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    Trump Announces One Month Delay on Mexico, Canada Tariffs

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54325633746/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159707159

    Just in…

    President Trump on Wednesday announced a one-month exemption on tariffs against Canada and Mexico for cars following a meeting with the three major U.S. automakers.

    Trump spoke with the leaders of the “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — on the heels of imposing 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada on Tuesday.

    Following those discussions, Trump said in a statement read by press secretary Karoline Leavitt that the administration is giving a one-month exemption for automakers associated with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA), which Trump signed during his first term. 

    The exemption would apply to Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, as well as companies with production facilities in the three North American countries.

    Asked if there would be any other carveouts to come, Leavitt said Trump is “open to hearing about additional exemptions.”

    Trump on Tuesday imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods. He cited frustration over the flow of fentanyl into the United States, though experts have noted relatively little fentanyl enters the country through the northern border.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    Wall Street Journal Board Urges Potential Trump Impeachment

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    Image via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Yikes…

    In a column published late Friday, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board claimed it would be “desirable” to subject Donald Trump to a third impeachment.

    According to longtime columnist Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff threats almost makes it appear he wants to be impeached, with Jenkins writing, “A future Trump impeachment seemed all but guaranteed by last Wednesday morning. It seems only slightly less likely now. It may even be desirable to restore America’s standing with creditors and trade partners.”

    Read more from the report:

    As he sees it, the president’s last great achievement was being re-elected in 2024, and the damage he has been creating since then belies his promise of a “golden age,” so an impeachment is “already ion the cards.”

    “No consensus or even significant coalition exists for trying to force into existence a new American ‘golden age’ with tariffs, which anyway is like asking a chicken to give birth to a lioness. He invented this mission out of his own confused intuition,” he accused.

    Noting that conservative historian Niall Ferguson labeled Trump’s trade policy going “full retard,” he contributed, “I go with ‘neurotic’ for the word’s wider applicability to any leader who, lacking a clear bead on his times, fabricates a gratuitously ambitious mission to meet his misguided sense of importance.”

    “Nobody in Mr. Trump’s orbit actually shares his belief in the magical efficacy of tariffs because it makes sense only in a world that doesn’t exist, where other countries don’t retaliate,” he pointed out before concluding, “The founders never anticipated today’s instantly responsive trillion-dollar financial markets. And yet these markets neatly adumbrate the founders’ scheme of checks and balances, also known as feedback. Mr. Trump, still sane enough to appreciate what’s good for Mr. Trump, listened this week to their feedback.”

    President Donald Trump vowed on Sunday that nobody was getting “off the hook” for unfair trade balances and tariff barriers, which other countries have used against the U.S.

    The Trump administration announced Friday that it was exempting imported smartphones, laptops and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs, but the president wanted to clear a few things up.

    “There was no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday,” Trump said in a post on X on Sunday. “These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’  The Fake News knows this, but refuses to report it. We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.

    Customs and Border Protection issued new guidance on reciprocal tariff negotiations late Friday, noting the exemption of those goods from Trump’s April 2 executive order that declared a national emergency due to non-reciprocal trade practices and structural imbalances in the global trading system. Subsequent executive orders ramped up tariffs on China to 125%.

    The updated guidance, which cites a presidential memorandum issued Friday, excluded the products from Trump’s 125% China tariff and his baseline 10% global tariff on some countries. They apply to goods that left a warehouse as of April 5.

    Products included in the exemption are things like hard drives, computer processors, solar cells, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, flat-panel TV displays and memory chips.

    But in light of the easing of tariffs on electronics, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday the exemption would be temporary.

    “They’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two,” Lutnick told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

    Lutnick’s comments Sunday made clear that more changes were on the horizon.

    Trump Holds ‘Productive’ Call With New Canadian Prime Minister

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    President Donald Trump said he held an “extremely productive call” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday. 

    “I just finished speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney, of Canada. It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things, and will be meeting immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. 

    It was the first time the two leaders have spoken.

    On Thursday, Carney said the “old relationship” with the U.S. “is over” while vowing to engage in a renegotiation over a trade agreement.  

    Carney, 60, won the Liberal leadership this month with 86% of the vote after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down.

    In an address to reporters in Ottawa on Thursday, Carney offered a blunt rebuke to the Trump administration as it prepares to slap a 25 percent tariff on foreign car imports — a move the prime minister said won’t go unanswered.

