Free Republic

Many U.S. manufacturers are shrugging off concerns over tariffs and trade tensions as strong demand at home and abroad is yielding stronger-than-expected profits.

When President Trump on the first day of March said that the U.S. would impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a ten percent tariff on imported aluminum, many economists predicted that this spelled trouble for the industries that rely on steel and aluminum for their products. The Trump administration postponed imposing the tariffs on Canada, the European Union, and Mexico until June 1, saying it wanted more time to try to negotiate agreements that might have allowed these countries to win exemptions from the tariffs. But none of those trading partners reached a deal with the U.S....

More than 100 workers were arrested Tuesday at an Ohio meatpacking plant by federal agents following a yearlong immigration investigation, the second large-scale raid within the state in the past two weeks. The investigation focused on whether the company knowingly hired people who are in the country illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. The agency said it also was looking into whether many of the workers were using fraudulent identification belonging to U.S. citizens. The arrests come as the U.S. government steps up its focus on businesses that hire people in the country illegally as part of a broad...

A former officer with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested over the weekend for allegedly trying to spy on the United States for China, the Justice Department said on Monday. (please see full article at link, it is actually pretty short, not a huge story yet) Seems to be a Westerner. Ron Rockwell Hansen, 58

President Trump criticized Canada on Friday for being “highly restrictive on trade” and accused the U.S. ally of treating the agriculture sector “very poorly.” “Canada has treated our Agricultural business and Farmers very poorly for a very long period of time. Highly restrictive on Trade! They must open their markets and take down their trade barriers! They report a really high surplus on trade with us. Do Timber & Lumber in U.S.?” Trump tweeted. Trump said in a statement Thursday the U.S. would only “agree to a fair deal” with Canada.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich hinted again Sunday at a possible 2020 presidential run by ripping the Republican Party and declaring “I can bring that party back.” The Republican governor accused the GOP of being “anti-immigrant, anti-trade, in favor of debt,” and implored party members to “come home.” “We should care about people from top to bottom, not just at those at the top but everybody,” Mr. Kasich told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I can bring that party back, that’s what I’m going to do, in one way or another.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed a renewed economic partnership to boost growth, jobs and investments in their two countries. […] Trudeau said “we already see the results” of the new trade rules, called the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CETA). Canadian imports from France have increased 4 percent last year and Canadian investments in France have jumped 23 percent, he said. …

President Donald Trump has had a splendid first year in office. He has the economy moving again and at a healthy pace, some 2.6 percent in the most recent quarter. Unemployment is down, the stock market is up and the economic signs are mostly healthy. Well, for the stock market that was until last week. That was the week in which the President announced his intention to slap a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. The market tanked, and more problems are said to be coming internationally. It appears the world does not...

Pro-mass immigration GOP megadonor billionaires, the Koch brothers, released a new ad campaign this week, calling illegal aliens “patriots” of the United States. In their latest effort to push the Republican-controlled Congress to pass an amnesty for between nearly 800,000 and 3.5 million illegal aliens who are enrolled and eligible for the President Obama-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the Koch-backed LIBRE Initiative organization has released two new ads, portraying DACA illegal aliens as defenders of American patriotism.

More than two dozen Senate Republicans are urging President Trump to re-engage in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. The 25 GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Trump on Friday saying they support his recent comments that he may consider U.S. participation if the 11-nation Asia-Pacific pact is improved.

The stronger economy we’re enjoying now is no accident. Lower taxes, more jobs and fewer regulations are creating a much-needed boost. So why do we still have one foot on the brake? I’m referring to trade. Protectionist measures act as a drag on our progress. Indeed, they threaten to undo much of it. Consider the tariffs and quotas that the Trump administration recently slapped on imports of solar cells and modules, large residential washers, and washer parts. The price? As researcher Tori Whiting notes in a Daily Signal article, we get fewer jobs (roughly 23,000 American jobs this year, according...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday warned countries in the Western Hemisphere to beware of Chinese investment, saying it is reminiscent of European colonialism. He also derided Russia for selling weaponry to unfriendly, authoritarian governments in the region. Before embarking Thursday on a five-nation trip to Latin America, Tillerson said China seeks only to enrich itself with investment and development projects. He said regional governments should protect themselves against "predatory actors that are now showing up in our hemisphere," specifically mentioning China. He said Chinese investment may look good but comes with a heavy price. (please...

