# Tariff Repeal, AI Funding, and Trade Shifts

**Podcast:** Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
**Published:** 2026-02-12

## Transcript

Bloomberg Audio Studios.
Podcasts, radio news.
Good morning.
I'm Nathan Hager.
And I'm Karen Moscow.
Here are the stories we're following today.
Karen, we begin with a big blow this morning to President Donald Trump's tariff policies.
Bloomberg's John Tucker joins us with the latest.
Good morning, John.
Good morning, Nate.
The Republican-led House has passed a resolution to rescind President Trump's tariffs on Canada.
Six Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in passing the measure.
So this is all about sending a message.
That Wednesday's vote happened at all actually represents a blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a top Trump ally who has spearheaded a block on bringing tariff-related bills to the floor for months.
The Senate that votes against tariffs will seriously suffer the consequences come election time, and that includes primaries.
In New York, I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio.
All right, John, thank you.
Well, House Republicans have also approved legislation that would impose strict new voter ID requirements ahead of the midterm elections.
The bill is a Trump administration priority aimed at scrutinizing ballot access, but it faces blowback in the Senate.
The legislation requires Americans to present proof of citizenship when they register to vote and to show a valid photo identification before they cast ballots.
Republicans say it's needed to prevent voter fraud.
Democrats sworn it'll make it harder for millions of Americans to vote.
Why?
I have asked Merrick Garland this.
I'm reclaiming my time.
I will claim my time.
Attorney General Pam Bondy flipped through a binder throughout the hearing to deliver attacks at individual lawmakers.
She says the Justice Department has pending investigations related to Jeffrey Epstein, but she did not elaborate.
Nathan, federal agents are looking along roadways in the Catalina foothills.
This is the search for the eighty-four-year-old mother of today's show host, Savannah Guthrie continues.
They're looking near Tucson as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI said they are following up on 18,000 tips.
And here's retired FBI agent Richard Frankel.
18,000 in what, a week and a half.
That number is staggering.
After 911, we had, I believe, 18 to 20,000 in two years.
Nathan, President Trump's energy chief, has arrived in Venezuela to meet with the nation's new leader and assess its energy infrastructure.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright met with acting President Delcy Rodriguez and Caracas as the U.S.
pushes to revive Venezuela's oil sector.
Bloomberg's and Marie Horderna is traveling with the Energy Secretary and has more.
Secretary Chris Wright of the Energy Department met with acting President Delcy Rodriguez to two discuss business ventures and how to collaborate further when it comes to energy, mining, and electricity in the country.
Secretary Wright said he came here with a message from President Trump was that he wants to make the Americas great again, and he wants to transform this relationship.
Nathan's sales in the fourth quarter.
Abby Roach is a senior portfolio analyst at the fastest pace in more than two years.
They jumped 6.
I'd say they're doing a couple things.
Well, they's focus on affordability helped to improve traffic in the value for consumers who are seeking that out and who are really feeling stretched.
They've got different offerings across different price points, across $5, $8, being able to add things on for a dollar.
So they're really focused there.
But also they're not letting their foot off the gas in terms of the marketing and the innovation.
Abby Roach at All Spring Global Investments insurance at McDonald's are down a third of a percent this morning.
Karen AI company Anthropics nearing completion of a deal to raise more than 20 billion dollars.
Bloomberg News has learned the funding round is co-led by investors, including Peter Thiel's founders' fund, D.E.
Shaw and Dragoneer Investment Group.
Anthropic set to be valued at about $350 billion.
The deal could be announced as early as this week.
Nathan, applied materials will pay more than a quarter of a billion dollars to settle a commerce department investigation into improper exports to China.
The settlement ending a years-long saga for the largest American supplier of chipmaking machinery.
Good morning, Karen.
Canadian authorities say the suspect in a school shooting in British Columbia was an 18-year-old who had a history of police visits to her home to check on her mental health.
Police said the suspect, Jesse Van Rootseller, first killed her mother and stepbrother at the family home before attacking the nearby school, resulting in eight fatalities.
Dwayne McDonald is with the British Columbia Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
I can say that the suspect was not related to any of the victims of the school.
And educators here are standing with our families and students are prepared to go as long as it takes until we have a signed agreement.
The strike closed public schools for more than 50,000 students in the city.