    “The old relationship we had with the United States, based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military co-operations, is over,” Carney said.

    He continued: “What exactly the United States does next is unclear. But what is clear is that we, as Canadians, have agency. We have power. We are masters in our own home. We can control our destiny. We can give ourselves much more than any foreign government, including the United States, can ever take away.”

    He added: “We can deal with this crisis best by building our strength right here at home. It will take hard work. It will take steady and focused determination from governments, from businesses, from labour, from Canadians. We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States. We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere. And we will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven’t seen in generations.”

    Carney vowed a “broad renegotiation” of Canada’s trade and security ties with the U.S., marking a sharp departure from the conventional diplomacy that has long defined cross-border relations.

    “We will fight back with everything we have to get the best deal for Canada. We will build an independent future for our country, stronger than ever,” Carney said, promising “retaliatory trade actions” designed for “maximum impact in the US and minimum impacts in Canada.”

    Canadian Conservative Pushes Ottawa To Remove All US Tariffs

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2

    As Canada braces for President Trump’s Liberation day tariffs to take effect some Canadian political leaders are suddenly supporting proposals to remove all tariffs.

    Maxime Bernier, who served as foreign affairs minister in former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and now heads the right-wing People’s Party of Canada (PPC), told Fox News Digital in an interview from Halifax that it is “absolutely” the time for Canada to remove all tariffs against the U.S.

    He said the 25% duties the Canadian government, under then-Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, imposed on the U.S. in early February to counter Trump’s 25% tariffs against Canada “won’t hurt the Americans – it is hurting Canadians.”

    New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement following his March 28 call with the president – the first contact between both leaders since Carney was elected Liberal leader by his party nearly three weeks before – that Canada would implement retaliatory tariffs in response to Wednesday’s U.S. “trade actions.”

    The PPC leader said that Trump should be told that “the real reciprocal response” to tariffs is “zero on our side, zero on your side.”

    Bernier said that instead, Carney and his main rival, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, are being “fake patriots using a dollar-for-dollar trade war against Trump” and telling Canadians: “That’s the best thing to do.”

    “We cannot impose counter-tariffs,” said Bernier, who also served as industry minister in the Harper government. 

    “The Americans are 10 times bigger than us. We won’t win a trade war,” he said, underscoring that retaliation will lead to a recession in Canada.

    Former Canadian Conservative politician Tony Clement, who served alongside Bernier in Harper’s Cabinet, told Fox News Digital that “from an economic point of view,” removing Canadian tariffs “makes a lot of sense” and “may come to that at some point, but the public isn’t there right now.”

    “From a point of view of the emotional wounds of Canadians created by Trump and his annexation talk and tariffs, I’m not sure that a political voice would survive if it went down that public-policy route,” said Clement, a former Canadian industry minister in the Harper government.

    “The mood of the people is outrage. I’ve never seen people in Canada this incandescently mad at the United States,” he said, who is campaigning in the Toronto area for Poilievre’s Conservative Party ahead of the April 28 general election. “There is complete distrust of whatever Trump says because it can change within 24 hours.”

    Eliminating Canadian tariffs, without a quid pro quo from Trump, could “show weakness to a bully,” added Clement, who, prior to entering federal politics in 2006, served as a Cabinet minister in former Ontario Premier Mike Harris’ Progressive Conservative government.  

    In the statement released following his recent conversation with Trump, Carney said that both leaders “agreed to begin comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship immediately following the election.” 

    Conservative strategist Yaroslav Baran, who served as communications chief for Harper’s successful Conservative 2004 leadership campaign, and director of war room communications for the Harper-led Tories during the 2004, 2006 and 2008 federal election campaigns, told Fox News Digital that under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), “trade in goods and services ought to be tariff-free” between Canada and the U.S., excluding carveouts on the Canadian side for dairy, eggs, poultry and softwood lumber. 

    However, Baran added that he “can’t semer Ontario Premier Mike Harris’ Progressive Conservative government.  

    In the statement released following his recent conversation with Trump, Carney said that both leaders “agreed to begin comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship immediately following the election.” 

    Conservative strategist Yaroslav Baran, who served as communications chief for Harper’s successful Conservative 2004 leadership campaign, and director of war room communications for the Harper-led Tories during the 2004, 2006 and 2008 federal election campaigns, told Fox News Digital that under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), “trade in goods and services ought to be tariff-free” between Canada and the U.S., excluding carveouts on the Canadian side for dairy, eggs, poultry and softwood lumber. 

