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Via Love Canadian |
April 4, 2025
Tariff update from Hearth & McDonald Islands
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The PM of Hearth and McDonald Islands is negotiating the lifting of tariffs at the White House right now. |
Are Trump's tariffs constitutional?
Reason - The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) challenged the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports on Wednesday. The NCLA argues that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) has never been used before to impose tariffs because that is not what the act authorizes. In using this law to impose tariffs, the president overstepped his constitutional authority. MORE
Stock Market Today: Dow sinks 1,600 points Friday, largest two day fall on record
Market Watch - U.S. stocks have had a rough go of it since President Donald Trump was sworn into office for his second term in January. Since Jan. 17, the Friday before Inauguration Day, the U.S. stock market has seen $9.6 trillion in value erased, according to data from FactSet and Dow Jones Market Data. Of those losses, $5 trillion has been erased just over the past two days -- the largest two-day loss on record. MORE
TikTok
CNN - President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will again delay enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for 75 days, as his staff continues to work on a deal to preserve access to the app in the United States. The announcement comes just one day before the ban was set to go into effect. MORE
The Rachel Maddow controversy
Readtime.online -Rachel Maddow, the well-known host of MSNBC’s premier evening news show, has encountered significant backlash following her public critique of the network’s executives. The fallout from her statements has led to a notable decrease in her program’s ratings, contrasting sharply with the viewership figures she previously enjoyed. Maddow’s criticism of MSNBC’s management has not only impacted her audience numbers but has also prompted intense speculation about her future with the network.
Recent data reveals a concerning trend for Rachel Maddow’s show. Once
attracting an impressive average of around 2.3 million viewers, her
ratings have now dropped to approximately 1.8 million, reflecting a
substantial 22% decline in total audience. This decrease is even more
significant among the key demographic of viewers aged 25-54, where she
has seen nearly a 29% reduction. This considerable drop suggests a
potential shift in viewer interests, particularly as the political
landscape continues to change. More
Tariffs
NBC - The ripple effects of President Donald Trump’s new wave of sweeping tariffs announced this week will be felt the most by lower-income Americans, who are heavily reliant on products from countries hit the hardest by Trump’s tariffs and have less disposable income to absorb higher prices.
Trump is placing some of his highest tariffs on goods coming from countries making the low-cost products that line the shelves of discount retailers. Products from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, for instance, will have a tariff of more than 40% — that is, importers will now need to pay 40% of the value of those goods to Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry to get them into the country....
While Trump campaigned on a pledge to lower prices
for struggling Americans, his tariffs are expected to increase the cost
of everything from kids’ shoes to fresh produce, according to
economists and business executives. The total impact from the tariffs
announced since Trump took office could cost the average household
$3,800 per year, according to analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale University.
NBC News - China has imposed tariffs on all U.S. imports, escalating the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. The move came after President Donald Trump imposed an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese imports as part of what he called reciprocal tariffs on a long list of U.S. trade partners.
The law firm for Mahmoud Khalil speaks up
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, on MSNBC - The Trump administration is sending a message to everyone in America: If you dare to disagree with the president, you will be punished.
That was clear when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents illegally arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and recent graduate student at New York’s Columbia University, in retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian human rights. The federal government separated Khalil from his wife, an American citizen, who is nine months pregnant, and shipped him from New York to New Jersey and then Louisiana. A judge recently ruled his case should be heard in New Jersey.
The Constitution’s right to free speech covers everyone in the U.S., regardless of their citizenship status.
Mr. Khalil has never been accused, charged or convicted of any crime. He was ripped from his home, detained and threatened with deportation in retaliation for his political beliefs. His case represents a clear attempt by the Trump administration to silence dissent, intimidate our universities and attack our freedom.
Khalil is not the only target of this crackdown. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims he’s revoked hundreds of visas of students and visitors for similar reasons.
If this administration is not reined in, the paper-thin legal theory it is using to justify detaining and deporting Mr. Khalil could be wielded to deport anyone who opposes Trump on any issue. That would embolden a president who is already laying siege to academic freedom, the free exchange of ideas and open debate. It would put everyone — citizen and noncitizen alike — in danger.
What Trump’s Tariffs Could Do to the U.S. Auto Industry
Kate Aronoff, New Republic -As markets reel from Wednesday’s tariff announcements, the U.S. auto industry is continuing to figure out its next steps. Roughly 46 percent of vehicles sold here last year were made in other countries. Investment analysts at Bernstein Research estimate that 57 percent of the parts that make up vehicles assembled in the United States are sourced abroad; those items are due to face tariffs by May 3. GM—which imports 48 percent of the vehicles it sells in the U.S., and sources less than 40 percent of its parts domestically—could face a 79 percent drop in earnings before interest and taxes, Bernstein estimates.
Automakers
had lobbied to exempt vehicles made in Mexico and Canada that
comply with the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.
The Trump administration is subjecting them to the 25 percent tariff
anyway. The value of U.S.-made parts included in those cars will be
deducted from the total amount that gets assessed, however. For example:
A car made in Mexico that costs $40,000 would be subject to a $10,000
levy if it’s shipped to the U.S. If that car contains $5,000 worth of
U.S.-made parts, it’d be charged $8,750—i.e., 25 percent of $35,000.
The attack on public health
Aixos - If the reduction or elimination of certain government health initiatives translate into worse health outcomes, that makes a huge difference ...
- Patient access to care: In many ways, the patient experience has been getting worse. Some experts have warned the HHS cuts — within public health and beyond — will make finding coverage and care even harder for many patients.
