Turkey, Brexit, Mittelstand, Helmsman, Zucktown, LeBron James, Alliance of American Football || Marc Ross Daily

Turkey, Brexit, Mittelstand, Helmsman, Zucktown, LeBron James, Alliance of American Football

Marc Ross Daily
March 21, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Marc Ross Daily  = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits

Subscribe here: https://goo.gl/bSQKwA

TOP FIVE

✔️ Turkey is on a rampage

✔️ UK and EU agree terms for Brexit transition period

✔️ German Mittelstand faces generational crisis

✔️ China’s new ‘helmsman’ offers a strident nationalist message

✔️ Welcome to Zucktown.

ROSS RANT

Trump’s economic nationalism and mercantilism is gaining steam: Trump’s economic nationalism and mercantilism are gaining support with voters.

He has already added hefty tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, and reports indicate that by the end of the week he is setting his sights on China, a campaign trail favorite. 

With his move to block the takeover of an American chipmaker by a Singaporean rival, because of fears of Chinese technology leadership, Trump is poised to act against China over its theft of intellectual property and its trade surplus by adding billions in tariffs to Chinese made products.

Such moves are winning support with American voters, and it is hard to see how this rhetoric doesn't shape the 2018 and 2020 elections. 

Being tough on China makes American voters feel good. 

GEOECONOMICS

Turkey is on a rampage: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Monday to send his invasion forces on from formerly Kurdish-held Afrin, Syria, toward the city of Manbij, where American troops are deployed in support of Kurdish fighters.

Turkey threatens to attack Syrian town held by US troops: Military.com reports, Turkey renewed threats Monday to attack a town in northeastern Syria where a small contingent of U.S. troops is based, raising the stunning possibility of a clash between NATO allies. 

BBC: The UK and EU agree terms for Brexit transition period

The UK and EU have agreed on a "large part" of the agreement that will lead to the "orderly withdrawal" of the UK.

The Times: Business hails breakthrough transition deal over Brexit

German Mittelstand faces generational crisis: FT reports, about 100,000 entrepreneurs due to retire in next 2 years yet to find successors.

African trade: Heads of state gather in Kigali today to sign Africa’s most ambitious integration initiative, the Continental Free-Trade Area, potentially involving all 55 of its countries. Few doubt the necessity. African states trade twice as much with Europe as with each other; an African firm selling goods on the continent faces an average levy of 8.7%, compared with 2.5% overseas. The aim of the CFTA is gradually to eliminate tariffs on 90% of products, potentially doubling intra-African trade.

In NAFTA talks, US tries to limit junk food warning labels: NYT reports, a Trump administration proposal would limit the ability of Mexico, Canada and the U.S. to warn consumers about the dangers of foods linked to obesity.

China vows to open its markets further in response to Trump’s tariff threats: WP reports, China responded to the threat of new tariffs from the United States by vowing Tuesday to further open its own markets to foreign trade and investment, while warning that a trade war between the two nations would hurt both sides.

"If the Trump administration follows through with plans to impose $60 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese imports, it could negate more than 20 percent of the annual benefits of the recently-enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)." -- Tax Foundation

WP: Can Trump’s tariffs keep China from becoming the global technology leader?

No.

China’s new ‘helmsman’ offers a strident nationalist message: NYT reports, Xi Jinping, closing out a legislative meeting that took on the trappings of an extended coronation, struck a stridently nationalist note on Tuesday as he warned against challenges to China over Taiwan, Hong Kong or other regions where Beijing’s claims to sovereignty are contested. “All maneuvers and tricks to split the motherland are sure to fail,” Mr. Xi said. “Not one inch of the territory of the great motherland can be carved off from China.”

At G-20, Trump team shows no sign of backing off ‘America First’: WP reports, the US treasury secretary told global finance ministers Tuesday that the Trump administration would press ahead with a range of trade restrictions on numerous US allies, rebuffing calls to scale back the White House’s protectionist agenda despite intensifying resistance and threats of retaliation.

