How Trump’s tariffs on day one might impact car prices and auto industry
The automotive industry is bracing for Monday, Jan. 20, when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in. Back in November 2024, he promised to place 25% tariffs on neighboring Canada and Mexico as one of his “many first executive orders.”
“Think about this, 70% of all the auto parts we make in Michigan go directly to our neighbors,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday, Jan. 15. “Every time a Michigan auto part crosses over the border and gets taxed, those costs will be passed on to you and to consumers at the dealership. Sometimes those parts cross a couple of times throughout production.”
Whitmer is a Democratic governor in a state won by Trump in November. She told Michiganders she’s “not opposed to tariffs outright,” but that they shouldn’t be used to punish America’s closest trading partners.
Trump said the tariffs will stay in place until Mexico and Canada stop the flow of illegal immigration and drugs. Whitmer said if Trump follows through with his plans, China wins.
“They would love nothing more than to watch us cripple Americans’ auto ecosystem all by ourselves,” she said. “This is a matter of national security.”
Recently, Ford CEO Jim Farley warned, “A lot of our supply chain depends on countries from around the world, and so tariffs are really challenging for any company.”
“What a lot of people might not realize about the automotive industry is that parts cross and go back and cross and go back over the borders, especially in a state like Michigan,” Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Erin Keating told Straight Arrow News. “How do the vehicles actually get tariffed? Is it once they’re finally assembled and they come over? Is it every time a part or a piece or a car passes through the borders?
“So it will be a significant change for a lot of the automakers, especially as it goes on, the longer it goes on, and it will definitely affect consumers,” Keating added.
Keating said in anticipation of tariffs, the auto industry has been stockpiling parts ahead of the transition. Because of strategic moves like that, customers might be shielded from immediate impacts.
Trump eyes executive order to save TikTok as ban nears: Reports
President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly weighing action to delay TikTok’s looming ban as the app’s deadline to sell approaches. Congress passed a law last year requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its American assets, citing national security concerns.
The ban will reportedly take effect Sunday, Jan. 19, unless lawmakers take action.
The potential ban sparked concern among TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users. Many rely on the app for income and content creation. Analysts highlighted risks, including the potential rise of unregulated Chinese alternatives with similar security issues.
Trump’s incoming administration expressed a willingness to address security concerns while preserving the platform.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew plans to attend Trump’s inauguration. Trump invited him to sit “in a position of honor on the dais, where former presidents, family members, and other important guests traditionally are seated,” according to reports. This development marks a significant shift in Trump’s relationship with TikTok. His first administration sought to ban the platform outright.
Reports indicated Trump warmed to TikTok after his campaign saw a surge in popularity on the app during the 2024 election.
Incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said, “TikTok itself is a fantastic platform. We’re going to find a way to preserve it but protect people’s data, and that’s the deal that will be in front of us.”
Outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration also explored ways to soften the ban’s impact during its final days. Officials reportedly considered options to avoid an immediate shutdown. This includes measures to allow the app to continue operating temporarily while ensuring compliance with the law.
TikTok challenged the divestiture requirement in court, arguing it violates the First Amendment right to free speech.
The Supreme Court heard arguments last week and appeared poised to uphold the law. Trump is reportedly considering an executive order to postpone the ban for 60-90 days to allow further negotiations.
Biden’s administration has not committed to blocking the ban but delayed immediate enforcement. Biden’s allies, including lawmakers like Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., called on the White House to extend the timeline.
“I’m hopeful that President Biden will listen to the millions of voices who don’t want the lights to go out on this app,” Khanna said.
Congressional supporters of the ban argued TikTok’s ties to Beijing pose risks to user data and content control.
Chief Justice John Roberts, during Supreme Court arguments, pointed to Congress’ finding that TikTok’s parent company is subject to Chinese laws, saying, “So are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?”
