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Tag: Tariffs
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
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BRUSSELS, Jan 17 (Reuters) – European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Phil Blenkinsop, Editing by Mark Potter and Chris Reese)
Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.
Photos You Should See – January 2026
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Reuters
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Canada agrees to cut tariff on Chinese electric vehicles in break with the U.S.
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Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.
Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial annual cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to about 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its total tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.
Carney said China has become a more predictable partner to deal with than the U.S., the country’s neighbor and longtime ally.
“Our relationship has progressed in recent months with China. It is more predictable and you see results coming from that,” Carney said.
Carney hasn’t been able to reach a deal with President Trump to reduce some tariffs that are punishing some key sectors of the Canadian economy and Mr. Trump has previously talked about making Canada the 51st state.
The prime minister, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park, said meetings in China have been historic and productive.
Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.
Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement,” China’s top leader said.
Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via Getty Images
Carney looks to improve global governance
Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, told Xi that better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”
Later, he said at the news conference that the system may give way at least in part to country-to-country or regional agreements rather than the global ones that have underpinned economic growth in the post-World War II era.
“The question is: What gets built in that place? How much of a patchwork is it?” he said.
The new reality reflects in large part the so-called America-first approach of Mr. Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”
A Canadian business owner in China called Carney’s visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.
“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”
Canada had been aligned with U.S. on tariffs
Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.
China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China’s imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.
Carney tried to address the concerns of Canadian automakers and autoworkers by saying the initial cap on Chinese EV imports was about 3% of the 1.8 million vehicles sold in Canada annually and that, in exchange, China is expected to begin investing in the Canadian auto industry within three years.
More than half of the Chinese EVs exported to Canada would have an import price of less than 35,000 Canadian dollars ($25,000) within five years, he said, making them accessible to consumers.
“We’re building (a) new part of our car industry, building cars of the future in partnership, bringing affordable autos for Canadians at a time when affordability is top of mind, and doing it at a scale that allows for a smooth transition in the sector,” he said.
“For the exchange of a small piece of the Canadian market, we have a commitment. We are waiting for an investment commitment in Canada. The real leaders of the new industry. So it’s an agreement that will create the future for our industry.”
China sees an opening under Trump
China is hoping Mr. Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States.
Carney, though, noted Canada’s relationship with the U.S. is much more multifaceted, deeper and broader. Canada and China have different systems and disagree on issues such as human rights, he said, limiting the scope of their engagement even as they seek ways to cooperate on areas of common interest.
The Canadian leader leaves China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.
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General Motors CEO Mary Barra on adjusting to
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As General Motors settles into its new Detroit headquarters, the automotive industry is facing challenging times as it contends with rising costs, shifting tariff policies and a fledgling electric vehicle market. GM CEO Mary Barra tells CBS News that, despite those challenges, “I think we’re on a good path” and she is optimistic about the future of her company and the U.S. economy.
The market for electric vehicles hasn’t quite taken off in the U.S. just yet. Barra told “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil Tuesday that GM is “still committed” to EVs, but thinks a major issue is that the industry was “getting a little ahead of the consumer.”
“A vehicle is such a big purchase for a consumer,” she said. “For many of them, it’s the most expensive thing that they buy.”
“I think we’re on a good path. I think as there’s more charging infrastructure, as we continue to get the cost of batteries down, I think consumers will pick an electric vehicle, because they’re better,” Barra predicted.
Asked why the U.S. seems to be unable to compete with China in terms of making affordable electric vehicles, Barra said, “I believe at GM we are.”
She said U.S. safety standards and other regulatory requirements are higher than they are in China and that China’s auto industry is “heavily subsidized.”
“I think we can compete and have a better vehicle, and I think we’re doing that,” she said.
But the cost of a new vehicle has continued to rise in recent years, and the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policy has also added to that, Barra said.
“It had a few-billion-dollar impact last year,” she said of those tariffs. But, she noted, it led to GM making changes, including bringing more production to the U.S., and praised the administration for making “the playing field…a bit more level” for U.S. manufacturers.
“We worked with the administration and they took the time to understand our industry to make sure there wasn’t unintended consequences so that we could still compete with some of the vehicles coming from other countries,” Barra said. “I think it was a shift that we’re working through to get back. But I think ’26 will be an even better year than ’25, and I think the playing field is a bit more level than it was just, you know, 18 months ago.”
But consumer sentiment in the U.S. remains pessimistic, polling has shown, and the auto industry is often seen as a bellwether for the larger economy. Barra, however, said of a shaky year for GM and the economy, “we really aren’t seeing it.
“We think the market’s gonna be about the same as it was last year,” she told CBS News.
Barra touted the “tremendous number of vehicles” that GM makes in the U.S., and when asked what it truly means for something to be “American-made” — considering many of the parts are often sourced from overseas — she said “it starts with where the vehicle is designed. Where all the engineering is done.”
Barra also said more than half of GM’s vehicles are assembled in the U.S. and that a majority of the components are sourced from America. She also said GM is continuing its efforts to fill job positions in the U.S.
