Free Republic

Indian officials said on Saturday that they would keep purchasing cheap oil from Russia despite a threat of penalties from President Trump, the latest twist in an issue that New Delhi thought it had settled. The defiance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government reflected increasing frustration with a relationship that was once much praised but has been souring rapidly. There is a growing sense in India that its leaders should not allow increasingly volatile American policymaking to shape its choices on vital energy supplies for its huge population, 1.4 billion people. Mr. Trump said last week that as part of...

The United States stands on the brink of an unprecedented transformer shortage that threatens to derail President Trump’s ambitious plans for AI-driven reindustrialization. With wait times for electrical transformers now stretching to 3–5 years—compared to just 4–6 weeks in 2020—manufacturers warn of "catastrophic" grid instability as power demands skyrocket from new data centers, factories, and infrastructure projects. The bottleneck stems from Trump’s aggressive trade policies, including a 25% tariff on India (the world’s largest transformer producer, making 60% of global supply) and looming 100% penalties on China (which produces another 20%). The Transformer Shortage: A Ticking Time Bomb Transformers are...

FOLLOWING US President Donald Trump’s tariff sledgehammer, the Indian government has kicked off an exercise to thrash out concessions across sectors that can be offered in the tariff negotiations later this month. Key economic ministries have been asked to see what they can still afford to offer to sweeten New Delhi’s deal when the US team is here on August 25. To reach an agreement, the Trump administration has been demanding much more than what the government has offered in its market access commitments, including lowering of tariffs across the board and removal of non-tariff trade barriers. As policymakers grapple...

When President Trump announced the terms of the pending US-EU trade deal, the world was shocked. Not only is it the biggest trade deal in history—it unequivocally puts America first. In fact, when asked what concessions America gave, EU President Ursula Von Der Leyen could not come up with a single item. Europeans went ballistic. They described this as the death-knell for the EU. Europe has been described as a collection of American vassal states (which is fundamentally accurate). Even America’s liberals went nuts—the deal was too good for America. They argued that it would undermine America’s political relationship with...

President Trump has now imposed his new tariff regime on the world, and the triumphalism is palpable in MAGA land. But maybe hold the euphoria, as this week’s reports on jobs and the economy suggest the new golden age may take a while to appear. Friday’s labor report arrived with a particular jolt, with a mere 73,000 net new jobs in July. Even more bearish were the downward revisions of 258,000 jobs in May and June. Job gains over the last three months are barely more than 100,000. The details in the report provide little solace. The jobless rate ticked...

Protests opposing President Trump dubbed "Rage Against The Regime" being held across the United States today... A Song About A Notorious Criminal Couple No Not Ghislaine And Jeffrey... Welcome to this week's attempt at media excellence you host certified Zionist since October 1973 but not certified as a Kool Aid Drinking Zionist... Rush Limbaugh operated in 'pursuit of the truth' and in that vein let's consider 'flatulence' namely cow flatulence as in 'cow farts'... Cows Consume Water That Could Be Used To Cool Data Centers And Produce Electric Car Batteries... The Anti-Russia European Union Trying To Poke Into The Balkans...

Former U.S. Rep Mike Rogers(R-MI), the Trump-endorsed Republican Senate candidate for Michigan, told Sirius XM’s Breitbart-News Saturday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are “absolutely” already having real results as manufacturing opportunities are returning to the Wolverine State. [snip] Rogers keyed in on General Motors’ commitment to invest $4 billion in the United States, part of which will go to a facility in Michigan. He emphasized that it is “huge” that GM is bringing production back to Michigan. “And by the way, when that happens, all these small, little manufacturers get more work. This is really good for a state like...

Investors had plenty to parse Friday, including a disappointing July jobs report, President Trump's latest tariffs and earnings results from Amazon and Apple. The Dow fell a fifth straight day, booking its longest losing streak of the year.

US President Donald Trump on July 30 announced he would increase tariffs on Brazilian imports from 10 to 50 percent citing the trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for his alleged coup attempt following his loss in the 2022 Brazilian presidential elections. The Trump administration called Bolsonaro's prosecution "politically motivated" and imposed personal sanctions on the Supreme Court judge overseeing the former president's trial.

SummaryUS announces 39% tariff on imports from Switzerland Swiss manufacturers say tens of thousands of jobs at risk Talks to continue ahead of August 7 introduction RUETLI, Switzerland, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Swiss manufacturers warned on Friday that tens of thousands of jobs were at risk after U.S. President Donald Trump hit them with one of the highest tariff rates in his global trade reset, even if there was some relief for now for the key drugs sector. The government said it was "disappointed" and would decide how to proceed after Trump set a 39% tariff on the export-reliant country...