World economic leaders warn of trade war as Mnuchin defends policies: NYT reports, Trump’s plan to hit other countries with stiff tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum dominated a two-day gathering of global economic leaders, with foreign policymakers warning that the United States is on the cusp of triggering an international trade war as it put its “America First” policy into action.

FT - Shawn Donnan: Trump is about to launch a trade war with no way out: President believes he can prevail over China but seems to lack an exit strategy. https://goo.gl/3Ac7Wd

US 'shouting’ at China risks a spiraling trade war, Lew says: Bloomberg reports, the US should engage China on trade instead of having a “shouting match,” former US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said. “Conflict isn’t going to resolve a lot of those issues,” Lew said Wednesday in a Bloomberg Television interview from Beijing. There’s a risk that the rhetoric could spiral out of control into more serious conflict, and the US should work toward better outcomes instead of being an outlier on global trade, he said. 

AMERICAN POLITICS

WP: Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica’s collection of Facebook data, according to former employee

WP - Richard Cohen: Stormy Daniels — not Robert Mueller — might spell Trump’s doom

How Trump’s protectionism backfires: NYT reports, Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, designed to protect blue-collar workers, could instead undermine their livelihood. https://goo.gl/vPjHCN

Trump would demolish Kasich head-to-head in Ohio, according to a new poll: If the Republican presidential primary were held today, 62 percent of the Republicans polled would vote for Trump. Only 27 percent would vote for Kasich. 

ENTERPRISE

Skift: Alipay steps up push to cater to Chinese travelers in the US

Geely will target new-energy vehicles for 90 percent of total sales by 2020.

Amazon just passed Alphabet to become the world's second most valuable company.

NYT: Google pledges $300 million to clean up false news

Google’s campaign, which was announced at an event in New York on Tuesday, will be known as the Google News Initiative. Among the initiative’s goals are making it easier for Google users to subscribe to news publications, and giving publishers new tools to create fast-loading mobile pages. 

Facebook under fire: The social media company is struggling to respond to growing demands from Washington and European capitals to explain how millions of its users' personal data could be exploited by a consulting firm that allegedly helped Trump win the presidency.

FTC investigates "whether Facebook violated terms of a 2011 consent decree over its handling of personal user data." 

Welcome to Zucktown. Where everything is just zucky. In Menlo Park, Calif., Facebook is building a real community and testing the proposition: Do people love tech companies so much they will live inside them? https://goo.gl/Mt9P2i

Chipotle just snagged another former Taco Bell exec. Chris Brandt, Chipotle's new CMO, starts next month.

TRENDS

Gen Z is fleeing social, but marketers can get them back: Thirty-four percent of Generation Z in the US are quitting social media for good, 64% are putting their use on hold, and 41% report that social platforms make them feel depressed, anxious or sad, per Origin.

Chinese insurer stages blockchain chicken coup: FT reports, ZhongAn says use of ledger tech to track poultry can help improve country’s food safety.

FC: People were asked to name women tech leaders. They said “Alexa” and “Siri” https://goo.gl/irfj3h

12 things everyone should understand about tech https://goo.gl/YhMM6s

CULTURE

RIP Pete Peterson: Pete Peterson, co-founder of the Blackstone Group and former commerce secretary under Richard Nixon, passed away Tuesday at the age of 91. 

Black Panther is the most tweeted-about movie ever, Variety writes. It's been mentioned on the platform over 35 million times.

Damian Lewis on why Billions is "like a superhero show": When Billions returns for its third season, Damian Lewis ' Bobby Axelrod is in a very unfamiliar place: Under indictment, separated from his wife, and banished from the hedge fund company that bears his name. "It's a fun trajectory for the character," he says. https://goo.gl/teynzs

SOTD

Emmit Fenn - Lost In Space https://goo.gl/WrgpU3

SPORT

Alliance of American Football to kick off after Super Bowl: WP reports, A whole new football season will start right after the next Super Bowl. A spring professional league, the Alliance of American Football, will kick off its inaugural regular season Feb. 9, 2019, and will include a modest broadcast deal with CBS, league executives announced Tuesday.

