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(can read with free account)https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/b...core-ios-share
(can read with free account)https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/b...core-ios-share
Liberation Day pitched us into a jobs recession...very weak numbers starting in May
is this what winning looks like?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wx1v84rzyoChina announced record export numbers for 2025, a year when US President Donald Trump's tariffs and trade policy caused turmoil in the global economy.
Beijing on Wednesday reported the world's largest-ever trade surplus - the value of goods and services sold overseas compared to its imports - at $1.19tn (£890bn).
It's the first time China's full-year trade surplus has passed $1tn, beating 2024's record figure of $993bn.
China's monthly export surpluses passed $100bn seven times last year - a sign that Trump's tariff campaign have barely affected its overall trade with the rest of the world.
Trade with the US did weaken, but this was made up for by a rise in Chinese exports elsewhere, especially to South East Asia, Africa and Latin America.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/...ey-2026-01-16/Canada, China slash EV, canola tariffs in reset of ties
BEIJING, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Canada and China have struck an initial trade deal that will slash tariffs on electric vehicles and canola, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday, as both nations promised to tear down trade barriers while forging new strategic ties.
The first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017, Carney is seeking to rebuild ties with his country's second-largest trading partner after the United States following months of diplomatic efforts.
Canada will initially allow in up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a tariff of 6.1% on most-favoured nation terms, Carney said after talks with Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping. He did not specify a time period.
That compares with the 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles imposed by the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2024, following similar U.S. penalties. In 2023, China exported 41,678 EVs to Canada.
"This is a return to levels prior to recent trade frictions, but under an agreement that promises much more for Canadians," Carney told reporters in Beijing.
...
the US big three automakers are burning their clothes to stay warm
https://ecfr.eu/publication/how-trum...ns-for-europe/How Trump is making China great again—and what it means for Europe
...
Donald Trump did not go into politics to make China great again. But that is what the latest poll of global public opinion from the European Council on Foreign Relations suggests he has done in the eyes of the world.
A year on from Trump’s return, in countries across the globe, many people believe China is on the verge of becoming even more powerful. Even before Trump’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela, his aggressive “America First” approach was driving people closer to China. Paradoxically, his disavowal of the liberal international order may have given people licence to build stronger links to Beijing, since they no longer feel the need to fall in line with a US-led alliance system. Meanwhile, “the West” seems to be a spent geopolitical force for the foreseeable future. America’s traditional enemies fear it less than they once did—while allies now worry about falling victim to a predatory US.
This splitting of the West is most visible in Europe, and in what others think of Europe. Russians now regard the EU as more of an enemy than they do the US; and Ukrainians look more to Brussels than to Washington for succour. Most Europeans no longer consider America a reliable ally, and they are keen to rearm. These are the main findings of a new poll of 25,949 respondents across 21 countries conducted in November 2025—one year after Trump’s triumphant victory in the last presidential election—for ECFR and Oxford University’s Europe in a Changing World research project, the fourth in a series of such global surveys. While the data predate Trump’s operation in Venezuela, many of the trends identified here seem to prefigure it, and one imagines they might even be reinforced by this intervention.
...
Not only do more people think China is on the rise geopolitically and leading in important industries, but few seem to fear this course of events. Only in Ukraine and in South Korea do majorities of people view China as either a rival or an adversary. Since last year, even more people see China specifically as an ally in both South Africa and Brazil. This turnaround is yet greater in India. Relations between New Delhi and Beijing have traditionally been rocky; despite this, nearly half of Indians see China as either an ally or a necessary partner.
...
The shifting sands of American power appear to be undermining people’s affinity with the US. A notable fall has taken place among EU citizens, only 16% of whom now consider the US an ally; a striking 20% see it as a rival or an enemy (a view that approaches 30% in some EU member states). This change may be down to Washington’s very public and at times brutal reappraisal of Europe, its politics and its culture (as exhibited last year in Vice-President J.D. Vance’s speech to the Munich Security Conference and the United States’ new National Security Strategy), rather than any real deterioration in American power. In most of the world, however, opinions about America are undergoing a gradual decline rather than collapse. Just as with views of China, countries that think of the US in chiefly negative terms (as either a rival or an adversary) are few and far between—only China and Russia fall into this category. What is particularly eye-catching, however, is the popularity of China among some key middle powers. In South Africa, over a third of people see China as an ally, while only a fifth say the same of the US; in Brazil, similar proportions of people (around a quarter) see China as an ally in the same way they do America.
...
The most dramatic change has taken place among Russians, who see Europe as an adversary they are in conflict with. As the Trump administration has bent over backwards to restore good relations with Vladimir Putin, Russians have become less hostile to Washington and increasingly blame Europe. Fewer people in Russia now consider the US an adversary; just 37%, down from 48% last year, and 64% two years ago. Importantly, it is worth underlining that Russians’ growing sympathy towards the US is not reciprocated in the American public. The prevailing view in America—and among Kamala Harris and Donald Trump voters alike—is that Russia remains an adversary.
