Free Republic

The president’s vision for reshaping global trade is falling into place, but he is embarking on an experiment that economists say could still produce damaging results.Over the last six months, the United States has left behind the global trade order that persisted for decades in favor of something drastically different and largely untested. Formidable economies like the European Union and Japan have abruptly made peace with higher tariffs on their exports, acquiescing to President Trump’s demands in order to avoid damaging trade wars and to coax even steeper U.S. duties down just a little bit. As major economies fall in...

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that a framework trade agreement struck between the European Union and the United States was “anti-Russian” likening it to a de facto ban on buying Russian oil and gas. The U.S. struck the deal with the EU on Sunday, imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement afterwards that the agreement would help the bloc fully phase out Russian fossil fuels in favour of American alternatives. “Purchases of U.S. energy products will diversify our sources of supply and...

Love or hate his strategy, President Trump is getting exactly what he wants from his tariff push. On Sunday during his trip to Scotland, President Trump locked down a trade deal with the European Union which the haters told us couldn't be done. I think this headline from CNBC really says it all: And this: If Europe is balking that means the tariffs did their job and that Trump got exactly what he wanted from the trade deal, forcing the EU to give up some of their leverage. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday alongside Trump that...

SUMMARY: * The United States and European Union have reached a trade deal which will see a blanket tariff of 15% on all EU goods imported to the US. * President Trump says the EU has promised hundreds of billions of dollars of investment and energy purchases. * Trump and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met for talks in Scotland on Sunday - she has called the agreement a "huge deal" * The new deal is set to kick in on Friday, and means the Europe will avoid threatened import charges of 30% A trade deal...

EU will purchase $750 Billion of US Energy EU wil invest $600 Billion in US EU Countries now open to Trade with US, no Tariffs -more as details emerge. This is huge! Trump says “biggest deal of them all!”

Okay, this is a very big win. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlines some more details of the U.S-EU trade agreement. The parameters fall similar to the Japanese deal, without the banking aspect. The EU will face (and accept) a 15% tariff rate for most exports to the USA including autos, that’s huge, even with some zero-for-zero tariff sectors outlined. The primary motivating factor was to avoid the 35% tariff rate scheduled for August 1st and provide the EU corporations with certainty in their tariff rate as applied by the USA (15%). WATCH:This is almost full acquiescence to...

An iconic photograph of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton using her BlackBerry while wearing sunglasses on a military plane in 2011 prompted a recordkeeping official in her office to inquire about whether Clinton had been assigned a State.gov email address, the State Department disclosed this week.Clarence Finney, who oversaw an office responsible for Freedom of Information Act searches, raised the question about an official account after seeing the photo in the media, according to testimony at a deposition held Wednesday and released Thursday. The image went viral on social media in 2012, prompting a "Texts from Hillary" meme."When Mrs. Clinton's...

Former President Bill Clinton dined with financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 1995, records show—years before the interactions detailed in a statement from his office earlier this week. That statement condemned the wealthy hedge fund manager after his indictment for alleged sex trafficking crimes was unsealed Monday. The statement said Clinton "knows nothing" about Epstein's alleged crimes and included a timeline of Clinton's interactions with him starting in 2002. But according to a story published back in March 1995 by the Palm Beach Post, then-President Clinton attended a “three-hour dinner” at the time with a “very select group of...

Abandoned Japanese resort hotels have stood nearly untouched for over three decades ... a hauntingly preserved resort town in Japan, where towering hotels sit crumbling along a riverside cliff. It's been untouched for over three decades, ... Luke Bradburn, 28, stumbled upon the forgotten tourist destination of Kinugawa Onsen during a trip to Japan in early 2024. While his original goal was to document the Fukushima exclusion zone, Bradburn ventured beyond the area and found a "ghost town." ... Kinugawa Onsen was once a bustling resort town renowned for its natural hot springs. It began to decline in the early...

The preliminary agreement suggests there is a path forward to lowering the auto duties on other major trading partners, as well.President Donald Trump’s “massive” trade deal with Japan is buoying foreign carmakers — and alarming American car companies who fear they are now at a disadvantage.Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on all foreign auto manufacturers in early April, a duty that also applies to cars made by U.S. companies from parts imported from Mexico and Canada. But now, the president is planning to lower the tariff to 15 percent for Japanese autos and auto parts, the White House confirmed...

