Free Republic

Are the tariffs working? The headline from the BBC, Tariffs prompt record plunge in US imports.The details, Goods brought into the US plunged by 20% in April, recording their largest ever monthly drop in the face of a wave of tariffs unleashed by US President Donald Trump. You literally have to go down to the final two sentences to learn the bottom line of the report, Exports so far this year are up about 5% compared with 2024. The overall goods and services deficit in April was $61.6bn, down from $138.3bn in March. Wut? Exports are up? How can that...

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services narrowed sharply in April, falling to $61.6 billion from $138.3 billion in March—the largest monthly improvement on record—driven by a steep drop in imports and continued strength in American exports. The 16.3 percent decline in imports, the biggest on record, coincided with the introduction of new U.S. tariff schedules and followed months of accelerated purchasing by companies anticipating higher duties. Analysts noted that much of the shift reflected a hangover after months of elevated imports as businesses rushed to bring in goods ahead of the tariff hikes. At the same time, exports...

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins took bold action to protect America’s food supply and ranching industry from an imminent biological threat. Effective immediately, all live cattle, horse, and bison imports through U.S. southern border ports of entry have been suspended in response to the reemergence of the New World Screwworm. The New World Screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is a parasitic fly whose larvae (maggots) are flesh-eating parasites that infest warm-blooded animals, including cattle, wildlife, pets, and humans. It is considered one of the most destructive parasites known to livestock. According to the CDC:

The European Commission has published a "roadmap" outlining its plans to end Europe's reliance on Russian energy in the coming years. Under the plans, imports of all Russian gas and liquefied natural gas to European Union member states will be banned by the end of 2027. "No more will we permit Russia to weaponise energy against us... No more will we indirectly help fill up the [Kremlin's] war chests," European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen said in a news conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday. In response to the plans, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday...

SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) - China has waived the 125% tariff on ethane imports from the United States imposed earlier this month, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, among a group of products that have been granted exemptions. The move will ease pressure on Chinese firms that import U.S. ethane for petrochemical production as well as provide an outlet for the natural gas liquid, a byproduct of U.S. shale gas production. The sources said the tariff on ethane had been waived in recent days. One of them said the waiver has not been publicly announced. They...

according to Bloomberg News. Most of the hikes in US prices came on Friday, with markups significantly higher in some categories than others, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. The average price for the top 100 products in the beauty and health category increased by 51% from Thursday, with several of the items more than doubling in price. For home and kitchen products and toys, the average jump was more than 30%, led by a massive 377% increase in the price of a 10-piece set of kitchen towels. For women’s clothing the rise was 8%. E-commerce shopping platforms like...

In a dramatic move to protect America’s cattle industry, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has warned Mexico that the U.S. will halt imports of live animals — including cattle and bison — if Mexico doesn’t step up efforts to combat a dangerous pest creeping northward. In a letter sent Saturday and obtained by Fox News, Secretary Rollins put the Mexican government on notice to act immediately to fight the spread of the New World screwworm or face serious economic consequences on the border. The USDA has set a firm deadline of April 30 for Mexico to address the growing crisis, or...

President Trump held his “Liberation Day” press conference on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. In this presentation, he announced a new additional 10% baseline tariff on top of whatever other tariffs are currently in place (with a few exceptions) for the goods of most countries. For most of our major trading partners, this 10% rate would be replaced by a much higher rate the following week, some as high as 46% (Vietnam) and 49% (Cambodia). Markets tumbled, perhaps forgetting that with President Trump, most big announcements are his way of beginning a negotiation, so these often terrifyingly high percentages are not...

If you think bringing American manufacturing jobs back is a steep climb, it’s nothing compared to one of the key efforts this year: saving America’s retail sector. Retail is absolutely critical to the American way of life. Shops fill our malls and business districts; they draw customers to our restaurants and movie theaters, they create important part-time jobs for students and adults, and for those of you who like taxes, retailers produce sales taxes and property taxes and income taxes, and by employing people, they provide income taxes and FICA taxes as well. Retail is everything from the single-location gift...

US stocks fell on Friday as China struck back at President Trump’s latest tariff with a total 125% tax — further escalating trade tensions between the two nations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 254 points, or 0.6%, after plummeting 1,014.79 the day before. The index has been on a wild ride over the past week as markets struggle to absorb back-and-forth trade war news, plunging more than 4,000 points after Trump revealed his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs last Wednesday, then recovering more than 1,500 points this week after he announced a 90-day pause on most of his harsher tariffs. The...

