President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Peter Navarro as the senior counselor for the Office of Trade and Manufacturing. Trump made the announcement through a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
Navarro is no stranger to the White House. He previously served in a similar role during Trump’s first term as president.
Further in the announcement, Trump said Navarro will “help successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff and Trade Agendas.”
In the weeks following his presidential win, Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, and a 60% tariff on Chinese imports.
Navarro wanted more aggressive tariffs during Trump’s initial administration. He aided the former president during trade deals between South Korea and the United States. Trump also credited Navarro with enforcing his rules to buy American products and hire American workers.
NAFTA was later replaced during Trump’s term with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The USMCA took effect in 2020 and Trump claimed he replaced NAFTA with the USMCA to “help grow the North American economy.”
Trump also claimed Navarro was “treated horribly by the Deep State,” referencing Navarro’s recent stint in a Miami federal prison. Navarro served four months for going against a subpoena from the House committee as it investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Within a day of the announcement, Navarro released an opinion post on the Washington Times. In it, he described his conviction as unjust and expressed his frustration for Hunter Biden’s sweeping pardon.
Navarro obtained a doctorate degree in economics from Harvard University and later worked as a professor in California.
He also previously ran for San Diego mayor in the ’90s and later as a Democratic nominee for Congress.
Trump 1.0’s China tariffs didn’t result in high inflation. Why 2.0 is different.
Annual consumer price inflation in October heated up a hair at 2.6%, bringing concern disinflation may have stagnated too far away from the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. In September, consumer prices rose 2.4% on an annual basis.
Bank of America economists said ahead of Wednesday’s report, “Inflation is moving sideways after a period of substantial disinflation.”
“I think people are worried that we’re not just sideways, we’re plateauing, and that we’re going to go back up,” said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
While the price of goods has gone down over the past year, services inflation is driving overall consumer prices higher. That said, both categories could see inflationary pressures in 2025.
Tariffs would certainly be No. 1 on my list for what’s going to be inflationary.
Mary Lovely, senior fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
“A lot of President-elect Trump’s program is, in fact, expansionary. [That’s] one reason why we’re worried about inflation,” Lovely said. “If the economy is growing well, people’s incomes are rising; firms may feel more comfortable passing those [costs] along, even preemptively.”
Lovely said Trump’s deportation policy would affect the size of the labor market and wages, putting inflationary pressures on places where undocumented workers typically fill jobs. But another policy takes the top spot.
“Tariffs would certainly be No. 1 on my list for what’s going to be inflationary,” Lovely said.
Trump’s campaign has argued many things related to his tariff policies that go against this statement. He and the campaign point to his first term and China tariffs that they say didn’t contribute to inflation. He has also long argued that foreign countries, not Americans, bear the cost of tariffs.
President Trump can come in and have a pretty clear runway to put tariffs on China. The 10% across the board is a much harder thing.
Mary Lovely, senior fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
In Trump 2.0, the president-elect has proposed 60% tariffs on China and 10%-20% across-the-board tariffs on other trade partners.
For a closer look at the impact of these proposals and why a second trade war may play out differently than Trump’s first term, Straight Arrow News interviewed Lovely, an expert on U.S.-China trade relations.
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the interview in the video above.
Mary Lovely: My research focuses on U.S.-China trade flows and trade relations and also on the Chinese economy. Obviously, with this being an election year, I’ve done a lot of work on tariffs and what they might mean for consumer prices, for who pays the tax burden, especially as President-elect Trump has talked about replacing some of the income tax with tariff revenue.
Simone Del Rosario: And Trump has proposed a lot of tax cuts. Several things on his proposal list are, in nature, inflationary. Tax cuts, increased spending in the private sector, and then, of course, tariffs,
Mary Lovely: Yes, of course. Tariffs would certainly be No. 1 on my list for what’s going to be inflationary. He’s promising them at high rates, so on China, 60%, and we can talk about which goods and services is that really going to affect. And he’s promised them quickly, so we may see them as early as Q2 of next year. People know that’s coming, and that will be built into expectations for prices and rates.
Simone Del Rosario: Would you expect companies to be raising prices ahead of President-elect Trump even going into office?