“One of the things we do is we work with the military, and as people are ending their service to our country, putting them in a training program so they can then work in our dealerships,” Barra said. She also said GM has a “very robust apprenticeship program” for its factory workers.
Asked about concerns workers may have about automation, Barry said GM has been using robotic assistance to help build its vehicles for decades.
“We focus on jobs that are either repetitive and maybe have ergonomic issues, so people get hurt doing them, so we focus on safety and we focus on ergonomics,” Barra said. “We also focus on, there’s certain jobs that people don’t want to do. We focus on that, and we look at how do we make each of our team members more efficient.”
She also noted there are some instances in which “the precision of the job requires automation.”
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AbbVie reaches deal with Trump administration on drug prices in exchange for tariff relief
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North Chicago-based AbbVie has become the latest drugmaker to reach a deal with the Trump administration on drug prices in exchange for being exempted from tariffs and future price mandates, the company announced Monday evening.
Under the voluntary agreement, AbbVie will offer “low prices” in Medicaid, a state and federally funded health insurance program for people with low incomes and disabilities, the company said in a news release. AbbVie will also invest $100 billion in U.S.-based research, development and building, including for manufacturing, over the next decade, according to the release.
It will also sell more medications directly to consumers through TrumpRx. TrumpRx is to be an online platform that will allow people to buy medications directly from manufacturers, according to the Associated Press.
The deal “was enabled by the Trump administration providing exemption from tariffs and future price mandates,” AbbVie said in its news release.
“AbbVie is following President Trump’s call to action by reaching this agreement, allowing us to collectively move beyond policies that harm American innovation,” said Robert A. Michael, chairman and CEO at AbbVie in the news release.
AbbVie plans to offer medications including Humira, Alphagan, Synthroid and Combigan on TrumpRx.
In recent months, the Trump administration has announced more than a dozen similar deals with drugmakers, including Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi.
The agreements follow an executive order issued by Trump in May that sought to bring most-favored-nation pricing on medications to Americans. Most-favored-nation pricing refers to lower prices charged for the same medications in other economically-comparable countries. Throughout last year, Trump threatened to impose large tariffs on pharmaceutical companies.
Earlier on Monday, AbbVie announced plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing by acquiring a facility in Arizona. The company also announced last year that it would construct a new $195 million facility near its headquarters in North Chicago.
AbbVie spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and has about 29,000 employees in the U.S. The company is known for medications including Humira, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other conditions, as well as the drugs Skyrizi, which treats plaque psoriasis, and Rinvoq for rheumatoid arthritis.
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Lisa Schencker
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Trump slaps 25% tariffs on any countries that do business with Iran
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President Trump said Monday he’s imposing 25% tariffs on goods from all countries that do business with Iran — a sweeping measure as the Trump administration heaps pressure on the Iranian government amid nationwide anti-regime protests.
Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the new tariffs will apply to “any and all business being done with the United States of America.” He said the tariffs would take effect immediately.
It’s not clear which countries will face the new tariffs. But Iran does billions of dollars’ worth of business with one of the U.S.’s largest trading partners — China — and with the United Arab Emirates, an American ally in the Gulf region.
As of 2022, the world’s largest buyer of Iranian goods was China, which imported some $22.4 billion in goods from Iran, according to World Bank figures. China secretly imports Iranian oil despite tight U.S. sanctions designed to choke Iran’s petroleum industry, a CBS News investigation revealed last year.
China is also the U.S.’s third-largest trading partner, with Americans buying $438.9 billion worth of Chinese goods in 2024, according to the Census Bureau.
Meanwhile, Iran imported around $18 billion in goods from the United Arab Emirates in 2022. The country is one of the U.S.’s key security partners in the area, with thousands of U.S. forces stationed there.
Very little trade takes place between Iran and the U.S., due to years of intense sanctions levied on Iran due to the country’s nuclear program. But the sanctions on countries that do business with Iran represent a new effort to it from the global economy.
The new tariffs come as Iran is swept by its largest wave of protests in years, fueled in part by the country’s spiraling economy. More than 500 people have been reported dead in the protests, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly pledged to intervene if Iran’s regime starts cracking down by killing protesters, and he has been briefed on options for military strikes in Iran, a senior U.S. official told CBS News.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” the president told reporters Sunday evening. “We’ll make a determination.”
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro Authorized to Go to Hospital for Tests After Fall
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BRASILIA, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized former President Jair Bolsonaro to leave prison and be taken to a hospital for tests after he fell and hit his head, a court decision showed on Wednesday.
Moraes authorized Bolsonaro to go to the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia on January 7 to undergo a CT scan, an MRI, and an electroencephalogram.
On Tuesday, Moraes had denied an earlier request for Bolsonaro to leave prison, arguing there was no need for him to be immediately taken to hospital.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by Gabriel Araujo)
Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.
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Letters: Fix Our Forests disguises logging as fire safety
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Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.
Fix Our Forests offers
logging as fire safetyRe: “Legislation would worsen California wildfire threat” (Page A8, Dec. 28).
