Economy

US pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada, China still affected

Guacamole is officially safe as a Super Bowl snack. Just hours before they were supposed to take effect while you were sleeping last night, US President Donald Trump delayed tariffs against Mexico and Canada yesterday, opting for a month of additional talks.

China, however, has yet to make it out of the bullpen. The countries are the US’ three largest trading partners and made up nearly 40% of all imports to the country in 2024.

Talking it through

After some discussion, both Canada and Mexico made agreements with US President Donald Trump to heighten border security and clamp down on drug trafficking in return for a pause on the heavy taxes.

Early yesterday, Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the delay following what Trump called a “very friendly conversation," adding that he was looking forward to the next round of discussions.

• To facilitate the pause, Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 of Mexico's national guard members to the border to combat drug trafficking.

  • Before the negotiations, Sheinbaum outlined tweaks to the nation's border regulations.

Hours later, Trump had talks with Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada (for now), and issued a statement saying the two leaders had reached an agreement. Trudeau said Canada is implementing a $1.3 billion plan to protect the border, with stipulations similar to Mexico’s.

Looming trade war

On Saturday, Trump issued an executive order (see here) that imposed a 10% tax on Chinese goods (which as of writing, should still be implemented) and a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, beginning at midnight last night.

• Canada and Mexico had both claimed they would issue retaliatory trade measures on US goods if Trump enacted the levies.

  • Canada, which is the biggest export destination for 36 US states, would have imposed a 25% tariff on nearly $107 billion worth of US goods.

There were concerns that the tariffs would have sparked a trade war between the countries and highly impede economic activity, which would’ve been bad for consumers across North America.

• While tariffs are typically paid for by the importer, costs are then passed on to consumers as a result, driving up the prices of goods. See an overview here.

Why did Trump threaten tariffs to begin with? The President said earlier this month that the tariffs are necessary to pressure the countries to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs like fentanyl. However, it is possible Trump never had the intention of actually enacting the levies and simply used them to force a compromise.

International

Ebola resurfaces in Uganda for first time in two years

This is the last thing the world needs right now. Last week, the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus killed a 32-year-old male nurse in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

What’s the situation?

The man worked at the nation's capital's biggest referral hospital, Mulago Hospital. He received treatment for a fever at multiple locations in Uganda before repeated laboratory tests revealed he had been infected with Ebola.

• According to Uganda's Ministry of Health, at least 44 of the victim's contacts have been identified, including 30 medical personnel and Mulago Hospital patients.

What’s this strain? The Sudan strain is one of four Ebola viruses that cause the hemorrhagic fever known as Ebola virus disease, which is spread by direct contact with human fluids. Initial symptoms of fever and sore throat typically progress to internal hemorrhage and organ failure.

• Of those who get the disease, only half survive.

Despite the dire outlook, this isn’t the nation’s first encounter with the disease. Currently, authorities say they have “full control of the situation,” and have demanded citizens report any symptoms immediately.

Past pandemic

In the last 30 years, the East African nation endured at least eight Ebola epidemics, the most deadly of which claimed 224 lives in 2000. At least 55 people were killed in Uganda's last outbreak, which was identified in September 2022 and ended in January 2023.

• Between 2013 and 2016, an outbreak of the Zaire ebolavirus (an alternative strain of Ebola) in West Africa killed over 11,000 people.

What now? There is currently no available cure, however, Ugandan health officials are preparing to roll out nearly 2,000 doses of a trial vaccine to help combat the outbreak in the capital.

Science

Possible life found on asteroid that passed by Earth

Please don’t be a Xenomorph. Please don’t be a Xenomorph. According to research revealed last week, an analysis of samples taken from a near-Earth asteroid indicates it split from a much larger aquatic object that held the "building blocks" of life billions of years ago.

Space discovery

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned from space with a sample of an asteroid named Bennu in 2020 after collecting a sample of regolith (a scientific name for dirt). The sample was returned to Earth in 2023 and researchers around the world have been trying to uncover its history.

Here’s what they finally found:

• The sample included all five of the nucleobases that make up the genetic code (see image) and 14 of the 20 amino acids that are essential to life on Earth.

