Free Republic

When a senior figure in the government called the White House on Wednesday morning to find out how bad Donald Trump’s tariffs were going to be for Britain, information was scant. Even Trump’s aides were in the dark about what he would decide. At 9pm that evening, Sir Keir Starmer sat down in 10 Downing Street and watched the television, just like the rest of us, to discover what the US president had in store. The blanket tariff of 10 per cent on imported British goods was half what Trump slapped on the European Union — but they still wrecked...

<p>April 3, President Donald Trump announced it as “Liberation Day.” And by that he meant we were going to be liberated from asymmetrical tariffs of the last 50 years. And it was going to inaugurate a new what he called “golden age” of trade parity, greater investment in the United States, but mostly, greater job opportunities and higher-paying jobs for Americans.</p>

We knew there would be a market reset and schadenfreude fest (or gross concern trolling) from the liberal media over the initial reaction to President Trump’s tariff policy. The market had a massive sell-off on Friday, trillions have been wiped off the books, and the media and the Democratic Party are trying to make this like the 1929 crash. It’s not. Let me be clear: others have also said this: a market reset was bound to happen. The era of super-spending that Biden ushered in, which created the inflation crisis, is over. This spending spree artificially propped up Wall Street,...

I have no doubt that Canada will cave to Trump on tariffs. The question is: when? “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary expressed confidence that the ongoing trade tension between Canada and the U.S. would eventually lead to a resolution, and he even predicted when. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, O’Leary said he believes that while the current rhetoric surrounding tariffs might appear grim, there is a strong economic incentive for both nations to come to the negotiating table and reduce the barriers that have caused friction in recent years. O’Leary emphasized the importance of distinguishing between the “noise” of...

Instead of screaming and yelling at President Trump's tariff schedule, as the European Union and China are doing, smart nations have taken the side door to cut deals with President Trump and get their nations off the tariffs list entirely.It's as if they are sorting themselves out, smart ones from dumb ones.Start with Argentina, which got the deal done immediately:🇺🇸🇦🇷 UNITED STATES AND ARGENTINA BECOME THE FIRST ZERO-TARIFF COUNTRIES Presidents Trump and Milei will sign the first international trade agreement free of tariffs for both American and Argentine products. This is how negotiations should be done pic.twitter.com/TTcVpOXQ8U — George Papadopoulos...

President Trump’s tariffs are already having an impact. Earlier this week, Trump announced a sweeping new trade policy that included a universal 10 percent tariff on all imports into the United States. In addition to this baseline measure, the administration introduced a system of reciprocal tariffs targeting countries with significant trade surpluses over the U.S. The tariffs vary in severity, with higher rates imposed on nations deemed to have particularly unbalanced trade relationships or who refuse to buy American goods. However, many countries are already offering the U.S. concessions: Vietnam — Following the announcement of a nearly 50 percent tariff...

Tens of thousands of protesters descended on DC Saturday as part of nationwide “Hands Off!” rallies against spending cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and President Trump’s new “Liberation Day” tariffs — with one speaker calling on the crowd to make the two men “afraid.” The huge crowd assembled with homemade — and in many cases vulgar — anti-Republican signs near the Washington Monument while similar events unfolded in New York City, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. “Trump and Musk, who want to be dictators and want to be kings and lords, they are afraid of the power of...

Tariffs are just “one chapter of the book of the Trump economic agenda,” Sen. David McCormick (R-PA) said during an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday, discussing tariffs and the latest jobs numbers.The latest jobs numbers, he began, are a “reflection of a number of companies already starting to invest in jobs in the United States,” or “an early response to the Trump economic agenda.”“And listen, you know, the last month has been tariffs, tariffs, tariffs… And I will talk about that in a minute. But the tariffs are just one chapter of the book of the Trump economic agenda, and...

Back in 2018, lawmakers of both parties greeted President Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Chinese imports with widespread derision. Six years later, most members of Congress are applauding President Joe Biden’s extension — and in some cases, expansion — of those tariffs, if not calling for him to go even further.

Tucker Carlson interviews the fulcrum between Wall Street and Main Street in the MAGAnomic policy world, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.Secretary Bessent notes the goal of the tariff plan, and the accompanying economic policy is to give the working middle-class a boost in wealth and simultaneous relief from bad policy that has exclusively benefited the investment class. WATCH:Chapters:0:00 Trump’s Tariff Plan 5:42 The Current State of the Stock Market 8:22 Will Americans See Substantial Tax Cuts Because of Tariffs? 13:16 How Much Money Will America Make Through Tariffs? 14:33 Bringing Manufacturing Back to the US 20:14 Tariff Pushback From Foreign Countries22:16...