Mary Lovely: I think that companies want to raise prices when they feel consumers are able to accept them. So it may be when they’re bringing out a new model, or when they’re just refreshing their price list for customers, if they’re dealing with industrial customers or if they think the economy is moving ahead really well. And we may see the economy growing a little bit faster – it’s already doing really well – but a lot of President-elect Trump’s program is, in fact, expansionary; one reason why we’re worried about inflation. And so if the economy is growing well, people’s incomes are rising, firms may feel more comfortable passing those along, even preemptively.
Simone Del Rosario: We know that President-elect Trump is promising big tariffs. This has been a cornerstone of his economic policy. I’ve talked to a lot of economists on all sides of the aisle, and some people are saying, ‘Well, I think he’ll end up doing something more targeted.’ Based on what he’s told us, he wants across-the-board tariffs, and he wants really high tariffs on China and perhaps Mexico as well. That said, what are you expecting the tariff landscape to be like? Do you expect it to be as high as his campaign promises? Do you expect there to be a little bit of moderation in what happens? What are you expecting?
Mary Lovely: This is a great question, Simone, and I think we’re all trying to look into the crystal ball and make some guesses here, right? Because there’s a lot of factors that will go into what he actually does. A lot of people also say he’s a dealmaker, so we may see him threatening these tariffs but not actually carrying them out. Given the people that he’s beginning to appoint and reports [of Trump wanting Robert Lighthizer to be his trade czar], who was his trade representative in the first term, we expect tariffs will be right at the top of the menu.
Regarding the tariffs on China, where former President Trump, as candidate Trump, promised a flat 60, I expect we’ll see action quite quickly, and that is because he’ll tack these on to the original Section 301 case against China. That was the legal authority that gave him the power to put those tariffs on starting back in 2018. Some folks may remember a couple of months ago, President Biden put 100% tariffs on Chinese EV imports, and that was done under the same authority, even though EVs had nothing to do with the original 301 case.
So President Trump can come in and have a pretty clear runway to put tariffs on China. The 10% across the board is a much harder thing. He is likely to have control of both houses in Congress. Congress ultimately has the power to tax. He may have to get authority from Congress to do that. It is quite unusual for us to start raising tariffs across the board on allies like Great Britain, Japan and South Korea. It’s a whole different kettle of fish.
Simone Del Rosario: Let’s focus on the China aspect for a little bit. We’ve heard from Trump’s campaign that these tariffs are not going to raise inflation. They point to his first term and say, ‘Look, we already did this. We already put tariffs on China. You all said it was going to raise inflation and it didn’t.’ So should we believe that?
Mary Lovely: No. That was an easy question.
Simone Del Rosario: And why is this different?
Mary Lovely: Basically what we do is we look at the prices of things when they come across the border, and we say, ‘Are these higher? Are they higher by the amount of the tariff?’ And the answer is, the price that we paid the foreign exporter, i.e. the Chinese manufacturer, didn’t change, and then we paid the tax. So the answer is, every study found that the importer paid 100% of the new tax.
Now was all of that passed through to the final consumer? Well, that’s a long road, because a lot of these products that we get from China are inputs, things that manufacturers use, so something like a small electric motor that’s then used in a a metal fishing boat, for example, little boat you might take out with your dad or your granddad to fish. That boat has content in it that comes from China, and we all know that, and those prices go up, and then it gets reflected in the alternate price. So we have to track it through that complicated route. Even goods that come across the border seem simple. They’re going to go on the shelf in Target or WalMart, but then we get retailing costs on top.
Some of that was passed through right away to consumers, and some wasn’t. Companies have to decide, ‘Do I take a little bit of profit, don’t turn away my customers, make sure they keep coming to my store, or do I pass it all through now because I really don’t have the ability to bear it myself?’ And what we saw was it was partial pass through to consumers, but that whole process was really shortcut by the pandemic.
So what will happen in the long run is – we don’t have good information from the Trump One tariffs, butwe do know that those costs were paid by Americans somewhere along the value chain. So I think that saying that it’s foreigners who pay it is just simply not supported by any evidence. It’s sort of wishful thinking.