• Scientists also found proof of ancient salt water, which could have harbored the amino acids and other molecules that would then evolve into other organic compounds.

The discoveries show that the early solar system had the ideal conditions for life to form and raise the possibility that life may have developed on other planets and moons. While the findings lack evidence for life itself, it’s still exciting to think a distant asteroid can deliver such a discovery to our front doorstep.

That’s not all…

While Bennu did give us some answers we wanted about the universe, it left us with even more questions. The next findings are pretty complicated, so I’m going to do my best to explain it simply:

• Like left and right hands, many amino acids (the molecules that were found on Bennu) can be made in two mirror-image variants.

• The left-handed variant is virtually the only one produced by life on Earth, which is known as left-handed chirality.

Bennu, however, had samples that showed an equal amount of both. This could mean that Earth started out the same way, with a mix of the left and right variants, but why we turned left is a puzzle we have yet to solve.

Grab Bag

UPS had its worst day in history; CEO under fire

Sometimes you just have to take a loss. After United Parcel Service (UPS) announced weak profits and said it would shrink business with Amazon, the company's shares fell by a one-day worst of about 14% Thursday, and are currently down 17%.

Investors aren’t happy with the transportation giant’s share price, and there isn’t too much to be happy about after recent news. Now, its CEO, Carol Tomé, is in the hot seat.

Cutting ties

First off, why cut business with Amazon? According to Tomé, UPS wants to increase profits per package and Amazon isn’t necessarily helping with that.

• The company said it’s getting less profitable to ship smaller packages (which is basically all Amazon sends out) that are sent short distances.

  • With that in mind, UPS agreed with Amazon to cut the amount of deliveries from them by 50%.

Despite wanting to save money, it’ll likely still result in a loss: Nearly 12% of UPS's total revenue—about $10.7 billion—came from Amazon last year. The package-delivery giant has brought in cost-cutting initiatives, but they’ll probably only save around $1 billion.

Now, investors are seeing themselves in a meager situation. Executives say they want to turn to healthcare and B2B deliveries so they can get a better return, and they’re willing to take a short-term hit to do so.

The US economy is outperforming Europe’s

If we liked soccer it would mean world domination. The US economy had another solid year, growing 2.5% over the past year, outperforming its counterparts overseas.

Big differences

In the last quarter (October, November, December), the US economy grew 2.3%, while the European economy has remained stagnant, showing 0% growth. The US can thank spurred consumer spending, especially those who order something from Temu every other day. You know who you are.

• The Federal Reserve thus decided to hold off on lowering rates last week despite looming inflation and a decent job market.

On the other hand: Europe can’t say the same. After the gloomy GDP outlook, The European Central Bank (ECB) lowered interest rates last week to 2.75%, the lowest level since early 2023.

• Germany, which has the largest economy in Europe, saw its GDP fall by 0.2% in Q4.

  • Additionally, France (another leading economy) and Italy both showed zero growth in the last quarter.

Both Germany and France are seeing political unrest that only brings more uncertainty for consumers when it comes to tackling high prices, with the former having an election later this month and the latter having to wait until July.

Looking forward: Europe also has to figure out what its economic outlook might look like under the Trump administration, as new import tariffs could stifle the already export-centric economy.

Fast Facts

Reverse Traffic: According to FAA guidelines, 285 out of the 313 air traffic control sites in the US are understaffed, and at 73 of the sites, the location is at least 25% understaffed.

Mind over Matter: A 69-year-old paralyzed man learned to pilot a virtual drone using just his thoughts through a brain-computer interface developed and tested by Stanford University.

Picture Perfect: A jury of 25 experts from over 11,000 pictures decided on the 100 best close-up pictures of the year.

Bob ‘Bribery’ Menendez: Former Sen. Bob Menendez, Democrat of NJ, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for bribery and corruption charges after accepting gold bars, cash, and a luxury car in exchange for helping foreign governments.

AI Angel: Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, and Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, an oncologist, introduced Manas AI, a company that will use AI to expedite the drug discovery process, beginning with cancer treatments.