Free Republic

Technology can be a beautiful thing. But in the matter of who wields it, it can be vital to distinguish friend from foe. The late historian Samuel Eliot Morison, in his classic 15-volume naval history of World War II, bequeathed us a "grimly humorous" anecdote from the aftermath of the 1942 Doolittle Raid on Japan -- in which, in order to surprise Japan with a retaliatory bombing less than five months after Pearl Harbor, two U.S. aircraft carriers, the Hornet and the Enterprise, sailed much closer to Japanese waters than Tokyo was expecting. After U.S. bombers took off from...

The American/China Chamber of Commerce found that 82 percent of American-owned manufacturers in China are suffering significant pain from Trump Trade War tariffs. ‘AmCham’ surveyed business conditions for its 900 member American-owned companies operating across China during the week of May 16-20, following President Trump’s announcement that he was raising tariffs on $200 billion U.S. imports from  China from 10 percent to 25 percent. The survey found that due to the U.S. action and the retaliatory Chinese response, American-owned companies in China reported that 52.1 percent were experiencing lower demand; 42.4 percent were experiencing higher manufacturing costs and 38.2...

New orders for U.S.-made capital goods fell more than expected in April, further evidence that manufacturing and the broader economy were slowing after a growth spurt in the first quarter.The slowdown was driven by exports and a buildup of inventories.Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft dropped 0.9% last month as demand weakened almost across the board, the Commerce Department said.Overall orders for durable goods, items ranging from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last three years or more, tumbled 2.1% in April. .... The renewed trade tensions are expected to weigh on exports, which earlier this year...

Lori Rodriguez, a 27-year-old communications professional in New York City, is not saving for retirement, and it isn’t necessarily because she can’t afford to — it’s because she doesn’t expect it to matter. Like many people her age, Rodriguez believes climate change will have catastrophic effects on our planet. Some 88% of millennials — a higher percentage than any other age group — accept that climate change is happening, and 69% say it will impact them in their lifetimes. Engulfed in a constant barrage of depressing news stories, many young people are skeptical about saving for an uncertain future. “I...

Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei has moved to quell a rising tide of nationalistic fervour in China against US firms, including Google and Intel, following last week’s blacklisting of the world’s No 2 smartphone maker by the Trump administration. Speaking to mainland media outlets on Tuesday, Ren cautioned Chinese media and consumers against equating buying decisions with patriotism and called for an end to criticism of US corporations. In a global setback for Huawei’s 5G technology, US President Donald Trump also signed an executive order barring US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk...

When we read about farmers feeling the pinch in their profits due to the trade war with China, we think of farms and crops. A part of the economic story sometimes overlooked is that of companies who depend on agricultural sales, the companies that service farm communities, like Deere & Co. It was announced Friday that the company’s quarterly earnings missed Wall Street expectations. The agricultural equipment manufacturer is feeling the effects of the trade war between the U.S. and China. Since the beginning of the year, Deere stocks have declined 2% and nearly 1% in the past twelve...

WASHINGTON- The United States on Thursday terminated Turkey's preferential trade treatment under a program that allowed some exports to enter the country duty free, but it has halved its tariffs on imports of Turkish steel to 25%. The White House said it was appropriate to terminate Turkey's eligibility to participate in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, based on its level of economic development. The decision was effective May 17, it added.The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in early March said Turkey was no longer eligible to participate because it "is sufficiently economically developed." It had begun reviewing the NATO...

ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Frank Houston knows something about the longtime estrangement of white men from the Democratic Party. His family roots are in nearby Macomb County, the symbolic home of working-class Reagan Democrats who, distressed by economic and social tumult, decided a liberal Democratic Party had left them, not the other way around. Mr. Houston grew up in the 1980s liking Ronald Reagan but idolizing Alex P. Keaton, the fictional Republican teenage son of former hippies who, played by Michael J. Fox on the television series “Family Ties,” comically captured the nation’s conservative shift. But over time, Mr. Houston...

On Saturday, Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was recently acclaimed as an even better leader than the legendary Steve Jobs, carved out a morning from his very busy schedule to deliver a commencement speech for the 2019 graduates of Tulane University in New Orleans. [cut] But as soon as Cook stepped up to the podium on Saturday, his message to Tulane’s graduates became the very opposite of what was expected of him—instead of presenting himself as a role model for the young graduates in the audience, Cook encouraged them to challenge older generations’ successes and to find their own. “In...

