News Brief: US Tariffs Take Effect; Zelenskyy Says He’s Ready for Peace Talks

President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs have now been imposed on our nation’s three largest trading partners...

Vehicles drive past shipping containers from China at the China Shipping (North America) Holding Company Ltd. facility at the Port of Los Angeles in Wilmington, Calif., on Feb. 4, 2025. Mike Blake/Reuters

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Wednesday, March 5, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some urgent stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening both here at home and around the world.

President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs have now been imposed on our nation’s three largest trading partners; following last week’s troubling meeting with Trump at the White House, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s now ready for peace talks; and a number of European officials weigh in after the United States pauses all military aid to Ukraine.

Also, Trump issues a stern warning regarding protests on college campuses, and our country’s federal retirement program says it has just found a way to save taxpayers nearly a billion dollars in fiscal year 2025.

We’ll break down each one of these impactful stories for you, and we begin right here. Significant tariffs have just gone into effect against our North American neighbors, China as well, and all three countries are fighting back with levies of their own. More now on our top story.

US Tariffs on Canada, Mexico Take Effect; China Levies Double

President Donald Trump’s long-awaited 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from our top two trading partners, Canada and Mexico, are now in place. By the way, Trump referenced the American lives lost to the “vast amount of fentanyl” that has flowed into the United States as justification for these latest trade measures.

Last year, the United States imported nearly $1 trillion worth of goods from those two countries. Additionally, it has also placed a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that his country will respond with 25 percent tariffs of their own against nearly $107 billion of American goods, ranging from coffee, orange juice, and wine to automobiles, steel, and aluminum.

He says that there is no justification for Trump’s actions, that his country has worked hard to address the fentanyl trafficking issue at the border, and that his country’s tariffs on U.S. goods will remain in place until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn. He also alleged that the tariffs are an excuse to destroy Canada’s economy and set up annexation.

For her part, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum says that her government will soon respond with tariffs of their own. She says that there is “no reason, rationale, or justification” to support Trump’s tariffs, that it will affect both nations, and that “nobody wins” as a result.

Meanwhile, U.S. tariffs on products from China have just doubled; they’re now 20 percent, and they affect nearly $400 billion in imports from that country.

In response, the Chinese communist regime now says that it'll impose additional tariffs of up to 15 percent on some U.S. agricultural goods, including imports of chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton. Also, it has just increased its tariffs on a number of other U.S. imports by 10 percent, including soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.

Another story we’re following very closely right now concerns an effort to put an end to the devastating war between Russia and Ukraine and bring peace to that region; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is coming back to the negotiating table, and more now on what we know.

Zelenskyy Says He’s Ready for Peace Talks

Zelenskyy is now ready for peace talks after last week’s clash with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the White House.

Zelenskyy says that Ukraine does not want “an endless war” and that “nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians.” He also says that his nation truly values how much America has done to help it maintain its independence, and he pointed out that “things changed” significantly for his nation when Trump provided them with Javelin missiles during his first term.

He went on to say that Ukraine is now ready to sign a rare earth minerals deal with the United States, that he sees the agreement as a step toward greater security, and that his nation is willing to participate in peace talks with Russia.

Zelenskyy’s comments were made just hours after Trump directed a pause in U.S. assistance to Ukraine, which has relied on both U.S. and European military aid to hold off its bigger and better-armed aggressor throughout three years of warfare.

Meanwhile, Trump says that he also wants the war in Ukraine to end and that a deal to open up Ukraine’s minerals to U.S. investment could still be agreed upon. He also says that he believes the death toll on both sides is far higher than what has been officially confirmed.

For its part, the Kremlin says that the president’s recent decision to pause aid to Ukraine “could encourage” Ukraine to “lean toward attempts to resolve the situation by peaceful means.”

In a related story, a number of European nations are also significantly impacted by Trump’s recent decision to pause assistance to Ukraine, a dramatic ripple effect is being felt throughout the continent, and here’s what’s going on.