<p>According to Time, all men are inevitably “angry.” The only way to stem this drastic tide of “angry” men is to raise them as follows: "At a young age, this should be done explicitly, in organized forums for discussions at school," Faith Salie writes. "It must be done relentlessly and organically, in our family homes. Parents must invite their sons to be sad, afraid, hurt, silly and affectionate, and must embrace them as often as they snuggle their daughters. Sweet boys learn early on that they can defend themselves against loneliness by reaching out and asking for support rather than turning into people who, literally, grab for power. Sweet boys evolve into open-hearted men who aren’t confused about consent and sexual boundaries, because they experience women as equals."</p>

Few predicted when Mexico joined the free-trade deal that it would transform the country in a way that would saddle millions with diet-related illnesses.William Ruiz Sánchez spends his days grilling burgers and slathering fried hot dogs with pepperoni and cheese at his family’s restaurant. Refrigerators and fire-engine red tables provided by Coca-Cola feature the company’s logo in exchange for exclusive sale of its drinks. Though members of the Ruiz family sometimes eat here, they more often grab dinner at Domino’s or McDonald’s. For midday snacks, they buy Doritos or Cheetos at Oxxo, a convenience store chain so ubiquitous here that...

Despite Whirlpool’s arguments being the corporate equivalent of a child who wants dessert but not to clean his room, the ITC sided with Whirlpool and is now considering which “remedies” to impose. Whirlpool, for its part, suggests a prohibitively high 50 percent tariff on washing machine imports from LG and Samsung. Implementing this tariff, even in a temporary manner, would harm opportunities for thousands of American workers. Samsung is already in the process of building a washing machine factory in South Carolina, expected to employ nearly 1,000 American workers. LG is constructing a factory in Clarksville, Tennessee, which would employ...

African Americans were worse off financially in 2016 than they were in 2000. The median income for an African American household was $39,490 last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released last week. It was $41,363 in 2000. (Both figures are in 2016 dollars, so they have been adjusted for inflation). African Americans are the only racial group the Census Bureau identifies that has been left behind. White, Asian and Latino households have all seen at least modest income gains since 2000.

GOP Senators Roy Blunt and Jerry Moran have introduced legislation which would outsource another 125,000 white-collar jobs to foreigners each year. The outsourcing bill is being pitched as a pro-technology, pro-entrepreneurship bill even though many young and middle-aged Americans in the two Senators’ home states of Missouri and Kansas are already working with technology or as entrepreneurs. The outsourcing bill is dubbed the “Startup Act,” and it closely models prior bills sought by the high-tech sector, where executives and investors are working to raise profits by further reducing the salaries paid to American college graduates and technology experts.

WARSAW, Ind. — Each day at Zimmer Biomet headquarters, machinists on one robot-assisted factory floor churn out about 3,000 metallic knee parts. They are facing pressure to crank up the pace as the population ages and demand soars. But the artificial-bone giant is grappling with a steep downside of the nation’s low unemployment rate: It is struggling to find enough workers, despite offering some of the region’s best pay and benefits. But without more people to grow Warsaw’s business, the chances of companies relocating is “extraordinarily high,” said Michael Hicks, a labor economist at Indiana’s Ball State University. “That would...

Two GOP legislators are introducing legislation to let states annually import 500,000 foreign blue-collar workers and white-collar professionals to replace Americans who have fallen out of the workforce and into drug addiction. The American replacement bill is needed because companies can’t hire the employees they want amid the massive decline in the number of Americans who are seeking work, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told an event hosted Wednesday by the CATO Institute. “Why can’t Wisconsin manufacturers, why can’t small businesses, find enough people to work?” Johnson asked during a speech in a Senate hearing room with supporters of the replacement...

In the age of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the H-1B and strict enforcement of immigration law, tech conglomerates are lobbying the Congress and White House for amnesty and more foreign labor. These are the four tech companies, according to analysis by Quartz, pushing for no reforms to the H-1B visa and legal immigration system, as the current process of bringing more than 85,000 foreigners to the U.S. each year. Microsoft In the first quarter of 2017 during Trump’s presidency, Microsoft lobbied more for immigration and the H-1B visas than any other tech company. In Microsoft’s five out of eight...