Trump delays TikTok ban, plans tariffs on Mexico, Canada
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The news: US President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders within hours of being sworn into office, including delaying the ban on TikTok.
The context: Following his inauguration, Trump moved to the Oval Office to sign executive orders while conducting an off-the-cuff press conference.
As expected, one of the orders delays the ban on TikTok, keeping the social media platform operating for 75 days while it finds a buyer.
Trump said TikTok could be worth USD1 trillion ($1.6 trillion) and suggested he wanted to do a joint venture with the social media platform. He noted that China could be subject to tariffs if a deal on TikTok was reached and China did not approve it.
While Trump did not sign any orders today on imposing trade tariffs, he suggested he may impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on 1 February. He said he is also considering a universal tariff on all US trading partners.
The US dollar jumped as much as 0.7% following these comments, while the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso dropped more than 1%.
The Australian dollar fell sharply and was buying 62.42 US cents at 1:04pm AEDT after rising to a two-week high of 62.84 US cents overnight as the market learned the new administration would not immediately impose tariffs.
Other orders Trump signed today included:
- Repealing 78 executive orders from the Biden administration, including withdrawing from the Paris Climate agreement, a directive for every department to address inflation, the call for federal workers to return to the office, and an order restoring “freedom of speech and preventing government censorship of free speech going forward”;
- Withdrawing from the World Health Organisation;
- Declaring an energy emergency;
- Creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Elon Musk leading 20 people working for the department;
- Rolling back protections for transgender people and terminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government;
- Pardoning 1,500 people convicted of offences relating to the January 6 US Capitol riot;
- Designating Mexican drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organisations”; and
- Seeking to end birthright citizenship.
What they said: “TikTok is worthless if I don’t approve it. It has to close,” Trump said during the press conference.
“I could see making a deal where the US gets 50% of TikTok. Polices it a little bit, maybe a lot, depends on them.”
The sources: Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Associated Press