The Fix Our Forests Act isn’t about environmental safety; rather, it is a blatant attempt at expanding the logging industry under the cover of wildfire prevention. Congress is rushing to pass a bill that dramatically expands backcountry logging while weakening environmental review and public input, allowing projects up to 15 square miles to bypass the National Environmental Policy Act.
Decades of research shows that logging can actually increase fire severity by leaving behind flammable debris and drying forest microclimates. Meanwhile, the bill ignores the strategies proven to save lives — home hardening, defensible space and evacuation planning — in favor of remote timber projects far from communities.
Worse, it reduces scientific and judicial oversight at a moment when accountability matters most, while risking harm to watersheds, wildlife habitat and recreation. Congress should stop branding logging as wildfire protection and invest in tried-and-tested solutions that actually keep communities safe.
Michael Wilkinson
San CarlosReducing forest fuel
mitigates fire behaviorRe: “Legislation would worsen California wildfire threat” (Page A8, Dec. 28).
Chad Hanson suggests that implementing the federal Fix Our Forests Act will increase the threat of wildfire to communities.
In reality, this act will reduce wildfire threat to communities by facilitating forest thinning and strategic deployment of prescribed fire. Over a century of successful fire suppression across the landscape has allowed far too much vegetation (trees, brush) to accumulate. These overcrowded conditions represent an extreme wildfire threat. The act seeks to accelerate the treatment of unnaturally dense forests. To suggest that the act will increase forest thinning, thus exacerbating wildfire threat conditions, does not track with what foresters and wildland firefighters are experiencing in the field.
Reducing excess vegetation significantly mitigates wildfire behavior. In order to help protect communities, the U.S. Senate should pass the Fix Our Forests Act.
Tad Mason
CarmelAdministration’s harm to
businesses uncheckedPresident Trump is promising $12 billion in aid to U.S. farmers, who have lost sales due to tariffs and international ill will inspired by administration policies and rhetoric.
In the Bay Area, meanwhile, our son has lost the job he’d had for 13 years at a small business that shut its doors in the fall, after fluctuating tariffs disrupted their supply chain and our government’s treatment of foreign visitors triggered a precipitous drop-off in international tourism, cutting sharply into their potential customer base.
Is anyone in the administration trying to mitigate, or even to track, the impact of this year’s financial chaos on small businesses?
Sue Luttner
Palo AltoThe world can’t afford
an unreliable U.S.In 1994, Ukraine surrendered the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for “security assurances” from the United States, Britain and Russia. The promise: respect Ukraine’s borders and sovereignty. The result: Crimea was seized, the United States and Great Britain did nothing, Ukraine was invaded, and now U.S. support is openly wobbling — with the president taking Russia’s side.
If nations cannot trust security promises, disarmament becomes a risk rather than a path to peace. This precedent complicates global nonproliferation and undermines confidence in diplomatic guarantees. In future peace negotiations, what country will trust us when we can’t keep our word?
Our allies and partners must be able to rely on consistent, dependable commitments; without that, global stability is imperiled.
Andrew Ratermann
Santa ClaraTrump’s ‘windfall’ comes
at consumers’ expenseRe: “H-1B visa fight hits court of appeals” (Page C7, Dec. 30).
Howard Lutnick and Donald Trump don’t seem to understand how the U.S. economy works. Trump has bragged that his tariffs are bringing in $800 billion in tax revenue. He doesn’t get that tariffs are paid by the importer and ultimately the consumer. He went on to say that companies should temper the price increase by taking lower profits.
In this article, Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce, says that the new H-1B fees would be a $100 billion windfall to the U.S. Treasury. He makes it sound like a $100 billion additional tax on American companies is good for the economy. Would he be as enthused about the additional tax if the fees were being paid by his company?
Dave Riggs
AptosReeling Trump poses
existential threat to U.S.Re: “Trump weakens as resistance strengthens” (Page A7, Dec. 30).
In describing “Donald Trump’s kakistocracy,” Michelle Goldberg notes that as Trump has been thwarted in his fascist efforts to exert control and seek revenge, he “feel(s) increasingly cornered and aggrieved.”
As we end 2025, it is a “cornered and aggrieved” Trump that is most worrisome. Surrounded by cowed sycophants, Trump is the loose cannon who can destroy America both internally and on the world stage. While his tariffs and Big Beautiful Bill Act frustrate business, slow the economy, and increase poverty for millions, his America First policy produces Arrogant America, Bully America and ultimately America Alone, a pariah nation that others gradually learn to placate as necessary and work around as best they can.
2026 will be a sad 250th birthday for the USA, one in which we must realize that the American Experiment is in great jeopardy and wonder how many more birthdays there will be.
Kirch DeMartini
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107% tariffs on Italian pasta no longer set to take effect
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(CNN) — The United States Commerce Department is poised to significantly reduce the tariffs set to take effect on over a dozen Italian pasta makers’ products later this year.
Most products from the European Union are already subject to tariffs of at least 15%. The pasta-specific tariffs, initially proposed in October at 92%, would have subject Italian pasta to a total rate of 107%. The newly announced rates would put the levies between 24% and 29%.