There’s another part to this, which I think may be less well appreciated by folks, which is that not only is most of what we get from China used by U.S. manufacturers, and the higher costs hurt them, and we have documented evidence that it led to layoffs in companies that used a lot or a decrease in employment in a lot of places that used a lot of these inputs, but a lot of the bundle is electronics and things like laptops, cellphones, game systems, your Apple Watch, and these were not taxed at all. So if he’s talking about a flat 60%, it’s going to go on these consumer electronics. And it’s going to be huge. Some things are already taxed at 25, you’re going to see it’s an incremental tax. It’s going to be a huge tax. And so that makes me think that maybe he might back off a bit, or do it in stages.
Simone Del Rosario: We are already hearing companies look to this new reality and see how to move forward. AutoZone’s CEO told analysts they’d raise the prices ahead of tariffs. Other companies are saying, ‘We’ll wait for the policy, but yes, then we’re still going to have to raise prices.’ Steve Madden said that they were going to cut the amount of goods they were importing from China and rely more heavily on different partners. Part of tariff policy is adjusting trade relationships. So do you think that these Trump tariffs will, in turn, bring manufacturing back to the United States or take it away from China?
Mary Lovely: Well, I think it will take it away from China. We did see a decrease in the U.S. purchases of goods that were taxed. That makes sense, right? You put a tax on one store, you go to another store, but we saw most of that stuff move to other countries and we had to pay higher prices for it, because they’re just not as good at making it or they had to create a factory out of nothing. So it went to Vietnam. It went to Thailand. Very little of it came back to the United States. And that’s because you think about the products that are being made: Do you think that you can make a table cloth, T-shirts, in the U.S. and pay a living us wage and still compete with something from Bangladesh or Vietnam? The answer is no, you can’t.
So we are going to see higher prices, we’re not going to see a lot of jobs. Now, if he goes to 60%, some companies will come back, absolutely, or we’ll get foreign investment in the United States. And that’s another reason why we might see higher inflation, because we’re going to see some foreign investment in the United States.
People will say that’s the tariffs creating jobs, yes, but it’s going to be at much higher prices, which means that you won’t be able to buy something else. That’s the part that I think is more difficult to grasp, the idea that if I have to spend a lot more buying apparel, buying clothes for my kids, well then I can’t spend it at the grocery store. I can’t spend it on local services like eating out. And we’ve traced through that and on net, the tariffs are job losers. There’s just no way around the evidence.
Now people are okay with that, because, as you mentioned, part of the idea is to move supply chains away and reduce our dependence on China. It’s true, it’s an important goal, but it’s going to be costly, and we shouldn’t pretend that it’s all sunshine, it’s going to be lower prices and more jobs, because it just doesn’t make sense economically, that that’s how it will happen.
Simone Del Rosario: And would China retaliate? What would that look like and how would that affect us?
Mary Lovely: Well, if China retaliates, obviously it’s going to make it harder for U.S. companies to sell abroad, and the U.S. is the second largest manufactured good exporter in the world. We haven’t talked a lot in this election about how we are actually an export superpower, so that will make it harder for U.S. companies. How China retaliates is really hard to guess. Last time they did a bit of tit for tat, and we may see that. I think if President Trump goes ahead with tariffs, broad based, 10%, 20%, on our friends and allies included, we will see swifter retaliation.
Everyone has been calling President Trump, polishing up their golf games, trying to make nice, hoping that this doesn’t come. And I think we’ll see an awful lot of diplomatic activity before that. But in the end, if we do go through and actually levy those tariffs, I think we will see retaliation. We’ll have to, because these countries can’t let the U.S. do this without making it clear that they protest.
Simone Del Rosario: Given everything you’ve laid out, I’m hearing very clearly that prices are going to be going up. Should the Fed be moving accordingly and stop cutting its rate in anticipation that there are going to be inflationary pressures coming? Because multiple parts of his policies suggest that.
Mary Lovely: Even if they do cut, we’re likely to see rate increases in 2025. Lots of the Trump program, the tax cuts, as I mentioned, more foreign investment into the United States, the deportations, which will hurt on the supply side, all point in one direction, which is higher inflation.
What Apple’s big iPhone surge in China tells us about China relations
Apple is expected to see its biggest revenue jump in two years when it releases quarterly earnings on Thursday, Oct. 31. While there will be a lot of talk about the state of Apple Intelligence, its iPhone sales are currently boosting the bottom line.
In the three weeks following the iPhone 16’s release, sales in China were 20% higher than sales for the iPhone 15 the prior year, according to Counterpoint. Customers are increasingly trading up to the more expensive models.
