Free Republic

China claims the President Trump started the trade war against China by imposing his reciprocal tariffs: This is a complete lie. China has been waging a full-scale trade war against America for decades—President Trump just happens to be the first President to stand up to China—and they don’t like it. Case in point: China steals anywhere between $225 and $600 BILLION of American technology and intellectual property every year. Depending on the range of the estimate, this is roughly equal to—perhaps double—the value of the trade deficit in goods, which stood at $295 billion in 2024.

In the tariff war between China and the United States, a lot of chatter in the Pravda Media is about Xi Jinping's defiance, his outreach to European countries and other less important but collectively significant developing countries, and his retaliatory moves against America. They make it sound like China has a lot of cards to play in the trade war with America. China has put civilian government officials on a "wartime footing” and ordered a diplomatic charm offensive aimed at encouraging other countries to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. https://t.co/rZWU2zsARQ— The Japan Times (@japantimes) April 14, 2025Collectively,...

This is about 30 seconds. A video from Chinese Communist propaganda sources showing AI fake factory workers, supposedly Americans who are all obese. It ends with the caption “Make America Great Again”

<p>No one wants a “trade war” with China, or for that matter with any nation. Nonetheless, China has been waging one for years and is now locked in a tariff recalibration with the Trump administration.</p><p>In this American effort to find trade parity and equity, China can do some short-term damage to the U.S., especially in terms of ceasing exports of some pharmaceuticals, phones, and computers. But ultimately, it cannot win—and will eventually lose catastrophically. It will likely accept that reality sooner rather than later.</p>

The tariff doomsday machine is roaring again. This time, it’s over talk of a 50% tariff on certain imports. Predictably, the panic-peddlers are out in force, warning that such a tariff means retail prices will skyrocket 50%. It’s an easy line to chant, but it’s wrong — flat wrong — and anyone with a basic grasp of economics should know better.Let’s make one thing clear: a tariff applies to the transaction value, not the final retail price. The transaction value is what the importer pays the exporter, plus freight and insurance. That cost is just the first step in a...

In Trump’s second term, he aims to leave a lasting legacy. To do this, he should draw from the lessons learned during the previous trade war.Last week, President Trump announced a strategic pause on his “reciprocal tariffs” affecting nearly 100 countries, while simultaneously ramping up tariffs on Chinese imports to a staggering 125 percent. This move is a direct response to China’s tit-for-tat retaliation that has persisted since February. Drawing from the lessons of the previous trade war during his first term, the Trump administration has a unique opportunity to secure a decisive and lasting victory in his current trade...

China has halted exports of seven critical rare earth elements to the United States, a move that threatens to disrupt supply chains across key American industries, including automotive, semiconductor, and aerospace sectors. China’s Ministry of Commerce recently added seven rare earth elements—including dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium—to its restricted export list. These elements are essential for manufacturing high-performance magnets used in electric vehicles, advanced weaponry, and consumer electronics. NY Times reported:

Xi Jinping has said his nation is “not afraid,” in his first public comments on the escalating trade war with the United States, as Beijing raised tariffs on US goods to 125%. tariff hike is the latest in a tit-for-tat battle between the world’s two largest economies, after Trump raised tariffs on China to 145%. However, China has indicated it does not intend to go higher than 125%, saying it would be meaningless to engage in further escalation. “The successive imposition of excessively high tariffs on China by the US has become nothing more than a numbers game, with no...

..With these three rounds of additional tariffs and other measures, the effective U.S. rate on Chinese goods is about 65 percent. If he goes ahead with the 50 percent levy, the rate hits 115 percent. China this year added retaliatory tariffs of 10 percent and 15 percent on certain American products... Xi, despite best advice from around the world, has continually rejected consumption as the basis of the Chinese economy. .. Xi Jinping certainly does not believe in empowering citizens. Moreover, as Zongyuan Zoe Liu writing in Foreign Affairs notes, the Communist Party leadership also abhors consumer spending, believing "consumption...

250% for milk? 291% for butter? 208% for whey? 241% for CHEESE? Oh wait - those are actually tariffs that Canada imposed on the U.S. last year.

