March 6 2025

Xi Jinping Orders Urgent Cold War Analysis as Trump Prepares for China Showdown

Walmart Demands Steep Price Cuts from Chinese Suppliers Amid Trump Tariff Pressure

Trump Grants Automakers One-Month Tariff Reprieve on Canada, Mexico Imports

Google Warns Trump DOJ Against Breakup, Citing National Security Risks

Trump Issues Ultimatum to Hamas: Release Hostages or Face Total Destruction

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1. Xi Jinping Orders Urgent Cold War Analysis as Trump Prepares for China Showdown

Soon after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November, Xi Jinping asked his aides to urgently analyze the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. His concern, according to people who consult with senior Chinese officials, was that as President Trump gears up for a showdown with Beijing, China could get isolated like Moscow during that era. He’s not wrong to worry. Even though Trump may be the one who currently looks isolated on the world stage—picking trade fights with erstwhile allies like Mexico and Canada, alarming Europe over his handling of the war in Ukraine and vowing to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal—the truth is that China doesn’t hold a strong hand. With a domestic economy in crisis, Xi is playing defense, hoping to salvage as much as possible of a global trade system that helped pull his country out of poverty. Across the Pacific, Trump is intent on rewiring that very trading system, which he and his advisers see as having benefited the rest of the world—and China most of all—at the U.S.’s expense.
Source: WSJ

2. Walmart Demands Steep Price Cuts from Chinese Suppliers Amid Trump Tariff Pressure

Walmart Inc. has asked some Chinese suppliers for major price reductions, with the US retail giant’s efforts to shift the burden of President Donald Trump’s tariffs facing strong pushback from firms in the Asian nation, according to people familiar with the matter. Some suppliers, including producers of kitchenware and clothing, have been asked to lower their prices by as much as 10% per round of tariffs, essentially shouldering the full cost of Trump’s duties, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Negotiations are held with individual manufacturers and the price cuts differ by firm, they said. So far, few have acquiesced. Suppliers’ margins are already razor thin due to Walmart’s strategy of procuring goods cheaply in order to maintain its competitive advantage, according to the people. For some, any reduction greater than 2% would see them make a loss, the people said. Others have had their own upstream vendors refuse requests to cut prices more than 3%, forcing manufacturers to consider purchasing some parts from Vietnam, according to one of the people. That move has raised concerns that the lower prices will come at the expense of product quality, the person said.
Source: Bloomberg

3. Trump Grants Automakers One-Month Tariff Reprieve on Canada, Mexico Imports

Donald Trump has handed carmakers a one-month reprieve on tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, in the latest last-minute policy shift to roil corporate America. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president had spoken with Chrysler and Jeep maker Stellantis, Ford and General Motors on Wednesday. Leavitt added the exemption would apply to cars complying with the terms of the 2020 trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada.
Source: FT

4. Google Warns Trump DOJ Against Breakup, Citing National Security Risks

Google is urging officials at President Donald Trump’s Justice Department to back away from a push to break up the search engine company, citing national security concerns, according to people familiar with the discussions. Representatives for the Alphabet Inc. unit asked the government in a meeting last week to take a less aggressive stance as the US looks to end what a judge ruled to be an illegal online search monopoly, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the private deliberations. The Biden administration in November had called for Google to sell its Chrome web browser and make other changes to its business including an end to billions of dollars in exclusivity payments to companies including Apple Inc. Although Google has previously pushed back on the Biden-era plan, the recent discussions may preview aspects of the company’s approach to the case as it continues under the Trump administration. A federal judge is set to rule on how Google must change its practices following hearings scheduled for next month. Both sides are due to file their final proposals to the judge on Friday.
Source: Bloomberg

5. Trump Issues Ultimatum to Hamas: Release Hostages or Face Total Destruction

"Shalom Hamas” means Hello and Goodbye - You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say. I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Source: Truth Social

March 6, 1899: Bayer patents aspirin

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Sources

1. https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-trump-trade-war-worries-0c2fa146?mod=hp_lead_pos7 (WSJ)
2. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-06/walmart-asks-chinese-suppliers-for-major-price-cuts-on-trump-tariffs (Bloomberg)
3. https://on.ft.com/3QJfwjA (FT)
4. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-04/google-urges-trump-doj-to-reverse-course-on-breaking-up-company (Bloomberg)
5. @realDonaldTrump, Truth Social (Truth Social)