President Donald Trump, in his post, highlighted that China has been hit harder in the ongoing trade war between the world nations and the United States. He also said that the reciprocal tariffs imposed on the nations are a result of them treating the US badly with their tariff rates. “China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close. They, and many other nations, have treated us unsustainably badly. We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer,” said Trump in his Truth Social post. The President also attempted to reassure the people...

President Donald Trump’s imposition of reciprocal tariffs marks the end of “American Empire,” according to melodramatic claims from one of Bill Kristol’s group of globalist, pro-migration, Never Trump advocates. “The age of American empire, the great Pax Americana, [has] ended,” wrote Kristol’s colleague, Jonathan Last. “We cannot overstate what has just happened. It took just 71 days for Donald Trump to wreck the American economy, mortally wound NATO, and destroy the American-led world order.” Kristol topped that wild-eyed alarmism

US President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on the sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity.The comments came as Trump's widest-ranging tariffs took effect in a move that could trigger retaliation and escalating trade tensions that could upset the global economy."We have been the dumb and helpless 'whipping post,' but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform."This is an economic revolution, and we will win," he added. "Hang tough, it won't be easy,...

Elon Musk took multiple shots at Peter Navarro in reaction to a clip of the trade advisor defending President Donald Trump’s tariffs amid steep declines in the stock market. Musk has remained fairly silent on Trump’s tariff announcement as stocks, including Musk’s, have taken major hits. Tesla stock fell 10% by Friday, erasing billions in Musk’s wealth. Markets closed on Friday with the week marking the worst trading week in five years. Navarro, a senior counselor to the president, has been among the White House officials passionately defending the tariff strategy, insisting a manufacturing boom in the United States is...

On Friday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) stated that large tariffs won’t bring back steel or auto plants to his state “in less than five or ten years. And the costs of competing, of manufacturing here in the United States are still too high.” Coons said, “There was a 100-year-old steel mill in Claymont, Delaware. We worked hard to try and save it, but, ultimately, it closed. There were two auto plants in Delaware. Ultimately, they closed. High tariffs won’t bring those plants back in less than five or ten years. And the costs of competing,...

Let us be honest: When most people hear "tariffs," they think about price hikes and trade wars. But the Trump administration’s latest tariff rollout is not merely a knee-jerk protectionist move—it is part of a far broader strategy.

Not even 24 hours after his party lost a key Wisconsin race and underperformed in Florida, President Donald Trump followed the playbook that has defined his political career: He doubled down. Trump’s move on Wednesday to place stiff new tariffs on imports from nearly all U.S. trading partners marks an all-in bet by the Republican that his once-fringe economic vision will pay off for Americans. It was the realization of his four decades of advocacy for a protectionist foreign policy and the belief that free trade was forcing the United States into decline as its economy shifted from manufacturing to...

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) claimed Friday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump’s voters are panicking over tariffs. Gottheimer said, “I think you’re going to see a lot of people panic and start to say, this is not what we signed up for. I did hear that from a Trump voter today who said, I did not sign up for higher costs, higher taxes. What’s going on here with all this chaos? And I think that’s what you’re going to see more of.”

Classical theory may not care where the steel mills, chip foundries, shipyards, research labs, aircraft plants, oil fields, and supply chains are, but the real world of power politics does. I spent most of my time during 20 years in Washington, D.C. working in a bipartisan manner on trade policy with the aim of keeping here, then bringing back, strategic industries. There was then a coalition of national security Republicans (on my side of the aisle) and labor union Democrats. Democrats did not want to lose the middle-class blue-collar jobs when factories closed. Republicans did not want to lose the...

GUANGZHOU, China — At his factory in southern China, hat supplier Jeffy Ma is trying to keep up with global demand as well as President Donald Trump’s seismic changes to international trade. His company, Ace Headwear, sews, embroiders and finishes golf visors, cycling headwear and baseball hats for brands such as Wilson and Fila, as well as for Major League Baseball teams. About 40% of the hats his 350 employees make are sold to the United States. “For us, the manufacturing profit is very low, so we cannot absorb so much,” Ma told NBC News last week at his factory...