The final rates, set to be announced on March 12 the Commerce Department said in a post-preliminary report published Wednesday, stem from an investigation some producers sold pasta at unfairly low prices. The decision to recommend lower rates before then results from an “evaluation of additional comments received following a preliminary determination,” a Commerce official told CNN.
“Italian pasta makers have addressed many of Commerce’s concerns raised in the preliminary determination, and reflects Commerce’s commitment to a fair, transparent process,” the official added.
The potential tariffs, which impact 13 Italian pasta makers, are due to an antidumping complaint two American companies filed with the US Commerce Department last July. In the complaint, two Midwestern companies, 8th Avenue Food & Provisions and Winland Foods, alleged that several Italian companies underpriced pasta that was shipped to the United States.
The preliminary investigation published by the Commerce Department in September stated that two companies, La Molisana and Pastificio Lucio Garofalo, made sales to the United States “at less than normal value.” It also said both were “uncooperative” during the investigation and provided “incomplete and unreliable” data.
The two companies accounted for the largest volume of pasta sales to the United States, according to the department. Neither immediately responded to CNN’s request for comment.
“The redetermination of the tariffs is a sign of the recognition by US authorities of our companies’ willingness to cooperate,” the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
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Elisabeth Buchwald and CNN
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U.S. reduces proposed tariffs on Italian pasta, Italy’s foreign ministry says
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The U.S. has rolled back proposed steep tariffs on Italian-made pasta, Italy’s foreign ministry said Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has sharply reduced a proposed duty on 13 Italian pasta makers, cutting the rate from as high as 92% to as little as 2.26%, Italy’s foreign ministry said Jan. 1. The duties would have been imposed on top of existing 15% tariffs on most imports from the European Union.
The Trump administration had proposed the antidumping levies after a review found that Italian pasta producers, including Barilla, La Molisana and Pastificio Lucio Garofalo, sold products at artificially low prices that undercut U.S. manufacturers.
Had the higher duties taken effect, U.S. shoppers could have faced steeply higher prices for Italian-made pasta, and some Italian producers might have stopped shipping to U.S. retailers, experts told CBS News.
“The recalculation of the duties is a sign that U.S. authorities recognize our companies’ genuine willingness to cooperate,” the foreign ministry said.
La Molisana pasta imports will be tariffed at a rate of 2.26%, the foreign ministry said, while Garofalo will face nearly 14% tariffs, and 11 additional pasta brands will be subject to a 9% import duty.
The White House did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment on the tariff rollbacks.
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Trump administration delays tariff increases on furniture and kitchen cabinets by a year
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The Trump administration said on Wednesday it is postponing tariff increases on imported upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities by a year, citing ongoing negotiations with trading partners.
Without the delay, the U.S. was set to double its tariff rate on kitchen cabinets and vanities produced outside the U.S. to 50% starting Jan. 1. The import duty on upholstered furniture — including sofas and armchairs — was set to rise to 30% from 25% on the first day of 2026.
The postponement follows a November rollback by the Trump administration of tariffs on imported foods such as beef, coffee and bananas, as affordability concerns have weighed on consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy. Furniture prices have been outpacing inflation, with living room, kitchen and dining room furniture rising 4.6% in November from a year earlier, compared with a 2.7% annual increase in the overall Consumer Price Index.
According to the Dec. 31 White House announcement, the tariff rate on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities will remain at 25%.
“The United States continues to engage in productive negotiations with trade partners to address trade reciprocity and national security concerns with respect to imports of wood products,” the White House said in its statement.
“The United States will therefore delay the increase in tariff rates for upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities that was set to take place on January 1, 2026, under the September 29, 2025, Proclamation for an additional year,” it added.
When President Trump announced the furniture tariffs in September, he wrote on social media that his goal was to help revive U.S. furniture manufacturing in North Carolina. Between 1999 to 2009, North Carolina’s furniture industry lost half of its jobs due to increased competition from Asia, according to a 2020 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
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Trump Issues First Second-Term Vetoes for Colorado Water Project and Florida Tribal Measure
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WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed a major drinking water project in Colorado, drawing immediate condemnation from Colorado Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert, a former loyal MAGA ally who also recently challenged Trump over the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The White House announced Trump’s veto of the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC) Act, which was approved unanimously by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a second measure affecting a Florida project, late on Tuesday. They were the first two vetoes of Trump’s second term.
The veto of the Colorado project came after Trump’s vow to retaliate against the state for keeping his ally Tina Peters in prison, despite his attempt to pardon her earlier in the month, and Boebert’s action to force the release of the government’s files on the late convicted sexual offender Epstein.
Peters, a former Colorado county clerk, is serving a nine-year prison term after being convicted on state charges for illegally tampering with voting machines in the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s pardon covers only federal charges and the state has refused to release Peters.
Boebert, who sponsored the bill, condemned Trump’s veto of what she called a “completely non-controversial, bipartisan bill” in a statement on X, adding her hope is that “this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability.”
The bill was aimed at funding a decades-long project to bring safe drinking water to 39 communities in Colorado’s Eastern Plains, where the groundwater is high in salt, and wells sometimes unleash radioactivity into the water supply.