- Aging: The problem isn't just that the U.S. population is getting older as a whole; it's that people are also living longer with chronic conditions, and future seniors may be even less healthy than today's. Cutting services that keep people healthy — or at least from becoming more sick — will probably only make this dynamic worse. And some services directly targeted at seniors have been cut.
- Health disparities: Any reduction in public health services will inevitably hit the most vulnerable Americans — who are disproportionately sick — hardest. And some of the departments hit hardest by the HHS cuts serve very at-risk populations, like HIV patients.
- Mental health and drug addiction: States are already suing the Trump administration over its clawback of billions in state funding, arguing that the funding reduction will reverse progress made on the opioid epidemic and threaten crisis intervention, suicide prevention and community-based mental health care.
"The firings will likely make it harder to get care and coverage," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. "These public servants are the people that enroll providers into Medicare, who deal with details and appeals, who approve the state changes in order to make Medicaid work on the ground. Cutting staff means these processes will be delayed, if not destroyed."
Trump's new way of making money
Radar Online - As U.S. stock markets plummet Thursday in light of controversial and sweeping new tariffs
issued by Trump on foreign businesses, the president isn't worried
about losing much of his personal wealth, which he has been finding new
ways to inflate with his new office.
Almost immediately after his overwhelming victory over Kamala Harris in November, Trump offered opportunities for top CEOs and corporate executives to meet with him – as long as they were willing to travel to and pay for a stay at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Senior staffers at lobbying outfits and a variety of corporate giants immediately began planning worker retreats, galas, and annual meetings at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump branded golf resorts and event spaces – with the costs and fees of those trips being paid directly to Trump.
It was apparently all part of Trump's plan to cash-in on the Oval Office, after privately discussing jacking up the price for membership at his personal clubs because members are "paying to see the president."
Trump Tariffs Could Raise Mortgage Rates
Newsweek - A new round of tariffs announced by former President Donald Trump has set off alarm bells among economists and housing market analysts, who warn that the economic ripple effects could push mortgage rates higher.
This could make homebuying more difficult for Americans already squeezed by inflation and limited inventory.
Mortgage rates have become one of the key challenges in the U.S. housing market, making it harder for buyers to afford homes while also persuading current homeowners to stay in their current home. Many potential sellers are reluctant to list their homes because doing so would mean taking on a new mortgage at rates much higher than the ones they already have, creating inventory shortages.
Canadian Prime Minister Warns U.S. Economic Dominance Is Over
New Republic - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a strong rebuke Thursday of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on nearly every country in the world.
“The global economy is fundamentally different today than it was yesterday,” Carney said. “The system of global trade anchored on the United States, that Canada has relied on since the end of the second World War—a system that, while not perfect, has helped to deliver prosperity to our country for decades—is over.
“Our old relationship of steadily deepening integration with the United States is over. The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect, and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services is over,” Carney continued. “While this is a tragedy, it is also the new reality.
“We must respond with both purpose and
force. We are a free, sovereign, and ambitious country. We are masters
in our own home,” he added.
Meanwhile. . .
Roll Call - Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee ramped up a campaign this week against Edward Martin’s bid to become U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, pushing for a hearing on the conservative activist who represented defendants charged in the 2021 attack on the Capitol. While the committee doesn’t typically hold hearings for U.S. attorney nominees, Martin’s record “merits heightened scrutiny,” the Democrats said in a letter Wednesday to Chairman Charles E. Grassley. The Republican for now denied that request during a committee meeting Thursday, after Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the panel’s top Democrat, spent minutes tearing into Martin’s nomination.
More Than 150 ‘Unprecedented’ Climate Disasters Struck World in 2024
The Guardian: The devastating impacts of the climate crisis reached new heights in 2024, with scores of unprecedented heatwaves, floods and storms across the globe, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization. The WMO’s report on 2024, the hottest year on record, sets out a trail of destruction from extreme weather that took lives, demolished buildings and ravaged vital crops. More than 800,000 people were displaced and made homeless, the highest yearly number since records began in 2008. The report lists 151 unprecedented extreme weather events in 2024, meaning they were worse than any ever recorded in the region.
Leaving America
Elkarameloo - Richard Gere leaves the United States for Spain with his family and vows never to return, citing reasons related to Elon Musk.
April 3, 2025
Just the facts
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This is what the country’s actual tariffs are on the US vs what the White House claimed. In case anyone was wondering. |
Meanwhile. . .
Republicans against Trump - Rand
Paul on Trump’s tariffs: When McKinley put tariffs on in 1890, they
lost 50% of their seats… When Smoot-Hawley put their tariffs In the
early 1930s, we lost the House and Senate for 60 years. So not only bad
economically, they are bad politically.
Scientists speak out again fossil fuels
EcoWatch - In a new review published in the journal Oxford Open Climate Change, scientists have issued an urgent warning that the fossil fuel industry and its products are driving intertwined crises threatening humans, wildlife and our shared future on this planet.
The collaborative review by scientists from the Center for Biological Diversity and several universities synthesizes scientific evidence that shows fossil fuels and the industry are behind many harms to public health, biodiversity and environmental justice, while contributing to the agrochemical pollution, plastics and climate crises, a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity said.
“The science can’t be any clearer that fossil fuels are killing us,” said lead author of the report Shaye Wolf, the Center for Biological Diversity’s climate science director, in the press release. “Oil, gas and coal will continue to condemn us to more deaths, wildlife extinctions and extreme weather disasters unless we make dirty fossil fuels a thing of the past. Clean, renewable energy is here, it’s affordable, and it will save millions of lives and trillions of dollars once we make it the centerpiece of our economy.”
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