for Jan to 51.2 final).

The ISM Manufacturing print for January also beat expectations, rising to 50.9 (into expansion for the first time since Sept 2022), better than the 49,.9 exp and the 49.2 prior.

Source: Bloomberg

All the underlying components for the ISM rose with Prices Paid at their highest since May 2024, New Orders highest since May 2022, and Employmenmt back into expansion for the first time since May 2024...

Source: Bloomberg

Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, sees the 'Trump Effect' playing a major role:

“A new year and a new President has brought new optimism in the US manufacturing sector.

Business confidence about prospects for the year ahead has leaped to the highest for nearly three years after one of the largest monthly gains yet recorded by the survey.

Over the past decade, only two months during the reopening of the economy from pandemic lockdowns have seen business sentiment improve as markedly as recorded in January.

As Bidenomics fades into oblivion:

“Manufacturers report that political uncertainty has cleared and the pro-business approach from the new administration has brightened their prospects.

Production has already improved after falling throughout much of the last half of 2024, amid rising domestic sales.

Factories have also stepped up their hiring to meet planned growth of production capacity.

However,

“...a rise in the rate of increase of both input costs and selling prices could become a concern if this intensification of inflationary pressures is sustained in the coming months, especially as the combination of higher price pressures alongside accelerating economic growth and rising employment is not typically conducive to cutting interest rates.”

We shall see...

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/trump-effect-us-manfacturing-surveys-signal-expansion-first-time-16-months