Free Republic

ONE quickish concession following the election of Joe Biden as US President has seen a four-month suspension of the 25 per cent tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on the import of Scotch Whisky. Amongst other exports also now allowed into the US tariff free are cheese, pork, cashmere and machinery. It comes in response to the suspension of UK tariffs on certain goods effective from January 1, 2021 when Britain ceased to be part of the European Union. The argument and tit for tat measures came about as the US Government was accused of giving financial support to Boeing and...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday warned President Trump’s tariffs will destroy New York City’s economy and likely plunge it right into a recession — as he urged the commander in chief to “back off.” The New York Democrat claimed Trump’s “pinball tariff strategy” could result in a nearly $20 billion direct hit to the Big Apple and threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs. “President Trump’s pinball tariff strategy will wreak total havoc on New York City and is likely to drive us right into a recession. We’ve crunched the numbers, and what doesn’t look good for the nation,...

WASHINGTON, DC: An unearthed 1996 video shows then-Representative Nancy Pelosi passionately demanding the US push back on China's lopsided tariffs - sounding eerily like Donald Trump decades before his presidency made it a headline issue. In a video captured on the House floor back in June 1996, the congresswoman passionately urged her fellow lawmakers to challenge the “status quo” trade practices that had fueled the growing US trade deficit with China, reported by Fox News. Pelosi delivered a sharp critique of a bipartisan effort to grant China Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status. She highlighted the lopsided nature of the...

For the second time in just two months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is back in Washington D.C. and at the White House meeting with President Donald Trump. On the agenda for discussion are Trump's new tariffs, Iran's nuclear program, Hamas' ongoing war against Israel from Gaza, hostage release negotiations, Islamic terrorism, the tech industry and much more. "I am heading to the U.S. at the invitation of President Trump to discuss the hostages, the completion of the victory in Gaza, and the tariffs also applied to Israel. I hope I can help in this matter," Netanyahu said upon departure....

If there's one guy in the liberal media who should be modest about boasting, "I told you so," it's Joe Scarborough. Scarborough is the guy who—in the face of Biden's undeniable decline—assured voters that "this was the best Biden ever," angrily bellowing, "and f-you if you don't believe it." Yeah, well, we told you so, Scarborough. Biden was obviously unfit to serve. [snip] But on today's Morning Joe, Scarborough, discussing the fallout from Trump's tariffs, boasted "I spent three months after the election warning Republicans they needed to be careful. Three months. I've got -- we've got about ten minutes...

PresidentPresident Trump smartly remained quiet after delivering the economic thunder-shock with his national security tariffs and new global trade expectations. Now President Trump takes questions from the media about the initial reactions to the seismic event he created.“China needs to solve the problem of the trade deficit with have with them,” is codespeak for China needs to open their markets to U.S. companies that have already established a footprint, AND China needs to purchase U.S. goods. Despite the size of China, President Trump knows Beijing will never comply in earnest, so he gives the Panda a few words, but doesn’t...

Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set. Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on...

Global crash, Trump tariffs bite; 25% of Earth seeks deals; China reels, EU buckles; UK flips; inflation, oil down; Main Street cheers; was a market reset the plan all along? And much more. Good morning, C&C, it’s Monday! The news continues to be dominated by Trump’s tariffs and the world’s market response. So let’s dig in. In today’s roundup: global markets plunge as Trump tariffs take hold, but what’s the upside?; a quarter of the entire Earth lines up to do deals; China reels under tariff chaos; Europe in focus as Trump vows the EU will have to pay “a...

On Monday, European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen has said that the European Union is ready to offer "zero-for-zero" tariffs in trade negotiations with the United States for industrial goods. "We stand ready to negotiate with the United States. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners, because Europe is always ready for a good deal," von der Leyen said on Monday. This comes as the 27-nation bloc has been in talks to get the US to lower tariffs against the EU. The countries are facing a 25...

France’s trade minister said the European Union’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be “extremely aggressive” amid increasingly heated rhetoric from Paris. Speaking ahead of crunch talks in Luxembourg, French Minister of Foreign Trade Laurent Saint-Martin said that Brussels must consider all options in the trade dispute with the United States. “We must not exclude any option, on goods, on (American) services and open the European toolbox, which is very complete, which can also be extremely aggressive in return,” the minister said per Le Figaro.

Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, a staunch President Trump ally, has warned the world is on the brink of a “self-induced economic nuclear winter” – as he begged the commander in chief to pause his sweeping tariffs. “The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down,” Ackman wrote in a lengthy X post Sunday night. “May cooler heads prevail.” Ackman, who endorsed Trump’s run for President, issued the stark...

During an appearance on FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” White House senior economic counselor Peter Navarro explained the long-term implications for the Trump administration’s tariffs and how they will function to ensure fair trade for the United States. “Let’s not forget, every economic report that’s been coming out in the last month has been pushing us towards expansion and strength,” Navarro said. “And we just had a blowout jobs number on Friday, 228,000 jobs. That was 50 percent higher than was predicted. So, again, there’s cognitive dissonance between what the media is saying, wanted to push us into recession, and what’s...

DETROIT—If President Trump’s trade war has a physical battleground, it is Michigan, where companies and workers are already feeling the beginning of an onslaught that could blow a hole in the state’s economy. Nearly 20% of the economy is tied to the auto industry, which has become increasingly dependent on parts and vehicles from Canada, Mexico and China—imports Trump hit with steep tariffs in recent weeks. This trade has grown so large that Michigan ranks fifth in the nation by the size of its imports and exports, even though its total economy ranks 14th. Detroit’s automotive executives have shifted into...

Donald Trump has repeatedly said that his move to impose wide-ranging tariffs is based on the simple concept of reciprocity: The U.S. should put the same conditions on imports from other countries that they impose on our goods through tariffs and other trade barriers. But the tariff scheme he announced isn’t reciprocal and isn’t based on measuring foreign trade barriers. Instead, it simply measures bilateral trade deficits and comes up with tariff numbers from there. Those are two very different things, and could be one reason why global financial markets are reacting so badly. The upshot is that, in the...

Stock markets across Asia and Europe have been hit with significant lows, as tariff announcements by US President Donald Trump continue to be felt across the markets. If you're just joining us now, here's what you've missed so far this morning: In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 13.22% which marks a 28-year low for the exchange In Taiwan, a 9.7% drop at close resulted in a record low for Taipei's TAIEX index In Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 index opened nearly 6% down and Germany's Dax plunged almost 10% at the start of trading European markets have...

President Trump stood by his wide-scale tariffs, calling them a “beautiful thing to behold” that will eventually be largely supported even as the stock futures dropped Sunday evening. “They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold. The Surplus with these Countries has grown during the ‘Presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump blasted out on Truth Social Sunday night as he attempted to justify the action he took against around 90 nations last week. “We are going to reverse it, and reverse it QUICKLY. Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United States of America, are...

For the first time in decades, the United States will see fair trade as President Donald J. Trump announces tariffs to level the playing field for American workers and businesses.Despite the rhetoric from politicians and the media, studies have repeatedly shown tariffs are an effective tool for achieving economic and strategic objectives — just as they did in President Trump’s first term.A 2024 study on the effects of President Trump’s tariffs in his first term found that they “strengthened the U.S. economy” and “led to significant reshoring” in industries like manufacturing and steel production.A 2023 report by the U.S. International...

Protectionist tariffs typically help one specific industry when a country is dumping products into our country because it costs less for the other country to make it than it does for American manufacturers to make it. These are the type of tariffs people think of when they threaten a repeat of Smoot-Hawley. President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs are very different from protectionist tariffs. According to the fundamental definition, “reciprocal” means doing an equal thing back. In this sense, the protectionist tariffs President Trump is responding to were levied first by another country on US goods. The United States is not initiating...

As I thought, President Trump is off to a great start thanks to the much better team of people he now has compared to last time. One exception: he brought back Peter Navarro, allowing him to design the massive April 2nd tariff orders. Dr. Navarro for most of his career was a Hillary Clinton Democrat who promoted terrible economic ideas, just like fellow Ph.D. economist Paul Krugman.His obsession is protective barriers that will bring back manufacturing to America, especially autos. But he is about 50 years behind the times. He still thinks it’s 1970 and Japan and Germany, with brand...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he won’t back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the U.S., digging in on his plans to implement the taxes that have sent financial markets reeling, raised fears of a recession and upended the global trading system. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he didn’t want global markets to fall, but also that he wasn’t concerned about the massive sell-off either, adding, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”