Here’s why Trump probably wants the Panama Canal back
Is the United States going to use military force to take control of the Panama Canal? The question was posed to President-elect Donald Trump. The answer: maybe?
But Trump definitely did not rule it out. So, the question many might be asking is, why?
When talking about the canal, there are a lot of national security and economic interests for the United States. In fact, that’s why it was built in the first place.
In 1898, the USS Oregon was going from California to Cuba during the Spanish-American War and had to sail around South America to get there.
So, President Teddy Roosevelt worked with newly-independent Panama to order the canal’s construction. In 1914, it opened.
“The Canal Zone was given to the United States in perpetuity,” said Sal Mercogliano, a college professor and shipping expert. “We paid the Panamanians $10 million and an annual stipend of $250,000. That was upped in two subsequent treaties, in 1936 and 1955.”
The U.S. military’s Southern Command was based there until 1999. That’s when the U.S. handed control of the canal over to the Panamanians thanks to a deal reached during President Jimmy Carter’s administration. But the U.S. still uses the canal –– a lot.
“The biggest single user of the canal, outshining everyone probably combined, is the United States,” Mercogliano said. “Now, it’s not U.S. ships so much going through, but it’s U.S. cargo going through. The second country that uses it the most is China.”
That all makes sense when you think about it. The U.S. and China are huge trade partners, which means lots of goods going back and forth to each other’s ports. The U.S. also sends a lot of goods to other Pacific nations from the East Coast, and from one side of the country to the other. It’s just a lot cheaper than trying to do it by rail.
Mercogliano said all of that China-linked trade also attracts Chinese investment in some of the canal’s ancillary functions, like port operations and water management.
“Which is very typical for what we see from China around the world,” Mercogliano explained. “They have influence in a lot of ports and a lot of infrastructure around the world. The concern that, obviously, the United States has is: should an instance occur that could prevent us from using the canal? This is vital for us.
“We have seen a time where the U.S. gets into a conflict where maybe our actions upset allies. Or maybe someone doesn’t want to be seen as, quote-unquote, supporting those allies. For example recently [in the conflict with] Israel-Gaza, [the United States] sent a ship through the Panama Canal from the West Coast that was carrying an Iron Dome system back to Israel. Recently, we also had a ship that was stopping in Spain and the Spanish authorities said that ship can’t dock in Spain.
“What if Panama decides to say, ‘Hey, because of what’s happening in this region, we’re not going to allow your ships to go through?’ That’s the fear that exists, that the Panamanians may sit there and say, ‘Listen, we don’t want to show complicity, or that we support your view in this action and therefore we’re not going to do it.’”
Mercogliano said there are also concerns about resource management and damage to the canal. The locks are fed by a freshwater lake, and if the lake runs low or dry, the canal can shut down. It is also fairly easy to damage the canal’s infrastructure. If ships can’t transit the 50-mile stretch of water connecting the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, then response times to, say, potential conflicts in the Pacific would be hampered.
And while U.S. aircraft carriers are still too big to fit through the canal, Mercogliano said destroyers, submarines and, most importantly, strategic sea lift vessels can.
“[Strategic sea left vessels are] the vessels we require to pick up the Army and drop them off,” Mercogliano said. “We have a third of our strategic sea lift on the East Coast, a third on the Gulf Coast, and a third on the Pacific Coast. If you run a scenario where we need to deploy forces across the Pacific, and China puts leverage against Panama and says, ‘Listen, Panama, don’t allow American military ships to come through,’ then two-thirds of our strategic sea lift are on the wrong side of the canal. And what that means is it’s just a longer deployment cycle to get ships there. Doesn’t mean we can’t get them there. There are alternatives. But the reason we built the canal in the first place back in 1914 was to have that shortcut.”
While no one is directly accusing China of making plans to prevent the U.S. from using the canal, people aren’t exactly waiting for it to happen before acting, either.