In his letter to Congress, Trump said he vetoed the measure to prevent “American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies.”
It was not immediately clear if the Republican leaders in Congress would allow a vote to override Trump’s veto.
Boebert was one of four Republican lawmakers, along with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who played a key role in forcing the release of Justice Department files on Epstein. Trump had fought the release of the files for months before ending his opposition.
The White House said Trump had also vetoed a measure to spend $14 million to protect an area known as Osceola Camp within the Everglades National Park that is inhabited by members of the Miccosukee tribe of Native Americans, which has fought Trump’s makeshift immigrant detention center “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades. A federal judge has now ordered the detention center to be shut down.
Trump said the tribe was never authorized to inhabit the Osceola Camp area, and his administration would not support projects for special interests, especially those “unaligned” with his immigration policies.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Lincoln Feast.)
Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.
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Reuters
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What the media didn’t tell you in 2025
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This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch are joined by Reason senior editor Robby Soave to share the stories they believe didn’t receive sufficient media attention in 2025. Each panelist selected a story from 2025 in the categories of politics, private industry, global affairs, and culture that deserves a closer look as we head into 2026.
0:00—Political stories that deserved more attention
11:14—The year’s underreported economic stories
25:56—Global stories the media overlooked in 2025
37:19—Cultural moments that flew under the radar
Mentioned in This Podcast
“The Trump Admin Wants Western Union and MoneyGram To Report on Immigrants,” by Matthew Petti
“Treasury Department Surveillance at the Southern Border Faces Fourth Amendment Challenges,” by Tosin Akintola
“Taking $200 Out of an ATM Should Not Trigger Federal Financial Surveillance,” by Joe Lancaster
“Banks Are Narcing on You Because Congress Forces Them To,” by Nicholas Anthony
“How Trump’s Travel Crackdown Is Hurting Americans at Home and Abroad,” by Matt Welch
“Nepal’s Socialist Government Banned Social Media, So Activists Plotted a Revolution—on Discord,” by Matthew Petti
“Biden Strengthened the Refugee Resettlement System. Will Trump Undo It?“ by Fiona Harrigan
“Worldwide Refugee Population Hits All-Time High, U.S. Intake Reaches All-Time Low,” by Matt Welch
- Producer: Paul Alexander
- Video Editor: Ian Keyser
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Peter Suderman
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Major Bourbon Maker Shutters for 2026
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Jim Beam, the largest bourbon producer in the U.S., announced this week that it plans to close its flagship Kentucky facility for all of 2026. It will reopen after it has the “opportunity to invest in site enhancements,” according to a statement.
The move is striking, though not uncommon to the spirits industry as of late. The country’s distillers have faced headwinds and uncertainty due to Trump’s trade tariffs and a shrinking number of people drinking alcohol.
In the past year alone the sector has reported a fall in sales of roughly five percent, according to the New York Times.
The Downward Spiral
Bourbon saw a spike in sales from $1.4 billion in 2004 to around $5.2 billion in 2024, based on data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. A particular surge in demand during the pandemic drove distilleries to expand and overproduce.
Now, that response is catching up to them. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association trade body said in October that over 16 million barrels of bourbon were stored in warehouses in the state, which is a record high. According to The Guardian, the KDA said distillers would face a “crushing” $75 million in taxes on those barrels.
“It’s a sad day for bourbon, to be honest with you,” Fred Minnick, a whiskey expert and the author of Bottom Shelf: How a Forgotten Brand of Bourbon Saved One Man’s Life, told The NYT. “For this to happen is a real punch in the gut.”
Some Sites Remain Open
Jim Beam said two of its other Kentucky distilleries will continue operations, one of which makes subsidiary brands like Knob Creek, Booker’s, and Basil Hayden. Production will also carry on at its Maker’s Mark distillery, and its bottling facility and visitor center at the flagship location in Clermont will remain open.
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Ava Levinson
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Trump administration says China’s chip policies are unfair but will delay tariffs to 2027
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Trump administration trade officials said China should be punished for employing unfair tactics to dominate the semiconductor industry, but will wait 18 months to impose tariffs.
A U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) investigation concluded China’s targeting of semiconductors “for dominance is unreasonable and burdens or restricts US commerce and thus is actionable,” the agency said in a public notice posted Tuesday.
The current tariff level of zero will be increased “in 18 months on June 23, 2027 to a rate to be announced not fewer than 30 days prior to that date,” USTR said.
The public notice comes after a year-long investigation into China’s approach to the chip industry, undertaken through Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Under that law, the U.S. president may impose country-based tariffs at a rate of his choosing if the U.S. Trade Representative finds that another country is engaging in unfair foreign trade practices.
“For decades, China has targeted the semiconductor industry for dominance and has employed increasingly aggressive and sweeping non-market policies and practices in pursuing dominance of the sector,” the public notice said.
Opposition from Beijing
Beijing said Wednesday it “firmly opposes” the move and accused Washington of abusing tariffs to “unreasonably suppress Chinese industries”.
