Free Republic

Trade talks between China and the United States collapsed because there was “a critical cultural gap” on the understanding of law between the two sides, according to a professor at the University of Hong Kong. The explanation offered by Chen Zhiwu, director of the Asia Global Institute in Hong Kong who also taught at Yale University, provided a fresh perspective to understand how Chinese and American officials failed to reach a deal to end the trade war after months of negotiations. According to an article published by Chen on Thursday, the high-stakes talks involved “lawyers” on the US side and...

In an effort to avoid the tariffs scheduled to begin next Monday; and not admitting they have no ability to influence the U.S-Mexico border region controlled by drug cartels; the conniving Mexican government is pledging to send troops to their southern border. However, President Trump isn’t in the mood for more empty promises. In essence, the U.S. position led by Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is: do it, and let’s see… in the meantime, tariffs will commence until Mexican priorities are improved. WASHINGTON – Faced with Trump’s threat to impose escalating tariffs on Mexican goods beginning...

Will Mexico's efforts be enough to avert the Trump administration's tariff plan? Armed Mexican government forces stopped a northbound caravan of Central American migrants after it crossed over the country's southern border from Guatemala. Reuters reported that the group of migrants met a collection of Mexican military personnel, immigration officials, and police after crossing near the town of Metapa in the southern state of Chiapas. According to the Associated Press, the migrant column began at a border town and was headed to one of the main cities in the region when it encountered government forces who blocked the highway. Most...

President Trump is planning to declare a new national emergency in order to implement sweeping tariffs on Mexico over the flow of Central American migrants to the U.S., according to a draft document of the declaration reviewed by The Hill. According to the document, the new emergency is necessary due to “the failure of the Government of Mexico to take effective action to reduce the mass migration of aliens illegally crossing into the United States through Mexico.” The new emergency declaration would follow a February emergency declaration, which Trump used to justify sending National Guard troops to support Customs and...

U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing an agreement that would ramp up Mexico’s immigration enforcement effort and allow the U.S. to deport asylum seekers as both sides work to clinch a deal that will avert tariffs on Mexican products, according to an administration official. It’s not clear if President Trump, who is traveling in Europe, or Mexican leaders would accept the terms of such an agreement. Delegations from both countries held staff-level talks in Washington on Thursday, one day after a meeting convened by Vice President Mike Pence did not result in a deal to avert sweeping tariffs on Mexican...

Mexico aims to avoid tariffs with potential deal limiting migrants going north, allowing U.S. to deport Central American asylum seekers U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing the outlines of a deal that would dramatically increase Mexico’s immigration enforcement efforts and give the United States far more latitude to deport Central Americans seeking asylum, according to a U.S. official and a Mexican official who cautioned that the accord is not finalized and that President Trump might not accept it. Faced with Trump’s threat to impose escalating tariffs on Mexican goods beginning Monday, Mexican officials have pledged to deploy up to 6,000...

Republicans in Congress are confused about how to respond to President Trump’s multi-front trade war. With strong free-trade ideals but also cognizance of political and geopolitical concerns about Chinese competition, they stand paralyzed and inert. Mitt Romney can help them break out of their slumber. Romney, now a senator from Utah, is uniquely positioned to lead his Republican colleagues on trade policy. He is unquestionably a leader of the party’s business and establishment wings. Those elements are strongly opposed to trade restriction, and deeply uneasy about Trump’s tariff wars, and they want nothing more than a quick end to all...

While the President is overseas honoring D-Day, the cable news talking heads back home have been busy critiquing his recently announced plan to impose an increasing series of tariffs on Mexico unless that nation stops the flood of migrants passing through their country toward the United States. The plan has been described in the press with a variety of terms ranging from reckless to impossible. After all, even if Mexico was willing to consider such a deal, how could they possibly stop the human tide from flowing across their own southern border?Well, the tariffs must have gotten their attention....

President Trump on Thursday threatened China Opens a New Window. with possible tariffs on “at least” another $300 billion worth of goods, escalating tensions in the trade war Opens a New Window. between the two countries as negotiations drag on. Trump, before heading to France for D-Day commemorations, told reporters that “a lot of interesting things are happening” during talks with China, but did not provide further details. The countries have been stuck at a trade standoff which escalated last month when Trump increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent. “Our talks with China, a...

