Free Republic

Summary European markets open higher and major Asian markets make gains following days of losses in the wake of Donald Trump's tariffs The UK's FTSE 100 opens 1% up, with France's Cac 40 index up 1.8% and Germany's Dax opening 1.3% higher China says it will "fight to the end" after Trump threatened to hit Beijing with an extra 50% tariff if it doesn't withdraw its retaliatory levy on Tuesday Beijing's commerce ministry accuses the Trump administration of blackmail and says his tariffs are "a typical unilateral bullying practice" The new tariffs could leave some US companies bringing in certain...

Republicans could be poised to deal a symbolic blow to President Donald Trump’s trade policy, with several GOP senators indicating they planned to join Democrats in a Tuesday vote to block blanket tariffs on Canada. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Monday that she plans to back the resolution led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that would terminate the national emergency Trump declared last month, citing fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration. Trump has used that declaration to justify 25 percent across-the-board tariffs on America’s northern neighbor and leading trade partner — duties that Trump has threatened to start levying later this...

President says he’s ‘locked and loaded’ to attack Iran As President Trump warned that the US is “locked and loaded” to respond to the drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil supply this past weekend, Senator Rand Paul warned that hitting Iran would be a “big mistake.” Appearing on CNN, Paul warned that any attack on Iran would constitute a “needless escalation” of war. “The Iraq War, President Trump has said, was the biggest geopolitical blunder of the last generation,” Paul said. “It destabilized the Middle East and increased the strength of Iran and tipped the balance toward Iran,” the Senator...