US President Donald Trump's threat to open a trade war with Mexico sent Wall Street sliding, with shares in carmakers among the worst hit. Markets in Europe were already spooked by news the US would hit Mexico with tariffs in an anti-immigration measure. The main US share markets closed between 1.3% and 1.5% lower. General Motors, which like many carmakers has operations in Mexico, fell 4.3%.
News of the Mexico tariff move comes amid a US trade war with China. Mr Trump announced in a tweet that tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico would be introduced until the country curbs illegal immigration into the US. From 10 June, a 5% tariff would be imposed and would slowly rise to 25% "until the illegal immigration problem is remedied", he said.
By a vote of 79-23, the lawmakers banned abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement that he "ran for governor as a pro-life candidate," and intended to sign the abortion ban.
"As I prepare to sign this bill, I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone," he said.
While I am not a fan of more laws and regulations, I do think there is a state interest in preserving life, and discouraging promiscuous sexual activity. It's good to see politicians working across party lines for once, and while I think most of these laws are rooted in bigotry rather then common sense, if you are going to have blue states regulating guns, then you should have red states regulating abortion. I think they are a moral equivalence.
With a simple visit to an obscure factory on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping has raised the specter that China could potentially cut off supplies of critical materials needed by huge swaths of the U.S. economy, underscoring growing concerns that large-scale economic integration is boomeranging and becoming a geopolitical weapon.
With the U.S.-China trade war intensifying, Chinese state media last week began floating the idea of banning exports of rare-earth elements to the United States, one of several possible Chinese responses to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to jack up tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods and blacklist telecoms maker Huawei.
I think trade wars are a bad idea, as we should be bringing the world together for our collective good, rather then tearing it apart. While the United States, over time could find alternatives to imported rare earths, including more domestic mining and alternative product formulations, it could be unneccessarily harmful in the short-term for both the United States and China. It's no different then the OPEC trade embargo in the 1970s -- it was very harmful in the short-term, although in the long-term increased domestic production and fuel economy standards helped dull the pain, as did a loosening of the embargo.
Florence Fang’s colorful home is a landmark for many in California’s Bay Area. But the town of Hillsborough is suing her, declaring the property a ‘public nuisance’.
President Trump escalated the trade fight with China this week, saying he will steeply increase tariffs on Chinese products this Friday.
But while the White House projects a unified front in favor of wielding tariffs as a weapon against China, it wasn't always this way.
Early in Trump's presidency, close advisers fought bitterly over whether tariffs would help — or devastate — the U.S. economy, those advisers told NPR and the PBS show Frontline.
Back when I was in college, one of the reading assignments for a Political Philosophy class I took was to read Timothy McVeigh’s Essay on Hypocrisy. While many of his things were non-sensible or disagreeable, it’s interesting to learn about the ideas behind important people whose actions — rightly or wrongly have a significant consequence on our lives both for better or worse.
I was disappointed to find out that many websites have taken down Brenton Tarrant’s The Great Replacement manifesto, because some find it racist and offensive. It is, but it’s also important for people to understand the ideas behind people who have an impact on our community and lives, for good or for bad. Like it or not — terrorists are some of the most important people in our world today — they force governments and private entities to invest millions in security and deterrence and force private citizens to be inconvenienced by such security measures.
Information can help people make better ideas and choices. It’s worthwhile to consider even racist and arguably bad ideas, because they can help us make better ideas. Understanding where terrorists come from doesn’t recruit or validate their action, but it can make for a more thoughtful and inclusive society, that can work to bring people on the outside back in.