Ebersol cooks up a spring football league to rival the XFL: AdAge reports, speaking to the press Tuesday morning from the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, Ebersol and former Buffalo Bills GM and Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian took the wraps off their blueprint for the AAF, a new spring football league that's slated to debut on Feb. 8, 2019—the Saturday following CBS's coverage of Super Bowl LIII

How LeBron James fixed his back and is on track to play all 82 games https://goo.gl/86jp9y

Tesla, Facebook, Uber, Tariffs, Kamala Harris, Brian Eno || Marc Ross Daily

Marc Ross Daily
March 20, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Marc Ross Daily  = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits

Subscribe here: https://goo.gl/bSQKwA

TOP FIVE

✔️ Germany's long, slow and carefully considered attack on Tesla

✔️ Trump’s tariffs are already taxing patience

✔️ Trump prepared to hit China with $60 billion in annual tariffs

✔️ Kamala Harris is dreaming big

✔️ Facebook is pummeled by user-data blowback

ROSS RANT

What America's corporate titans really think about Trump's tariffs: They might be silent. They might not be storming CNBC. They might be leaning on their lobbyists too much.

But believe you me - many think these tariffs stink. 

American business believes that tariffs will do more harm than good in bringing about an improvement in intellectual property protection for American companies in China.  

Business wants to see solutions to the issues, not just sanctions. 

Business wants to see certainty, not just campaign rhetoric.

It has repeatedly been said for years, everyone agrees China needs to adopt a stricter deterrent against counterfeiting and IP theft - including doing away with joint venture and business licensing requirements that can be used to mandate technology transfers to gain market access.  Even businesses headquartered in China know the current IP regime is not world class and will hinder China's rise.

What Trump should be doing is leading.

Harnessing a focused effort using the extensive resources of the US government to fix these IP problems is better than imposing tariffs that will bring collateral damage to American households, farmers, and manufacturers.

Trump seems content to enter a fight and throw the first punch. It has yet been made clear to me what happens when the other side punches back. I mean, he isn't fighting mano a mano. Beijing has a say in all this, and not to mention Brussels and even Brasília. 

As the business guru Mike Tyson stated: "Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth."

GEOECONOMICS

Germany's long, slow and carefully considered attack on Tesla: HG reports, they have been trailing the US e-car pioneer for years but now VW, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW are pumping billions into mass producing their own electric cars. Tesla's German competition will get really serious this year.

Trump’s tariffs are already taxing patience: LAT reports, the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are set to take effect Friday, but the rollout is being criticized as confusing, rushed and potentially crisis-inducing. Overseas, officials aren’t sure how to negotiate to avoid paying the duties, because the White House hasn’t given specifics.

Bloomberg: US plans heavy China tariff hit as soon as this week

WP: Trump prepared to hit China with $60 billion in annual tariffs: Trump is preparing to impose a package of $60 billion in annual tariffs against Chinese products, following through on a longtime threat that he says will punish China for intellectual property theft and create more US jobs. Most US businesses agree with the Trump administration’s criticisms of China. But many disagree with the administration’s strategy. “The US-China Business Council believes that tariffs will do more harm than good in bringing about an improvement in intellectual property protection for American companies in China,” said John Frisbie, president of the council, a nonpartisan group of 200 US companies that do business with China. “Business wants to see solutions to the issues, not just sanctions.” The US-China Business Council noted that many states – including some swing states that propelled to an unexpected victory in 2016 – have seen sharp increases in exports to China. Over the decade ending 2016, Pennsylvania’s exports of goods to China increased 83 percent, twice the rate as its exports to the rest of the world. And Pennsylvania’s exports of services jumped more than four-fold, more than five times the pace as its services exports to the rest of the world. Exports from Michigan, another state Trump won, showed a similar pattern. https://goo.gl/YkTwh9