Some members of the U.S. Congress already introduced a bill to purchase the canal. And even if Panama’s president said it wasn’t for sale, Mercogliano said the fact we’re talking about this at all shows how focused the incoming Trump administration is on maritime issues; predicting a very busy four years ahead for the sector.
Chinese drone company won’t stop users from flying over sensitive US sites
The United States’ top-selling hobby drone producer, DJI, is implementing a major change to its drone technology. The company announced on Monday, Jan. 13, it is abandoning its previous “geo-blocking” feature, which locks up a drone and initiates a mechanism forcing it to hover in place around a “geofenced” area if it entered a sensitive U.S. airspace.
Now, when users enter a no-fly-zone, in-app alerts will pop up and warn the operator that they are near U.S. Federal Aviation Administration controlled space.
The new feature leaves the choice to continue into restricted areas up to the operator of the drone, but banks on the alert discouraging users from going any further over fears of the legal consequences.
The company said the move puts the “final responsibility” on the person using the drone, and its initial move to implement geo-blocking over a decade ago was strictly voluntary. The FAA said it does not require “geofencing from drone manufacturers.”
The move to give users more control to go where they want, when they want is raising safety concerns.
A recent example of that was a collision involving a firefighting aircraft and a DJI drone in restricted airspace over the Palisades Fire, which forced the plane, known as a “Super Scooper,” to be grounded with a damaged wing.
The FBI said it is looking into the incident.
U.S. authorities are also concerned about DJI drones for other reasons. DJI is a Chinese company, and the United States is already concerned that Beijing is spying on sensitive military sites.
The U.S. is blocking some of the company’s imports through an essential ban over these concerns soon, and has called DJI a “Chinese military company.” DJI denies that it gives any data to China, but may be forced to, under Chinese law.
Biden makes late foreign policy moves on Cuba and Asia-Pacific nations
President Joe Biden is making some final foreign policy moves with less than a week left in office. His latest actions address U.S. relations with two adversaries: Cuba and China.
Biden will drop Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and reverse some of then-President Donald Trump’s actions tightening U.S. policies toward Cuba.
In return, Cuba will release hundreds of political prisoners before Biden leaves office, according to senior Biden administration officials speaking anonymously. In total, Cuba says it will release 553 people as part of the deal, brokered by the Catholic Church.
President-elect Trump will have the power to reverse the declaration. His pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is the son of Cuban immigrants who fled before the current ruling communist government took power in 1959. Rubio has called for more sanctions against Cuba.
Biden also sent Congress notice asking them to approve agreements with three Asia-Pacific countries: Thailand, Palau and the Marshall Islands.
All three deals could help the U.S. build alliances in a region where China is asserting its control.
The deal with Thailand is a 30-year nuclear cooperation agreement that calls for sharing unclassified nuclear equipment to help Thailand produce energy.
Meanwhile, the deals with Palau and the Marshall Islands are free association agreements. The U.S. provides services like disaster relief and postal infrastructure in exchange for a U.S. military presence in the countries.
The incoming Trump administration has not signaled major opposition to these deals. The president-elect will work to rein in China’s global influence during his term.
Nvidia criticizes Biden over his new AI chip rules, praises Trump
The second most valuable company in the world is taking aim at President Joe Biden, while at the same time praising President-elect Donald Trump. Nvidia’s criticism is in response to Biden’s last minute export controls on AI chips.
Nvidia’s Vice President of Government Affairs Ned Finkle called the new rules “misguided” and “sweeping overreach” in a blog post on Monday, Jan. 13.
“In its last days in office the Biden administration seeks to undermine America’s leadership with a 200+ page regulatory morass, drafted in secret and without proper legislative review,” Finkle wrote.
Biden’s policy changes would steer sales to allies, while curbing access to countries where there are national security concerns, like China. That’s another blow to Nvidia, which often sells its products to Chinese companies.
Nvidia’s China revenue has already taken a hit over past restrictions. It dropped from around a quarter of total revenue to 10%-15% in recent years.