President Trump’s executive order carved out a special tariff on goods shipped indirectly to the United States by way of other countries.Ever since President Trump began raising tariffs on goods from China during his first term, Chinese companies have raced to set up warehouses and factories in Southeast Asia, Mexico and elsewhere to bypass U.S. tariffs with indirect shipments to the American market via other countries.But on Thursday, Mr. Trump took aim at all indirect American imports, which he blames for part of the $1.2 trillion U.S. trade deficit. The president imposed 40 percent tariffs on so-called transshipments, which will...

President Donald Trump warned that reaching a new trade deal with Canada will be “very hard” after the country moved to recognize Palestinian statehood — just one day before a key tariff deadline. “Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” Trump posted on social media July 31. “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh’ Canada!!!(TS: 31 Jul 00:29 ET)​​​‍​​‌‍​​‌‍​​​​​‌‍​​​​​​​​​​‌‍​​​​​‌‍​​​​​​‌‍​​​​​​​​​​‌‍​​​​​​​‌‍​​​‌‍​​​‌‍​​​​​​​​‌‍​​​​​​​​​‌‍…— Trump...

U.S. manufacturing contracted for a fifth straight month in July and factory employment dropped to the lowest level in five years amid tariffs that have raised prices of imported raw materials. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Friday that its manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.0 last month from 49.0 in June. A PMI reading below 50 indicates contraction in manufacturing, which accounts for 10.2% of the economy. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PMI edging up to 49.5. The weak PMI reading is consistent with economists' expectations for a slowdown in activity in the third quarter as...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Appellate court judges expressed broad skepticism Thursday over President Donald Trump’s legal rationale for his most expansive round of tariffs. Members of the 11-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington appeared unconvinced by the Trump administration’s insistence that the president could impose tariffs without congressional approval, and it hammered its invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to do so. “IEEPA doesn’t even mention the word ‘tariffs’ anywhere,” Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna said, in a sign of the panel’s incredulity to a government attorney’s arguments. Brett Shumate, the attorney...

President Trump, on Thursday, extended the tariff pause on Mexico for another 90 days, in the hopes that a larger trade deal can be made. Mexico's President agreed to immediately suspend non-tariff trade barriers to secure the extended pause. The tariff rate will remain, with a 25 percent "fentanyl" tariff, a 25 percent tariff on cars, and a 50 percent tariff on steel, aluminum, and copper. .@PressSec: "Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its non-tariff trade barriers, of which there are many. As the President said, we will continue to talk to Mexico over the next 90 days with the...

Donald Trump and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum have spoken on the phone this morning as Mexico seeks an agreement with its biggest trading partner ahead of Trump’s 1 August deadline. “Mexico will continue to pay a 25% Fentanyl Tariff, 25% Tariff on Cars, and 50% Tariff on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper. Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. Trump said his administration would continue talking to Mexico over the next 90 days (“or longer”) with the goal of signing a trade deal. He...

US President Donald Trump announced a new trade deal with South Korea, which calls for 15% tariffs on goods from there, after the country scrambled to secure an agreement ahead of the Friday deadline. “The Deal is that South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself,” he said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. Goods from South Korea briefly faced a 25% “reciprocal” tariff in April, before Trump paused levies impacting dozens of nations. The pause was set to expire on August 1....

President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Indian goods will do little to slow the role of the Asian country as a key hub for manufacturing iPhones, even when it means more expensive smartphones for U.S. consumers, analysts and industry executives said. Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the U.S. market, with nearly all the $3.2 billion-worth iPhones exported by Foxconn from India going to the United States between March and May. It's "too early to say" if recent events or future changes in Trump's stance will alter Apple's manufacturing plans in India, an industry executive familiar...

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says he won’t be cowed by Trump ahead of 50% tariffs set to hit Brazil Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has said he does not fear getting on the wrong side of Donald Trump, as South America’s largest economy braces for the introduction of 50% tariffs.Trump announced plans to slap Brazil with tariffs on 1 August earlier this month, partly in retaliation for a supposed political “witch-hunt” against his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro. The former Brazilian president faces decades in jail for allegedly plotting a military coup to stop Lula from taking office...

The Big Money Show' panel discusses the Fed's interest rate plan and the success of President Donald Trump's tariff strategy as more economic wins roll in for the nation.