Free Republic

Walmart, one of the nation’s biggest retailers, is telling its China-based suppliers to absorb the cost of President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on Chinese-made products. Sources told Bloomberg News that Walmart is asking Chinese suppliers to cut their prices — some by as much as 10 percent — so that Trump’s increased tariffs on China will be absorbed by the retailers rather than American consumers. Chinese suppliers are reportedly trying to resist any lowering of their prices while some manufacturers are having to go outside China to source their materials. A spokesperson for Walmart told Bloomberg that the retailer is...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely. "After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd." Earlier on Thursday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the one-month reprieve on...

After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!

It looks like it’s Warren Buffett’s turn to say, “I told you so.” Late last year, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO was busy selling stocks when the S&P 500 logged more than 50 record closes, leading many market observers to scratch their heads. Now, the answer looks much clearer. The stock market’s 2025 slump proves Berkshire’s fourth-quarter trades to be prescient. Buffett was at odds with the bullish sentiment that marked the end of 2024, according to Berkshire’s latest 13-F filing, which tracks its holdings. In the last three months of 2024, Berkshire sold some $5 billion of Bank of America...

.."For 40 years, we’ve seen the devastating effects of so-called 'free trade' on the working class," the UAW, headed by Shawn Fain, said in a press release. "Corporations have been driving a non-stop race to the bottom by killing good blue-collar jobs in America to go exploit some poor worker in another country by paying poverty wages. Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals." "We are glad to see an American president take aggressive action on ending the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class,"...

Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman’s CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday Canadian provinces taking American liquor off store shelves was “worse than a tariff” and a “disproportionate response” to levies imposed by the Trump administration. Several Canadian provinces have taken U.S. liquor off store shelves as part of retaliatory measures against President Donald Trump’s tariffs. “I mean, that’s worse than a tariff, because it’s literally taking your sales away, (and) completely removing our products from the shelves,” Whiting said on a post-earnings call. Canada on Tuesday also imposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from the U.S., including wine, spirits, and beer....

China has said it is “ready for war” with America as it raises defence spending and imposes retaliatory tariffs on US imports. In a direct threat to Donald Trump, China’s representatives in America said: “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight until the end.” Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, in turn said the US is “prepared” to go to war. “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war,...

President Donald Trump will exempt automakers from proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month after pleas from industry leaders. “We are going to give a one month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press conference on Wednesday. “Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April, 2, but at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” she continued.

Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday rolled out his “Canada First” response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, borrowing Trump’s branding strategy while insisting his tariffs on Canadian goods are “unjustified.” Part of Poilievre’s strategy includes faulting the Liberal Party of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for doing “nothing” to make Canada less dependent upon the U.S. economy, even though the threat of Trump’s tariffs was painfully clear. “They’ve left us helpless,” Poilievre complained before debuting his own strategy, blasting the Liberals for weakening the Canadian economy with high taxes and heavy regulations that pushed Canadian businesses across the border...

The White House on Wednesday announced a one-month tariff exemption for automakers after President Donald Trump spoke a day earlier with heads of General Motors , Ford Motor and Stellantis . Automakers have urged Trump to waive 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on vehicles that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rules of origin. “Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2, but at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on behalf...

Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada yesterday, citing frustrations with both nations' efforts to help secure their respective borders and crack down on fentanyl trafficking. President Donald Trump on Wednesday confirmed a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss a resolution to the tariff standoff. Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada yesterday, citing frustrations with both nations' efforts to help secure their respective borders and crack down on fentanyl trafficking. "Justin Trudeau, of Canada, called me to ask what could be done about Tariffs. I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl...

China warned it is ready for any “type of war” with the US in an alarming escalation as President Trump’s tariffs went into effect. “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said late Tuesday. Tensions grew stiff between the two nations on Tuesday as Trump bumped up a 10% tariff on Chinese imports to 20%, claiming the trade measure would halt the flow of fentanyl into America. Jian’s statement, reiterated on X by...

President Donald Trump could reduce the 25 percent tariffs that he imposed Tuesday on Canada and Mexico, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview on Fox Business Network, less than 18 hours after the duties went into effect. “Both the Canadians and Mexicans were on the phone with me all day today trying to show that they’ll do better” on reducing fentanyl flows into the United States, Lutnick said. “So I think [Trump] is going to work something out with them.” “It’s not going to be a pause — none of that pause stuff,” he continued. “But I think...

During an interview that took place during NBC’s coverage of President Donald Trump’s speech before Congress, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) responded to a question on President Donald Trump using tariffs to try to get other countries to do more about illegal immigration and fentanyl by saying that Trump’s rhetoric on the subject “reminded me that he views the whole world through the prism of victimhood.” Host Kristen Welker asked, “What about his argument, though, he says, look, these countries are taking advantage of the United States. He says that these tariffs are necessary, not just to deal with people who...

President Trump announced new tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as China on Monday, sending the stock market plummeting. This morning, stock prices continued to fall, with the overall market only down a couple of percentage points, although certain individual stocks have fared worse. Tesla, for example, is down more than 10 percent since Monday's tariff announcement. Legacy automakers' stock prices dropped, as well, although not nearly as sharply as Tesla's. Unfortunately for everyone connected to the auto industry in any way, the complex, international supply chain it relies on leaves the auto sector uniquely exposed, the Wall Street...

Facing the potential for tariffs on Mexican assembled autos, Honda has cancelled plans to invest in a new auto factory in Guanajuato, Mexico, beginning in November 2027. Instead, the car company will retool the Civic auto production facility in Greensburg, Indiana, keeping jobs in the USA.TOKYO, March 3 (Reuters) – Honda has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling car models, according to three people familiar with the matter.The change underscores how manufacturers are scrambling to adapt to U.S. President Donald Trump’s...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby determine and order: Section 1. Amendment. Executive Order 14194 of February 1, 2025 (Imposing Duties to Address the Situation at Our Southern Border), as amended by Executive Order 14198 of February 3, 2025 (Progress on...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday on CNN’s “News Central” that President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on Canada is making the stock market go “downhill faster than the American bobsled team.” Ford said, “Canadians love Americans. We love the U.S. It’s one person that’s causing these problems. I’ve talked to senators and Congress people and governors, Republicans and Democrats, not one of them agree with him. I’ve talked to business CEOs of the largest companies they totally disagree with us. President Trump ran on a mandate to lower costs, to create more jobs. This is going to do exactly the...

The premier of Canada’s most populous province threatened to retaliate and cut off energy to the US “with a smile on my face” — as President Trump’s new 25% tariffs on imports took effect Tuesday. “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford vowed Monday, the Toronto Sun reported. “They rely on our energy, they need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we’re going to come back twice as hard.” The US is a major...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a strong rebuke of President Donald Trump's decision to level punishing tariffs on their country. He cited the Wall Street Journal to criticize Trump, and call his decision 'dumb.' 'Donald, they point out that even though you are a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,' he said angrily at a press conference on Tuesday. Imports from Canada will now be taxed at 25 percent as Trump's tariffs went into effect on Tuesday. 'Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, and their...