Tag Archives: United Kingdom

Independent: Trump fury over US court bid to block tariffs – as experts warn uncertainty could hit economy

Posted on by
Reply

A ruling by three US judges has been described as ‘good news’ for countries negotiating trade deals with Trump but brought warnings of uncertainty and confusion

A cloud hangs over the global economy, experts have warned, after a bombshell court ruling blocked Donald Trump’s tariffs, creating more “confusion and uncertainty”.

Financial markets reacted positively to the unanimous ruling by three judges, but the decision enraged the White House, with the US president’s official spokesperson, Stephen Miller, calling it another “judge coup”.

The White House has appealed the decision, but it means all of the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs now face a protracted legal process that could overshadow trade talks and delay the implementation of existing deals, including with Britain.

The Trump administration has won a temporary reprieve through the appeal, which means the tariffs will be reinstated while the case makes its way through the courts.

Trump’s fury over court bid to block tariffs – as experts warn of impact on trade
A ruling by three US judges has been described as ‘good news’ for countries negotiating trade deals with Trump but brought warnings of uncertainty and confusion

https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/politics/trump-tariffs-court-ruling-uk-us-trade-deal-b2760194.html

Newsweek: Why do MAGA Republicans hate Europe?

Posted on by
Reply

In May 1988, Republican President Ronald Reagan spoke from the Oval Office in an address not targeted at the American people, but the citizens of Western Europe. The president was planning a trip to meet with Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and wanted to make his commitment to Europe clear.

Staring directly at the camera, Reagan said: “Shared [moral] standards and beliefs tie us to Europe today. They are the essence of the community of free nations to which we belong.”

Thirty years later, in July 2018, while sitting for an interview with CBS at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, Republican President Donald Trump was asked to name America’s top global foe. “Well, I think we have a lot of foes,” Trump said. “I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe.”

Why do MAGA Republicans hate Europe?
The Trump administration’s stance on Europe has grabbed headlines, but the Republican Party’s icy posture toward internationalism goes back decades.

https://www.newsweek.com/maga-republicans-donald-trump-jd-vance-europe-2071814

Salon: “I feel like I’ve lost my country”: Americans who oppose Trump are now looking for the exits

Posted on by
Reply

As President Donald Trump ushers in his so-called “Golden Age” for the nation, some Americans are jumping ship. Yale University history professor Marci Shore is relieved to be one of them. 

She and her husband, historian Timothy Snyder, had long been on the fence about leaving the United States, Shore told Salon, with professorships at the University of Toronto available to them for at least two years should they have wished to take them. Trump’s reelection in November and the proverbial smoke before the fire in the immediate aftermath made it clear to her that now was the time to pull the trigger. 

“I felt like this country had everything right in front of them, and people chose this — a lot of people chose this, and that was heartbreaking,” she said. “And I also felt like, ‘I don’t want to come back to this.’ I don’t want to, and maybe I’m not devoted enough. Maybe I’m not enough of a patriot. But I felt like, ‘I don’t want this. I don’t want this for my kids. I don’t want this environment.'”

Shore is a part of a small but burgeoning group of Americans who have lost faith in their country since Trump’s reclaimed the presidency — who have lost hope that a good future is still possible there …

?url=httpswww.salon.com20250518i-feel-like-ive-lost-my-country-americans-oppose-are-now-looking-for-the-exits

https://www.salon.com/2025/05/18/i-feel-like-ive-lost-my-country-americans-oppose-are-now-looking-for-the-exits

Also here:

“I feel like I’ve lost my country”: Americans who oppose Trump are now looking for the exits
Professional relocation consultants say they’re fielding more calls from Americans trying to leave the country

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/i-feel-like-i-ve-lost-my-country-americans-who-oppose-trump-are-now-looking-for-the-exits/ar-AA1EZvhK

Moneywise: Peter Schiff blasts US-China trade deal

Posted on by
Reply

Economist Peter Schiff recently took to X to blast the Trump administration for conceding the trade war without meaningful gains from China.

“How is this trade deal a win for Trump?” he asked. “China has agreed to nothing. The 145% tariffs we imposed have been reduced to 30%. The 125% tariffs they imposed in response have been reduced to 10%. If 145% tariffs were just a bargaining chip, China already called Trump’s bluff and won.”

He continued in response to comments, “So what have we won by agreeing to pause the war we started? We did not win a single battle in this war.”

Other economists echoed this view. 

Peter Schiff just blasted America’s trade deal with China — warns the Asian nation won by calling Trump’s ‘bluff’ on 145% tariffs, agreeing to ‘nothing’ in return. Is he right?
“So what have we won by agreeing to pause the war we started?”

https://moneywise.com/news/economy/peter-schiff-just-blasted-americas-trade-deal-with-china-warns-the-asian

The Register: DOGE worker’s old creds found exposed in infostealer malware dumps

Posted on by
Reply

Developer and journalist Micah Lee reported last Thursday that he found a whopping 51 data breach records and four infostealer log dumps associated with DOGE employee Kyle Schutt on data breach tracking service Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) – which is unnerving as Schutt has access to sensitive government data at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

As Lee pointed out, 51 breach records on HIBP is a lot, but excusable because while Schutt’s info was found in records associated with a 2013 Adobe breach, the 2016 LinkedIn breach, and Gravatar’s 2020 breach, none of those incidents involved Schutt’s personal machines.