Bloomberg: China pledges action on tech transfer as Trump plans tariffs: China made further promises to protect the intellectual property of foreigners investing in its economy, addressing a long-standing grievance as Trump plans new tariffs aimed at Beijing. “Businesses are very much in a position that they want to see China take action, and talking about it isn’t sufficient any more,” John Frisbie, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said of Li’s speech. “And it has to be tangible actions that matter.” https://goo.gl/da4DAz

CNBC: The business community's uncertainty about US-China relations (video): A solution is what the business community wants, not just "something that's going to do collateral damage to both economies," says John Frisbie of the US-China Business Council. https://goo.gl/Ed9WUX

China approves giant propaganda machine to improve global image: Bloomberg reports, the new broadcaster will be called “Voice of China,” the person said, mimicking the US government-funded Voice of America that started up during World War II to advance American interests.

NYT - Kevin Rudd OpEd: What the West doesn’t get about Xi Jinping: For the last five years, Western leaders and analysts have often projected onto China an image of their preferred imaginings, rather than one reflecting the actual statements of China’s own leaders, or in the physical evidence of Chinese statecraft. These have long pointed to a vastly different reality. https://goo.gl/FBBMA1

Jim O'Neill: Missing the Forest for the Xi https://goo.gl/YQiq2s

Xi Jinping promises more assertive Chinese foreign policy: FT reports, president parts decisively with the caution of the previous era in Beijing’s international relations.

Xi Jinping warns against dividing China after US passes Taiwan law: WSJ reports, attempts to split China ‘will receive the condemnation of the people and the punishment of history,’ president says.

Five important takeaways from China’s National People’s Congress: The annual meeting of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, is usually a sleepy, stolid affair. But this year history happened. In the 16-day session that ended on Tuesday, the Communist Party-controlled congress approved changes that could shape China for decades, especially by stretching President Xi Jinping’s hold on power far into the future. https://goo.gl/usgcTB

China wants to shape the global future of artificial intelligence: MIT Tech Review reports, drawing up technical standards is an early attempt to control how AI evolves worldwide. https://goo.gl/snAfdi

AMERICAN POLITICS

2020 Dems staff up: Politico reports, at least a dozen potential candidates are bolstering their teams by adding aides with campaign experience. The hires are never explicitly advertised or designed to be about 2020. But the behind-the-scenes shuffle is a long-overdue stage in the traditional precampaign scramble. Potential candidates who have run before — like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden — largely have their core teams in place. https://goo.gl/CcsnHU

Kamala Harris is dreaming big https://goo.gl/WeWDP5

Bidden - Harris 2020

Most Americans produce services, not stuff. Trump ignores that in talking about trade. NYT reports, the president’s outlook on service workers could have real economic consequences. https://goo.gl/YDpWjK

NYT: Trump’s tariffs set off storm of lobbying

Cambridge Analytica isn't into going door to door to win campaigns: An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News of Britain captured the firm’s CEO, Alexander Nix, suggesting the entrapment of a potential client’s political opponents with women and bribes. Britain’s information commissioner is now seeking a warrant to examine the firm’s data. And Facebook has hired a forensics firm to audit it.

NYT: Cambridge Analytica, Trump-tied political firm, offered to entrap politicians

ENTERPRISE

WSJ: Facebook is pummeled by user-data blowback

Cambridge Analytica’s ad targeting is the reason Facebook exists: Thousands of third-party apps were designed solely to obtain and sell your data. It's no surprise that the data ended up being used again on Facebook, one of the biggest advertising platforms on Earth. https://goo.gl/ovQKKz

Alex Stamos, Facebook's chief security officer, is planning to leave the social media giant amid internal disputes over how the platform should disclose its role in spreading disinformation, according to current and former employees.

"The uproar pushed Facebook's stock down 6.8% to $172.56 Monday, wiping out about $36 billion in market value."