In China, the increase in sales could have less to do with the quality of the phone and more to do with the company’s current standing in the nation.
“Apple works with 1,600 factories in China, and they’re very much deeply embedded, not just to get access to the excellent production that the Chinese factories do, but also in terms of really embedding what we call tacit knowledge into those Chinese factories,” Doug Guthrie, executive director and professor of global management at Arizona State University said.
“It’s very clear that Tim Cook and the executive team really continue to be committed to the idea that Apple’s married to China,” Guthrie said.
Last year, Chinese government agencies banned workers from bringing iPhones to work, instructing employees to carry local brands. The move quickly damaged Apple’s stock and sales of the iPhone dipped to third in the country.
“In China, people buy what products are promoted by the government,” he added. “And so my guess is that this is a signal that Apple’s doing things right and in good space with the government right now.”
The recent uptick in sales has now pushed the iPhone into second place in smartphone sales in the Chinese market, according to IDC.
Overall, Apple’s revenue is expected to grow 5.7% in the fiscal fourth quarter, according to data from LSEG.
While Apple is getting a boost from sales in China, the company is reportedly attempting to reduce its reliance on the nation for manufacturing of the devices.
The company exported $6 billion worth of Indian-made iPhones between March and September, according to Bloomberg. The increase marks a 33% jump from the same period last year.
“India is a country that is equal in size in terms of its population and has equal size of migrant labor population and poor people,” Guthrie said. “So India is a real interesting threat. When Foxconn built a plant in Chennai and suddenly iPhones could be assembled in Chennai, I think it was a signal to the market, ‘Yes, we’re married to China, but we have other options now.’”
Still, Guthrie points to those 1,600 suppliers Apple relies on in China. He said it would take India three decades to build supply chain infrastructure to mirror what exists in China.
Replacing China’s place in the manufacturing chain would be a lengthy and lofty goal. At the same time, Guthrie says the resolution of a border dispute between China and India at the BRICS Summit is a signal that the two nations could be working in tandem into the future.
“Maybe this is a moment where there’s a big pivot away from the West. And Xi Jinping and [Narendra] Modi and others are thinking, ‘Okay, you guys can do your G7 thing over there, and we can be at the kids’ table at the G20, but we’re BRICS and it’s bigger than you thought,’” Guthrie said. “And so I think it’s a really interesting time to watch this because my guess is what we’re going to see is more collaboration and coordination between China and India.”
Why deportations are an ‘economic disaster’ and other immigration truths
There are likely more than 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. today without authorization. On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has promised to enact “mass deportations” to remove unauthorized immigrants. Trump said he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has not been used since internment camps during World War II.
The American Immigration Council, an advocacy group in favor of expanding immigration, estimates that a single mass deportation operation would cost at least $315 billion, a “highly conservative estimate.” A longer-term operation would cost nearly $1 trillion over a decade.
“But actually, the direct costs of implementing the deportation aren’t even the worst,” said Zeke Hernandez, Wharton School professor and author of “The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers.” “Think of it this way: All of a sudden, businesses have about 11 to 12 million fewer consumers. Is that what we want? Businesses have 11 to 12 million fewer workers to fill critical jobs in key areas; areas that are essential for our economy, like construction.”
“It really would be an economic disaster,” Hernandez said. “And not only do we have to speculate about that, we actually have many historical precedents where we have done exactly that.”
All of a sudden, businesses have about 11 to 12 million fewer consumers. Is that what we want?
Zeke Hernandez, author, “The Truth About Immigration”
The last official count of 11 million unauthorized immigrants in 2022 included 4 million Mexicans; roughly 4 million more from the Caribbean and Central and South America; 1.7 million from Asia; and 1.3 million from Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. The Census numbers have not been updated to reflect ongoing migration at the U.S.-Mexico border since 2022.
Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt says a majority of Americans “want mass deportations of illegal immigrants and trust President Trump most on this issue.”
In a recent Gallup poll that has tracked Americans’ immigration preferences since 1965, 55% of respondents said they preferred immigration levels be decreased, compared to 16% who said they should be increased and 25% who said they should stay the same. It’s the highest amount of Americans reporting a desire to decrease immigration levels since the month following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Hernandez said the shifting attitude is understandable given the negative immigration rhetoric from politicians and the media.