Europe Reacts to Pause in US Military Aid to Ukraine

A White House official tells The Epoch Times that the president has been clear that he’s focused on peace, and that we need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. The official says they’re pausing and reviewing aid to Ukraine in order to ensure that it is contributing to a solution to the problem.

However, one top Polish official says that Trump made a “very important decision” concerning an extremely serious situation without consulting NATO allies.

France says that Washington’s move only serves to strengthen Russia’s position on the battlefield. One French official says that fundamentally, suspending arms to Ukraine only makes peace more distant, because it strengthens the hand of the aggressor on the ground, which in this case is Russia.

Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister says that the move indicates that the European Union needs to take considerable measures to strengthen its own defenses. She went on to say that both military and financial aid for Ukraine are essential for lasting peace.

Additionally, Denmark’s defense minister points out that the Ukrainians are “completely dependent” on the United States for their Patriot missiles air defense system, and that the pause in funding from Washington means Europe must now do more to help Ukraine.

For its part, the Hungarian government says that it shares the president’s stance. It says that instead of continuing weapons shipments, a cease-fire deal and peace talks are needed as soon as possible.

We turn our focus now to President Donald Trump taking a hard stand against those who participate in illegal protests on the nation’s campuses and the penalties they’ll encounter for their activities. More now on what we’re learning.

Trump Warns He’ll Block Funding to Any Colleges That Have Illegal Protests

President Donald Trump says that his administration is prepared to stop all federal funding to any U.S.-based university, college, or school that allows what he calls “illegal protests” on its grounds.

He says that the “agitators” at those protests who stir up trouble will either be imprisoned or permanently sent back to the country that they came from. He also says that any American students who are involved will be either permanently expelled or arrested, depending on their crime.

Additionally, he says that protesters should no longer be allowed to wear masks.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has just ordered federal agencies to review their financial ties with Columbia University in New York City due to what officials say was the school’s inability to deal with anti-Semitism in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the administrators reviewing millions of dollars in federal grants and contracts with that university.

He says that anti-Semitism is a “spiritual and moral” sickness that harms people like history’s most deadly plagues. He also says that making America healthy again means building respectful communities that are based on both freedom of speech and open debate.

For its part, Columbia says that it’s “fully committed” to combating anti-Semitism, that it looks forward to working with the new administration, and that it'll continue to make all efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of its students, faculty, and staff.

Finally, good news to report from our nation’s federal retirement program, which says it has just found a way to reduce its operating costs by nearly $1 trillion, and here’s how the numbers all add up.

$800 Million in Social Security Cost Savings Identified for 2025

The Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates that it is on course to save hundreds of millions of dollars during the 2025 fiscal year, with most of those savings coming from a reduction in its payroll.

The agency says that so far, it has identified more than $800 million in cost savings, including $550 million in salaries. Right now, a hiring freeze is in place at the SSA, and there’s also been a drastic reduction in overtime work.

Other savings include a $150 million reduction in information technology contracts, as well as the elimination of some grants, property expenses, and guard services.

The SSA says that it is reducing its expenses in order to make good on President Donald Trump’s promise to protect American taxpayers from unnecessary spending, and that it’s not done yet.

The agency’s acting commissioner says that the SSA has operated on autopilot for a long time. He says that it has spent billions of dollars doing the same things the same way, that this has led to stagnation and inefficiency, and that it’s time for a change. As a result, it has already eliminated what it describes as a number of unnecessary departments within the agency.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Wednesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

To make contact with the News Brief crew, simply reach out to us via email, and we’re at [email protected]. You can also leave comments for us on The Epoch Times app, which you can download for free on either the App Store or Google Play.

Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.

Finally, as we do each day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from H.G. Wells, who said: “We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories ... And those that carry us forward, are dreams.”

Wells was an English writer and prolific author of science fiction, including “The Time Machine” and “The War of the Worlds.” He’s often called the “father of science fiction.”

For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another. and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.