Years ago, Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin, was roundly condemned for shutting off energy exports to Ukraine and much of Europe in the dead of winter over payment disputes. I recall reading that someone in Serbia, which got its energy from pipelines from Ukraine, froze to death. Putin was unmoved. Then, after full blown war was declared in 2014, Putin went for electricity shutoffs, in 2015, and in the past year, through cyberattacks on the country's grid. It was terrible for Ukraine, which had to scramble for alternative suppliers as well as turn to its nuclear reactors to get what it...

Australia will not be granted an exemption from US tariffs on aluminium and steel imports, the White House says. US President Donald Trump had previously said he would consider excluding Australia from the 25 per cent tariffs, which take effect on Wednesday. But White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has now told the ABC: "He considered it, and considered against it. There will be no exemptions." Asked why, Ms Leavitt said: "America First steel." "If they want to be exempted, they should consider moving steel manufacturing here," she said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the decision as "entirely unjustified"....

Ontario’s premier, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, is now charging 25% more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million American homes and businesses in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plan. Ontario's premier, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, announced that effective Monday it is charging 25% more for electricity to 1.5 million American homes and businesses in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan. I will not hesitate to increase this charge. If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off...

In November 1906, Theodore Roosevelt became the first sitting U.S. president to make a diplomatic visit outside the continental United States, sailing to Panama to view the construction of the Panama Canal. In September 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty that would ultimately give Panama full control and operation over the canal in 2000. And in December 2024, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to retake the canal from Panama. The chances of this happening are slim, of course. But like most political rhetoric, his comments denote larger goals and aspirations – in this case, Trump’s domestic agenda, which likely...

China is planning to restrict exports of a key mineral needed to make weapons while a U.S. company that could be reducing America’s reliance on foreign suppliers is languishing in red tape, energy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Chinese government announced on August 15 that it will restrict exports of antimony, a critical mineral that dominates the production of weapons globally and is essential for producing equipment like munitions, night vision goggles and bullets that are essential to national security, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Perpetua Resources, an American mining company, has...

Jan 3 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday issued the final mining permit for Perpetua Resources' (PPTA.O), opens new tab Idaho antimony and gold project, a move aimed at spurring U.S. production of a critical mineral at the center of a widening trade war between Washington and Beijing. Permitting for the mine, backed by billionaire investor John Paulson, comes after Beijing last month blocked exports to the U.S. of antimony,... Perpetua's mine will supply more than 35% of America's annual antimony needs once it opens by 2028 and produce 450,000 ounces of gold each year,...The project has not won...

More than 900,000 cubic yards of cheddar, American and Swiss currently sit in cold storage across the United States, enough cheese to form a wheel the size of the U.S. Capitol building. The excess is the biggest the country has seen since the government started keeping track a century ago, and it's 16 percent larger than the cheese surplus of 2016 when the government offered to buy up $20 million worth of excess cheese... "Part of it is changes in the domestic use of that milk." Another factor is trade — "a self-inflicted wound," Novakovic says. And there is growing...

Trump was right on China in 2016, and he’s right in 2024. The U.S. needs to economically decouple and stop funding the military it’s most likely to face in a future conflict. During his 2016 campaign, President Trump promised a tough stance on China. Democrats and mainstream media criticized his approach, claiming his trade restrictions and tariffs triggered a “destructive” and “failed” trade war. Now, as the 2024 election approaches, Trump pledges an even tougher approach to China, with 100% tariffs. Critics are reviving old arguments, suggesting that it would be better for the U.S. to elect Kamala Harris and...

In a lesson for the ages about political grandstanding, Rep. John Garamendi said, "Nine multinational ocean shipping companies formed three consortiums to raise prices on American businesses and consumers by over 1,000% on goods coming from Asia," as he and other members of the Swamp proudly passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, which former NIT-League president Ed Emmett has rightly called "a cure that's worse than the disease." Never mind that the containership lines have actually operated these alliances, known as Vessel Sharing Agreements, for over a generation, strictly for the benefit of the consumer. The accusatory term...

The U.S. has lost the trade war with China, according to the whole of corporate America. I write at Asia Times: NEW YORK – Never before in US political history has the whole of the American business community—more than thirty major business organizations—spoke with one voice as it did in an August 5 appeal to the Biden administration to eliminate tariffs on imports from China. No entities in American politics are timider than business lobbies, most of whose work involves quiet lobbying for administrative relief and legislative tweaks. Such a high-profile intervention suggests that the business organizations believe that a...