This “disrupts the stability of the global supply chain, hinders the development of all countries’ semiconductor industries and harms others while hurting itself,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian.
“We urge the United States to quickly correct its erroneous practices,” Lin said at a regular press briefing.
USTR officials launched the probe in December 2024 in the final weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency, extending the initiative when President Trump took office in January.
Mr. Trump has been a prolific purveyor of tariffs, unveiling sector-specific levies on steel, autos and other items as well as broader measures to achieve a variety of policy objectives.
The White House has jousted with Beijing but reached a broad truce with China after a major escalation in the spring.
The USTR’s probe concluded that China’s policies have included “massive and persistent” state support of private actors and “wage-suppressing labor practices.”
The USTR did not respond to an AFP query on the reason for the 18-month timeframe on tariffs.
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U.S. GDP grew at a blistering 4.3% pace in the third quarter
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The U.S. economy grew at a blistering 4.3% annual pace in the third quarter, marking the strongest growth in two years, according to new government data released Tuesday.
That growth in U.S. GDP — the nation’s output of goods and services — far outpaced the forecast for 3% growth, according to economists polled by financial data firm FactSet. The third-quarter figure, released by the Commerce Department, reflects an uptick from the second quarter’s annualized growth of 3.8%.
An acceleration in consumer spending, along with an upswing in exports and government outlays, helped propel economic growth, the Commerce Department said. And despite widespread pessimism about the economy, consumers are continuing to open their wallets, government data shows.
“While worries surrounding the jobs market, tariffs and inflation continue to swirl, the economy continues to defy its doubters by chugging higher,” said Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment and options analyst at eToro, in a Tuesday email.
Exports grew at an 8.8% rate, while imports, which subtract from GDP, fell another 4.7%.
At the same time, inflation ticked higher from the previous quarter, with Tuesday’s data showing that the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, rose at a 2.8% annual pace last quarter, compared with 2.1% in the second quarter.
Core PCE, which excludes the more volatile food and energy categories, grew 2.9%, up from 2.6% in the previous quarter. Both are above the Federal Reserve’s target inflation rate of 2%.
The economy has shown resilience this year. Inflation has remained stubborn, though not as severe as economists initially feared after President Trump unveiled tariffs earlier this year. Some retailers have cushioned the impact by absorbing the added costs, while others have passed them on to consumers through higher prices.
The labor market remains a weak spot, with employment numbers showing a slowdown in hiring during the second half of 2025. In November, the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest since 2021.
Tuesday’s report, which was delayed due to the government shutdown, is the first of three estimates the government will make of GDP growth for the third quarter of the year.
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Jim Beam to pause production at its main distillery on Jan. 1
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The maker of Jim Beam bourbon whiskey said it plans to pause production at its main distillery in Kentucky starting Jan. 1.
Jim Beam, which is owned by a U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s Suntory Holdings, said in an email to CBS News that its distillery in Clermont, Kentucky, will temporarily halt production “while we take the opportunity to invest in site enhancements.” The company plans to keep its James B. Beam campus open for visitors during that time, the company added.
Jim Beam will continue to distill at its Fred B. Noe craft distillery in Clermont and Booker Noe distillery in Boston, Kentucky.
The pause comes amid several challenges in the wine and spirits industry. Americans overall are drinking less, with Gallup finding that the share of U.S. adults who consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, near a 90-year low.
Exports of U.S.-produced spirits fell 9% in the second quarter, partly due to the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs, according to an October report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade group. Exports to Canada were particularly hard hit, declining by 85% during the period, after Canadian retailers pulled U.S. spirits from shelves in retaliation for President Trump’s tariffs, the group noted.
Through August, whiskey distillers had produced 55 million fewer proof gallons this year than a year ago, a decline of 28%, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. A proof gallon is one U.S. gallon of liquid that is 50% proof alcohol.
Whiskey connoisseurs may not have to worry about supplies running low. Kentucky warehouses now hold a record 16.1 million barrels of aging bourbon, according to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. The total — reported in October — marks the highest level since the repeal of Prohibition and reflects a 27% increase from 2024, the group said.
The surge in bourbon supplies is partly due to an increase in the number of distillers located in Kentucky, the group said. But the industry is also witnessing a dip in demand due to uncertainty over tariffs, declining exports and shifts in drinking habits, it added.
Bourbon, a type of whiskey, must adhere to U.S. distilling laws to be labeled as such. For instance, the liquor must be aged in new, charred oak containers and the grain recipe must be at least 51% corn, according to whiskey tourism site Bourbon Country.
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The Biggest Threat to the 2026 Economy Is Still Donald Trump
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The escalating trade war with China is currently on something of a hiatus. In October, the Trump Administration eased tensions by reversing its decision to expand the list of Chinese companies restricted from access to advanced U.S. technology. Earlier this month, Trump said he would allow Nvidia to export to China some high-grade computer chips, with the U.S. government collecting twenty-five per cent of the revenues. Wall Street seems to be tacitly assuming that the détente will last beyond Trump’s trip to China scheduled for April, but who really knows? If the government in Beijing doesn’t agree to the concessions that he wants, he could easily revert to a more coercive stance.
