Free Republic

While tariffs make wars more likely, embargoes make wars difficult to avoid. Senator Lindsey Graham’s Sanctioning Russia Act calls for 500% tariffs on dozens of countries and essentially amounts to an embargo.If this bill were to pass, it would cause an economic calamity on a scale never before seen in our country.In its insistence that Moscow be a permanent enemy of the United States, the foreign policy establishment is pushing to impose more punitive measures on Russia should they refuse to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine. The Sanctioning Russia Act seeks to inflict a series of additional sanctions and...

As part of a flurry of posts on Truth Social on Friday morning, Donald Trump is now proposing slamming the European Union (EU) with a massive new tariff because of the "unacceptable" trade imbalance the U.S. has rung up. Moments after threatening Apple and executive Tim Cook with a 25 percent tariff unless iPhones are made in the U.S., the president moved on to another threat certain to roil the stock market. On Truth Social he wrote: "The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult...

“ There are no solutions, there are only tradeoffs,” says the venerable Thomas Sowell, but “you try to get the best tradeoffs you can get, and that’s all you can hope for.” Reasonably understood, Trump’s tariff agenda has always represented a tradeoff for Americans. Despite an awful lot of misunderstanding of how tariffs function in both theory and practice that has proliferated in recent months, tariffs are not a solution that will magically increase wages for American workers or reshore American manufacturing without considerable costs, and most certainly, the tariffs were never going to be paid by the nations who...

Nine out of 10 U.S. companies say they expect to bring some or all of their production or sourcing back home in response to new tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump’s trade policy, according to the latest Allianz Trade Global Survey.The survey, published on May 20, hints at an acceleration in reshoring efforts as U.S. firms adapt to the tariffs, as Trump pursues a global trade reset to boost domestic manufacturing and correct what he says are decades of unfair practices by other countries that put the United States at a disadvantage.Allianz researchers found that roughly 90 percent of U.S....

Sen. Rand Paul attacked the economic logic of President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy on Sunday — and agreed that the policies raise constitutional concerns. The Kentucky Republican said Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners are based on “an economic fallacy” about trade deficits and objected to the president’s move to pursue them without congressional approval during an interview on ABC’s “The Week.” “In the past, the court has allowed these things, but I think it’ll be an interesting thing because most tariffs in our history have been passed by Congress,” he said. “We’ve never had widespread tariffs that...

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) was swift to applaud President Donald Trump's ongoing tariff strategy as markets show improvements in inflation, as well as food and car prices. While Trump himself has admitted potential supply shortages and higher prices due to his tariff policy, he and his supporters continue to downplay the market hits as inevitable growing pains for reorienting the nation's domestic production. Trump has paused some tariffs and issued executive orders exempting certain car parts for automakers, while many continue to criticize the policies as harmful to the economy. Earlier this month, the Commerce Department announced that the...

China on Monday slapped anti-dumping duties of up to 75% on polyformaldehyde copolymer imports from the US, EU, Taiwan and Japan, its commerce ministry said. The plastic, used in auto parts and medical devices, follows a probe into alleged dumping. The tariffs take effect immediately. China slapped duties of up to 75 percent on imports of plastics from the United States, European Union, Taiwan and Japan on Monday, following an investigation into alleged dumping, Beijing's commerce ministry said. - The new duties come just a few days after the United States and China slashed sweeping tariffs on each others' goods...

Rogue communication devices found in Chinese solar inverters Undocumented cellular radios also found in Chinese batteries U.S. says continually assesses risk with emerging technology U.S. working to integrate 'trusted equipment' into the grid LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. energy officials are reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices that play a critical role in renewable energy infrastructure after unexplained communication equipment was found inside some of them, two people familiar with the matter said. Power inverters, which are predominantly produced in China, are used throughout the world to connect solar panels and wind turbines to electricity grids. They are...

President Donald Trump demonstrated once again why he's the master of the art of the deal. During his trip to the Middle East, Trump made it clear that countries dragging their feet on trade negotiations are about to face the music. So far, the trade negotiations are going well, and the economic apocalypse that Democrats claimed was going to happen hasn’t. It's nothing new for Democrats to be wrong, and while they’re still harboring delusions that Trump is going to kill the economy, his latest move is likely to send them into a tailspin. Trump isn't playing around. With over...

A Northern California businessman is making moves to get his company's products out of China and to the U.S. now that import tariffs are set to drop to 30% starting Wednesday. Price Johnson is the COO of Cephalofair Games. The company makes board games, including Gloomhaven and Frosthaven. The recent Trump administration trade deal to pause 145% tariffs and bring them down to 30% for the next 90 days has Johnson making moves to get his product out of a Shanghai warehouse and back to the US. "I'm talking to my freight partners. Half of them are telling me, 'I'm...

