US news | The GuardianCenter Left
If Trump really cares about forced labor, he should look at the US – rather than slap more tariffs on the world
Forced labor is a problem, especially in the US, where prisoners are coerced to work for pennies – or nothing at allUS politics live – latest updatesDon’t believe the Trump administration’s rationale for its new volley of tariffs against everybody.The new levies, ostensibly to punish countries for failing to do enough to curb forced labor, switched on at 12.01am on Friday, to coincide with the expiration of a temporary 10% blanket duty that Donald Trump imposed in February, ostensibly to protect the United States from a balance-of-payments crisis. Continue reading...
Read at US news | The Guardian →AxiosCenter Left
New Trump tariffs bring in less money than illegal tariffs
The White House has found new legal ways to keep tariffs flowing. But it's not enough to fully replace the revenue from the import taxes the Supreme Court struck down.The intrigue: The administration's replacement tariffs would raise about $105 billion a year — replacing about 60% of the revenue lost when the Supreme Court invalidated the administration's emergency tariff regime, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.Why it matters: The administration's new tariffs are narrower and include more carveouts than the emergency duties they replaced, reducing both the potential economic fallout and the revenue they generate.By the numbers: CRFB estimates that Trump's latest tariff actions — including the new duties on dozens of trading partners that took effect overnight, those on Brazil and the proposed tariffs on Canada — would raise about $950 billion through 2036, compared with $1.7 trillion from the broader emergency tariffs, a gap of roughly $825 billion.The projections assume the new tariffs survive legal challenges and remain in place. They also don't account for any additional trade actions the administration could announce in the months ahead.The big picture: The new tariffs generally carry lower rates than the regime enacted under IEEPA, generating substantially less revenue, and are imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. That process allows U.S. trade officials to tailor product coverage — and exclude a range of goods they believe would cause unnecessary economic disruption — after a formal investigation and public comment.Notably, the exclusions include energy products, limiting the risk that new tariffs amplify the inflationary effects of the Iran-related oil shock.The other side: The White House rejects the idea that the new tariffs were aimed at replacing the illegal duties.A senior official said synchronizing them with the expiration of temporary tariffs was intended to provide continuity and predictability for businesses, not necessarily to recreate the earlier regime.What to watch: The Treasury Department is still unwinding the old tariffs. In June, net customs receipts fell to negative $25.6 billion as refund checks to importers outpaced new tariff collections.
Read at Axios →Raw StoryFar Left
Trump takes yet another swing at massive tariffs — this time with a new excuse
President Donald Trump is moving ahead with yet another plan to impose enormous tariffs around the world.According to The New York Times, the new tariffs are imposed on 60 countries deemed by the administration to allow products made with forced labor into their markets. "The tariffs will range from 10 percent to 12.5 percent and take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, replacing a global 10 percent duty set to lapse at the same time."The United States, noted the report, "has prohibited the importation of goods made with slave labor for nearly a century, though it still allows prison labor under conditions that labor organizations consider coercive. In 2021, the United States passed a law banning imports from a region of China where it had found forced labor to be rampant." However, experts believe this is a pretextual argument for Trump's new tariffs.Georgetown Law School visiting scholar Peter Harrell argued this ruling “just brings home that [the U.S. Trade Representative] is using this forced labor investigation as a pretext to impose tariffs that Trump wants to impose for his own economic theories and preferences.”Among the affected entities are Canada and the European Union, which already have bans either in place or set to take effect, but which the Trump administration accuses of not properly enforcing.Trump initially tried to enact global "reciprocal tariffs" based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). A string of federal courts, and ultimately the Supreme Court, struck down this policy, ruling IEEPA doesn't grant the president unilateral tariff powers.Since this defeat, Trump has been searching for other ways to enact similar taxes on imports, even as economists have warned his tariff policies are causing a slowdown of growth and worsening inflation.
Read at Raw Story →NBC News PoliticsCenter Left
President Trump announces new tariffs on dozens of countries
President Trump announced new 10% to 12.5% tariffs on 60 countries over accusations of "forced labor." Those new duties will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday morning.
Read at NBC News Politics →TIMECenter Left
Trump Plans to Impose 100% Tariffs on Generic Drugs Starting in 2028. What Would That Do to Prices?
Experts say that if Trump follows through, the proposed tariffs could have far-reaching consequences for the cost and availability of the medications.
Read at TIME →