SummaryStocks rally, driven by auto makers China, EU face looming deadlines Trade deal not seen adding to inflation FRANKFURT, July 23 (Reuters) - Japan's trade agreement with the U.S. could serve as the benchmark for many other deals currently being negotiated with Washington, and the global economy could just about support the 15% level agreed overnight, economists said.Tokyo's deal with the U.S. lowers tariffs on auto imports to 15% from levies totalling 27.5% previously. Duties that were due to come into effect on other Japanese goods from August 1 will also be cut to 15% from 25%.The Reuters Daily Briefing...

The Japanese essentially did not want to face a 25% tariff on automobiles exported to the USA. At the same time, they did not want to permit full USA access to several sectors of their market. The solution is quite remarkable.Japan agrees to be the bank, to essentially finance any national security priority of President Trump to the tune of $55o billion. In return, Japan gets a 15% tariff on automobiles, and 10% return on the profit of the ¹business they finance in the U.S. Japan is essentially purchasing a lower tariff rate.PRESIDENT TRUMP – “We just completed a massive...

We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made. Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits. This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it. Perhaps most importantly, Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things. Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15%. This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for...

Japanese researchers observed the transverse Thomson effect for the very first time, and it could groundbreaking. A Thermoelectric Seebeck module (w:en:Thermoelectric generator) manufactured by TECTEG MFR. Gerardtv ====================================================================== Researchers in Japan observed the transverse Thomson effect for the very first time, a thermoelectric phenomenon that allows the control of the direction of heating and cooling flows by changing the direction of the magnetic field. The scientific understanding of how heat and electricity interact stems from the 19th century. At the time, physicists only theorized the existence of a transverse Thomson effect, which refers to the direction in which an electric...

During the pandemic, the Japanese government imposed draconian restrictions on its citizens, as did many other countries, including the United States, which had no lack of enthusiastic adherents. Many of those COVID measures were complicated by Japanese culture and social structure (slow vaccine rollouts, etc.), and the deaf ear the ruling government turned to the public when there was significant conflict between their plans and public wishes. As there is no viable political competition, there is little impetus for the government to heed the voice of the people....Japan’s inability to adapt structurally and culturally also made some of the more...

Leader of Right Wing Populist Sanseitō Party Sohei Kamiya's final speech "I am the leader of the party who will destroy the 80 year post war system, together we will fight against Globalism!" YES! 🇯🇵

The two parties in the ruling coalition lost 19 seats in the upper house election which is similar to our U.S. Senate with 124 of 248 seats up for grabs every three years. These two parties are the LDP and Komeito. Liberal Democrat Party (LDP), which uses an elephant as its symbol, has ruled Japan for the vast majority of the postwar years. It still holds 100 seats and a strong plurality in the upper house. Komeito is a Buddhist fundamentalist party associated with the Sokka Gakkai sect, which is as annoying to some Japanese as Christian fundamentalist are to...

SummarySanseito, birthed on YouTube, makes election gains Party has also pledged tax cuts and welfare spending Leader says he wants to expand lower house presence TOKYO, July 21 (Reuters) - The fringe far-right Sanseito party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Japan's upper house election on Sunday, gaining support with warnings of a "silent invasion" of immigrants, and pledges for tax cuts and welfare spending.Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the party broke into mainstream politics with its "Japanese First" campaign.The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides...

Rice prices in Japan soared 99.2 per cent in June year-on-year, official data showed Friday (Jul 18), piling further pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of elections this weekend. The price of the grain already rocketed 101 per cent year-on-year in May, having jumped 98.4 per cent in April and more than 92.5 per cent in March. Overall, Japan's core inflation rate slowed to 3.3 per cent in June from 3.7 per cent in May, the data from the internal affairs ministry showed.

An upstart party is gaining support ahead of elections in Japan by railing against a 'silent invasion' of immigrants, pushing the government to tackle fears about foreigners as it drags into the mainstream rhetoric once confined to the political fringe. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the party, Sanseito, is widening its appeal with a 'Japanese First' campaign ahead of Sunday's upper house vote. And while polls show it may only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, it is further eroding the support...