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China said it is "shocked" after the US announced plans for fresh tariffs, escalating a trade war between the two countries. The US listed $200bn (£150bn) worth of additional products it intends to place tariffs on as soon as September. The move comes just days after the two countries imposed tit-for-tat tariffs of $34bn on each other's goods. Beijing described Washington's latest threat as "totally unacceptable," saying it would harm the world. "The behaviour of the US is hurting China, hurting the world and hurting itself," a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said in a statement. The spokesperson also said...

For this week’s Big Ideas with Ben Weingarten podcast, my guest was Rachelle Peterson, director of research projects at the invaluable National Association of Scholars, and author of the groundbreaking report "Outsourced to China: Confucius Institutes and Soft Power in American Higher Education." Peterson’s investigation into these Chinese Communist Party-backed purported cultural exchange and language studies centers on U.S. college campuses — which she demonstrated were actually used to propagandize and penetrate our schools — preceded the recent disclosure of an FBI investigation into Confucius Institutes and a legislative effort to probe and counter their malign activities. Given China’s increasingly...

China’s assistant commerce minister said on Wednesday that the latest proposed tariffs from the United States harms the World Trade Organization system and hurts globalization. […] The Ministry of Commerce’s Li Chenggang said the only correct choice for China-U.S. relations was cooperation. …

Father and son Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond left a federal prison in Long Beach, California free men at around 130pm Pacific Time Tuesday, six and half hours after a Presidential Pardon was announced. The White House announced a full pardon for the Hammonds, who were serving five year manadatory terrorism sentences for lighting a backfire to protect their land. President Trump's pardon of the ranchers was welcomed by Ammon Bundy, leader of the Oregon Standoff protest in early 2016, centered at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Bundy released a statement that saying in part: "I hope they find...

The Trump administration pushed ahead with plans to impose tariffs on additional $200 billion in Chinese products by releasing a list of targets, marking a sharp escalation in a trade war between the world's two largest economies. The tariffs could take effect after public consultations end on Aug. 30, according to a statement from the U.S. Trade Representative's office Tuesday. (please see full article at the link)

A state-controlled economy is forcing the world's largest car market to embrace electric car solutions, and fast. Here's what China can tell us about the automotive future. I clung for life to my translator as we spun in circles through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, trying to take in the sheer madness of the Beijing Motor Show. An American can catch a few familiar sights; there’s a Chevy Volt, but branded as the Buick Velite 5 in China, a place where Buick remains a premium brand. I spy a Toyota Camry, but here it’s called a “Levin” and is a plug-in hybrid. Mostly,...

President Trump suggested Monday that China could be "exerting negative pressure" on North Korea to stray from the denuclearization "deal" signed last month, amid trade tensions between the U.S. and Beijing. The president expressed confidence that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un will "honor" the informal deal, despite tense talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the weekend. "I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea," Trump tweeted. "China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a...

In the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, a police officer wearing facial recognition glasses spotted a heroin smuggler at a train station. In Qingdao, a city famous for its German colonial heritage, cameras powered by artificial intelligence helped the police snatch two dozen criminal suspects in the midst of a big annual beer festival. In Wuhu, a fugitive murder suspect was identified by a camera as he bought food from a street vendor. With millions of cameras and billions of lines of code, China is building a high-tech authoritarian future. Beijing is embracing technologies like facial recognition and artificial intelligence to...

Two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers sailed through the Taiwan Strait separating mainland China from the island of Taiwan, a message likely to stoke more tensions between Washington and Beijing amid an ongoing trade war. The American destroyers Mustin and Benfold, both based in Japan, transited the strait from south to northeast beginning at roughly 9 pm ET Friday night and will conclude mid-afternoon Saturday around 5 p.m. ET, according to three U.S. defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. The development was first reported by Taiwan News. (please...

SAN FRANCISCO Growing up in eastern China, Panshu Zhao fell in love with America. He read the Bible his parents gave him, watched Hollywood movies and studied the ideals of democracy. He jumped at the chance to attend graduate school at Texas A&M University. In 2016, Zhao enlisted in the U.S. Army as part of a special recruitment program offering immigrants in the country legally a path to citizenship. The future, he said, was bright. Now, he is one of the dozens of immigrant recruits and reservists struggling with abrupt, often unexplained military discharges and canceled contracts. They traded being...

