Trump says China trade deal "fully intact," Facebook does about face on politicians' posts

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:

1. FACEBOOK CHANGES STANCE AS ADVERTISERS FLEE: Unilever (UL), Verizon (VZ), and Procter & Gamble (PG) are among companies that have halted or are evaluating advertising their products in the U.S. on Facebook (FB), with Verizon chief media officer John Nitti saying that the company is pausing its advertising until "Facebook can create an acceptable solution" on hate speech "that makes us comfortable and is consistent with what we've done with YouTube and other partners." Unilever is also halting advertisements on Twitter (TWTR), saying that there is "much more to be done" on hate speech on social media platforms. In a town hall meeting on Friday afternoon, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company will start labeling content that Facebook finds newsworthy that might otherwise violate policies, since they may have "public interest value," such as certain posts or comments by politicians.

2. TWITTER PUTS WARNING ON TRUMP TWEET: Twitter has placed a warning on President Trump’s tweet that said, "There will never be an 'Autonomous Zone' in Washington, D.C., as long as I'm your President. If they try, they will be met with serious force!" The warning said that, "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about abusive behavior. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible." This was the fifth tweet from the President that the social media company has labeled in the last few weeks.

3. U.S.-CHINA TRADE DEAL: President Donald Trump said via Twitter earlier this week that, "The China Trade Deal is fully intact. Hopefully they will continue to live up to the terms of the Agreement!" The tweet came after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News "it's over" in an interview when asked about the China trade agreement. Navarro said the "turning point" came when the United States learned about the spreading coronavirus only after a Chinese delegation had left Washington following the signing of the Phase 1 deal on January 15.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal's Lingling Wei and Bob Davis reported that China is subtly warning the U.S. that it may risk the Phase One trade deal if the U.S. "meddles" in Hong Kong. "The U.S. side should refrain from going too far with meddling" and "red lines shouldn't be crossed," an unnamed Chinese official warned, according to the report.

4. HUAWEI COMPETITION: White House officials have discussed inserting the federal government deep into the private sector to stiffen global competition against China's Huawei Technologies, the Wall Street Journal's Drew FitzGerald and Sarah Krouse reported. Such ideas, talked about intermittently with U.S. tech giants, private equity firms, and veteran telecom executives, include urging large U.S. tech firms such as Cisco Systems (CSCO) to acquire European companies Ericsson (ERIC) or Nokia (NOK), the authors said, citing people familiar with the matter. In more than one case, Cisco wasn't interested in buying into low-margin businesses, the authors said, citing the people familiar with the matter.

Policy makers have also weighed shoring up Ericsson and Nokia with tax incentives and export-bank financing, or supporting a private equity firm that would take one of the European companies private, the authors added, noting that other proposals would support "open" network technology that would make it easier for U.S. startups to create new technology for 5G equipment. Huawei suppliers include Micron Technology (MU) and Western Digital (WDC), while makers of optical components, including Acacia Communications (ACIA), NeoPhotonics (NPTN), Lumentum (LITE), and Finisar (IIVI), have previously reacted negatively to headlines regarding U.S. enforcement actions and allegations against China's Huawei.

The Trump administration has called Huawei a "parasite" and warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to let it attach to the U.K. following Johnson's approval of a plan to allow Huawei to build part of its 5G network despite fierce opposition from Washington, Business Insider's Thomas Colson reported. Huawei is planning to build a GBP400M research facility in Cambridgeshire which will focus on developing chips for broadband.

5. STEEL TARIFFS APPEAL: The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from the American Institute for International Steel to President Trump's tariffs on imported steel, which contended that a key part of the law under which he implemented the duties violates the Constitution, Reuters' Lawrence Hurley reported, citing the court. Trump imposed 25% tariffs on imported steel and 10% tariffs on imported aluminum in March 2018 citing national security. Publicly traded companies in the space include AK Steel (AKS), ArcelorMittal (MT), Nucor (NUE), Steel Dynamics (STLD), TimkenSteel (TMST) and U.S. Steel (X).

"Week in Review" is The Fly's weekly recap of its recurring series of "Trump Effect" exclusive stories.