It’s not just that you have a few bad apples coming in, it’s that our system for bringing in apples is completely screwed up.
Zeke Hernandez, author, “The Truth About Immigration
“One of the big surprises of the last year or so is that both the Right and the Left have now taken a fairly aggressive message about the border and about how the influx of immigrants is really doing us damage,” he told Straight Arrow News.
Hernandez cited Democratic mayors who used to be pro-immigration, now taking a stance on limiting immigration. Many of those mayors are facing budget constraints from an unexpected influx of migrants. While these arrivals cause short-term pain points, Hernandez argues that long-term economic benefits are around the corner.
“Immigrants contribute five big economic benefits to every country and community they arrive to,” he said. “And those would be, one, investment, two, innovation, three, talent, four, consumption, and five, taxes. And those are the inputs to any prosperous economy.”
That’s not to say America’s immigration system isn’t in need of a major overhaul.
“It’s not just that you have a few bad apples coming in, it’s that our system for bringing in apples is completely screwed up,” Hernandez said.
In an extended interview with SAN, Hernandez draws on 20 years of research to give fact-based explanations on the impacts of legal versus unauthorized immigration, skilled versus low-skilled migrants, immigration storylines of villain versus victim and why both are wrong, and the changes he would apply to the U.S. immigration system. You can watch the entire conversation in the video above.
Economy may reel from hurricanes for 6+ months, Fed president says
Recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene are just getting started in the southeastern U.S., as Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida. The back-to-back disasters less than two weeks apart will have a lasting impact on the economy, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic warned during the week of Oct. 6.
Bostic said hurricane season impacts could evolve over the next six months or more and is something the Fed will closely track. As Milton’s path becomes more clear, damage estimates range from tens to more than $100 billion in losses. Private insured losses from Helene are around $8 billion to $14 billion, Moody’s estimates.
“Hurricane Helene is by far the most impactful event of the current 2024 hurricane season thus far, though this may quickly change with Major Hurricane Milton due to impact Florida in the coming days,” Moody’s Chief Risk Modeling Officer Mohsen Rahnama said.
“The hurricane is going to have a substantial effect on numbers coming out of the entire Southeast. We’re going to see a very large number of people who are temporarily laid off,” Harris said. “It’s hard to know exactly how long that’s going to last…The swath of the hurricane [Helene] was quite broad, and it hit a lot of population centers. So I think that is going to have a meaningful effect.”
Supply chain shocks are also expected post-hurricanes, especially with food, medicine and gas, as people rush for supplies. The storms hinder transportation routes which bottleneck delivering goods. In addition, Milton has the potential to damage major port infrastructure in Tampa and hinder trade routes nationally and internationally.
“When we think about a huge, horrific natural disaster with a huge human toll, we tend to focus solely on the negative sides of the economic impact – and for obvious reasons,” RiverFront Investment Group Chief Investment Strategist Chris Konstantinos told Straight Arrow News. “The cold, hard economic fact is [there are] gives and takes of what happens after a catastrophe like this. There are often two sides of it.”
“There’s going to be a huge amount of infrastructure spend,” Konstantinos added. “And so for companies, industry sectors that are construction related, sometimes these things can actually be a huge stimulus of sorts in those areas. And that may, at least regionally, actually increase some of the manufacturing data that we’re seeing.”
Konstantinos also said despite massive insured losses in the short term, insurance companies can benefit from major storms in the long run because they can lock in rate hikes. In Florida, home insurance rates are already the highest in the nation, with homeowners paying an average of about $1,000 per month for coverage that does not include flood insurance.
US hospitals face IV shortage as new hurricane threats loom
As another hurricane barrels toward the United States’ Gulf Coast, hospitals across the country are dealing with a shortage of IV fluid caused by the last one. Hurricane Helene forced manufacturers to halt production.
The leading supplier of IV fluids in the U.S., Baxter International, said its facility in North Carolina will remain closed for the foreseeable future after it flooded during the storm. The company supplies about 60% of IV fluid bags in the U.S.
IV fluids treat dehydration and are a critical component of surgery – when patients are asleep for a long time and can’t eat or drink.
Because of Hurricane Helene, Baxter has placed limits on how many IV bags hospitals can buy at one time. There are other fluid manufacturers in the U.S. but they tend to give priority to meeting the demand from their existing customers, one Boston doctor told the Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. also can’t count on European manufacturers to fill the gap because there’s a global shortage of IV fluids right now, as well. Baxter said it’s working with health, emergency, and government officials to get back up and running as soon as possible.