Even if the economy can endure another year of the Tariff Man, there are other issues that could have a big political effect. They include jobs, prices, and health-care costs. Since April, growth in employment has averaged just forty thousand jobs a month. Last year, the figure was more than four times larger. Moreover, Powell said the Fed thinks the official monthly payroll figures are overestimating the actual numbers by about sixty thousand. If that’s right, the economy has been shedding twenty thousand jobs a month. Even going by the official figures, the number of people working in manufacturing, the sector which is supposed to be the primary beneficiary of Trump’s tariffs, has fallen by sixty-three thousand this year. Other industries that have recently displayed weak hiring are information and finance, which employ a lot of white-collar workers. This has provoked fears that A.I. is eliminating jobs. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll, seventy-one per cent of respondents said they were concerned that A.I. will be “putting too many people of out of work permanently.”
Trump can’t be blamed for A.I., although the executive order that he issued two weeks ago in an effort to prevent states from regulating the potentially transformative new technology demonstrated how beholden he is to the Silicon Valley tech barons.
He is more directly responsible for stubbornly high prices. His tariffs have helped raise the prices of many imported goods, including grocery staples such as coffee and bananas, and his mass deportations may be producing a labor shortage in some service industries, such as restaurants and hospitality, where there were almost a million job openings in the fall. When firms are struggling to find the workers they need, they have to offer higher wages, which raises their costs.
As the midterms approach, Democrats will surely heed Barack Obama’s advice to focus on affordability, jobs, and health care. With Congress having adjourned without addressing the year-end expiry of enhanced subsidies for health-insurance policies purchased through Obamacare exchanges, some twenty-two million Americans will be affected. Going into 2026, many of them could face much higher premiums, more than double in some instances. With Republicans divided, and Trump still doing little more than publicly bashing Obamacare, there is no assurance of any resolution.
Meanwhile, Trump’s presence in the White House is accentuating another big threat to the economy, which comes from financial fragility. Over the past three years, the S. & P. 500 has risen by more than seventy-five per cent, and the Nasdaq has more than doubled. Relative to earnings, stocks are trading at very high levels, historically speaking, and investors are borrowing record amounts of money to buy these stocks. On the basis of optimistic assumptions for revenues and profits, A.I.-related companies are raising enormous sums of money, in many cases from one another. And despite the revenues from Trump’s tariffs, the U.S. government is running a budget deficit of close to six per cent of G.D.P.
Whether one categorizes this situation as a financial boom or a bubble is largely a matter of terminology. The key point is that the financial system is vulnerable to unexpected disruptions, and, as the Bank of England recently noted, the risks are rising. Conceivably, a shock could emerge from the A.I. complex, or from the private-credit sector—where hedge funds, private-equity firms, and other non-bank lenders have been expanding their lending very rapidly—or from Trump himself, as he moves to extend his power over the Fed, an institution whose independence many investors, here and abroad, regard as the primary guarantor of financial stability. Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May, and Trump is set to announce a replacement early in the New Year. Kevin Hassett, who heads the National Economic Council at the White House, and frequently appears on television defending Trump’s policies, is the favorite to get the job—despite rumblings on Wall Street that he would be too much of a patsy.
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John Cassidy
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In his national address, President Trump claimed he’s bringing prices down. Here’s what the data shows.
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After nearly two months without new consumer price data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest report Thursday, providing a glimpse at energy costs, food prices and other everyday expenses.
According to the consumer price index, inflation slowed in November, with prices rising 0.2% over the 0.3% observed in September. (BLS could not collect October data because of the government shutdown.)
Still, inflation remains stubbornly high. Compared with a year ago, consumer costs are up about 2.7%.
Thursday’s report came just a day after President Donald Trump delivered a prime-time address from the White House in which he largely discussed affordability concerns, from housing costs to grocery prices, saying the U.S. is “poised for an economic boom.”
“The last administration and their allies in Congress looted our treasury for trillions of dollars, driving up prices and everything at levels never seen before. I am bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast.”
In truth, of the 11 everyday costs tracked month to month by the consumer price index, only five have decreased since January.
Here’s a closer look at the president’s claims and how prices are changing, or not, during his second term in office.
To see the average U.S. price of a specific good, click on the drop-down arrow below and select the item you wish to view.
Eggs
In the wake of all-time highs set earlier this year, egg prices have collapsed in recent months.
That downward trend continued in November, with the price dropping a whopping 63 cents from September and settling at $2.86 per dozen. It’s the first time since June 2024 that the average nationwide price for a dozen large Grade A eggs registered below the $3 mark.
This steep drop-off in prices is a result of a declining number of bird flu cases in commercial and backyard flocks. In the first two months of 2025, tens of millions of birds were affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza across 39 states, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. With entire flocks culled to prevent the spread of the virus, the egg supply was strained, leading to shortages in stores and record costs for consumers.
Following another spike in cases in the early fall, the number of new infections appears to be subsiding again, with less than 2 million U.S. birds affected in the past two months. More notably, zero outbreaks among egg-laying chickens have been reported in November and December.