The corollary to this is that Ukrainians, who once saw the US as their greatest ally, now look to Europe for protection.In Ukraine, nearly two-thirds of people expect their country’s relations with the EU to get stronger; only a third say the same about America. Two-thirds of Ukrainians also see US and EU policies on their country as different.
This is a particularly European moment for Ukrainians. Thirty-nine per cent of people in Ukraine consider the EU an ally. Strikingly, only 18% now think the same of the US. The perception of the US as an ally has eroded over the last year, falling from 27%, while that of the EU as an ally has consolidated, remaining relatively stable (35% last year).
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In keeping with this, while 61% of people in China see the US as a threat, only 19% think the same of the EU. This does not appear to be because Chinese citizens do not take the EU seriously: China is one of the few places where people regard the EU as a great power. This may therefore be because they view the bloc as a partner—as another pole in a multipolar world no longer dominated by America. While people in China consider the US chiefly a rival (45%), they consider the EU mostly a partner (46%).
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In contrast, Americans have not altered their views of the EU. And, whatever Trump might claim, his policies towards Europe and Russia do not represent a new American domestic consensus. The prevailing view in the US (40%) is to consider the EU an ally. Half of Americans (49%) subscribe to the view that “European security is also American security”; only 29% do not. And more than half (54%) of Americans consider Russia’s war in Ukraine a threat to American security.
Even more importantly, Republican and Democratic voters do not line up neatly behind positions against or in favour of the EU. If anything, Trump’s own electorate is internally divided over questions around Europe and Russia. But the transatlantic divide is even bigger, with only 25% of Britons and 16% of EU citizens now agreeing that the US is their ally.
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Trump TACOs on invading Greenland
“I will continue to raise taxes on Americans until the NATO alliance collapses”
Shashank Joshi of The Economist
Macron now refers to "intimidation or threat", explicitly comparing US behaviour in Greenland to Russia's approach to Ukraine. Sweden's PM says: "We will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed". Much, tougher language from Europeans than we have seen before, responding to the US escalation.
hilarious how his invasion bluff was called so he had to go to his emotional support tariff
lol
there goes the EU deal
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/17/eu-s...sur-trade.htmlEU and South American bloc Mercosur sign trade deal after 25 years of negotiations
Top officials from the EU and the South American bloc Mercosur signed a free trade agreement on Saturday in Paraguay, paving the way for the European Union’s largest-ever trade accord after 25 years of negotiations.
The agreement, designed to lower tariffs and boost trade between the two regions, must now gain the consent of the European Parliament and be ratified by the legislatures of Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
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Brazil’s government said in a statement that the deal is “emblematic of Lula’s efforts to expand and diversify markets,” adding that South America’s largest economy is also negotiating agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Canada and Vietnam, besides the expansion of a tariff‑preference pact with India.
Trade between the EU and Mercosur, which encompasses a market of 700 million people, reached a value of 111 billion euros in 2024. European Union exports mainly consist of machinery, chemical products, and transport equipment, whereas Mercosur’s exports are concentrated in agricultural goods, minerals, wood pulp, and paper.
"They are not deployed to city streets at this time, but are ready to help support public safety, including protection of life, preservation of property and supporting the rights of all who assemble peacefully"
long time forum lurkers may recall that last year the EU agreed to 15% across the board tariffs in exchange for no retaliation against the USA
Trump's Greenland tariffs are tending to undo that deal
https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/e...?download=trueEU list of US imports which could become subject to EU countermeasures, if ongoing EU-US negotiations don't result in a mutually beneficial outcome & the removal of the US tariffs.The list concerns imports from the US worth €95 billion.
“.. foreign exporters absorbed only about 4% of the burden of last year’s U.S. tariff increases by lowering their prices, while American consumers and importers absorbed 96%.https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/am...finds-e254ed2e
“.. foreign exporters absorbed only about 4% of the burden of last year’s U.S. tariff increases by lowering their prices, while American consumers and importers absorbed 96%.https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/am...finds-e254ed2e
"Rather than acting as a tax on foreign producers, the tariffs functioned as a consumption tax on Americans, the report said...The $200 billion in additional US tariff revenue last year 'was paid almost exclusively by Americans,' Hinz said. That is likely to fuel higher US inflation over time..."
"No taxation without representation"
AMERICAN CONSUMERS ARE PAYING THE LION SHARE OF THE TARIFF COSTS?
NO WAY!!! TRUMP SAID THE COMPANIES WILL EAT THOSE COSTS OR ELSE!!!!
I HOPE HE PUNISHES THESE COMPANIES WITH EVEN MORE TARIFFS!!!
"keep raising taxes on Americans until foreigners say uncle"
Blake Cramer
TSA with no take
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