Facebook will hold an emergency meeting to let employees ask questions about Cambridge Analytica.

WSJ: LinkedIn’s $27 billion challenge: Get people to use it more

Uber has stopped its driverless operations in four US cities after one of its self-driving cars hit and killed a woman in Arizona — probably the first pedestrian fatality of its kind.

SpaceX has entered into preliminary negotiations with the Port of Los Angeles for a lease that would expand the company’s port facilities to manufacture “large commercial transportation vehicles.”

Amazon has reportedly considered buying Toys “R” Us stores, for the real estate.

Claire's Stores, the pre-teen mall jewelry shop, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US and reportedly plans to close some underperforming stores.

Why Crate and Barrel’s CEO isn’t worried about Amazon: WSJ reports, furniture chain embraces Instagram and YouTube but won’t sell its wares on Amazon.

Cheddar, the CNBC for the Snapchat generation, has raised $22 million from Raine Ventures, Liberty Global and the CEO of the NYSE’s parent company.

Five brand lessons 10 years after Visa's historic IPO https://goo.gl/2NXumU

TRENDS

Retail's middle ground is a dangerous place: A new study finds low-end and premier chains thriving; the rest, not so much. https://goo.gl/iAj9Ft

Avoid the mushy middle.

Quartz: Tiger Brands’ “old playbook of PR distraction” was no match for South Africans on Twitter https://goo.gl/keo4k5

In the age of the “see-through economy,” consumers demand immediate accountability from manufacturers.

Is technology hurting productivity? It is possible that new technologies are not just doing less to boost productivity than past innovations. They may actually have negative side effects that undermine productivity growth, and that reduce our wellbeing in other ways as well. https://goo.gl/AhMv9y

The battery boost we’ve been waiting for is only a few years out: WSJ reports, batteries that power our modern world are expected to get a jump in storage capacity of 30% or more.

CULTURE

McClatchy: Self-driving cars are here. But shouting Californians are attacking them, DMV sayshttps://goo.gl/xDAJdu

Brian Eno wants to take you ‘inside the music’: The British musician is collaborating with other artists to create a high-tech, immersive experience that will tour Europe and America. https://goo.gl/fRf2a2

SPORT

AP: Morocco bid: $16 billion for 2026 World Cup venues, infrastructure

"Morocco would need to spend almost $16 billion to prepare to host the 2026 World Cup, with every proposed stadium and training ground built from scratch or renovated, the bid said Saturday." 

Xi Jinping, Liu He, Yi Gang, Vladimir Putin, Facebook, Apple || Marc Ross Daily

Xi Jinping, Liu He, Yi Gang, Vladimir Putin, Facebook, Apple

Marc Ross Daily
March 19, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Marc Ross Daily  = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits

Subscribe here: https://goo.gl/bSQKwA

TOP FIVE

✔️ With grip on power assured, China’s Xi elevates lieutenants

✔️ Yi Gang named head of People's Bank of China

✔️ Smuggling of US technology is outpacing Cold War levels

✔️ Putin won more than 76% of the vote

✔️ Newly emboldened, Trump says what he really feels

ROSS RANT

How to think about communications + content + commerce and why thought leadership is important

Today the customer is in control.

Full stop.

Just this week, Snapchat, United Airlines, and Toys R Us were discounted, disrupted or defeated because customers took control.

No longer is the seller in control of the sales process, and hard sales are losing effectiveness daily. 

Gone is the day when the seller could show up, make a presentation, offer some price reducing inducements, close the deal, and move on.

So what is a seller to do? 

A seller must think thought leadership.

With so many goods and services available from providers around the planet, this abundance of choice can be a thought leader's differentiator.

Buyers want to be led. 

They want to be informed, guided, and managed in a respected manner that makes them feel like they are part of a special cause bigger than themselves.

Enlightened organizations that embrace thought leadership from the start can develop lasting relationships with customers. Such a relationship which is shaped by forwarding thinking leadership will move a buyer to new thinking, a unique viewpoint, and a new paradigm.