    However, Baran added that he “can’t see the removal of all Canadian tariffs on U.S. products as long as the U.S. has tariffs on Canadian products.”

    Trump Pauses Tariffs For One Month After Talks With Mexico

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    1
    Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

    Mexico‘s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has announced a temporary suspension of tariffs for one month following a productive conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. The move comes as part of a broader effort to address critical security and economic concerns between the neighboring countries.

    As part of the agreement, Mexico will deploy 10,000 troops to bolster security along the U.S.-Mexico border. In return, the U.S. has pledged to ramp up efforts to curb firearm trafficking into Mexico, a persistent issue fueling cartel violence.

    CNBC repots:

    Sheinbaum also said in a tweet, that after speaking with Trump, Mexico “will immediately reinforce” its northern border with the U.S. with 10,000 National Guard soldiers “to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl.”

    “We had a good conversation with President Trump with great respect for our relationship and sovereignty; we reached a series of agreements,” Sheinbaum wrote in the tweet, according to a translation from Spanish.

    “The United States is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico,” she wrote.

    The announcement underscores the ongoing collaboration between Mexico and the U.S. on border security and trade, particularly as both nations navigate shifting political landscapes.

    Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News

    Trump Indicates Plan To Lower or Eliminate Income Taxes Thanks To Tariffs

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    3

    This could be huge…

    President Donald Trump said that some people’s income taxes will be lowered or perhaps even completely eliminated due to tariffs.

    “When Tariffs cut in, many people’s Income Taxes will be substantially reduced, maybe even completely eliminated. Focus will be on people making less than $200,000 a year,” he declared in a post on Truth Social.

    “Also, massive numbers of jobs are already being created, with new plants and factories currently being built or planned. It will be a BONANZA FOR AMERICA!!! THE EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IS HAPPENING!!!” the president added.

    The president touched on the subjects of income taxes and tariffs while addressing reporters on Sunday.

    “And eventually we’ll be reducing taxes very substantially for the people of our country, because the money is so great coming in from tariffs that I’ll be able to reduce taxes … to a very large extent, and maybe almost completely,” he said.

    “And it’s possible we’ll do a complete tax cut, because I think the tariffs will be enough to cut all of the income tax,” he noted. 

    The president indicated Americans will be given “a tremendous tax cut,” starting “with people making less than $200,000 dollars a year.”

    Trump, who has been in the Oval Office for nearly 100 days, has moved at breakneck speed to revitalize America.

    Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Fox News exclusively that President Donald Trump has accomplished more in the first 100 days of his tenure than “most politicians or presidents accomplish in their entire lifetimes.”

    “So much of what we’ve done is leading up to the big reconciliation bill, and that is the legislative vehicle, as I’ve explained to people, it will help us, through which we will deliver the president’s America First agenda,” Johnson told Fox News Digital.

    “We’ve done it with arguably the smallest margin in the history of the Congress, so challenges every day, but it’s been very rewarding to lead us through that.”

     The speaker also acknowledged that Trump has acted quite a bit on his own, as well.

    “He’s issued, I think, 110 executive orders and many other executive actions. And we’ve been working to codify so much of that. It’s been kind of a partnership,” Johnson said.

    “I don’t think we’ve ceded any authority. I think that he’s doing what is within his scope to do. There’s an assumption made by Congress that the administration, whoever is in the administration, will use the money that is appropriated to the executive branch as a good steward, that they will take every measure possible to prevent fraud, waste and abuse,” Johnson said. 

    “And tariffs as well – the president, whomever is president, has a responsibility and I think an expectation from Congress that they will deal with unfair trade partners around the globe.”

    However, while many conservatives have praised Trump’s recent accomplishments, many Democrats have openly decried the moves and spurred concerns they will seek to impeach Trump if they regain control of Congress.

    CNN host Dana Bash recently asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer if he agreed with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) who signaled recently that he would support an impeachment effort against Trump.

    “Would that be a priority if Democrats were to take back Congress?” Bash asked. 

    “President Trump is violating rule of law in every way. And we’re fighting him every single day in every way. And our goal is to show the American people over and over again, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s tariffs, whether it’s Russia and overseas and whether it’s rule of law, how bad he is. And you know, two years is too far away to predict. Our job is day to day to day, to show who Trump is, what he is doing, and it’s having an effect,” Schumer said.

