Free Republic

US president Donald Trump’s threat to hit car imports with punitive tariffs risks sparking global retaliation against as much as $300 billion of US products, Brussels has warned. The warning is the first time that the European Commission, in a written submission to the US Department of Commerce seen by the Financial Times, has set out a detailed response to Mr. Trump’s threat to slam punitive tariffs on imported vehicles, with EU capitals increasingly convinced that the unpredictable US president will act soon. Mr. Trump on Sunday said that the EU was “as bad” as China when it came to...

It may be heresy, but the South Carolina man who founded Bikers for Trump is sticking with the president in his feud with Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Chris Cox of Mount Pleasant has been a faithful Harley loyalist but thinks Donald Trump's battle to win the global trade and tariff war will keep his biker buddies supporting Trump over their Harley allegiance. "Harley-Davidson has been kept above water because of the blood, sweat and spit of the veterans and the blue collar," Cox told Palmetto Politics. Those are the same veterans and blue collars who helped put Trump in the White House,...

General Motors warned Friday that President Trump’s threatened tariffs on imported vehicles could lead to “a smaller GM,” isolate US businesses from the global marketplace and cause job losses. “Increased import tariffs could lead to a smaller GM, a reduced presence at home and abroad for this iconic American company, and risk less — not more — US jobs,” the Detroit-based automaker said in comments filed with the Commerce Department, The Street reported. “Combined with the other trade actions currently being pursued by the US Government — namely the Section 232 Steel and Aluminum tariffs and the Section 301 tariffs...

A leading German think tank says Donald Trump is right that tariffs between the United States and Europe are asymmetrical, but urges negotiations to lower import taxes across the board. US President Donald Trump may actually have a point when it comes to unfair taxes on US goods coming into Europe. That is the finding of a new study by a leading German think tank. Where they differ is how to deal with it: The group urges new talks to lower tariffs across the board, instead of engaging in a tit-for-tat escalation in new taxes. “The EU is by no...

General Motors warned Friday that another wave of tariffs being considered by the Trump administration could force the company to scale back its business and cost American jobs. In comments submitted to the Commerce Department, the automaker said that the tariffs, if approved, could drive individual vehicle prices up thousands of dollars, stifling demand. Such costs would need to be borne either by consumers or the company. Last month, President Trump ordered an investigation into whether imported cars and automotive components could pose enough of a national security risk to warrant tariffs of as much as 25 percent. If he...

Russia filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against duties imposed by the United States on steel and aluminum. Russia also requested consultations with the United States in the framework of the WTO dispute settlement procedure, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said on Friday. Oreshkin added that, in addition to Russia, China, India, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and Norway had earlier filed complaints against the United States with the WTO.

Harley-Davidson on Monday announced that it would move production for its European customers overseas, in order to avoid the European Union’s (EU) new import duties. President Trump slammed the move and accused the company of raising the “white flag” of economic surrender on Twitter. Trump is right. Harley-Davidson’s decision is perhaps the most incompetent public relations blunder since Starbucks said it would replace 10,000 American workers with Syrian refugees—no doubt they will pay a heavy price. In the meantime, Harley’s loss is our gain, as every individual failure makes the whole stronger.

British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Industrials on Monday reopened a shuttered South Carolina steel plant in a move that will allow his U.K.-based firm to circumvent the Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on steel imports. Liberty Steel, a London-based company owned by Gupta’s group, held a relaunch ceremony at Georgetown Steel Mill on Monday. The mill originally closed in 2015 and was acquired by Liberty House in 2017, the Myrtle Beach Sun News reported. Liberty Steel said the facility would employ about 125 workers at launch and more than 300 workers in the “medium term,” according to a press release. GFG...

President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday that Harley-Davidson will be "taxed like never before" if the motorcycle maker moves production overseas. He claimed that the iconic U.S. company was using increased trade tensions as an excuse to justify planned changes in manufacturing. "A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end - they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!" Trump said in a tweet.

Harley-Davidson, the American motorcycle manufacturer, said on Monday that it would shift some production of its iconic bikes overseas to avoid retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union in response to President Trump’s trade moves. The decision, announced in a public filing, is the latest and most high-profile example of how Mr. Trump’s trade war is beginning to ripple through the United States economy as domestic companies begin struggling with a cascade of tariffs both here and abroad. While Mr. Trump says his trade policy is aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing, Harley-Davidson’s decision shows how the administration’s moves could have...