Thought leadership is a choice and is not off is some inaccessible Ivory Tower. 

We all have the power to be thought leaders.

Thought leadership demands merely that we are committed to working with customers and clients in a respectable manner by creating value in every step of the buyer's journey and thinking long-term.

But many of organizations continue to struggle with how to do that and connect in a meaningful manner.

As a first step, organizations must abandon aggressive sales behaviors that buyers are resisting and employing behaviors shaped by thought leadership management.

Working with boardrooms and C-Suite executives from multinational corporations, trade associations, and disruptive startups, I have seen first-hand leaders who do create compelling communications, focused content, and winning commerce are thriving and making a difference.

To harness the power of thought leadership to foster sales in this new environment, employ strategic thinking and thought leader tactics.

Use a strategy that thinks education, experience, entertainment, and easy.

Use tactics that reinforce, reward, recognize, refresh, and supported by research.

GEOECONOMICS

With grip on power assured, China’s Xi elevates lieutenants: Xi, inner circle look to shore up a sluggish economy, eradicate poverty and enhance country’s global standing amid threat of trade war with US. https://goo.gl/xA7VcE

China’s Liu He takes broad economic role as vice-premier: FT reports, powerful portfolio for Xi Jinping lieutenant who cautions against financial risk. https://goo.gl/mPYPG6

Yi Gang named head of People's Bank of China: BBC reports, China has a new Central Bank governor: Yi Gang. Yi, who has been deputy governor for the last decade, succeeds Zhou Xiaochuan and appears to represent more of the same—although he takes over a bank that has expanded powers as of last week. That includes a greater role in devising new laws for the financial and insurance sectors, although China's Central Bank is not independent of the government. https://goo.gl/bJj3N8

NYT: China to name new central bank chief as it seeks continuity amid change

Xi could rule China for decades, says US Pacific commander: AP reports, China’s removal of presidential term limits could see leader Xi Jinping stay in power for decades, the commander of US forces in the Pacific said Thursday. Adm. Harry Harris said he viewed the move as a harbinger of the authoritarian nation’s direction and the strategic threat it poses to America. https://goo.gl/vp6g29

Bloomberg - Editorial: Xi's ambition is a gamble and a challenge to the West: Xi seems out to prove nothing less than that China's model is superior -- not for the time being, not until China's most pressing problems are fixed, but for as far ahead as one can see. Whatever happens, the Chinese president will own the outcome. https://goo.gl/HmSXXY

NYT: Smuggling of US technology is outpacing Cold War levels, experts say

Crypto-criticism: G20 finance ministers: Economist reports, “a Ponzi scheme”, “a will-o’-the-wisp”, “a bubble”. As the prices of the largest crypto-currencies halved in the early months of this year, after a spectacular rise in 2017, regulators made no secret of their qualms. No surprise, then, that crypto-regulation is on the agenda when finance ministers from the world’s 20 largest economies meet in Buenos Aires over the next two days.

Russia votes: Exit polls showed that Vladimir Putin won more than 76% of the vote in Russia’s presidential election.

CNN: Putin tightens grip on power with overwhelming Russian election win

Alarm bells in Tokyo: Bloomberg reports, PM Shinzo Abe apologized in Japan's parliament as a spiraling scandal involving a discounted sale of government land showed new signs of threatening his future when the ruling party leadership comes up for a vote in September.

50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach: Guardian reports, whistleblower describes how firm linked to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon compiled user data to target American voters.

