Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- Lawmakers Push to Ban DeepSeek App From U.S. Government Devices — The bipartisan bill comes amid concerns that the application allows China to see user data.
- Why Trump Is Closing a Trade Exemption for China — Here’s how to understand de minimis and how it turbocharged bargain platforms Shein and Temu.
- China Disputes U.S. Tariffs Against Imports in World Trade Organization Complaint — China alleges that the tariffs are based on unfounded and false allegations, and are in excess of the U.S.’s bound rates in a tariff agreement from 1994.
- Tariff Turmoil Elevates Customs Brokers to Star Role in Supply Chains — Trump’s rapidly shifting campaign of tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China are thrusting into the spotlight a corner of logistics that is usually an afterthought in global supply chains.
- Trump’s Arctic Goals Demand Icebreakers, but U.S. Struggles to Build Them — The president plans to order new icebreakers to help compete with Russia and China, but the first one the U.S. has built in decades isn’t expected to be finished until after 2030.
- Postal Service Resumes Shipments of China Parcels — The service said it would work with Customs to collect new tariffs with ‘least disruption’ to package deliveries.
- Opinion: China Watches as Russia’s Economy Teeters — More sanctions could push Moscow over the edge and serve as a deterrent to Beijing. By Thomas J. Duesterberg.
The Financial Times
- Pernod Ricard cuts sales outlook on tariff uncertainty — French spirits group hit by slump in Chinese demand for cognac following anti-dumping measures.
- Rapid trials prompt deals rush for Chinese ‘super me-too’ drugs — Western drugmakers look to Chinese trials for early data on treatments’ potential success.
- Trump’s trade war adds to ‘clear decoupling’ on central bank rate cuts — The Bank of England is expected to follow Eurozone and Canadian counterparts by cutting while the Federal Reserve holds.
- Hongkongers in UK struggle to make skills pay in jobs market — Barriers to employment for new migrants mean many are overqualified.
- Wall Street quizzes US companies over tariff risks — Analysts bombard executives of listed companies with questions on coping with trade wars.
- EU probes Shein over consumer protection — Brussels to examine whether Chinese-founded fashion group that is targeting London listing is selling illegal goods.
- Opinion: South-east Asia calculates its next move as US and China face off — Investment is pouring into the region, but extracting value is proving harder than expected. By Chris Miller.
- Opinion: The world’s exporters search for new customers if Trump cuts off trade — With China also reducing imports, demand from the voracious American consumer will be hard to replace. By Alan Beattie.
The New York Times
- USPS Reverses Decision to Halt Parcel Service From China — The reversal reflects the challenge that shipping and delivery companies will face as a result of President Trump’s executive order requiring greater inspection of packages.
- Opinion: Trump Is Failing the Marshmallow Test. Again. — Binyamin Appelbaum and Patrick Healy sit down to discuss President Trump’s reckless approach to trade and the economy. By Binyamin Appelbaum and Patrick Healy.
- Opinion: Want Free Trade? May I Introduce You to the Tariff. — Countries with democratic governments and mostly free economies should come together and create a new trade regime, based on balance. By Robert E. Lighthizer.
Caixin
- Billionaire Investment Banker Bao Fan May Face Bribery Charges, Sources Say — Investigators have identified a 20 million-yuan sign-on bonus paid to former ICBC executive Cong Lin as possible corruption.
- MSD Halts Supply of HPV Vaccine to China After Slump in Demand — Move will ease strain on Chinese distributor Zhifei Biological as inventory mounts.
- ByteDance Is Already Looking Beyond TikTok — ByteDance is shifting its strategy to focus on other forms of free, algorithm-steered content that have proved to be successful, if controversial, sources of growth in its home market.
South China Morning Post
- Alibaba bolsters consumer AI team with expert Steven Hoi amid race for top tech talent — Veteran AI researcher Steven Hoi was named a vice-president at Alibaba, joining its Intelligent Information Platform unit based in Singapore.
- As trade war threats rain down, Premier Li says China must ‘turn pressure into motivation’ — First government work day in the Year of the Snake features strong State Council message aimed at shoring up confidence in the face of venomous challenges.
- Beijing denounces Taiwanese leader William Lai as ‘destroyer of cross-strait peace’ — Lai labelled a ‘creator of Taiwan Strait crises’ after he reiterates view that island and mainland China are ‘not subordinate’ to each other.
- China’s first counter-sanction on US biotech industry marks a turning point in tech war — Leading American genomic sequencing firm Illumina says it is evaluating Beijing’s announcement with hope of ‘positive resolution’.
- Thailand adds last piece in China rail link as bilateral ties get back on track — Thai cabinet has given green light to US$10.2 billion project, with construction set to be completed by 2030.
Nikkei Asia
- China’s tight grip on Hong Kong led to Trump’s Panama gambit — Central American country to withdraw from Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
- Shein and Temu adjust as Trump uncertainty enshrouds e-tailers — Platforms face ‘greater urgency’ for U.S.-based fulfillment; small Chinese sellers at risk.
- Australia, South Korea among Asian countries cracking down on DeepSeek — Government bodies ban Chinese startup from work computers over security worries.
Bloomberg
- Hegseth Talks South China Sea ‘Deterrence’ With Philippines — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines during a call with his counterpart in Manila in the face of geopolitical tensions in South China Sea.
- McKinsey Partners Debate China Presence as US Tensions Rise — McKinsey & Co. partners have been questioning the consulting giant’s presence in China, worried that doing business there may not be worth the risks given the Asian superpower’s increasingly volatile relationship with the US.
- The DeepSeek Competitors Vying to Be China’s Next AI Champion — The next DeepSeek to disrupt the global artificial intelligence industry could also come from China.
Reuters
- China’s U.S. ethane imports to surge in 2025 in drive to cut costs — U.S. export capacity and a lack of tankers are the two factors holding back growth in the ethane trade between the world’s two biggest economies. Nearly all of China’s ethane imports come from the U.S.
- Trump’s de minimis cancellation is bad news for Temu, but worse for Shein — Nomura analysts estimate that the volume of de minimis shipments to the U.S. could plummet by 60%, as American shoppers ordering from Shein, Temu and Amazon Haul face higher prices.
- China challenges Trump tariffs at WTO as package shippers warn of chaos — China argues in the document that Trump’s new duties aimed at halting the flow of fentanyl opioids and their precursor chemicals to the U.S. “are imposed on the basis of unfounded and false allegations concerning China.”
Other Publications
- The Guardian: ‘Bring me my tariffs’: how Trump’s China plan was 40 years in the making — Both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump’s political careers were shaped by their formative experiences in the 1980s – and, above all, their encounters with Japan.
- Foreign Policy: Trump Is Behaving a Lot Like Beijing — The U.S. president’s designs on Gaza and other territories mirror China’s failed wolf warrior diplomacy.
- Foreign Affairs: China’s Trump Strategy — Beijing Is Preparing to Take Advantage of Disruption.
- The Washington Post: Trump wants a TikTok deal. China may pull the plug. — TikTok-parent ByteDance is holding up the process, waiting for signals from an increasingly wary Beijing, according to people familiar with the talks.
- The Atlantic: How Trump Lost His Trade War — When the U.S. breaks its treaties, only China wins.
