Top story: Tariff announcement risks China trade war
Good morning, here is the latest on the Beast from the East and storm Emma. Hopefully you are not snowbound in a car while reading this. Wherever you find yourself, please stay safe and warm.
Donald Trump has sent stock markets haywire by announcing stiff tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. “We’re bringing it all back,” said the president, vowing to rebuild the two industries in America and declaring they had been devastated by the unfairness of other countries and neglect by US representatives. “They’ve destroyed the steel industry, they’ve destroyed the aluminum industry,” he railed.
Capping a tumultuous day at the White House, the president slapped a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminium. That triggered a sharp sell-off on Wall Street, which has been followed by losses overnight on Asian markets. The forecaster Econofact says the tariffs might do more harm than good – the US has 2m jobs in industries that are intensive consumers of steel. “Across many states, the number of jobs adversely affected in these steel-using industries could far exceed any steel jobs saved,” Econofact warned.
The move sets the US on a collision course with major steel producer China, whose top trade official, Lui He, is in Washington for talks. China has indicated it could retaliate by targeting US agricultural exports such as soybeans. Canada has also condemned Trump’s decision.
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‘An open European democracy’ – Theresa May’s Brexit speech today has been much anticipated, though snippets coming out overnight suggest no shortage of platitudes aimed at trying to smooth the waters. Speaking at the Mansion House in London, the PM will set out five tests that she says any deal must meet. May will reject being in a customs union with the EU and instead call for a free trade agreement – “the broadest and deepest possible agreement, covering more sectors and cooperating more fully than any free trade agreement anywhere in the world today”. Something, of course, that sounds a lot like a customs union. Keir Starmer says Labour is “waiting in the wings” if May fails to deliver strong leadership and a clear Brexit vision.
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‘Every word was a betrayal’ – Members of the National Rifle Association have predictably gone into meltdown after Donald Trump endorsed gun purchasing restrictions. “Stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” said Joe Biggs, a prominent Texan NRA member, while Trump’s old friends at Breitbart News called him a “gun snatcher”.
The president’s stance might have raised hopes of action – but after he threw the cards in the air, lawmakers actually shelved a quick-fix bill on background checks that fell short of his demands. Signs of the gun lobby’s grip being broken also waned as Trump met NRA delegates at the White House overnight – tweeting afterwards that the meeting was “Good (Great)”. Meanwhile the Rand Corporation has bolstered gun control arguments, releasing findings from an exhaustive bipartisan study indicating an assault weapons ban might prevent 170 mass shooting deaths a year, while universal background checks could stop 1,100 killings and higher age limits could prevent 1,600 deaths.
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‘Misanthropic Division’ – Far-right groups are recruiting Britons to fight with fascist brigades in Ukraine, a watchdog organisation has warned. Hope Not Hate says it appears notorious Ukrainian militia the Azov battalion has only drawn in a few British members so far. The militia’s Misanthropic Division is said to be working with UK-based far-right groups. In its annual State of Hate report, Hope Not Hate says membership of far-right groups in Britain has slipped, and traditional far-right parties like the BNP and National Front are “almost extinct”, but warns of the threat from “an emerging younger generation of far-right activists who are tech savvy, avoid the stereotyped ‘looks’ of the past, and are growing in size and influence”.
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‘Not just a grey mass’ – Adult diabetes comes in five varieties, not just two, according to medical researchers who call for the ditching of the current binary diagnoses of type 1 and type 2. They propose categories ranging from mild – either age-related (MARD) or linked to obesity (MOD) – to severe, caused by insulin deficiency (SIDD), insulin resistance (SIRD) or autoimmunity disorder (SAID). MARD is the single most prevalent type, while roughly 40% of patients fall into the severe categories. “Diabetes is not the grey mass we have been calling type 2 – there are really subsets of the disease that require different treatment,” says Leif Groop, the Lund University professor who led the study.
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Easier on the feet too? Lego is to begin selling “sustainable” pieces made with a plastic sourced from sugar cane. The Danish toymaker says botanical elements such as leaves, bushes and trees will be made entirely from a plant-based polyethylene that is recyclable. They will start appearing in Lego box sets later this year, though making up only 1-2% of pieces produced. Most Lego will still be made of oil-based plastics. The company has set a target to use more sustainable materials and cut down waste by 2030.
Lunchtime read: Unevolved thinking of ‘race science’
You’ve heard about the Ashkenazi Jews right? How they are scientifically proven to have genetically high IQs? It proves, doesn’t it, that some races of people have simply evolved to be more intelligent than others. Well, no – it doesn’t do anything of the sort. Because it’s not true.
Despite being comprehensively debunked, “race science maintains its hold on the imagination of the right”, writes Gavin Evans, “who use it as a political battering ram to push forward their small-state, anti-welfare, anti-foreign-aid agenda”. The rationale is that beneficiaries of affirmative action, aid and education programmes simply can’t be helped. “These claims can only be countered by the slow, deliberate work of science and education. And they need to be.”
Sport
Arsenal’s bad old habits were their undoing once again as Leroy Sané proved to be the catalytic converter for Manchester City in a 3-0 pummelling at the Emirates Stadium. Phil Neville’s reign as England Women’s manager got off to a successful start with a 4-1 demolition of France and a performance that was brimming with attacking intent and purpose.
Not even an epic snowdrift somewhere outside Carlisle prevented Laura Muir getting to Birmingham and winning a superb bronze after a pulsating women’s 3,000m final at the world indoor championships. And Laura Kenny helped Great Britain to a silver medal in the women’s team pursuit at the Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn.
Business
Asian shares have posted steep declines, adding to global stock market losses after Donald Trump vowed to impose stiff steel and aluminium tariffs. “It is bad policy at a bad time and will only add to the risk of a trade war,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital in Sydney.
The pound has been trading at $1.378 and €1.122 overnight.
The papers
It’s a whiteout on most front pages today, with the Times, Scotsman, Telegraph, i, Metro, Sun and Daily Star all leading on the wintry weather. The Express of course doesn’t deviate, though its top concern is that the UK is running out of gas.
The Guardian leads on Theresa May’s big Brexit speech today, in which she is expected to set out five key tests for any future deal. The Financial Times opts for news of advertising giant WPP’s bad year. And the Mirror reports that Ali Abbas – who as a child lost both his arms when a US missile hit his Baghdad home in 2003 – has become a father.
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