Fears of a shutdown have become a reality. The US federal administration will remain closed until at least January 3 because the two houses of Congress have not been able to agree on the budget law, due to the disagreement over the financing of the wall between the United States and Mexico demanded by Trump.

New American defense chief. Donald Trump announced on Twitter on Friday the resignation of Defense chief Jim Mattis. He was scheduled to leave office in February 2019, but yesterday the US President advanced his departure to January 1 and announced the name of his replacement (still through his favorite social network). This is Patrick Shanahan, the Deputy Minister of Defense.

Rumor has it that Jerome Powell is on the out. Trump did not fail to show his disagreement with the Fed's policy and according to American media reports, he was even considering firing his chairman, Jerome Powell. However, this information was denied by Steven Mnuchin, the Secretary of the Treasury.


Beijing is removing some tariffs and will introduce a law against the forced transfer of technology. The Chinese Ministry of Finance announced on Monday the abolition of certain customs duties as from January 1. On the import side, animal feed duties (rapeseed, cotton, sunflower and palm) and pharmaceutical components will be removed. On the export side, China will again reduce its tariffs on IT products. In addition, while the United States and the European Commission accused China of "forced technology transfer" for companies wishing to invest in China, the State Council proposed a bill to streamline existing rules and promote foreign investment.

Merry Christmas to all !