We aren’t fans of the trade war, but blaming Trump (as the media and the Left are doing) ignores one key point: He’s right that other countries impose outrageous tariffs on American exports. Is there a path to reciprocal low or zero rates? We wouldn’t count Trump out. One idea we like would be to start immediately with a zero-zero trade agreement with Argentina, which Javier Milei is reportedly interested in. That would knock our trading partners off their high horse.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Purpose. The production of timber, lumber, paper, bioenergy, and other wood products (timber production) is critical to our Nation’s well-being. Timber production is essential for crucial human activities like construction and energy production. Furthermore, as recent disasters demonstrate, forest management and wildfire risk reduction projects can save American lives and communities.The United States has an abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs, but heavy-handed Federal policies...

Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries. The companies that bring the foreign goods into the country pay the tax to the government. Typically, tariffs are a percentage of a product's value. The 10% tariff on Chinese goods means a product worth $10 would have an additional $1 charge applied to it. Tariffs are a central part of Trump's economic plans. He promised to introduce import duties against some of America's main trade partners during his election campaign.He says tariffs will boost US manufacturing and protect jobs, as well as raising tax revenue and growing the economy.How...

The European Union expects to hold talks with United States officials as it assesses Donald Trump's demands for the bloc to buy more U.S. fuel, a spokesperson said Tuesday. “The priority is to have a conversation, to engage early, discuss common interests and then be ready to negotiate,” said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the European Commission’s spokesperson for energy, responding to a question from POLITICO. The remarks come hours after Trump was sworn in for a second term as U.S. president. The freshly inaugurated president quickly put the EU in his crosshairs, telling reporters, "The one thing they can do quickly is...

MESQUITE, Texas — In a warehouse off Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway in an industrial area outside Dallas, the future of American military ammunition production is coming online. Here, in the Pentagon’s first new major arms plant built since Russia invaded Ukraine, Turkish workers in orange hard hats are busy unpacking wood crates stenciled with the name Repkon, a defense company based in Istanbul, and assembling computer-controlled robots and lathes. The factory will soon turn out about 30,000 steel shells every month for the 155 mm howitzers that have become crucial to Ukraine’s war effort. Ukraine fired 4,000 to 7,000 such...

A majority of voters say they support slapping a 10 percent tariff on all imports, according to an exclusive new poll, in a boost to President Donald Trump's plan for reducing U.S. reliance on foreign producers. According to the latest J.L. Partners/DailyMail.com 2024 poll, 24 percent of likely voters strongly support the policy proposal while another 30 percent tend to support it. 'European capitals and businesses might be quaking in their boots at the idea of Trump 2.0 on tariffs, but the American people welcome the policy.' The poll tested the opinions of 1,005 likely voters on March 21. It...

The next time a doctor examines you, a phlebotomist draws blood from your arm, a nurse takes your temperature, or you undergo any medical procedure, there is an increased likelihood—thanks to the failures of the Democrat administration of President Joe Biden—that the Chinese made the gloves the medical professional is wearing. Data from the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) shows that since Biden took the White House in early 2021, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has rapidly seized market share for U.S. imports of nitrile medical gloves. In 2019, during former President Donald Trump’s administration and before the coronavirus pandemic,...

U.S. incentives to boost consumption of more environmentally friendly fuel has created a new market for used Chinese cooking oil, worth almost $390 million in the last 12 months and growing rapidly, China's customs data shows. China has been shipping more waste oil to the U.S. since October 2022, two months after the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to promote clean energy, which included tax credits for production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and extended incentives for biodiesel. In the first eight months of 2023, Chinese exports of used cooking oil (UCO) to the U.S. totalled almost...

In a speech to a Seattle crowd Wednesday, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm made the claim that lower oil imports improves U.S. energy security. Praising Biden’s historic green energy funding and 100% clean electricity goal by 2035, Granholm said “With all this electrification, we could slash our net crude oil imports by almost 60%, and that strengthens energy security.” Granholm, who appeared with Vice President Kamala Harris also said Harris "has been amazing inside the White House as the champion for clean energy." One of the most common critiques of Biden’s green agenda is that it has thus far achieved the...

The Panama Canal, one of the major shipping routes through which 40 percent of container goods sold in America travels, currently has a 21-day wait time for ships attempting to make the passage. And the situation will only get worse before it gets better. The number of vessels waiting to sneak between North and South America currently stands at 154. The traffic jam is thanks to a severe drought that has afflicted the area since this Spring. About $270 billion in cargo travels through the canal every year... snip Not only are reservations for making it through the canal cut...