Global News, 24 hours a day, and whenever you want it, with Bloomberg News Now, I'm Michael Barr, and this is Bloomberg.
Karen.
Thanks, Michael.
Time now for our Bloomberg sports update.
And for that, we bring in John Stash Hour.
Thanks, Karen.
Second straight day at the Olympics where the United States won five medals and this time two gold.
Liz Lanley, only 20 years old.
She had never been in an Olympic event before.
She won gold in freestyle skiing, and 21-year-old Jordan Stolls won in speed skating.
He may end up winning four gold medals.
The NBA, after that fight between the Pistons and Hornets, suspended four players, including Detroit's Isaiah Stewart, who got seven games.
He had left the bench.
That's your Bloomberg Sports Update.
Stay with us.
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This is Bloomberg Daybreak.
Good morning.
I'm Nathan Hager.
President Trump's signature economic policy has just taken a blow on Capitol Hill.
The House has voted to repeal the President's tariffs on goods from Canada.
Democrats are promising more votes to come.
Six Republicans joined with Democrats on this vote, including California's Kevin Kylie.
Joining us now is Bloomberg's Laura Davison.
And Laura, we know that uh Congressman Kylie's facing a pretty tough re-election fight in California.
Politics uh definitely plays a role in this vote last night.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Yes.
This vote wasn't so much about actually being able to rescind these tariffs, but more giving uh some of these members a uh an opportunity to come out and come out against these tariffs.
Uh, you saw that the six uh Republicans who joined with Democrats are folks who either uh you know have have uh clashed with the president in the past, Thomas Massey, for example, or represent some of these uh these moderate uh swing districts where they could be vulnerable.
Uh, you know, we're we're starting to see um, you know, uh Republicans really uh come out against some of the tariffs.
There was a lot of vote no hope yes yesterday um among House Republicans in terms of uh, you know, wanting to see this uh, you know, not wanting to stand out and and specifically rebuke the president, but they're recognizing that there's a uh a messaging issue with voters, um, that uh you know, voters are not happy with the economy, they think prices are too high, and they recognize that uh that tariffs are contributing to a piece of that.
Getting to those affordability concerns that the president in the past has uh called something that's fake, uh how could this play out uh heading into the midterms, Laura?
Yeah, this is the fight that we're likely to see uh uh really uh grow.
Uh, you know, this this vote um, you know, uh this week was just about the Canada tariffs.
Um uh Democrats or even some Republicans could uh continue to bring up different resolutions to strike down different uh portions of these tariffs.
So it could be uh the the Brazil tariffs, for example, or uh the tariffs on Mexico.
Um, you know, so this is a way to kind of keep this issue alive, even though it doesn't have any uh, you know, strong policy implications, but keeps uh the political messaging um of this uh ahead.
And of course, this comes at a time where Bloomberg News has learned that President Trump is privately talking about walking away from the US Mexico Canada agreement.
Not that he's made a decision, but at least floating the idea.
I mean, what could that mean in terms of ongoing trade pressure?
This would really be a huge uh trade shift.
You know, about 80 percent of of goods that flow uh between the US, Mexico, and Canada are covered by this trade pact, uh, which would mean, you know, if if the US were to exit, that all of those rules of the road um would go away.
So if you know, uh, you know, the if people think that the tariffs uh right now on on US uh of that the US is opposed on Canada and Mexico are big, this would really be a complete uh sea change.
Um so this is something that uh, you know, Trump uh, you know, as he goes into these tariff negotiations, he likes to take these maximalist positions.
So that's how some are interpreting this move of that Trump is sort of taking, uh, you know, or at least considering taking a a you know, sort of an extreme position that then he could uh, you know, kind of move on moderate as the discussions go on.
In our last minute, Laura, let's talk about the hearing at the House Judiciary Committee for uh Attorney General Pam Bondi, her first appearance since October.
Apart from the shouting, um, did anything of substance come out of it as far as you saw?
The the big headline here is that she did mention that there are that the Justice Department is investigating uh various things related to Epstein, but she did not elaborate.
Uh, you know, the Justice Department has said previously that they were looking into Democrats, including Larry Summers, uh uh Bill Clinton and other Democratic donors, um, as in terms of how what they knew about Epstein.
Uh but it was clear that uh she said there are still these investigations going on, but did not uh d give any details as to what that might be or what we could expect to see in the future.
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I'm Karen Moscow.
And I'm Nathan Hager.
Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Day Breaking