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WASHINGTON — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick slammed European Union policies after President Trump announced a 20% tariff on the 27-nation trading bloc — saying that “they hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak.” Lutnick, a former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, defended Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs, which will start taking effect April 5, by pointing to the allegedly unfair treatment of US goods in global trade. “The European Union won’t take chicken from America. They won’t take lobsters from America. They hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak. It’s...

Opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. rose dramatically after 1999, but also exhibited substantial geographic variation. Job loss due to international trade is positively associated with opioid overdose mortality at the county-level. This association is significantly stronger in areas in which fentanyl is present in the heroin supply. In general, the loss of 1,000 trade-related jobs was associated with a 2.7 percent increase in opioid-related deaths. When fentanyl was present, the same number of job losses was associated with a 11.3 percent increase in such deaths. The positive relationship between trade-related job loss and opioid-related overdose death is well illustrated...

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced a bill with far-left Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), which would almost certainly put Trump’s new tariffs entirely on ice. The legislation’s stated purpose is to ‘reassert’ the legislative branch’s power over tariff policy. “The Trade Review Act of 2025” requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing new tariffs. The president must also present a detailed rationale and analysis of the potential consequences for American businesses and consumers. Moreover, the legislation will require ALL tariffs to be approved by Congress within 60 days, or they will automatically expire.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that it is a “fallacy” to think tariffs will help the country’s economy as President Trump gears up to impose massive reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners. Paul, who has spoken out against tariffs previously, joined The Hill’s “Rising” on Wednesday, where he discussed his disagreement with tariffs, calling them “a tax.” “On tariffs, I think it’s just economically — it’s a fallacy to think that it’ll help the country,” the Kentucky senator said. “Tariffs are a tax, and if you tax trade or if you tax anything, you’ll get less of it.”

World leaders across the globe are reacting to President Donald Trump’s "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, with some expressing disappointment and others making threats. On Wednesday, the president announced a baseline tariff of 10% on imports, in addition to reciprocal tariffs based on what each nation imposes on U.S. goods. Trump believes these tariffs will incentivize foreign investment in the U.S. and spur domestic job growth. While several U.S. allies articulated their frustration with the tariffs, they also expressed a lack of interest in launching trade wars. Many called for negotiations with the U.S. for new trade agreements. European Commission President...

Key Points “That is what I see, that Donald Trump will buckle under pressure, that he corrects his announcements under pressure,” German economy minister Robert Habeck said Thursday. Elsewhere, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he believed the latest tariff decisions by Trump were “fundamentally wrong,” according to a CNBC translation. On Wednesday, Trump imposed 20% levies on the European Union, including on the bloc’s foremost economy Germany. ****************************************************************

Key Points Stellantis is pausing production at two assembly plants in Canada and Mexico as the company attempts to navigate President Donald Trump’s new round of 25% automotive tariffs. The actions will result in roughly 900 U.S.-represented employees at supporting plants getting temporarily laid off in addition to roughly 4,500 hourly workers at the Canadian plant. ****************************************************************************

President Trump unveiled his new “liberation day” tariffs on Wednesday, and they are another large step toward a new old era of trade protectionism. Assuming the policy sticks—and we hope it doesn’t—the effort amounts to an attempt to remake the U.S. economy and the world trading system. All details aren’t clear as we write this, but Mr. Trump’s tariffs look “reciprocal” in name only. First he’s hitting every nation in the world with a 10% “baseline” tariff to sell in the U.S. market. For those he calls “bad actors,” he’s adding up the country’s tariff rate on U.S. goods, plus...

Companies are beginning to move production to the United States to avoid tariffs. “President Trump’s economic polices are simple: if you invest in and create jobs in America, you’ll be rewarded. We’ll lower regulations and reduce taxes,” Vice President J.D. Vance posted online. “But if you build outside of the United States, you’re on your own.” Hyundai announced a massive $20 billion investment in the United States with plans to open plants in Georgia and Alabama. Around $5.8 million will go towards an updated steel plant that is expected to employ over 1,400 people. Hyundai believes it will soon produce...

Carey Stewart Cezar, a retired nurse who lives in Baltimore, watched with dismay Wednesday as President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports. Cezar voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election and opposes Trump’s economic policies. But she said she has another reason to be skeptical of Trump’s tariffs: She is a descendant of one of the legislators behind the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, a law that many economic historians believe worsened the Great Depression. “I think it’s a terrible idea and potentially devastating,” Cezar, 70, said in a phone interview Wednesday, a few hours...

