Canada and China retaliate after new U.S. tariffs take effect. A cold front and rain could offer some respite in South Carolina, where wildfires are burning. And how mass federal firings could impact your weather forecast.
Here’s what to know today.
Trade tensions heat up as China and Canada retaliate against U.S. tariffs
China and Canada moved swiftly to respond to new tariffs imposed by the U.S., which took effect at midnight, while Mexico’s president is expected to announce her response at a news conference this morning. The new levies could further disrupt U.S. trade with its top three trading partners.
The U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on almost all goods imported from Canada and Mexico after a 30-day delay, during which the leaders of both countries announced moves to tighten border security. China was also hit with an additional 10% in tariffs.
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China said it will impose a 15% tariff on American chicken, wheat, corn and cotton and a 10% tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, fruits, vegetables, dairy and fish products, effective March 10. This latest move in the tit-for-tat could mean the U.S. farming sector will “start to feel the pinch,” an economist in Beijing said.
Canada said earlier yesterday that it would move ahead with a plan to impose 25% tariffs on $107 billion in American goods, mostly going into effect in 21 days. Retaliation could extend to Canada’s individual provinces, with Ontario’s premier threatening to cut off the transmission of electricity from his province to the U.S., as well as shipments of nickel.
More Trump administration and politics news:
- Trump will give a joint address to Congress tonight, in which he’s expected to address DOGE’s efforts to slash the size of the federal government, his efforts to eliminate DEI programs, new tariffs and immigration.
- Trump’s startling realignment, effectively throwing support behind Russia, upends decades of foreign policy.
- Negotiations to avert a shutdown in less than two weeks are hitting obstacles, leaving no clear path to reaching a spending deal.
- Trump has traded the public attacks of GOP lawmakers that was common in his first term for a friendlier, behind-the-scenes approach this time around.
- The head of the FBI’s New York Field Office was forced out of the bureau a month after he urged his employees to “dig in” amid the Trump administration’s pursuit of agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
- The Supreme Court today will weigh the fate of a lawsuit in which Mexico is seeking to hold U.S. gunmakers accountable for an epidemic of gun violence in the country.
U.S. cuts aid to Ukraine after Trump’s public clash with Zelenskyy
The Trump administration is pausing military aid to Ukraine, according to two U.S. officials, following last week’s public clash between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well,” a White House official said last night. “We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”
The move by the Trump administration comes after an explosive meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance told Zelenskyy that he hadn’t shown enough gratitude for the billions of dollars in U.S. aid provided to his country in the three years since Russia invaded.
The decision is handing Russia’s Vladimir Putin the upper hand on the battlefield and on the world stage, former officials and experts warned this morning.
Read the full story here.
Some progress as wildfires burn in the Carolinas
A cold front expected to bring rain to South Carolina and North Carolina late tonight and into tomorrow could offer “brief relief” from as wildfires rage in both states amid an ongoing dry spell. But before the rain, an increase in winds could fan flames, National Weather Service forecasters said.
In South Carolina, firefighters appeared to be making progress against a 1,600-acre blaze in the Carolina Forest community just outside Myrtle Beach city limits. Yesterday, two more wildfires ignited in Williamson County, about 50 miles west.
In North Carolina, fires in all four of the states’ national forests remained active, with burn areas estimated to total nearly 500 acres, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Active fires were also reported in Georgia and Tennessee. Here’s what else we know.
Related coverage:
- Lowball insurance payouts and ballooning costs for repairs and smoke damage have left L.A. wildfire survivors in limbo.
Fired NOAA workers fear mass firings pose safety threat
When the Trump administration cut about 5% of the workforce last week at the National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it impacted the workers who analyzed weather patterns and data to forecast extreme weather events and the risk to U.S. residents.
Science reporter Evan Bush spoke to some of the 600 workers whose jobs were eliminated, among them a scientist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a man who developed the NOAA’s next-generation hurricane modeling program and a researcher working to map out which communities will flood in heavy rain. These jobs sometimes require around-the-clock staffing and levels of expertise that can’t easily be replaced, they said.
Now, former agency employees and leaders fear the cuts could hinder work on programs designed for public safety as climate change makes weather disasters more common. As a result, people’s lives could be in danger, they argue, especially as the hurricane and tornado seasons approach.
Read All About It
- The man accused in a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago-area neighborhood of Highland Park in 2022 entered a guilty plea before his trial was set to get underway.
- Jay-Z filed a defamation suit against the woman who alleged in a now-withdrawn complaint that he and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped her when she was 13.
- Carl Thomas Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of almost 60 years, has died at the age of 82.
Staff Pick: Return of the firing squad
For the first time in its history, South Carolina is preparing to put a condemned prisoner to death by firing squad. It would be only the second state after Utah to use such an uncommon method. But with the requisite lethal injection drugs in short supply after botched execution attempts in recent years, proponents of the firing squad say its return may usher in a new chapter in how the U.S. administers capital punishment. In reality, firing squads have had a long history in this country. Those who witnessed the last firing squad execution in Utah 15 years ago shared their recollections with NBC News producer Abigail Brooks and I. We were struck by the grim details that still haunt them. — Erik Ortiz, senior reporter
NBCU Academy: How teens are healing through hip-hop therapy
Hip-hop has always been an outlet for pain and triumph, so it makes sense that teens are learning rhythm and rhyme as a form of therapy.
From Cleveland, Ohio, to the Bronx (also known as the birthplace of hip-hop), mental wellness programs are using hip-hop to help students deal with daily stressors and trauma. “What I learned about music is more than just lyrics on the beat,” said Hip-Hop Therapy Studio student Kryst Jackson. “It’s what it could bring out of you.”
See how hip-hop is helping young people heal.
NBCU Academy is a free, award-winning education program for developing new skills and advancing careers in journalism, media and tech.
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
From an adjustable dumbbell set, to a pocket-sized e-reader and an innovative camera strap, NBC Select editors shared their favorite products from February. Plus, we did a deep dive into honey and recommended the best brands for cooking, eating and baking.
Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.
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