Axios

Big Tech is doing a delicate dance as it attempts to sidestep the harshest aspects of President Trump's trade war.

Why it matters: The U.S. tech sector is heavily reliant on cheap imports of smartphones, other consumer electronics and AI chips.

The deadline to file federal income tax returns and extensions to the Internal Revenue Service is Tuesday for most of the country.

Why it matters: Despite layoffs and DOGE cuts, the IRS is processing tax returns and refunds at a similar pace to last year.

Very soon, 40 million Official Trump meme coins will be unlocked, and they are very likely to be sold into the market as quickly as possible — which is bad news for anyone who buys.

Why it matters: The launch of the meme coin on the Friday before Inauguration Day caused a groundswell of retail enthusiasm, but one that really only benefited savvy traders and cost many other early buyers a collective $2 billion.

Americans believe inflation will surge in the months ahead as tariffs take effect. The good news: Consumers see those rapid price increases as fleeting — not a permanent shock to the economy.

Why it matters: Speak with any top Fed official, and they will warn of the worst possible outcome from White House trade policy — consumers consistently expect higher prices in a way that becomes self-fulfilling and keeps inflation headed upward.

Business leaders are calling and back-channeling President Trump to dump on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, trade adviser Peter Navarro and their pro-tariff views, hoping to end the trade war.

Why it matters: Make no mistake: Trump is wholly unmoved, top White House officials tell Axios. This is his disruptive policy, done his disruptive way. "This is the team," one said.

Pockets of the U.S. economy — from landscaping to elder care to restaurants — depend on the labor of undocumented immigrants to stay afloat.

• But the vast shadow workforce extends beyond them. It includes legal immigrants with work restrictions, like students and asylum seekers.

Why it matters: Immigration crackdowns under the Trump administration are spreading fear — causing people to skip work, straining businesses, and leaving families without income.

Stocks, Treasury bonds, and the dollar are all trading at levels seen in the waning months of the Biden administration, when they caused almost no panic or hand-wringing.

Why it matters: Optimists will say this means nothing very serious is happening. Pessimists will say it just means that all three markets have much further to fall.

The coming weeks, months, and maybe even years are going to be uncomfortably liminal — an awkward period of transition to a new state of international affairs whose contours and even arrival date remain unknowable.

Why it matters: Liminal periods are, almost by design, excruciating places to inhabit — especially when you don't know when you're going to exit them and come out the other side.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said nations need to "safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment" in an article published in China and Vietnam on Monday.

Why it matters: Xi is trying to portray China as a "responsible superpower in the way that contrasts with the way the U.S." under President Trump "presents to the whole world," said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at Singapore's ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, to AP.

President Trump said Sunday he'll announce tariffs on semiconductor chips "over the next week," though he indicated he could offer flexibility to some companies.

Why it matters: The White House indicated on Friday that smartphones and computers would be exempted from the 125% import levies Trump imposed on China, where Apple assembles most of its iPhones.

New York Helicopter Tours, the company involved in the Hudson River crash that killed six people, "is shutting down their operations immediately," the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday.

The big picture: The National Transportation Safety Board is leading investigations into the helicopter crash that killed a Siemens executive, his wife, their three children and their pilot on Thursday.