America in Brief

U.S. and China further trade talks; former New York government aide in Chinese spy case faces additional charges.

Shipping containers labeled with brands including FESCO, Yang Ming, WAN HAI, and K Line are stacked in front of docked vessels and gantry cranes at the Yantian International Container Terminal, with a construction area in the foreground, in Shenzhen, China, on April 12, 2025. Cheng Xin/Getty Images

US and China Reach Additional Trade Agreement

The United States has reached a trade agreement with China following months of negotiations and back-and-forth tensions.

The deal advances May talks in Geneva, where an agreement was made on shipping rare earth materials to the United States; on top of that, Beijing agreed to drop tariffs to 10 percent in exchange for the United States reducing theirs to 30 percent, on top of other existing tariffs.

The U.S.–China trade spat originating in 2018, during Trump’s first term, escalated to new heights in April, after Trump imposed a 145 percent tariff on China, accusing them of not doing enough to quell the amount of fentanyl flowing into the United States, as well as years of unfair trade practices.

China responded with 125 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods.

Linda Sun (R), a former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and her husband, Chris Hu, exit the federal court in Brooklyn after Sun was charged with acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, in New York City on Sept. 3, 2024. Kent J. Edwards/Reuters

Former NY Governor’s Aide in Chinese Spy Case Faces More Charges

Former high-ranking New York state government aide Linda Sun, who was charged in September for acting as an agent to the Chinese Regime, is now facing more charges related to Corruption and fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The former aide to Govs. Cathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo has been charged along with her husband Chris Hu, in a scheme that involved steering contracts to Chinese companies to sell personal protective equipment to New York, earning millions of dollars in the process, during the country’s most vulnerable period.

Lin was charged on Sept. 3 for acting as an illegal agent to the Chinese regime, who used her position to advance the Chinese Communist Party’s agenda in exchange for benefits.

Illegal immigrants turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents after crossing over a section of the southern border wall in Ruby, Arizona, on Jan. 5, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Illegal Immigrant Population Decreased by 1 Million Under Trump

The United States’ illegal immigrant population has declined by 1 million since President Donald Trump took office in January, according to a recently released report by the research group, Center for Immigration Studies (CMS).

One of Trump’s mandates has been to enforce laws on illegal immigration in the country, which CMS describes as a likely factor in this decline.

Deportation efforts have increased recently, with a focus on “sanctuary cities,” cities with policies that protect illegal immigrants.

Border Patrol in a June 17 statement also said that it had released zero illegal immigrants into the country in May, down from 62,000 last year.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) speaks as Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the FBI, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on Jan. 30, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

FBI Declassifies Report on Chinese Regime’s Interference in 2020 Elections

The FBI has uncovered a report documenting the Chinese Communist Party’s interference in the 2020 presidential elections.

The documents, unclassified by FBI Director Kash Patel on June 16 and shared with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) were dated Aug. 24, 2020, and claim the CCP attempted to interfere with the 2020 presidential election by mass-producing fake U.S. driver’s licenses to enable fraudulent mail-in ballots in favor of Joe Biden.

It came weeks after a customs seizure of 20,000 counterfeit driver’s licenses in Chicago, mainly from China, for college-age students.

The intelligence report was recalled shortly after its distribution in order to re-interview the source.

Grassley has issued a further investigation into why the report was recalled.