High levels of lead found in a dozen brands of spices
Fall is here and that means pumpkin spiced everything, but there’s a new warning about some of the most popular seasonal spices. Consumer Reports found high levels of lead in cinnamon and other spice powders from 12 different brands: Paras, EGN, Mimi’s Products, Bowl & Basket, Rani Brand, Zara Foods, Three Rivers, Yu Yee Brand, BaiLiFeng, Spicy King, Badia and Deep.
The ground cinnamon and multi-spice powders Consumer Reports tested showed lead levels above one part per million. In New York specifically, that’s the level where a product should be recalled – but, in general, these products should be avoided.
The Food and Drug Administration does not have any limits on the amount of lead allowed in foods, except in certain cases, but it maintains there is no safe level. The agency said there is no way to completely prevent lead from entering the food supply, but companies have a responsibility to reduce levels by changing agriculture or manufacturing processes.
Consumer Reports said just a quarter teaspoon of the spices it tested contains more lead than anyone should ingest in a day.
Boeing workers go on strike for first time in 16 years
Thousands of Boeing union workers walk off the job in the first strike for the company in 16 years. And former President Donald Trump decides if he’ll participate in another debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
Boeing workers go on strike for first time in 16 years
For the first time since 2008, Boeing workers are on strike. It comes after Boeing machinists rejected a tentative contract deal Thursday night, Sept. 12.
Ahead of the union’s vote, workers rallied outside encouraging “no deal” with Boeing. The contract offer overwhelmingly failed, with 95% of Union Aircraft Assembly Workers voting against it.
“I’m expecting my union brothers and sisters to stand shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm and let our company know that ‘hey, we deserve more,’” Boeing employee Chase Sparkman said. “We are doing the job that is required of us, and we need to be compensated fairly for doing so.”
The failed contract included a 25% wage bump over four years.
Another worker, Adam Vogel said, “It’s unfair. The whole contract’s unfair. They’re taking too much away from us without giving us anything. [A] 25% raise is a load of crap.”
As of early Friday morning, Sept. 13, 33,000 workers had walked off the job. The workers’ strike is not expected to cause flight disruptions, but it will virtually stop commercial airplane production at one of the nation’s biggest manufacturing giants.
Boeing has 150,000 employees and estimates its own annual contribution to the U.S. economy at $79 billion, supporting 1.6 million jobs directly and indirectly.
Both the union and Boeing released statements saying they are eager to get back to the negotiating table to reach a new deal.
Trump says he will not debate Harris again
We are 53 days away from Election Day and the campaign trail is red hot. Vice President Kamala Harris held a campaign rally in North Carolina on Thursday while former President Donald Trump took to Arizona, where we got our answer on whether there will be another debate between the two.
Trump said Thursday he won the debate Tuesday, Sept. 10, and there will be no third debate after he’s already shared the stage with Harris and President Biden back in June.
“She immediately called for a second debate, which means that she was like a prizefighter that lost the fight,” Trump said. “So, because we’ve done two debates and because they were successful, there will be no third debate.”
Meanwhile, at her campaign event Harris said she still wants another debate with Trump before Election Day.
“I believe we ought to have another debate,” Harris said. “We owe it to the voters.”
At his event in Arizona, Trump also unveiled a new proposal to end taxes on overtime pay if he wins a second term. Harris’ campaign responded saying if Trump wins, fewer workers will receive overtime.
On Friday, Harris will be campaigning in Pennsylvania and Trump will be holding a news conference in California before a rally in Las Vegas.
Judge tosses 2 charges against Trump in Georgia election interference case
The decision has not yet been formally applied to Trump because his case has been paused pending appeals over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on the case following misconduct allegations.
The judge threw out one count against Trump of conspiring to file false documents, as well as a separate count of filing false documents related to false allegations of voter fraud that were included in one of Trump’s lawsuits in December 2020 trying to overturn the election results.
DOJ, FBI preparing to file charges in Trump campaign hack
The Justice Department is getting ready to file criminal charges in connection with the alleged Iranian hack targeting the Trump campaign, according to multiple reports. It’s not yet clear exactly when formal charges will be announced or who they’ll target, but they’ll stem from an FBI investigation into Iranian efforts to influence the 2024 election.
