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  What Trump lets China do for buying U.S. soybeans That all sounds great. But what this administration says and what this administration does are often no more than distant cousins, particularly when it comes to the Chinese government. It has been a while since anyone in the administration uttered a word about Salt Typhoon, the sophisticated   state-sponsored Chinese   cyberespionage campaign targeting critical infrastructure that compromised at least nine U.S. telecom companies in late 2024. Follow  Trump’s second term About a year ago, in the closing days of the Biden administration, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology  Anne Neuberger warned , “China is targeting critical infrastructure in the United States.” That sounds like the sort of thing the U.S. government might want to do something about. But apparently not; on Dec. 3, the Financial Times  reported that the Trump administration  had “halted plans to impose sanc...
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  Investors warm up for long spell of discordant Fed Renovations continue at the Federal Reserve Board building in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - What is expected to be one of the most ructious Federal Reserve policy meetings in years this week could well prove to be the road test for financial markets on how U.S. monetary policy debates will shape up  in 2026 . Heading into the  two-day meeting  that began on Tuesday, markets are pricing in an almost certain  chance  of an interest rate cut by the U.S. central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, even though the group is the most divided it has been in years. Learn about the latest breakthroughs in AI and tech with the Reuters Artificial Intelligencer newsletter. Sign up  here. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Advertisement Scroll to continue with content The weeks lead...
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  Introducing the ‘Trump Corollary’ The White House’s 2025 National Security Strategy is unique. These documents reflect the views of a sitting president’s closest aides and usually result from a carefully choreographed bureaucratic process. Their intended audience includes national security bureaucrats in the U.S. and abroad and the think-tankers and journalists obliged by a sense of professional responsibility to at least scan these generally leaden, cliché-ridden products of groupthink. The Trump strategy statement could not be more different. As chaotic, energetic and sometimes dysfunctional as the administration that produced it, the 33-page 2025 NSS voices the passionate convictions of the administration’s leading foreign policy thinkers. It is more manifesto than strategy document, expressing what its authors hope are the ideas that will guide American foreign policy for the next generation and giving us their interpretation of Mr. Trump’s underlying worldview. The commentar...
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How Japan Built a Rare-Earth Supply Chain Without China The 15-year effort by Japan is a model for countries now scrambling to reduce their dependence on Beijing’s critical metals. Listen to this article · 9:39 min  Learn more By  River Akira Davis  and  Kiuko Notoya Reporting from Tokyo Dec. 8, 2025 The world reacted with alarm this year when Beijing introduced waves of export controls on  rare earths , the minerals vital to the manufacturing of everything from cars to advanced electronics. For Japan, the experience felt like déjà vu. China maintains a near monopoly on the supply of the metals. Japan learned that the hard way in  2010  when China effectively cut it off during a territorial dispute between the countries. Tokyo has since quietly stitched together a supply chain that is considerably less dependent on China. For Japan, that is an important hedge to political risk, as a recent  flare-up  in tensions between the nations under...
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