What is attributable to a lapse of security hygiene, however, are the four infostealer logs that link to Schutt. Such logs contain usernames and passwords stolen by infostealer malware, suggesting one or more of Schutt’s computers were compromised at some point.

DOGE worker’s old creds found in malware data dumps
Infosec in brief: PLUS: Celsius scammer sent to slammer; Death-by-hacking victim warns you’re never safe; and more

https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/12/doge_cyber_experts_creds_found

NJ.com: Trump lashes out at ‘highly neurotic’ MSNBC host in latest meltdown

Posted on by
Reply

For someone who seems to despise MSNBC, President Donald Trump can’t seem to stop watching it.

Trump’s latest rant on his social media platform Truth Social targeted MSNBC and its host Stephanie Ruhle over her recent comments on his trade deal with the United Kingdom. He accused Ruhle of spreading “lies” about tariffs and accused her of trying to stop him from handing him a win over the trade deal.

“Unless he turns this around, three weeks from now, you walk into a store and we’re going to have a Covid-like supply chain crisis, and Trump is looking for an exit,” Ruhle said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Trump lashes out at ‘highly neurotic’ MSNBC host in latest meltdown
Donald Trump can’t stop watching the TV.

https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/05/trump-lashes-out-at-msnbc-host-in-latest-meltdown.html

USA Today: Electronics company posts bill with over $36K tariff charge, announces price increases

Posted on by
Reply

An electronic hardware company explained to customers why its prices will increase soon after sharing its latest bill, which included a $36,126.46 tariff charge.

Adafruit Industries said its import bill has grown over the past two months, but it just got hit with its first “big bill.” Products were booked and manufactured through a vendor many months ago, ahead of the tariffs President Donald Trump imposed on various countries, including a 145% one on China.

Unexpected bills like this will put a lot of small companies out of business.

Electronics company posts bill with over $36K tariff charge, announces price increases
Adafruit Industries, an electronic hardware company, posted its over $36,000 tariff charge and explained to customers why its prices will soon rise.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/05/09/electronics-company-import-tariff-charge/83535500007

Fortune: Trump calls emptying U.S. ports a ‘good thing’ despite supply-chain panic because ‘that means we lose less money’

Posted on by
Reply

As logistics professionals sound the alarms on emptying U.S. ports as a result of steep tariffs, President Donald Trump said those major import slowdowns are actually a boon.

…

Trump not only acknowledged the shipping slowdown in a Thursday press briefing announcing a trade deal with the UK; he seemed heartened by it.

“We’re seeing as a result that ports here in the U.S., the traffic has really slowed and now thousands of dockworkers and truck drivers are worried about their jobs,” a reporter said in the press briefing.

“That means we lose less money,” Trump said. “When you say it slowed down, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Trump is deranged!

Trump calls emptying U.S. ports a ‘good thing’ despite supply-chain panic because ‘that means we lose less money’
The president has repeatedly claimed the U.S. has a $1 trillion trade deficit with China, though economists argue a trade deficit isn’t inherently negative.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-calls-emptying-u-ports-180609056.html

Independent: Backstabbed US auto companies blast Trump’s trade deal with Britain

Posted on by
Reply

America’s automakers have strafed President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” tentative trade deal with the U.K.

Ford, GM and Stallantis complained the “deal,” which hasn’t yet been officially agreed to, will actually hurt U.S. automakers by putting them at a competitive disadvantage with British companies.

Under the deal, Britain can send a quota of 100,000 cars annually to the U.S. with a 10 percent tariffs (amounts over that level will face 27.5 percent tariffs). Steel exports will be tariff free.

The U.S. carmakers said their vehicles produced in Canada and Mexico, or produced with parts from those countries or with steel from those countries, continue to face devastating 25 percent tariffs.

Backstabbed US auto companies blast Trump’s trade deal with Britain
Backstabbed US auto companies blast Trump’s trade deal with Britain – Trump has put American automakers at a disadvantage with their British competitors, they complain

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/backstabbed-us-auto-companies-blast-trump-s-trade-deal-with-britain/ar-AA1Evtyt

Reason: The U.K. Trade Deal Screws American Consumers

Posted on by
Reply

Residents of the United Kingdom will get lower tariffs, while Americans are stuck paying higher ones.

The White House is hailing a new trade deal with the United Kingdom as “a great deal for America.”

But is it a great deal for Americans? The specifics of the deal seem to suggest otherwise.

The agreement maintains the 10 percent universal tariff that President Donald Trump imposed on nearly all imports to the United States. But even the president admits this is a tariff hike on American consumers, rather than a reduction.

The point of comparison should be the average tariff rate on imports from the U.K. before Trump took office. In 2023, the most recent year for which full data are available, the average U.S. tariff on British goods was 3.3 percent.

That means this “deal” charges American consumers a 10 percent baseline tax on goods that were previously taxed at 3.3 percent. That’s not a win for free trade or lower prices.

Meanwhile, it is British consumers who will benefit from lower tariffs. According to the White House, the deal means that American exports to the U.K. will now face an average tariff rate of 1.8 percent, down from 5.1 percent before the deal.

So it’s a 6.7% increase for us and a 5.1% decrease for the Brits? Thank you ever so much for screwing us over, King Donald!

The U.K. trade deal screws American consumers
Residents of the United Kingdom will get lower tariffs, while Americans are stuck paying higher ones.

https://reason.com/2025/05/09/the-u-k-trade-deal-screws-american-consumers