Trump Weekly: Trump cuts China tariffs in deal on fentanyl, rare earths

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:

CHINA TARIFFS: President Donald Trump said he agreed with China’s President Xi Jinping to cut tariffs on the country in exchange for Beijing cracking down on fentanyl trade, Trevor Hunnicutt of Reuters reports. Specifically, Trump said the tariffs on Chinese imports would be cut to 47% from 57%. Additionally, China agreed to pause for one year the recently unveiled export controls on rare earths. Companies involved in the development and mining of rare earth minerals include Nova Minerals (NVA), Ioneer (IONR), Lynas Rare Earths (LYSCF), MP Materials (MP), Energy Fuels (UUUU), and NioCorp (NB).

TIKTOK: China’s Commerce Ministry says it will work with the U.S. to resolve issues related to TikTok, but has stopped short of saying it agreed to a deal touted by U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg’s Mark Anderson reports. The deal Trump envisions would spin out TikTok’s U.S. business into a new venture owned mainly by American investors, with ByteDance’s stake shrunk to less than 20%, as required by a national security law.

TikTok is expected to sell its U.S. assets to a consortium of investors, likely to include Oracle (ORCL), Silver Lake Management and MGX, according to media reports. ByteDance, TikTok’s global parent, is expected to maintain a minority stake in the U.S. business. Publicly traded companies in the social media space include Meta Platforms (META), Pinterest (PINS), Reddit (RDDT) and Snap (SNAP).

GOLDEN DOME PROJECT: Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to receive $2B under President Trump’s Golden Dome project, with the goal of developing satellites that can track missiles and aircraft, Drew FitzGerald and Micah Maidenberg of The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Additionally, SpaceX is expected to also play a major role in two other Pentagon satellite networks, one related to relaying sensitive military communications and the other involving satellites capable of tracking ground vehicles, the sources added.

REAGAN AD: President Trump announced on social media, “Canada was caught, red handed’ putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs. The Reagan Foundation said that they, “created an ad campaign using selective audio and video of President Ronald Reagan. The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address,” and “did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is reviewing its legal options in this matter.’ The sole purpose of this FRAUD was Canada’s hope that the United States Supreme Court will come to their “rescue” on Tariffs that they have used for years to hurt the United States. Now the United States is able to defend itself against high and overbearing Canadian Tariffs (and those from the rest of the World as well!). Ronald Reagan LOVED Tariffs for purposes of National Security and the Economy, but Canada said he didn’t! Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD. Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

TRADE, CRITICAL MINERALS DEAL: The U.S. signed several deals on trade and critical minerals with four Southeast Asian partners, looking to address trade imbalances and expand supply chains as China tightens export curbs on rare earths, Reuters reports. U.S. President Donald Trump signed reciprocal trade deals with Malaysia and Cambodia as well as a framework trade pact with Thailand. The U.S. will maintain a 19% tariffs rate on exports from all three countries, while reducing the levy to 0 for some goods.

COPPER SMELTER EMISSIONS: U.S. President Donald Trump reversed a pollution rule made during the Biden-era that imposed stricter limits on copper smelter emissions, Jarrett Renshaw and Ernset Scheyder of Reuters report. The rule was finalized in May 2024 and required smelters to curb their pollutants under updated federal air standards. Trump’s proclamation grants a two-year compliance exemption. Publicly traded companies in the aluminum space include Alcoa (AA) and Century Aluminum (CENX).

LAWSUIT: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Kenvue (KVUE) “for deceptively marketing Tylenol to pregnant mothers despite knowing that early exposure to acetaminophen, Tylenol’s only active ingredient, leads to a significantly increased risk of autism and other disorders.” Paxton said, “Big Pharma betrayed America by profiting off of pain and pushing pills regardless of the risks. These corporations lied for decades, knowingly endangering millions to line their pockets. Additionally, seeing that the day of reckoning was coming, Johnson & Johnson attempted to escape responsibility by illegally offloading their liability onto a different company. By holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help Make America Healthy Again.” The AG claims Johnson & Johnson violated the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act “by fraudulently transferring liabilities arising from Tylenol to a separate company, Kenvue, in order to shield their assets against lawsuits arising from the harmful impact Tylenol had on children.”

After Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he has sued Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue for marketing Tylenol to pregnant mothers, Citi analyst Filippo Falorni notes that the latter issued a response reiterating its position that acetaminophen is safe for pregnant women with no link between acetaminophen and autism, as corroborated by independent medical professionals. The firm, which notes that sales of Tylenol have declined over the last month in Nielsen scanner data, sees risk that negative headlines could push a broader set of consumers, beyond just pregnant women, to shift to alternatives and the firm keeps a Neutral rating and $17 price target on Kenvue shares.

Meanwhile, Canaccord downgraded Kenvue to Hold from Buy with a price target of $15, down from $26. With the HHS looking to link acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism, Texas suing the company for deceptive marketing and lawsuits in the U.K. bringing talc liability to the table, the firm believes continued negative headlines and legal issues hamper the company’s turnaround and also likely hamper any potential sale of all or part of the company. Finding itself in the news, for reasons “it can’t generally control,” will likely keep a lid on valuation, Canaccord argues.