Free Republic

One can lie about collusion with impunity. But to speak the truth about collusion is to be smeared as xenophobic, racist, and nativist. Historians will dissect the origins and spread of the mass hysteria of Russian collusion. The farce infected the media. It discredited the Democratic Party. And it warped the popular culture between 2015 and 2020. Collusion destroyed what was left of respect for the Washington FBI, the CIA, and the liberal news media. When 50 former “intelligence” officers can attest, right before the election, that the Hunter Biden scandal emails are likely Russian disinformation designed to help Trump,...

I found this National Review story shocking: A Bizarre and Revealing Biden Interview.  It’s from 1974 and covers many topics including his dead wife: “She had the best body of any woman I ever saw. She looks better than a Playboy bunny, doesn’t she?”  His Presidential aspirations while still a first term senator: “I know I can be a good President.” Neilia, he said, would have been an asset with respect to this: “I know I could have easily made the White House with Neilia.” Money: “I am worth a lot more than my salary of $42,500 ( $249,000 in...

TikTok, the popular video app, has taken a series of steps to convince U.S. officials the company is dedicated to protecting Americans’ data, including hiring Kevin Mayer, previously the head of streaming at Disney, as its CEO. It has also pushed for and held meetings with U.S. lawmakers, pulled out of Hong Kong due to a new severe Chinese national security law and published a “privacy roadmap.” That may not be enough to meet U.S. demands, however. In recent weeks, U.S. government officials and members of Congress have placed the company in their crosshairs, warning that personal data collected by...

In less than nine minutes, President Trump delivered remarks at the White House on Friday signaling his administration has ditched almost five decades of the American policy of engagement with China. It’s about time. China has been challenging the United States across the board, and Trump – with his comprehensive comments Friday – signaled the United States would defend itself across the board. Trump announced a series of actions, including: 1. Terminating America’s relationship with the World Health Organization. Trump said the WHO is biased in favor of China and has failed to approve reforms arising out of its dealing...

President Trump has announced the United States is terminating its relationship with the World Health Organization and directing its payments to other public health organizations.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he would hold a news conference “on China” on Friday, but he offered no details as to what he would say. Even without any details, Trump’s announcement Thursday at the White House was enough to send markets tumbling. For weeks, the Trump administration has been ratcheting up pressure on Beijing over its alleged cover-up of early coronavirus cases. Trump has publicly blamed China for the virus itself and for its outsized severity in the United States.

President Trump moved on Friday to block shipments of semiconductors to Chinese giant Huawei Technologies from global chipmakers, a step that could escalate tensions with Beijing. The Commerce Department announced it is amending an export rule to “strategically target Huawei’s acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain U.S. software and technology.” Huawei uses semiconductors to make its smartphones. The company has warned that the Chinese government would retaliate if the U.S. took the action.

President Trump is moving to cut investment ties between U.S. federal retirement funds and Chinese equities, FOX Business has learned in a move that is tied to the handling of COVID 19. In the first letter written Monday, obtained exclusively by FOX Business, national security adviser Robert O’Brien and National Economic Council Chair Larry Kudlow write to U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia stating that the White House does not want the Thrift Savings Plan, which is a federal employee retirement fund, to have money invested in Chinese equities that numbers about $4 billion in assets.

Retaliatory duties on some U.S. goods will be cut from 10% to 5%, and from 5% to 2.5% on others, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Finance. The adjustments will take effect from 1:01 p.m on Feb. 14, it said, without specifying which time zone it was referring to. The statement said the move was made in order to “advance the healthy and stable development of China-U.S. trade.” China said that the next adjustment will depend on how Sino-U.S. trade ties evolve, adding it hopes to work with Washington to completely eliminate all tariff increases.

I was very skeptical when U.S. and Chinese officials announced the two nations had reached a “Phase One” trade deal last December. Neither country released any details regarding the agreement. Chinese officials have been exceptionally muted since the announcement, only emphasizing that the United States would remove a number of tariffs, without mentioning any commitments China had made. Neither the United States nor China even articulated a specific dollar amount of the additional U.S. farm products China pledges to purchase.Last week, both the White House and the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office posted the full text of the agreement, immediately...