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will offer the leaders of central and eastern Europe on Saturday expanded business ties at a summit in Sofia while seeking to reassure the EU that Beijing is not trying to divide the continent. Li, whose attendance at the seventh such “16+1” summit coincides with an escalating trade war between China and the United States, will also try to dispel growing doubts among some participants about the value of the annual meetings. China has promised billions for development projects in the region as part of its Belt and Road strategy to carve out new export markets,...

Has a trade war started? The stock market doesn’t suggest that a full-scale trade fight between China and the U.S. has erupted, but a tweet from Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, implies otherwise. Friday afternoon, Dalio tweeted: “Today is the first day of the war with China.” Today is the first day of the war with China. — Ray Dalio (@RayDalio) July 6, 2018 The tweet from the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, which manages some $160 billion, comes after the U.S. slapped levies on $34 billion of 25% on China’s exports at midnight, and...

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Friday that many Americans support President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, but contended that their voices are being drowned out. “We simply, as a people, seem to be united that the president's position is wrong. I hear more of that on TV than I hear reality. I think that there are a lot of people [who say], ‘Thank you for standing up for us,’” Cramer said on CNBC. Just after midnight on Friday, the United States and China exchanged $34 billion worth of tariffs. The American duties affect products such as water boilers, X-ray machine...

After months of threats and gamesmanship, President Trump's tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese industrial imports took effect a minute after midnight Friday. It's the latest in a line of protectionism aimed at the U.S. trade deficit with China, which totaled nearly $600 billion in 2017, and includes tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum as well as items like washing machines and solar panels. And much more has been threatened. Mr. Trump said on Thursday that another $16 billion worth of tariffs against China are coming in two weeks -- and U.S. total alone could reach $550 billion...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly brought a CD with the Elton John song “Rocket Man” to give as a gift to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to the country. Pompeo arrived in North Korea on Friday amid talks between the two countries over denuclearizing North Korea. Pompeo brought two gifts for Kim, including a letter from President Trump and the CD, according to The Chosun Ilbo, a top newspaper in South Korea. Last year, amid escalating rhetoric between the two countries, Trump repeatedly referred to Kim as “Rocket Man” and “Little Rocket Man.” A diplomatic...

Link only due to apparent copyright issues: http://www.themedialine.org/biztec/a-match-made-in-hi-tech-heaven-israel-and-south-korea/

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese imports took effect as a deadline passed on Friday, and with Beijing having vowed to respond immediately in kind, the world's two biggest economies took a high-stakes turn toward all-out trade conflict. China's commerce ministry said in a statement shortly after the deadline passed that it was forced to retaliate, meaning $34 billion worth of imported U.S. goods including autos and agricultural products also faced 25 percent tariffs. "China promised to not fire the first shot, but to defend national core interests and the interests of the people it has...

China says it’s girded for a trade war with the U.S. and can give as good as it gets, but behind the official bravado lies a deep unease over trade friction with Washington. “There are those who believe the U.S. must lose and China must win,” Li Xiao, a leading economics professor, said in a commencement speech last weekend at northern China’s Jilin University. “I think this is wishful thinking that defies common sense,” Li said in remarks that circulated widely online this week, praised as a reality check as the world’s two largest economies stood ready to exchange tit-for-tat...

Do you see my children even as the resistance builds against My Body and Bride, ( ( ((Truly My blood has already claimed victory)) ) ) for as you recognize the lies of the enemy and "declare" victory by My blood it is then My Holy Fire overtakes the enemies encampments and I turn their swords on the enemies of My Heart . So be at peace at you declare victory for I AM your Melchizedek and even now I bring to you the Bread and New Wine for The Battle is mine and not yours. Rejoice for it sends...

An American company that ships cherries to a coastal province in southeast China recently encountered a new hurdle at the border: Customs officers ordered a load into quarantine for a week, so it spoiled and was sent back to the United States. American pet food-makers, meanwhile, say they're facing more rigorous inspections at ports, which delay goods from reaching shelves and ultimately hurt sales. And a U.S. manufacturer that exports vehicles to China recorded a 98% jump in random border inspections over the past month, throwing the firm behind schedule. American business leaders fear these are the "qualitative measures" China...