U.S. back on the tariff trail

It’s quiet… too quiet.

After a few quiet weeks on the tariff front, U.S. President Donald Trump has again set his sights on Canada and Mexico, promising that tariffs paused earlier this month will “go forward” next week. 

Trump signed executive orders on Feb. 1 imposing 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, as well as 10% duties on Canadian energy.

Separately, the row between U.S. federal workers and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency continued after the Office of Personnel Management seemed to undermine Musk’s threat to federal workers. 

Musk’s DOGE had sent out an email to all federal workers last week, saying those who fail to submit a list of their recent accomplishments will face a forced “resignation.” OPM later notified top government human resources officers that responses to the email “is voluntary.”

But Musk then doubled down on his threat, saying in a post on X on Monday night “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

— Lim Hui Jie

Trump says tariffs on Canada and Mexico ‘will go forward’
President Donald Trump said Monday that sweeping U.S. tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico “will go forward” when a monthlong delay on their implementation expires next week. Trump signed executive orders on Feb. 1 imposing 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, as well as 10% duties on Canadian energy.

OPM undercuts Musk ‘resignation’ threat, Musk doubles down
The federal Office of Personnel Management on Monday undercut a threat by Elon Musk that government workers who fail to submit a list of their recent accomplishments will face a forced “resignation.” “OPM also clarified that a non-response to the email does not equate to a resignation,” according to an internal email sent by the Department of Justice’s human resource chief. Musk, in a post on X on Monday night, doubled down on his threat to fire federal employees who fail to submit the list.

Jamie Dimon calls U.S. government ‘inefficient’
“The government is inefficient, not very competent, and needs a lot of work,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC. “It’s not just waste and fraud, it’s outcomes.” His response came after CNBC’s Leslie’s Picker asked Dimon if he supported efforts by Elon Musk’s advisory body DOGE. While Dimon said he did not want to give a “binary” response, he said that the Trump administration’s effort to rein in spending and scrutinize federal agencies “needs to be done.”

U.S. markets largely fall 
U.S. markets mostly slid on Monday, as Trump’s tariff threats continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The S&P 500  lost 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.21%, as shares of major tech companies came under pressure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a narrow gain of 0.08%. Over in Europe, markets also fell on Monday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index 0.08% lower as traders reacted to the results of the German federal election.

[PRO] JPMorgan says U.S. investors may be wrong to shrug off Trump’s tariff push
JPMorgan says U.S. investors may be wrong to brush off tariff concerns, as well as the stock market’s high valuations. Mislav Matejka, equity strategist at JPMorgan said investors shouldn’t mistake that surprising strength for a bullish signal, especially as the stream of tariff announcements from the White House continues. 

Anthropic closes in on $3.5 billion funding round as investor interest soars 

Anthropic is in talks to raise a $3.5 billion funding round, significantly more than the amount previously expected, CNBC has confirmed.

The round would roughly triple the artificial intelligence startup’s valuation to $61.5 billion, according to two sources familiar with the deal. Lightspeed Venture Partners is leading the funding, with participation from General Catalyst and others, the sources said.

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