Francis Crescia describes a dark lining – in Canada – around the dark storm cloud of Trump’s tariffs.
Mohamed Moutii is correct: Trump’s tariffs raise the likelihood of a calamitous global trade war. A slice:
Perhaps one of Trump’s most bizarre assertions is that tariffs could reduce grocery prices. In reality, they would do the opposite. The US depends on imports for 55 percent of fresh fruits, 32 percent of fresh vegetables, and an astonishing 94 percent of seafood. These imports ensure affordable and diverse food options throughout the year. New tariffs would shrink this access, leading to higher prices and fewer choices. Existing duties on beef, seafood, and sugar already inflate costs — adding more would only worsen the situation.
He also claims that tariffs protect American businesses and farmers. History shows otherwise. During Trump’s first term, tariffs on Chinese goods harmed American consumers and farmers alike. Retaliatory measures from trading partners slashed farm sales to China by over 50 percent and drove a 20 percent increase in farm bankruptcies. This collapse led to billions in government bailouts.
Similarly, US tariffs would raise production costs for US manufacturers. Imposing a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada would significantly increase production costs for US manufacturers, potentially raising car prices by up to $3,000, slashing earnings per share by as much as 50 percent for General Motors and Stellantis and 25 percent for Ford. The move would likely disrupt supply chains, stifle innovation, and trigger job losses.
Phil Magness, Williamson Evers, Graham Walker, and Ivan Eland explain “why tariffs are toxic.”
Ms. Rollins, 52, says the USDA has strayed from its core functions: rural development, farming, food and forestry. On her first day in office, she demonstrated the point by plucking some low-hanging fruit. She terminated 78 contracts for, among other things, “diversity dialogue workshops,” a “Brazilian forest and gender consultant” and a “women and forest carbon initiative mentorship program.” That added up to $132 million, or less than 0.06% of the USDA’s annual spending.
John O. McGinnis explains how deregulation, strategically done, can increase economic growth. A slice:
Given this political landscape, significant economic growth—fueled by broad deregulation—provides the only remedy for the growing debt. A swelling national debt does not merely threaten economic prosperity; it undermines America’s fiscal capacity to meet unforeseen crises, jeopardizing national security.
This deregulatory program also aligns with the most important social development of our time: artificial intelligence. AI represents an unprecedented innovation, the mass production of intelligence itself, potentially to be integrated into all facets of economic activity. The productivity enhancements AI promises can yield sustained economic expansion—but only if regulatory barriers do not bottle up innovation and prevent it from suffusing the entire economy.