President Trump has just signed one of the most consequential trade deals in American history — an agreement that promises to benefit the U.S. economy for decades to come. The "Phase One" trade deal with Beijing is a massive economic and diplomatic victory for the President, who successfully convinced communist China to abandon some of its most egregious trade abuses while at the same time dramatically increasing its purchases of U.S. exports. China has committed to purchasing $200 billion worth of American goods over two years, including $75 billion of U.S. manufacturing products alone. In addition, China will buy $50 billion...

Even as Democrats try to undermine President Trump on the world stage with their partisan impeachment circus, he continues to forge ahead, signing a truly historic “Phase One” trade deal with China on Wednesday. This deal serves as a total validation of Trump’s tariff-oriented trade strategy, will provide a material boost to the US economy in 2020-2021, and could lay the groundwork for a smarter relationship with China over the coming decade. For two years, Democrats and Chamber of Commerce Republicans told us Trump would make no progress confronting China with tariffs. They would crush the US economy, and the...

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday that “tariffs worked” as a means to prod China to agree to a “phase one” trade deal with the United States. “I keep wondering when people are going to recognize that it is historic that tariffs did succeed,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street,” shortly before U.S. and Chinese officials were set to sign the initial trade agreement at the White House later in the morning.

A trade deal between the US and China is inching closer after all. Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the two sides are close to agreeing the amount of tariffs to be rolled back in the "phase one deal." Officials are getting closer on the specifics of tariff relief, the news organization reported. Stocks pushed higher on the news at 9:30 a.m. in London (4:30 a.m.) with US futures underlying the Nasdaq and S&P 500 rising at least 0.5%. The DAX, Euro Stoxx 50, and CAC indexes all soared more than 1%. "US negotiators expect a...

U.S. stock index futures fell Monday after Bloomberg reported China said it needed to have further discussions before it would sign off on the so-called phase one trade deal U.S. President Donald Trump touted on Friday Around 7 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded down 87 points, pointing to a loss of about 80 points at the open. Dow futures briefly dropped more than 100 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a lower open as well. Futures were marginally higher earlier in the session before taking a leg lower on the Bloomberg report. The report, which...

President Trump lauded the partial trade agreement he struck with China this week, calling it the “greatest and best” deal in a tweet Saturday morning. As part of the deal -- which Trump and President Xi Jinping could sign as soon as next month -- China agreed to raise its agricultural purchases to between $40 billion and $50 billion from $8 billion to $16 billion and to make certain reforms on intellectual property and financial services. The U.S. will not raise tariffs on Oct. 15 from 25 percent to 30 percent. It’s still unclear whether Trump plans to halt another...

There’s some scepticism about the idea of a partial trade deal between the US and China, despite Beijing’s apparent enthusiasm. Jon Ferro of Bloomberg doesn’t believe Washington will embrace the idea when talks resume tomorrow. Jonathan Ferro (@FerroTV) So China is still open to a partial deal despite tensions ratcheting up. No sign that the below will be enough to bring the US along with them... https://t.co/yOxrugLKRJ pic.twitter.com/sBnCfntD4T October 9, 2019 Foreign exchange trader Marc-André Fongern points out that any partial deal could easily unravel: Marc-André Fongern (@Fongern_FX) [*CHINA IS OPEN TO PARTIAL U.S. TRADE DEAL DESPITE TECH BLACKLIST] ......

Beijing announced the exemption plan in May and invited interested parties to apply to have certain products added to the list. A second round of applications started last week. The commission said it “will continue to conduct the work of tariff exemption on US goods and will announce follow-up waiver lists at appropriate times”. The statement came as top trade negotiators from China and the United States prepare to meet in Washington next month in their latest attempt to resolve their trade war. Working level preparations for the meeting are currently under way. China is expected to agree to buy...

China just waived import tariffs on more than a dozen US goods. It's the first time Beijing has issued such exemptions since the US-China trade war began. The Chinese government issued tariff exemptions on 16 products, including shrimp, fish meal and cancer treatment drugs. Chinese importers can apply for a refund of tariffs already levied on 12 of the products. Four products, including whey, are eligible for the exemption but not for refunds. The exemptions will start September 17 and last for a year.

Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist, sits down with hedge fund giant Kyle Bass to discuss America’s current geopolitical landscape regarding China. Bannon and Bass take a deep dive into Chinese infiltration in U.S. institutions, China’s aggressiveness in the South China sea, and the potential for global conflict in the next few years. Filmed on October 5, 2018 at an undisclosed location.