The fix appears to be in for two court cases against President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to a very knowledgeable source. Last month, five domestic businesses filed a lawsuit in a little known trade court in New York challenging Trump’s tariffs, arguing they have to rely on imported goods that are not reasonably available to them in the U.S. In his April 2 executive order imposing a set of reciprocal tariffs, Trump declared a national emergency, calling trade deficits a threat to the nation’s national security and economy. Trump’s tariffs are central to his economic agenda and designed to reduce...

“Oh, sure,” I hear you say. “We knew that already. We already knew that all our clothing and toys and housewares and home décor is made in China. We can live with that. It’s not like it’s a national security problem.”But that’s the problem. It is national security.We make our own washing machines and dryers, our own cars and planes, our own metal working machines and food processing equipment. That’s what counts, and it’s made here.Yes. But these machines are made here only if we can get the parts. And far too many of the parts, for far too many...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he doesn’t want the tech giant to build its products in India, taking shots at the company’s moves to diversify production away from China and urging him to pivot Stateside. “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said. “I said to him, ‘my friend, I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India.’ I don’t want you building in India.” Trump was referencing Apple’s commitment of a $500 billion investment in the...

Walmart – the nation’s largest private employer – warned of possible price hikes on Thursday given the uncertainty in the tariff environment. "We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement as the retailer reported its first quarter results, which met Wall Street expectations. Consumers could see price hikes as soon as the end of May, Walmart Chief...

The AP calls it a “promising tariff reduction deal.” CNN calls it “a cooling of tensions.” I call it what it is: a 90-day white-flag window before China gets crushed. Forget the polite headlines. This isn’t a trade agreement—it’s an ultimatum. And if Xi Jinping doesn’t play it right, he won’t just lose Taiwan or the West. He might lose everything—including his grip on power. This Deal Isn’t About Soybeans. It’s About Sovereignty...

VIDEOAh! What a difference a mere week makes. A week ago, much of the media was eagerly anticipating a SURGE in inflation due to President Trump's tariffs. They repeatedly cited "experts" proclaiming the inevitability of such a rise in inflation with NO alternative scenario possible. Unfortunately for them, reality did not cooperate with liberal fantasy yet again.

The anti-science freak-out predicting President Donald Trump’s tariffs would explode consumer prices has now been debunked as yet another legacy media hoax. The far-left Politico grudgingly admits: “Trump tariffs have little impact on prices so far, defying grim forecasts,” reads the headline. “Inflation climbed at the slowest pace since early 2021 in April, surprising economists who anticipated tariff-related increases,” reads the sub-headline. Notice how the propagandists at Politico lay the blame on “economists” for getting this wrong. But when the media cherry-pick the economists and experts to quote, the media are equally guilty. We all know how this game is...

Prices climbed at an unexpectedly slow pace last month, offering a boost to President Donald Trump, whose aggressive trade policies have sparked fears of a resurgence in inflation. The Labor Department on Tuesday reported that prices rose at an annual rate of 2.3 percent, the smallest increase since early 2021. While price growth in so-called core sectors of the economy — which exclude volatile food and energy costs — remained elevated at 2.8 percent, April’s Consumer Price Index contained only scant evidence that Trump’s tariffs have meaningfully driven up the cost of living. There was broad anticipation that Trump’s levies...

On May 12, 2025, the White House issued a joint statement with China on trade, in which the countries have “paused” the trade war for 90 days. More specifically, the United States has slashed tariffs from 145 percent to an effective rate of 30 percent. China has likewise slashed tariffs from 125 percent to an effective rate of 10 percent. Tariffs remain on certain industries including steel, aluminum, and automobiles. Other licensing deals respecting rare earth minerals and semiconductors remain in place. This deal is a mistake. A 90-day pause does nothing but burn precious political capital, waste time, and...

Federal agents have arrested Utah oil magnate James Lael Jensen, his wife Kelly Anne Jensen, and two of their sons, Maxwell Sterling Jensen (aka “Max”) and Zachary Golden Jensen, in connection with a sprawling $300 MILLION smuggling and money laundering conspiracy tied to Mexican criminal organizations. Court records reveal that all four members of the Jensen family were arrested on Wednesday, April 23 — with sons Max and Zachary taken into custody in the Rio Grande Valley, while James and Kelly Jensen were apprehended at their 26,893-square-foot mansion in Sandy, Utah, reportedly worth over $9.1 million. The arrest was carried...