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George Soros wary of Trump's stance on Huawei

Jacob Knutson

U.S. investor and philanthropist George Soros. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Billionaire George Soros wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Tuesday that he is worried the Trump administration may use the ban that prevents U.S. companies from doing business with telecom giant Huawei as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China trade talks.

Why it matters: Soros, a longtime target of conservatives, praised Republicans for introducing amendments to prevent the president from removing Huawei as a national-security threat without the consent of Congress. But the legislation is at odds with the president's desire to relax restrictions.

Flashback: Trump announced in May 2018 that he would help revoke similar bans on China's ZTE, a Huawei competitor, even though the company violated trade export rules and economic sanctions by selling U.S. technology to Iran and North Korea.

  • Though Congress tried to reinstate the ban on ZTE, it ultimately dropped the plan.
  • "If he gives Huawei a similar break, removing it from the entity list as part of a trade deal, the company could consolidate its leading position in the 5G market. ... Congress must prevent this from happening," Soros wrote.

Go Deeper: How Huawei is weathering U.S. sanctions

Go deeper

Neil Irwin
2 mins ago - Economy & Business

Fed: Rate hikes "will soon be appropriate"

The Federal Reserve's headquarters building. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Federal Reserve officials expect "it will soon be appropriate" to raise the central bank's main target interest rate, setting the stage for a rate hike at its next meeting in mid-March.

Driving the news: In a statement following a two-day meeting published Wednesday afternoon, however, the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee teed up its next move without taking new action.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Shawna Chen, Jacque Schrag
6 mins ago - Politics & Policy

How long it’s taken to confirm Supreme Court justices

Expand chart
Data: Axios research, U.S. Supreme Court, Supreme Court Historical Society; Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios

It takes a U.S. president an average of 70 days from the date a Supreme Court seat is vacated to nominate a replacement, according to data from the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Why it matters: With news outlets reporting liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's plans to retire, Democrats will be looking to confirm President Biden's nominee with enough time to refocus the national political debate ahead of the midterms.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Andrew Freedman, author of Generate
Updated 29 mins ago - Science

Blizzard likely to hit New England this weekend as "bomb cyclone" forms

Computer model projection of the precipitation and wind field from the weekend storm in the Northeast. (Earth.nullschool.net)

A powerful blizzard is likely to strike parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic beginning Friday and lasting into the weekend, with snow totals that are likely to be measured in feet.

The big picture: The joining of weather systems embedded in both the polar, or northern branch, of the jet stream and the southern branch is projected to create a bomb cyclone. Such storms undergo a process known as bombogenesis, with their minimum central air pressure readings plunging at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow