Free Republic

U.S. officials warned Chinese authorities that they could face higher tariffs if they continue purchasing oil from Iran and Russia, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters after two days of meetings in Stockholm. “It’s no secret the Chinese are buying 90% of the Iranian oil,” Bessent told reporters. The U.S. officials also informed the Chinese of a bill moving through Congress that would authorize the president to impose tariffs of up to 500% on nations that import Russian oil, saying that they believed other nations would follow suit. “We explained the nature of the...

President Trump’s stop-and-start trade policy and uneven economic messaging have rattled some of his own allies, triggering a flood of calls from business executives, concerns from Republican lawmakers and tension in the White House. Senior officials, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, have received panicked calls from chief executives and lobbyists, who have urged the administration to calm jittery markets by outlining a more predictable tariff agenda, according to people familiar with the discussions. Many in the business community have abandoned efforts to get the president to reverse course on trade, instead pleading with the White House for...

President Trump on Sunday night backed off a threat he had made earlier in the day to impose 25% tariffs and economic sanctions on Colombia, which the White House said had met its demands to repatriate migrants into the South American country....The U.S. had been deporting migrants to Colombia and other Latin American countries under the Biden administration, usually using commercial flights, the senior State Department official said. So far in January, there have been 90 deportation flights, with 48 to Guatemala and Honduras, 14 to Mexico and eight to Colombia, said Witness at the Border, a U.S. immigration advocacy...