    Bash pressed him further and said, “You’re not saying ‘no.’”

    “Look, it’s too far away to even judge,” Schumer responded.

    Ossoff signaled support for impeaching Trump during a town hall event in Georgia.

    “I saw just 48 hours ago, [Trump] is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin,” Ossoff said. “There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense. And the reality is that that’s just one of many [examples] — defying a federal court order, for example.”

    Trump Backs Off Powell Firing Talk As Markets Rally

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    0
    The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    President Donald Trump made clear he has “no intention” of dismissing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, despite recent public criticisms that had unsettled financial markets. Tuesday’s clarification comes after Trump had labeled Powell a “major loser” and suggested his “termination cannot come fast enough.”

    The president’s assurance appeared to calm investor fears about the central bank’s independence, triggering a significant market rebound Tuesday that extended into Wednesday morning.

    The S&P 500 rose by 3%, and the Nasdaq increased by 3.7%, reflecting investor relief over the reduced likelihood of political interference with the Federal Reserve. European markets also responded positively, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 1.9% and Germany’s DAX gaining 2.8%.

    Despite the president’s recent criticisms, including calls for more aggressive interest rate cuts, Trump emphasized that he never intended to remove Powell from his position. He expressed a desire for the Fed to act more decisively in lowering interest rates but acknowledged Powell’s role would continue until his term concludes in May 2026.

    “I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates…but, no, I have no intention to fire him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal:

    U.S. stock futures and the dollar rallied following Trump’s remarks. Gold futures dropped, pulling back from record highs.

    Trump’s softer tone on Powell came after he lashed out at the Fed chair, writing on social media last week, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”

    But on Tuesday, Trump played down recent comments by Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, that the administration was studying whether the president could fire Powell.

    “This is a perfect time to lower interest rates. If he doesn’t, is it the end? No. It’s not,” Trump said.

    Trump also addressed trade policy, signaling that tariffs on Chinese goods — currently set at 145% — could be “substantially” reduced, though not fully eliminated. The hint at a possible easing of trade tensions, combined with his reaffirmation of the Fed’s independence, fueled the global market rebound. (RELATED: Trump Softens Tariff Stance On China)

    While the immediate market reaction has been positive, analysts warn that ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve — along with the prospect of slow-moving trade negotiations between the world’s two largest economies — could continue to weigh on financial markets in the weeks and months ahead.

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    Trump Peels Back China Tariffs In Trade War Truce

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    By The White House from Washington, DC - President Trump at the G20, Public Domain,

    The Trump administration has reached a key deal in its ongoing trade war against China.

    Early Monday morning, the U.S. and China released a joint statement revealing that “the United States and China will each lower tariffs by 115% while retaining an additional 10% tariff,” according to the White House. 

    The U.S. imposed tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods earlier this year as the president looks to bring parity to the nation’s chronic trade deficit with foreign countries.

    The move was confirmed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who told reporters: “The consensus from both delegations this weekend was neither side wants a decoupling.”

    Bessent also praised Chinese officials for engaging seriously on fentanyl, saying it was “the first time the Chinese side understood the magnitude of what is happening in the US.”

    Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent: “I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks. First, I want to thank our Swiss host. The Swiss government has been very kind in providing us this wonderful venue, and I think that led to a great deal of productivity we’ve seen. We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive. We had the vice premier, two vice ministers, who were integrally involved, Ambassador Jamieson, and myself. And I spoke to President Trump, as did Ambassador Jamieson, last night, and he is fully informed of what is going on. So, there will be a complete briefing tomorrow morning.”

    The truce peels back some of the harshest duties imposed under President Donald Trump’s April tariff hike, which sent U.S. levies on Chinese goods to 125%. China hit back with countermeasures and restricted key mineral exports, rattling global supply chains. Under the new agreement, Chinese tariffs drop to 10%, while U.S. tariffs fall to 30% — though the 20% fentanyl-related tariff remains untouched.

    China’s commerce ministry called the move a win for “producers and consumers in both countries,” urging Washington to “completely correct” its unilateral trade posture.

    The trade negotiations come as President Trump is slated to depart Washington, D.C., on Monday for visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president disclosed last week, when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the White House, that he would be making “a very, very big announcement” ahead of his departure for the Middle East, but has not shared additional details. 

    © Great America News Desk 2022