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.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), 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, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that underlying conditions, including a lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships, disparate tariff rates and non-tariff barriers, and U.S. trading partners’ economic policies...

John Browne, an adviser to the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, praised on Newsmax Wednesday President Donald Trump's actions to instill fair trade for the United States."Who can possibly argue with someone who's fighting for fair trade? Even trade unfettered by tariffs on either side," Browne said of Trump on "American Agenda.""Great Britain has, I think, very sensibly, despite a socialist prime minister, agreed to negotiate," Browne continued. "And I understand, contrary to what I was hearing just now, the negotiations are going very well.""People must wake up that America is the largest economy in the world — commanded...

Just hours after President Donald Trump announced massive new tariffs on nearly all imports to the United States, a bipartisan group of senators made the first push to stop the most nonsensical part of Trump's global trade war. With a 51-48 vote, the Senate approved a resolution to block Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada, which he imposed by declaring an economic emergency in early February. The measure to cancel that emergency declaration, sponsored by Sens. Tim Kaine (D–Va.) and Rand Paul (R–Ky), faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House and a near-certain veto if it reaches Trump's desk—but...

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Newsmax on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” is “a great day because the rest of the world has been leaning on us, exploiting us, and taking advantage of us.”Earlier in the day Trump announced his much-anticipated reciprocal tariffs designed to reset global trade and return manufacturing of all forms to the United States. Lutnick said the goal is to “reorder global trade. And it’s going to be great for American workers.”Lutnick said anyone who has known Trump should recognize the president has always seen tariffs as way to help the American worker.“There’s no...

We're now getting a wider picture of how investors are reacting to Trump's sweeping tariffs. In Asia, major stock indexes have fallen in morning trading as concerns grow over the threat of a global trade war. Stock markets in mainland China have just opened with the Shanghai Composite index trading broadly flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down by 1.2%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo is down by 2.9%, the Kospi in South Korea is down by 1.7%, and Australia's ASX 200 is around 1.2% lower. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down by around 800...

@RandPaulReview Rand Paul today on blocking Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada: "Despite arguments to the contrary, Americans know tariffs are a tax they are going to have to pay." The Founding Fathers “so feared the power of taxation that they gave it only to Congress.” "I stand to speak against the tariffs. I stand to speak against the idea of skipping democracy, of skipping the constitutional republic, of rejecting our founding principles." "Not because I have any animus towards the president. I do this because I love my country..." "We should vote. This is a tax, plain and simple."...

Michigan union workers are hailing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made cars, telling a crowd in the Rose Garden on Wednesday evening that the president’s economic nationalist agenda will revitalize communities gutted from decades of free trade policies.During the speech, Trump brought up a man named Brian — a leader in the United Auto Workers (UAW) — who said the 25 percent tariffs on all foreign-made cars will drive an economic boom in areas like Macomb County, Michigan, and save American industry.“I grew up just north of Detroit, Michigan in Macomb County — known as the home of the Reagan...

Several countries have announced plans to reduce or eliminate tariffs on U.S. imports in response to President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” policy, set to take effect on April 2, 2025. This policy aims to match the tariffs that other nations impose on U.S. products. The White House released a detailed chart showing how badly many countries have been ripping off American workers, charging high tariffs on U.S. goods while benefiting from America’s generosity in return. The White House fact sheet released today clarified that Canada is exempt from the reciprocal tariff announcement. This exemption comes after a series of trade...

President Donald Trump announced today the implementation of a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, effective April 5, 2025. This decisive action aims to correct decades of unfair trade practices that have disadvantaged American workers and industries.Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, President Trump proclaimed April 2 as “Liberation Day,” marking a new era of economic independence. He emphasized that this measure is essential to protect American jobs and revitalize domestic manufacturing.“For too long, other nations have taken advantage of our open markets while imposing barriers to our products. Those days are over,” the President asserted.Trump added via Fox...

A group of Republican senators voted along with Democrats on Wednesday for a resolution to undo President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports, dealing an embarrassing blow to Trump. The resolution expresses the sense of the Senate and doesn’t have the force of law, but its 51-48 passage is unwelcome news for the president on the very day he announced a host of new tariffs.