The main events by the morning: February 4

• Trump temporarily lifted the introduction of import duties for Canada for 30 days. This decision was made after a conversation with Justin Trudeau, who assured the United States of new measures to strengthen border controls and combat drug trafficking. Trump confirmed the suspension of duties and announced plans to continue the dialogue. Earlier, similar agreements were reached regarding the temporary abolition of duties on goods from Mexico.

• China is imposing import duties of up to 15% on goods from the United States from February 10. A 10% rate has been set for oil and agricultural machinery from the United States, and 15% for coal and liquefied natural gas. These measures were a response to the actions of Washington, which had previously announced 10% duties on Chinese products. Beijing has also filed a complaint against the US tax measures with the WTO dispute resolution mechanism.

• South Korea purchased $1.24 billion worth of LNG from Russia in 2024. The volume of supplies amounted to 2.1 million tons, which is the highest since 2021. Thus, Russia retained the seventh place in terms of LNG supplies to South Korea among the main gas supplier countries. Australia, Qatar and Malaysia remain the leaders. 

• The EU's decision to stop purchasing Russian timber has significantly affected major importers, including Finland. This country, which is one of the largest consumers of Russian raw materials, has faced an increase in wood prices and a decrease in activity in the forestry industry. Experts emphasize that the situation is complicated by the annual increase in the cost of raw materials by about 10%.

• The United States plans to increase pressure on Iran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran continues to attempt to build nuclear weapons, so the pressure on the country will not stop until these attempts stop. Meanwhile, the NYT newspaper, citing American officials, writes that Iran is now trying to find the fastest way to create nuclear weapons. Intelligence on this issue was gathered by the Biden administration.