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said Senators should stand up to President Donald Trump by not approving any more judges until they get votes on things like tariffs. Flakes said, “I can tell you Republicans need to stand up on issues like tariffs. Facing us right now — we’re at the nascent stages of a full-scale trade war that the president seems to want to escalate. It all stems from the steel and aluminum tariffs. Congress needs to stand up and say, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.’ You can’t use section 232 to claim...

International trade has always been in the news. Business reporters talk about a trade deficit, politicians wail about jobs being exported overseas, and every so often, the government signs a new free trade agreement or trade promotion agreement (they are different things) with one or two or a hundred faraway countries. But despite all this, international trade policy has not been at the forefront of the news cycle in a generation; not since the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement was voided 25 years ago, to be replaced by NAFTA, a three-party FTA between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Thanks to...

The Trump administration’s recently announced 25 percent tariff on myriad China-made goods—including vehicles—would add a levy of approximately $8250 to the price of a Buick Envision crossover. That’s 25 percent of the 2019 model’s $32,990 starting price. Whether that increase is reflected in full on the sticker price come July 6, when the tariffs are set to take effect, is totally up to General Motors. The automaker would not provide detail on any potential financial impact of the tariff; a spokesperson said the company is assessing the situation. The Chinese tariffs could still be adjusted before July 6. But as...

Apple’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, may be the leader of the world’s most valuable public company, but lately he has had to act a lot like the tech industry’s top diplomat,” Jack Nicas and Paul Mozur report for The New York Times. “Last month he visited the Oval Office to warn President Trump that tough talk on China could threaten Apple’s position in the country. In March, at a major summit meeting in Beijing, he called for “calmer heads” to prevail between the world’s two most powerful countries.” “In a trade and technology showdown between the United States and...

In recent weeks, several major rounds of tariffs have moved from proposals to realities, and major new tariffs have been threatened—shifting the stakes for President Donald Trump’s trade actions on the U.S. economy. Tariffs raise the price of imported goods, increasing costs to consumers, and making domestic producers (who don’t face the tariff) more competitive. Examples of how new tariffs might ripple through the economy have already been provided by earlier, smaller rounds of tariffs. These earlier examples also show why broad effects from tariffs, on the otherwise booming U.S. economy, might be hard to detect. One of the first...

When you plant your tree in another man’s orchard, you might end up paying for your own apples; it’s a risk you take… ….and President Trump knows how to use that leverage better than anyone could possibly fathom; because in this metaphor Beijing relies upon the U.S. for both the seeds and the harvest. President Trump drops the $200b M.O.A.T (Mother of All Tariffs):

While overshadowed by other remarks during the Group of Seven meetings last week, President Trump suggested that trade agreements could be “much simpler” and that they should eliminate all barriers to trade. The president’s instincts that trade agreements could be both simpler and more comprehensive are correct. Paradoxically, simpler agreements could go further than existing lengthy agreements in eliminating trade barriers. In fact, the surest way to eliminate all trade barriers would be through a simple, postcard-sized Free Trade Agreement (FTA). A postcard-FTA would involve a single but comprehensive obligation whereby each party would agree “to treat foreign goods, services...

Canadians have started to boycott U.S. goods in the wake of President Trump's war of words with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the recent steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, the European Union, and Mexico. CTV News reported on Thursday that Canadian shoppers were boycotting Florida oranges, Kentucky bourbon and California wine over the diplomatic rift. Canadians have also employed hashtags such as #BoycottUSProducts, #BuyCanadian and #BoycottUSA.

11:02:22, FBI Employee: “All the people who were initially voting for her would not, and were not, swayed by any decision the FBI put out. Trump’s supporters are all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS that think he will magically grant them jobs for doing nothing. They probably didn’t watch the debates, aren’t fully educated on his policies, and are stupidly wrapped up in his unmerited enthusiasm.”

Original plan called for $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods; retaliation likely Reuters A worker walks among containers at the port in Shanghai, China. The Trump administration, deepening its global trade offensive, is preparing to levy tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of Chinese goods in the coming week, perhaps as early as Friday — a move that is likely to spark heavy retaliation from Beijing. Senior trade officials in the White House, the Commerce and Treasury departments and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office met on the issue before President Donald Trump went to a summit of the...