Americans will never accept the Democratic party’s slide to the left, or so desperate Republicans are hoping. With the midterm elections fast upon us, Zohran Mamdani’s promise of a few city-run bodegas in New York City will scare the bejeezus out of middle America. Disgust over the democratic socialists’ unicorn-and-puppy promises of a world without capitalism will keep the Republicans in power. Leading the charge against the new reds-under-the-bed is Donald Trump. “Together, we will defeat communism,” Trump promised in his recent TV ads. Trump’s supporters might be surprised to…
Tag: US economy
Foie gras, live dolphins and toasters: China and US cut reciprocal tariffs on $30bn each of goods
The US and China have released reciprocal lists of goods worth about $30bn each on which they plan to cut tariffs, ranging from consumer electronics and agricultural products to artificial flowers and live dolphins. The announcements are the latest tack away from the intense trade war between the world’s two largest economies that dominated much of last year, though major strategic products are not included and no timeline has yet been given for the reductions. The US list includes 77 categories of Chinese products including bed linen, garden umbrellas, toasters,…
‘The weaker he gets, the more dangerous he gets’: Trump lashes out as his power wanes
Donald Trump stood before the United Nations on Tuesday and threatened to “annihilate” Iran. Yet even as the most powerful man on the planet flexed his military muscles, he was powerless to keep the gravitational pull of domestic politics at bay. Heading into the UN building in New York, the US president was questioned by Kaitlan Collins, an anchor at CNN, which he had banned from the White House before a judge ruled against him. “I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” the 80-year-old snapped. “You should not be…
Is the US actually too chicken to take on China for trade?
Since China offered a truce in the trade war last October following its threat to deprive the United States of rare-earth magnets, the Trump administration has been happy to stop escalating. After all, imports from China have been falling, down by 40% in the year to June, compared with the same period in 2024. Best to declare victory and call it a day. But the US hasn’t won this battle – and there’s strong evidence to show it’s too chicken to really try. Last week the White House was forced…
Democratic lawmakers propose bank funded by China tariffs to boost US manufacturing
Democrats in the US Congress have laid out plans for what they say would be the “boldest” bid to revitalize the country’s industrial heartlands since the second world war – using revenue raised by tariffs on China. A bill introduced this week would create a new bank to strengthen domestic manufacturing, provided with up to $15bn in funds each year. The bill, led by US representatives Ro Khanna, Tom Suozzi and Debbie Dingell, is entitled the Industrial Bank for American Manufacturing Act. “This is one of the boldest industrialization proposals…
On China, Trump picked the right battle but the wrong strategy
We are in for a long trade war. In the months since “Liberation Day” last year, when Donald Trump let loose a volley of tariffs against imports from everywhere, countries have rushed to build new relationships in the hope of maybe circumventing the US to protect the global trading system. The European Union hurried to sign a trade agreement with South America’s Mercosur bloc that had been sitting on ice for years. China and south-east Asian nations deepened their trade agreement. The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, travelled to Beijing…
Trump is being schooled on the limits of US power – but he is a slow learner | Rafael Behr
Donald Trump is teaching the world a lesson, but not the one he thinks. The attack on Iran was meant to be a dazzling display of military supremacy. It has instead illuminated chinks in the US’s armour. The US president’s formidable arsenal cannot summon up an insurrection from Iran’s tyrannised and leaderless opposition. It cannot force merchant ships to run a gauntlet of missile and drone attacks in the strait of Hormuz. The government in Tehran and the facts of geography that give it leverage over global trade are unchanged.…
Trump claims he has ‘absolute right’ to impose new tariffs after supreme court blow
Donald Trump has claimed he has “the absolute right” to impose new tariffs after the US supreme court ruled many of the import duties he imposed last year were illegal. The president attacked the court in a late night broadside on Sunday, accusing it of having “unnecessarily RANSACKED” the US – and failing to show him sufficient loyalty. In February, the supreme court found that a 1977 law designed to address national emergencies did not provide the legal justification for many of the tariffs the Trump administration had put on…
As US influence wanes, the Chinese trade surplus strangles manufacturing across the globe
When the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, took to the podium at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week to lament how “great economic powers” were dismantling the international order, it seemed clear that he was talking about the United States. He might have been talking about China as well. Not a week earlier, Beijing had revealed that China’s trade surplus ballooned by 20% in 2025, to $1.2tn. Despite Donald Trump’s wall of tariffs that crashed Chinese sales to the US, its overall exports expanded more than 5%. Sales…
Trump is making China – not America – great again, global survey suggests
A year after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a global survey suggests much of the world believes his nation-first, “Make America Great Again” approach is instead helping to make China great again. The 21-country survey for the influential European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank also found that under Trump, the US is less feared by its traditional adversaries, while its allies – particularly in Europe – feel ever more distant. Most Europeans no longer see the US as a reliable ally and are increasingly supportive of rearmament,…