NYT: How Trump consultants exploited the Facebook data of millions https://goo.gl/VMg7wX

CNBC: Facebook suspends Cambridge Analytica for misuse of user data, which Cambridge denies

NYT: Facebook’s role in data misuse sets off storms on two continents

The “Wild West era” is over for big tech companies: That’s what UK Culture Secretary Matt Hancock has told The Telegraph. https://goo.gl/1o1qzt

AMERICAN POLITICS

What Hope Hicks knows: NY Magazine, the departure of the Trump whisperer has left the White House in even deeper chaos. Which surely pleases some outsiders angling to get back in. https://goo.gl/mDGqzr

Election 2018: An NBC News/WSJ poll suggests the Democrats have a 10-point lead over the Republicans in the run-up to this year's midterms

Why Trump slayed his own masters of the universe: Politico Magazine reports, Trump vowed to bring business acumen to the White House. He just didn’t like it when the ideas came from someone else. https://goo.gl/DG2oCV

"Trump is simply returning to who he's always been, a one-man reality show who prefers to be surrounded by admirers who will praise and fawn over him and confirm that all his instincts are correct and brilliant and certain to succeed. The wonder is that anyone is surprised."

NYT: Newly emboldened, Trump says what he really feels

Federal budget: Lawmakers are expected to introduce a bill today that would fund the government until October at the higher spending levels agreed to last month in a two-year budget deal. The federal government runs out of money on Friday at midnight.

Trade associations to petition Trump administration to halt China-tariff plans: WSJ reports, forty-five trade associations are begging President Donald Trump to steer away from levying tariffs on China, warning that doing so "would trigger a chain reaction of negative consequences for the US economy, provoking retaliation; stifling US agriculture, goods, and services exports; and raising costs for businesses and consumers." Signatories represent the likes of Apple, Google, IBM, Nike and Walmart, among many other concerns. https://goo.gl/pFWnLH

In America, a political coalition in favor of protectionism may be emerging: Economist reports, Trump’s mercantilism is gaining steam. Straight after saying he would slap hefty tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, he is setting his sights on China, a favorite stump-speech bogeyman. This week he blocked the takeover of an American chipmaker by a Singaporean rival, because of fears of Chinese technological leadership. He is poised to act against China over its theft of intellectual property and its trade surplus. https://goo.gl/d8Z4Bq

@DanAnthonyDC: There are nearly 13,000 US tariff lines. *SHOES* alone can fall under 147 classifications that face 37 different tariff rates.Only way for “reciprocal” country/product tariffs is for all countries to eliminate all tariffs.

MBS in WDC: Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives in Washington on a grand tour of the US seeking to burnish his credentials as a decisive reformer to do business with. He’ll meet Trump tomorrow.

ENTERPRISE

NYT: Streaming soon: A fight over AT&T, Time Warner, and the future of TV https://goo.gl/4VDNb8

AT&T and the US Justice Department will face each other in court this week to decide the fate of the telecom company’s $85 billion proposed merger with media company Time Warner.

How can large legacy companies compete with the largest tech companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and so forth—if they can’t scale up through M&A? 

Don’t call it a car: China’s internet giants want to sell you ‘mobile living spaces’: WSJ reports, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent are betting the auto industry will shift from selling hardware to selling subscriptions to internet-equipped autonomous cars.

UPS's entire central London fleet will soon be made up of electric vehicles, marking the "beginning of the end" of what the company called reliance on the internal combustion engine

FN: JPMorgan claims AI funds played ‘major role’ in market sell-off

Analysts at the US bank think 12 funds played a part in the market volatility last month.

Bloomberg: Apple is secretly developing its own screens for the first time

“The reality is, we’re not a news organization. We’re not there to say, ‘Oh, let’s fact check this.’” -- YouTube's CEO, Susan Wojcicki, is very clear about what her firm is not.

CULTURE

Why Wikipedia works https://goo.gl/VnD9L7

SPORT

NCAA basketball: For the first time since seeding began in 1979, a region will not have a single team left in the Sweet Sixteen who entered the tournament a top-four seed — in the South, No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 Cincinnati, No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Arizona all lost.

Villanova and Duke, pick your poison: 538's 2018 March Madness predictions https://goo.gl/2F5VVZ

The University of Connecticut, the top seed in the NCAA Women’s tourney, won their opening round game 140-52 against Saint Francis University. They put up 94 points in the first half.