China’s economic gatekeeper is making clear that Beijing’s trade-war strategy is nothing like the tack it took during President Trump’s first term.

The Wall Street Journal’s Lingling Wei writes that negotiations during Trump’s first term yielded a deal seen as favoring the U.S. A Harvard-trained, promarket pragmatist led Beijing’s team then. Not anymore. Vice Premier He Lifeng, who leads talks now, is a firm believer in state control and has a clear mandate from his boss, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, to not cater to America. Under He’s guidance, China targeted U.S. technology and manufacturing by requiring export licenses for certain rare-earth magnets, worrying Western automakers, after the U.S. slapped tariffs of 145% on Chinese products in April. It was He, pronounced “huh,” who last month extracted the 90-day truce from the Trump team, but has since slow-walked approvals of mineral export licenses. Last week, both countries accused the other of violating the deal.

Despite China’s economic malaise, Beijing believes it is in a stronger negotiating position than before. When talks resume, He’s goal will be to make the tariff rollback permanent. Beijing is expected to dangle more purchases of American farm, energy and other products, and more manufacturing investments in the U.S.

• Trump’s doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs to 50% roiled steelmakers’ stocks worldwide, with Cleveland-Cliffs and other U.S. firms surging. (WSJ)
• Shares of Alcoa, which produces most of its aluminum for the U.S. in Canada, slumped on word of higher tariffs, while rival Century Aluminum rose, as it supplies the U.S. from two domestic smelters. (WSJ)
• The European Union plans to restrict Chinese companies' access to the bloc's medical-devices procurement market. (WSJ)

The owner of a small wine importer and distributor has become the unlikely face of tariff resistance. Victor Owen Schwartz’s VOS Selections was one of five small businesses that agreed to take on the U.S. government, where big corporations and trade groups didn’t mount legal challenges, the Journal’s Ruth Simon and James Fanelli write. Schwartz’s firm has about 20 employees and sells to restaurants, small liquor stores and big chains. The Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian legal group, brought the case, with VOS as lead plaintiff, to the trade court that last week voided most of the tariffs. An appeals court paused that decision. VOS was selected as the lead plaintiff in part because wine illustrated why broad-based tariffs didn’t make sense, the lead counsel said. The duties are especially painful since they must be paid when goods arrive, not when they are sold, Schwartz said. VOS has paid about $20,000 in new tariff costs this year.

• In a filing to the trade court, the group of small businesses that won the tariff ruling opposed the administration’s request that new duties continue during its appeal. (Bloomberg)
• Dave’s Hot Chicken said it was worried higher tariffs would raise its franchisee’s costs, as most of the restaurant chain’s equipment is made with stainless steel. (WSJ)
• Campbell’s is navigating tariffs on three fronts: retaliatory tariffs on soup it ships to Canada, taxes on imported steel and aluminum for cans, and imports from Italy hitting its Rao’s pasta sauce. (WSJ)

U.S. manufacturing activity sank a little deeper into contraction in May, reflecting persistent worries over the impact of whipsawing trade policy. (WSJ)

The pace of spending on construction in the U.S. slipped in April, the second straight month that funds put into building declined. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Factory activity slowed across much of Asia in May as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs continued to cause steep declines in new orders, purchasing managers surveys show. (WSJ)

Rio Tinto agreed to a new management plan with an Australian indigenous group where the miner destroyed two ancient rock shelters. (WSJ)

Funding and job cuts, operational halts and bankruptcies are racking up for solar-power, carbon-capture and other climate startups as the Trump administration cancels grants. (WSJ)

U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Gautam Adani’s companies imported Iranian petrochemical products into India through the Mundra port. (WSJ)

The European Commission fined food-delivery companies Delivery Hero and Glovo $373.4 million over alleged cartel practices before Delivery Hero acquired Glovo in 2022. (WSJ)

German antitrust officials said they are concerned that Amazon’s pricing tools may breach competition law. (WSJ)

The Port of Corpus Christi completed a project that deepened the channel to 54 feet from 47 and widened it to 530 feet from 400. (American Journal of Transportation)

Delays from congested ports supported a sharp rise in Asia-to-Europe ocean shipping rates, exacerbated by carriers shifting vessels to the high-demand China-to-U.S. route. (Journal of Commerce)

The U.K.’s Union Maritime launched a lease-financing program called SeaBreeze to accelerate the adoption of wind-assisted propulsion on ships. (Splash 247)

Chinese ship-leasing firms are asking Beijing to allow them to offer mortgage loans to help them skirt coming U.S. port fees on Chinese-owned vessels. (Lloyd’s List)

Russia expects a 50% increase in the number of voyages through the Arctic’s Northern Sea Route this summer, with a record number of vessels applying for permits. (Maritime Executive)

LuminX, a San Francisco startup offering inventory-automation and visibility tools raised $5.5 million for technology using AI to analyze photos and videos for supply-chain and warehouse management. (DC Velocity)

BlackRock and Norway’s Solvang are creating a 50:50 joint venture called Solvang Gas Carriers that will own Solvang’s fleet of 13 vessels designed to transport liquefied petroleum gas and ammonia. (TradeWinds)

Safety trainings for fishermen, loggers, farmers and other workers could be scaled back or cut entirely as early as July as a result of cost-cutting by the Trump administration. (Reuters)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.