Finkle’s blog post goes on to applaud Trump. He said his first administration showed “America wins through innovation, not by retreating behind a wall of government overreach.”
“We look forward to a return to policies that strengthen American leadership, bolster our economy and preserve our competitive edge in AI and beyond,” Finkle said.
The stance is a departure from Nvidia’s approach during the presidential campaign. The company and its CEO Jensen Huang stayed quiet on politics and did not make an endorsement.
This latest policy rule from Biden includes a 120-day comment period, leaving Trump’s incoming administration in charge of seeing it through.
In Trump’s first term, his team did restrict Chinese companies from getting their hands on the best U.S. semiconductor tech.
Another Chinese app rises in popularity in the US as TikTok ban looms
With a TikTok ban possibly hitting the United States in less than a week, another Chinese social media app is quickly gaining traction. Xiaohongshu, known as “RedNote” in English, surged to the top spot among free apps in the Apple App Store on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
The app launched in 2013 and has 300 million monthly users. It checks a lot of the boxes TikTok users are looking for in an alternative to share and consume content, including short-form videos, images, community engagement and shopping features.
Chinese users on the app have welcomed American users with the hashtag “TikTok refugees,” which is getting millions of views and comments.
Some content creators are hoping to rebuild communities they had on TikTok, as others are moving to the app to protest the U.S. government.
TikTok’s looming shutdown largely comes from national security concerns related to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
RedNote is owned by a Shanghai-based company, Xingyin Information Technology.
What issues will arise with users moving to another Chinese app?
More scrutiny from the U.S. government over privacy and data concerns is likely to follow, similar to ByteDance.
Some who haven’t been as eager to download RedNote have raised concerns about its terms of service.
Part of the document states the company can use user data without authorization when it’s “necessary for the performance of statutory duties or obligations.” This means the company may be required to use user data to fulfill legal responsibilities or to comply with government regulations.
In China, internet and social media companies are required to comply with all requests from the communist government.
RedNote’s terms of service also state the company can use user data to “carry out news reporting and supervision by public opinion for the public interest” and in “other circumstances provided by laws and regulations.” This means user data can be shared with journalists and in situations that aren’t specifically listed without permission.
Yahoo News talked with digital safety experts who said since RedNote is relatively unknown in the U.S., it should be “approached with caution.”
The founder of fraud protection platform Hitprobe, John Jackson, told Yahoo that RedNote doesn’t have the same level of child protection that other apps have, saying it’s “an unsafe platform for young people to use.”
Another issue is user experience. Many Americans who joined the app are relying on translation tools to navigate the Chinese platform, which is different from TikTok since it was created for a global audience.
If ByteDance does not sell TikTok by Jan. 19, the app will be illegal for distribution through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
China floats Elon Musk as possible future owner of US TikTok: Report
Chinese officials are weighing options for TikTok as the popular short-form video app faces an outright ban in the U.S. on Jan. 19. One possible option they are discussing is selling its U.S. operations to X owner Elon Musk, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The Chinese government would “strongly” prefer TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, remain the app’s owner, according to Bloomberg sources. But they have discussed Musk’s X taking over TikTok’s U.S. arm as a possible contingency.
Bloomberg said it is unclear whether Musk, X, TikTok or ByteDance are involved in these discussions with Chinese government officials.
Despite his ownership of a rival social media platform, Musk has adamantly maintained that TikTok shouldn’t be banned.
In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform.
Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.
“In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the X platform,” Musk posted in April. “Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.”
Musk has had positive dealings with the Chinese government as part of his role as CEO of Tesla.
Recently, President-elect Donald Trump said TikTok has a “warm spot” in his heart, despite being the first president to propose banning the app on national security concerns during his first administration.
“We’ll take a look at TikTok,” he said in December. “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it.”