In August, the Trump campaign said it had been hacked and Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. At least three national news outlets were leaked confidential material from inside the Trump campaign, but they have not revealed what exactly they got.
First photos of North Korean uranium enrichment site released
For the first time, North Korea has released images of its uranium enrichment facility that produces fuel for nuclear bombs. Despite North Korea’s nuclear program being banned under multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, the country is still believed to have several sites for enriching uranium.
In the photos, the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, was shown touring the facility. He reportedly called for more weapons-grade material to boost North Korea’s arsenal for “self-defense and the capability for a preemptive attack” against the U.S. and its allies.
Justin Timberlake expected to plead guilty in NY drunk driving case
Singer Justin Timberlake is set to make an appearance in a New York courtroom Friday. The 10-time Grammy award winner is expected to plead guilty following his June arrest in the Hamptons where he was charged with driving while intoxicated.
Reports say Timberlake will plead guilty to a lesser offense of driving while ability impaired. That traffic violation carries a $300 to $500 dollar fine and a 90-day license suspension.
Pennsylvania, Arizona, Texas benefit most from US defense aid for Ukraine
As the U.S. continues its support for Ukraine amidst the ongoing conflict with Russia, it’s not just military aid crossing the Atlantic. Billions of dollars are flowing into the U.S. economy, invigorating the defense industry across more than 35 states.
The Department of Defense has been utilizing older stockpiles for aid, including aging Patriot missile interceptors that were due for replacement. This strategic decision not only supports Ukraine but also stimulates the U.S. economy by necessitating the manufacture of new military equipment.
A significant sum of $41.7 billion has been earmarked to replenish these stocks, with Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Texas emerging as key beneficiaries due to their roles in the defense manufacturing sector. Pennsylvania tops the list with a substantial $2.52 billion directed toward arms and ammunition production, vital for Ukraine’s defense efforts against Russian aggression. This funding is pivotal not only for defense but also as an economic catalyst, particularly influential given Pennsylvania’s status as a swing state in the forthcoming presidential election.
Arizona and Texas follow, with $2.02 billion and $1.85 billion allocated, respectively. These funds are enhancing high-tech defense projects, including Arizona’s production of Patriot missile systems and Texas’ various munitions efforts.
This widespread financial infusion is not solely about supporting Ukraine; it’s also fortifying U.S. defense capabilities against future threats. The initiative has already resulted in a 56% increase in military sales abroad in 2023, totaling an impressive $81 billion.
155mm projectiles: From 14,400 to 40,000 per month (178% increase).
155mm propelling charges: From 14,494 to 18,000 per month (24% increase).
GMLRS: From 833 to 1,167 per month (40% increase).
Javelin missiles: From 175 to 200 per month (14% increase).
AIM-9X missiles: From 116 to 137 per month (18% increase).
PAC-3 MSE missiles: From 21 to 42 per month (100% increase).
M777 Howitzer barrels: From 11 to 16 per month (45% increase).
UAW president’s tough words against Stellantis at DNC may be a warning
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain went after Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Ram, at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday, Aug. 19. He claimed that the company is dragging its feet on a promise to restart an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Fain warned that reneging on the deal could lead to a strike by UAW employees.
“Let me be clear,” Fain said. “Stellantis must keep the promises they made to America in our Union contract, and the UAW will take whatever action necessary at Stellantis or any other corporation to stand up and hold corporate America accountable.”
Stellantis responded on Tuesday, saying that it told the UAW it plans to delay the opening of the plant that sits just an hour northwest of Chicago. However, the company said it is standing by its commitment and that the union’s claims that it violated the contract are wrong. A spokesperson for the company said the current contract allows them to “modify product investments and employment levels.”
Fain argued that Stellantis is delaying the process of reopening the Illinois plant, so it never has to actually do so.
The union chief previously criticized Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares over threatening job cuts because of falling U.S. sales. Stellantis’ net profits reportedly fell by 48% during the first six months of 2024.
Stellantis current contract with the UAW runs until 2028. Fain credited Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden with helping to secure the agreement to reopen the plant in Belvedere on Monday at the DNC. The UAW won the reopening in contract talks last year after a six-week strike at multiple factories.