Friday, April 04, 2025

STORIES OF CAPITALISM Larry Summers on Tariffs, EU Capital Markets, Business of Tuna | Wall St...

This week, we dissect President Trump’s tariffs with former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and how EU’s capital markets might fare with Santander’s Ana Botin. Plus, we take a look at how private equity is growing the high-end tuna market. …

China hits back at Trump tariffs with 34% tax on US goods, export curbs

Beijing says it will impose an additional 34 percent tax on US goods from next week in retaliation for Washington’s tariffs.

FILE - In this July 8, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and China's President Xi Jinping arrive for a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. President Trump has often named Asia, and China and Japan in particular, as a source of American economic woes. A persisting U.S. trade deficit with most Asian countries and the president’s frequent threats to impose sanctions or raise tariffs on exports from the region make trade a fraught issue. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP, File) — US President Donald Trump, left, and China's President Xi Jinping arrive for a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany [File: Saul Loeb/Pool photo via AP]

China has announced a slew of countermeasures against tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, including additional tariffs of 34 percent on all goods and curbs on the export of some rare earths, deepening an escalating trade war.

Trump on Wednesday announced that China would be hit with a 34-percent tariff, on top of the 20 percent he imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54 percent.

Complaint with WTO

But China has pushed forward with countering Trump’s aggressive trade policies, saying it had opened a formal complaint against the new US tariffs with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday.

As part of its complaint, Beijing argued the measures violate WTO rules and requesting consultations.

“China has filed the WTO complaint with respect to the United States’ measures,” the Permanent Mission of China to the World Trade Organization said in a statement

Beijing also imposed sweeping export controls to limit the exchange of goods and services with the US. Some pertained to the export of medium and heavy rare earths to the US, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, effective from April 4.

Others took aim at US businesses. China added 16 US entities to its export control list, which bans the export of dual-use items to affected firms.

Another 11 US firms were included on the “unreliable entities” list, which allows Beijing to take punitive action against foreign entities. The targeted firms includes Skydio Inc and BRINC Drones over arms sales to democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said the targeted companies seriously “undermined” China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests and would be banned from new investments, import and export activities in China.

Agriculture trade took a hit as well, as Chinese customs imposed an immediate suspension on imports of sorghums from grain exporter C&D (USA) Inc, as well as poultry and bonemeal from three US firms.

Then there were the threats of further regulatory action. Beijing announced it had launched an anti-dumping probe, looking into imports of certain medical CT tubes from the US and India.

It also said it would pursue a wider investigation into how the medical industry’s competitiveness was affected by imports of medical CT tubes.

US President Donald Trump holds a chart — Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden called Make America Wealthy Again at the White House in Washington, DC [File: Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

How the economy is reacting

US stock futures fell sharply on Friday, signalling more losses on Wall Street, as the Trump administration’s sweeping levies knocked $2.4 trillion from US equities.

Shares of Big Tech stocks fell in premarket trading, with companies such as Apple and Nvidia having big exposure to China and Taiwan for manufacturing their products.

In Japan, a top US trading partner, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the tariffs had created a “national crisis”, as a plunge in banking shares on Friday set Tokyo’s stock market on course for its worst week in years.
European shares were also headed for the biggest weekly loss in three years.

Newsmax

4 hours ago

Rubio:

Global Markets Will Adjust to Trump's Tariffs | Newsmax.com

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday disputed any economic crash, telling reporters that markets were reacting to the change and would adjust.

“Their economies are not crashing. Their markets are reacting to a dramatic change in the global order in terms of trade,” he said at a media conference in Brussels. “The markets will adjust.”

Source: News Agencies

China has announced a slew of countermeasures against tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, including additional tariffs of 34 percent on all goods and curbs on the export of some

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Senate Confirms Dr. Oz to Oversee Medicare and Medicaid in a 53-45 Party Line Vote

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the heart surgeon turned daytime television star, has a new job — overseeing the nation’s largest health insurance programs.

The chamber voted Thursday 53 to 45 along party lines to confirm Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz, who has touted controversial therapies and pushed unproven theories about Covid-19 cures including hydroxychloroquine, will make and implement major decisions impacting the insurance coverage of more than 160 million people.

Dr. Oz Confirmed By Senate, Now Leads Medicare and Medicaid

Senate confirms Dr. Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid

He will oversee how physicians are paid through Medicare.

Mehmet Oz stands as his daughter Daphne Oz looks on.

Dr. Mehmet Oz stands as his daughter Daphne Oz (right) looks on after his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 14. | Ben Curtis/AP

He will have oversight over how physicians are paid through Medicare, which often sets a standard commercial insurers follow, and he will oversee more than $1.5 trillion in federal spending across Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges.

Oz will have to navigate complex regulatory issues with fewer staff than his predecessors due to a massive reorganization launched by HHS on Tuesday that saw 10,000 people lose their jobs.

It remains unclear how many people are affected within CMS. Originally the agency announced 300 people were fired but the impact will be felt across numerous government programs. For instance, HHS cut staff at the Office of Minority Health and closed five regional offices that assisted states and community groups with Medicare issues.

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Former heart surgeon and TV pitchman Dr. Mehmet Oz became the agency's administrator in a party line 53-45 vote

a day ago

ComingSoon.net

Why Was The Dr. Oz Show Canceled?

Oz hosted a popular daytime television show from 2009 through 2022, when he left to run for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat.

He lost that race to Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

Oz discussed wellness issues on the show and landed in hot water more than a decade ago for promoting misleading treatments, leading to a contentious hearing back in 2014 before a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee.
Now that he is confirmed, Oz will be the administration’s front man on key issues such as Medicaid reform.
House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee are seeking $880 billion in savings for a larger spending package, and some lawmakers have their sights set on Medicaid, which they believe is bloated and rife with waste and abuse.