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The events in the above headline are not unrelated. Once the literally “no news” two-year news cycle of Trump-Russia collusion ended with the thump of the Mueller report finding no collusion and not recommending any obstruction of justice charges, it turns out Americans are OK with President Trump. More than OK. The Zogby Poll has Trump’s job approval at 51%, 3 points above Obama’s in the same poll at the same point in his first term. Again, it cannot be said enough, this is after two years of media hyperventilating over something that did not happen. Maybe more interesting: A...

The best tariff (tax on imported goods) equals zero — at least this is what standard economic theory says. However, such a rule is valid only when both trading partners are set at zero. If either side moves one iota above zero in tariffs, it makes its population pay for that move. So what happens when one party does not respond to an unfriendly move from zero to some non-zero tariff? In a short time frame, it hurts the side that makes such a move, but in the long run, it could eventually bankrupt businesses on the other side and,...

Iowa farmer Tim Bardole survived years of low crop prices and rising costs by cutting back on fertilizer and herbicides and fixing broken-down equipment rather than buying new. When President Donald Trump’s trade war with China made a miserable situation worse, Bardole used up any equity his operation had and started investing in hogs in hopes they’ll do better than crops. A year later, the dispute is still raging and soybeans hit a 10-year-low. But Bardole says he supports his president more today than he did when he cast a ballot for Trump in 2016, skeptical he would follow through...

... Atchison County, my small farming community in northwest Missouri, is home to about 5,000 people. One hundred thousand acres of soybeans are planted here each year. The drop in soybean prices has meant a loss of around $100 in potential income on each of those acres. Atchison County farmers will be looking at a decline of $10 million in gross income this year, or about $2,000 per capita. We won’t be buying many Whirlpool washers. Supporters of the tariffs begin each conversation with a litany of Chinese wrongs. They say China ignores the rules governing international trade and is...

(CNN)President Donald Trump lifted steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Friday, a move designed to ease one area of tensions even as the President's wider trade agenda faces an uncertain future. A joint statement from the US and Canadian governments said the tariffs would be lifted in two days, and added the two sides had agreed on monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to prevent steel dumping that might affect prices. The step clears a key hurdle for ratification of Trump's replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, though final passage of that pact remains uncertain as US...

Chinese state media may have launched a fierce propaganda campaign, placing the blame for the trade war squarely at the feet of the US government. But many manufacturers in China are keeping their heads below the parapet, for fear of reprisals from both inside and outside the country. Interviews reveal that many factory owners and operators feel that they are caught in the middle of forceful rhetoric from both sides in the trade war. And rather than face direct retaliation from officials, workers and suppliers in their home market, they are deciding to keep their counsel. Those companies that plan...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Wednesday his agency is still "in the throes of constructing" an aid package for farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs, but he is not prepared to say when it will be ready. Perdue said the Agriculture Department is reviewing feedback from producers about the strengths and weaknesses of last year's relief package, valued at up to $12 billion. This year's package could range between $15 billion and $20 billion, Perdue projected. He also predicted that the relief amount will be enough to offset losses that farmers are facing as a result of lower...

Williams-Sonoma CEO Laura Alber said Monday that the company shuffled its operations over the past year in anticipation of high tariffs on imports from China. The home goods retailer made adjustments over the past year believing that tariffs on Chinese imports could reach 25%. “I think that you’re better off preparing for the worst,” she said in a one-on-one interview with “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer Monday in San Francisco. “Unfortunately that pessimism has come true, and we are more prepared.” Williams-Sonoma shifted some furniture production to Vietnam, Indonesia and the United States after President Donald Trump slapped 10% duties...

Two former top Obama administration officials are working on behalf of Huawei, even as the Chinese telecom giant faces a Trump administration that increasingly sees it as 'a threat to national security'..... President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday likely aimed at limiting the influence of Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese companies the U.S. intelligence community and law enforcement officials see as threats. But 'Samir Jain', 'Obama’s senior director for cybersecurity' policy for the National Security Council, registered as a lobbyist for Huawei in March 2019,.... and 'James Cole', who was Obama’s deputy attorney general from 2011 to 2015, has...

Amid a deepening trade war with China, President Trump on Wednesday declared a “national emergency” to protect U.S. communications networks in a move that gives the federal government broad powers to bar American companies from doing business with certain foreign suppliers — including the Chinese firm Huawei. Trump declared the emergency in the form of an executive order that says foreign adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities in U.S. telecommunications technology and services. It points to economic and industrial espionage as areas of particular concern. “The President has made it clear that this Administration will do what it takes to keep America...