Axios

U.S. manufacturers are pleading with the Trump administration not to allow the Chinese auto industry "to wheedle its way in" to the American market.

Why it matters: President Trump is visiting China at a time when sky-high gas prices and inflation concerns have reignited calls for allowing cheap Chinese vehicles into the U.S.

The U.S.-led Board of Peace wants to start implementing its Gaza governance and reconstruction plan in the parts of Gaza that are not under Hamas control, according to a Board of Peace official and two other sources briefed on the issue.

Why it matters: The decision to trigger a contingency plan in Gaza took place after the effort to convince Hamas to give up its heavy weapons reached a deadlock. Now the U.S. and the Board of Peace want to move forward without Hamas.

President Trump faces a tough climb turning his "energy dominance" agenda into energy wins when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Why it matters: China is a massive market, and Trump loves using bilateral summits to secure energy purchase agreements.

Semiconductors, or chips, are again turning out to be the It Girl of the global economy.

Why it matters: Chips are essential to the AI build-out, and that's driving a huge burst of demand, creating supply shortages, pushing up prices and creating an investment frenzy.

• It also puts chips at the center of geopolitics.

The first half of May is foreshadowing the future of Indo-Pacific security.

Why it matters: Long-term competition between the U.S., China and their friends — on AI, chips, cybersecurity, freedom of navigation, narrative influence, supply chains and more — is reshaping the world.

Business leaders and lawmakers are closely watching whether President Trump returns from Beijing with a splashy Chinese investment commitment.

Why it matters: Such a deal would go further than the agricultural and aircraft purchases that have so far anchored U.S.-China negotiations.

• Trump has made big-dollar investment pledges a trademark of his second term, giving him numbers to tout back home, even as earlier commitments from the likes of Japan and Europe have yet to fully materialize.

A holy site home to a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ is in the crosshairs of President Trump's border wall construction plans.

Why it matters: The Trump administration is now suing a Catholic diocese to seize church land at the base of the holy site at Mount Cristo Rey, New Mexico, making it the latest hot spot of local resistance to border wall construction.

As the U.S. and China barrel ahead in their quest for AI supremacy, their race could come at the expense of global cybersecurity.

Why it matters: The U.S. and China both have an interest in preventing each other from weaponizing AI tools against them or letting rogue systems into the wild.

For the first time in three years, American workers' paychecks are lagging behind inflation, a casualty of the Iran war energy shock.

Why it matters: The war's fallout has helped remove the financial cushion that insulated consumers. It comes as a tepid hiring environment has limited workers' ability to switch jobs and earn more pay.

• Workers are now earning less in real terms, a threat to spending that has kept the economy humming.

Consumer prices continued to surge in April, led by higher energy prices, the government said on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The April report shows that inflationary pressures tied to the Iran war are seeping into consumer prices, making it difficult for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates just as President Trump's pick is set to take the helm of the central bank.