Consequently, costs are “falling rapidly” as highlighted by Trump in his prime-time address earlier this week.
“The price of eggs is down 82% since March, and everything else is falling rapidly. And it’s not done yet, but boy are we making progress. Nobody can believe what’s going on.”
While egg prices have dropped considerably from March’s record high of $6.23 per dozen, the difference of roughly $3.37 from March to November represents a 54% decrease — not the 82% cited by the president.
In a statement given to the Tribune, a White House official clarified that he was referring to wholesale costs, not retail prices.
Milk
The cost of milk also saw a measurable decrease from the previous month, falling 13 cents.
A gallon of fresh, fortified whole milk is now priced at $4.00 — that’s 2.5% less than it was in December 2024, before Trump took office.
Bread
The average price of white bread fell in November to $1.79 per pound, marking a three-year low for the pantry staple. Time for bread pudding, anyone?
Bananas
The cost of bananas fell slightly from September’s all-time highs, dropping just a fraction of a cent to $0.66 per pound in November.
Recent price inflation is likely a byproduct of the president’s trade war, with tariffs imposed on the country’s top banana suppliers like Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras and Mexico — all of which are currently subject to an import tax of at least 10%.
But in mid-November, Trump took action to combat rising grocery costs, announcing that some agricultural products would be exempt from tariffs due to “current domestic demand for certain products” and “current domestic capacity to produce certain products.”
Both fresh and dried bananas were among the listed exemptions, indicating that lower prices may be around the corner.
Oranges
No data on orange prices was available for November.
However, in September, the cost of navel oranges was listed at $1.80 per pound, less than a cent shy of record highs and nearly 18% more than they were at the start of the Trump administration.
Drastically low domestic orange production combined with steep tariffs on foreign growers have been helping to push costs skyward. But, as with bananas, oranges are now exempt from most reciprocal tariffs.
Tomatoes
As of November, the cost of field-grown tomatoes was $1.83 per pound. That price is 8 cents lower than the previous month of data and down roughly 12% since Trump took power.
The change is somewhat abnormal given the growing season, as prices typically rise in the fall and peak in the early winter months, and could be attributable to the Trump administration’s recent course reversal on many of its tomato tariffs.
Chicken
The cost of fresh, whole chicken fell for a fourth consecutive month, to $2.04 per pound — its lowest price in a year.
Rising feed costs and the effects of bird flu on the poultry supply chain have driven persistently higher prices, but with the number of cases dropping again, we could see lower prices in the new year.
Still, the average cost is only about 2 cents less than it was when President Joe Biden left the White House.
Ground beef
Ground beef is getting more expensive.
After shoppers saw some relief in September from climbing costs, the price of ground beef jumped another 18 cents.
Rising costs can be attributed to a confluence of factors. The U.S. cattle inventory is the lowest it’s been in almost 75 years, and severe drought in parts of the country has further reduced the feed supply, per the USDA. Additionally, steep tariff rates on top beef importers also played a part in higher prices stateside, but as of Nov. 13 high-quality cuts, processed beef and live cattle are exempt from most countries’ levies.
Still, since the change of administrations, ground beef costs have ballooned by 18% — translating to $1 per pound price increases at the grocery store.
As of November, a pound of 100% ground beef chuck would set you back about $6.50.
Electricity
Electric costs have also been steadily rising.
At approximately 19 cents per kilowatt-hour, the current price of electricity is a fraction of a cent off August’s high. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average American household uses 899 kWh every four weeks, translating to a monthly bill of about $170.
Thankfully, the White House appears to be working to mitigate mounting costs. In his presidential address, Trump claimed that within the next 12 months his administration will have opened 1,600 new electrical generating plants.
“Prices on electricity and everything else will fall dramatically,” Trump said.
For many Americans, relief is needed. Since last December, the average price of electricity per kilowatt-hour has increased more than 7%.
Gasoline
Declining gas prices were another highlight of Trump’s Wednesday night remarks.
The cost of gasoline has tumbled from the record-setting prices Americans saw three summers ago under Biden, and just last month, the price at the pump dropped more than 10 cents per gallon.
“On day one I declared a national energy emergency,” Trump said. “Gasoline is now under $2.50 a gallon in much of the country. In some states, it by the way, just hit $1.99 a gallon.”
According to the latest CPI data, the average nationwide cost for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.23. And though prices are noticeably lower than they were two to three years ago, that average remains higher than it was just a year ago and up nearly 3% during the Trump presidency.
Prices in Chicago, meanwhile, are about the same month-over-month, costing an average of $3.29 per gallon, according to EIA data.
Natural gas
Bucking its previous downward trend, piped utility gas, or natural gas, is another expense that’s climbing. The nationwide cost jumped 3 cents in November, landing at $1.64 per therm.
On average, Americans are paying close to 8% more to heat their homes, ovens and stovetops than when Biden left office. Year-over-year, that gap is even more drastic: a roughly 10% change or difference of 15 cents per therm.
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Claire Malon
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