For more than a generation, James Carville's campaign maxim, "It's the economy, stupid," has been held up as an essential truth of American politics. There's no denying that a strong economy is an incumbent president's best friend. Seventy-three percent of voters currently rate the economy as a very important issue. As a result, if the economy remains strong for another 1 1/2 years, many analysts believe President Donald Trump will be favored to win reelection. On the other hand, if a recession hits next year, we will almost certainly have a new president in 2021. However, recent data about the...

Amid the question of whether Democrats will enact impeachment proceedings, a majority of Americans say they expect President Donald Trump to win re-election in 2020, according to a new poll released Wednesday. The CNN/SSRS poll found that 54% of Americans said Trump will likely win the 2020 election, including those who disapprove of his job performance. Only 41% said they think he will lose. The number represents a significant shift from December when 51% said they thought Trump would lose in 2020. The change in numbers comes largely from those who disapprove of the president. Seven months ago, 81% of...

Donald Trump has declared he wants the NHS to be on the table in any US-UK trade deal and refused to meet the “negative” Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who pledged to oppose US corporations taking over the health service with every breath in his body. On the second day of his state visit, during which he has been hosted by the Queen and Theresa May, the US president set out his ambitions for a “phenomenal” post-Brexit trade deal with the UK. But following a cross-party backlash, the president later appeared to row back on his comments. In an interview with...

The U.S. and Mexico failed to reach a deal on immigration issues during their Wednesday meeting. Officials met just days before 5% tariffs on all Mexican imports are set to kick in, while President Donald Trump was in the U.K. on a state visit. Trump announced the tariffs in a surprise tweet last Thursday, saying they would be imposed “until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP.” On Wednesday evening, Trump tweeted that “progress is being made, but not nearly enough!” The president said talks will continue on Thursday and that if no deal...

FULL TITLE: Trump says tariffs on Mexico will be imposed MONDAY after a breakdown in talks, despite an increase in military and police presence south of the border to stop the surge of migrants Despite efforts by security forces south of the border to stop a migrant caravan, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard says no agreement was reached on tariffs during Wednesday's White House meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Ebrard says both countries will keep talking Thursday to find a way to stave off President Trump's threatened tariffs on all Mexican goods flowing...

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfTlvxphIQk

A number of Republicans in the Senate are standing with President Donald Trump over his threat to apply tariffs to Mexico on Tuesday after several party members spoke out against it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that “there is not much support in my conference for tariffs” and he is hoping that the tariffs are not implemented. Other Senators also decided to speak out against Trump’s threat. Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said he will not support applying a tariff to Mexico, saying he “would not be inclined to vote [for] a tariff against a friend,” Politico reported...

Senate Republicans say President Trump should postpone tariffs set to be imposed on Mexican exports Monday, and allow more time for negotiators to reach a deal. The senators say further negotiations could help prevent an escalating trade fight they say would damage the U.S. economy. “We have a lot of people who don’t want to see this go into effect next week,” said Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.).

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) says the votes aren’t there to block President Trump’s threat to impose a new round of tariffs on Mexico, despite broad concerns among GOP lawmakers. Johnson, an outspoken critic of Trump’s trade policies, says there won’t be enough votes to override the president’s expected veto of a disapproval resolution to block additional tariffs against Mexico. He said he informed Mexican Ambassador Martha Bárcena Coqui of the political reality on Capitol Hill in a phone call Wednesday morning.

Former presidential adviser Dr. Sebastian Gorka blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other “RINO” members of the Senate GOP caucus for opposing POTUS Donald Trump’s decision to levy an escalating tariff regime on Mexico for failing to do more to interdict illegal aliens enroute to the United States. On Tuesday, McConnell told reporters in a classic understatement, “There is not much support in my conference for tariffs, that’s for sure,” when discussing the president’s plan to impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican imports beginning June 10, then steadily raising them throughout the remainder of this year until they...

Vice President Mike Pence and other top administration officials will meet Wednesday with Mexico’s top diplomat as both sides try to avert the potentially crippling economic consequences of President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on all Mexican imports. Mr. Trump has vowed to impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico beginning Monday and to increase the tax to 25 percent by October if Mexico does not prevent migrants from illegally entering the United States. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said that it was “more likely that the tariffs” would be imposed. But on Wednesday, the president said he...