Based on a Tufts University analysis of Associated Press data, Vice President Kamala Harris won the under-30 vote by four points, though Trump did make major gains in the age group and won under-30 men by 14 points, a group he lost in 2020.
In recent months, ByteDance hoped the situation could be resolved in the courts. Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether the ban should be upheld.
The people cited in Bloomberg’s report said Beijing may get more involved in the negotiations, despite ByteDance’s repeated claims it operates independently from the Chinese government. Chinese officials see it as an opportunity to work with the Trump administration, with promises of tariffs and export controls on the docket.
A day before the Supreme Court heard arguments over TikTok, billionaire and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s group put in a formal bid to take over the app.
The People’s Bid for TikTok also includes investor Kevin O’Leary and has been in the works since May 2024. The value of that offer wasn’t made public but McCourt has said he doesn’t need the highly coveted algorithm as part of the deal, which could significantly decrease the value of U.S. operations.
‘In position to wreak havoc’: FBI director warns of China threat before retirement
Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray called China’s cyber capabilities “the defining threat of our generation” during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.” Wray warned that China has already infiltrated critical U.S. infrastructure, including water treatment plants, the electrical grid, natural gas pipelines and telecommunications.
Wray explained that China has “pre-positioned” malware within these systems.
“There’s another part of the threat that has not gotten the attention it desperately deserves, and that’s the Chinese government’s pre-positioning on American civilian infrastructure, to lie in wait, to be in a position to wreak havoc and inflict real-world harm at a time and place of their choosing,” Wray said.
Wray also raised concerns about China’s ability to spy on high-level U.S. officials, suggesting Beijing may have intercepted communications from figures such as President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, and national security personnel. While Wray did not confirm specific targets, “60 Minutes” verified that China had monitored communications from these individuals.
Other reports point to the broader implications of Chinese espionage operations. U.S. senior officials told the Washington Post that Chinese hackers maintain access to American telecom companies, potentially exposing millions of mobile phone users from three major U.S. carriers.
The threat Wray described is echoed in the annual report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which labeled China as the most “persistent” cyber threat to U.S. government and private-sector networks. The report suggests that if Beijing were to enter a conflict with the U.S., it might consider aggressive cyber operations targeting U.S. military and civilian assets to disrupt troop deployments and cause societal panic.
China has long been accused of engaging in state-sponsored hacking campaigns targeting the U.S. and other nations.
In response to these activities, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Integrity Technology Group Inc., a Beijing-based cybersecurity firm, on Jan. 3. The company is linked to the “Flax Typhoon” hacking group, which has been targeting U.S. critical infrastructure sectors since at least 2021.
However, China continues to deny these accusations. At a Jan. 6 news briefing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected claims of state-sponsored hacking and criticized the U.S. for using cybersecurity issues to vilify China.
China’s Solar Great Wall aims to power millions of homes, combat desertification
China is developing a massive renewable energy project in the Kubuqi Desert of Inner Mongolia, a barren expanse now set to host one of the world’s largest stretches of solar energy infrastructure. Known as the Solar Great Wall, the project aims to generate power while addressing environmental challenges in the region.
Spanning nearly 250 miles in length, the Solar Great Wall will leverage the desert’s flat terrain and abundant sunlight to maximize solar power production.
Upon completion in 2030, the project is expected to achieve a total capacity of 100 gigawatts, enough to potentially power around 29 million homes.
In addition to generating electricity, the project is designed to contribute to environmental conservation efforts. By stabilizing wind-eroded dunes and reducing evaporation through solar shading, the Solar Great Wall helps combat desertification.
The project also supports ecological restoration by enabling vegetation growth under its solar panels, transforming sections of the arid desert into greener areas.
China remains a global leader in solar energy, accounting for 51% of the world’s solar capacity as of mid-2024. Between 2017 and 2023, the country consistently added an average of 40,000 megawatts of solar capacity annually. The Solar Great Wall is expected to further solidify China’s position at the forefront of the renewable energy sector.