Free Republic

Amid issues like climate change and fluctuations in the global price of oil, American motorists are increasingly interested in electric vehicles (E.V.s). In early 2022, new E.V. registrations rose 60 percent even as overall new car registrations declined by 18 percent. Of all considerations, the biggest barrier to acceptance is price: The price of the average new E.V. runs nearly $67,000, while the overall average new car costs just under $50,000. Clearly the key to greater adoption of E.V.s is bringing the price down to be more in line with gas-burning alternatives. Last week, Volkswagen introduced a new concept car,...

Tuesday was a jammed-packed day for food protectionism developments across Asia. India announced a sugar export ban, and Malaysia halted shipments of chicken. Like many others in the region, both countries suffer from high inflation. Each respective government and central bank seeks to suppress inflation, and what appears to be the move at the moment (besides raising interest rates) are protectionist measures. If inflation continues to run hot in these countries, the risk of socio-economic turmoil increases. Today’s events first began with India. Bloomberg reported earlier that sources expected a sugar export ban was imminent. The Indian government announced the...

A seemingly effective way for politicians to justify our need for their services is to fabricate or exaggerate a problem, promise to fix said problem with a new program or lots of spending and then claim victory in the form of public acclaim and reelection. A good example of this behavior is President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan, which reflects a tweet by then-candidate Biden that he does "not buy for one second that the vitality of American manufacturing is a thing of the past." His plan asks for $400 billion to purchase American-made equipment, along with $300 billion...

For more than a generation, James Carville's campaign maxim, "It's the economy, stupid," has been held up as an essential truth of American politics. There's no denying that a strong economy is an incumbent president's best friend. Seventy-three percent of voters currently rate the economy as a very important issue. As a result, if the economy remains strong for another 1 1/2 years, many analysts believe President Donald Trump will be favored to win reelection. On the other hand, if a recession hits next year, we will almost certainly have a new president in 2021. However, recent data about the...

Sen. Mitt Romney warned Friday that President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs against Mexico were the wrong approach and could harm Americans more than they help curtail illegal immigration. “A tariff targeting Mexico that negatively impacts our own interests will only end in a waiting game of increasingly harmful consequence to the American people,” Romney said.

In what has now become a tiresome routine, European Union "Competition Commissioner" Margrethe Vestager has once again slapped an American company with a massive fine for the heinous crime of out-competing EU companies. The EU complains about U.S. tariffs, but this move to punish Google with a $5 billion antitrust fine is straight up protectionism. "Stop this behavior," Vestager told the firm. What behavior is that? Giving consumers ever-more options for their tablets, phones and computers at a lower price? The fine, after all, is for "abusing the dominance of its Android mobile operating system." The argument is that by...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took a jab at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday, saying he was "not so sure" about McCain's remarks on Saturday that a majority of Americans favor free trade. "I'm not so sure John's right about where America is on trade," Graham told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week." "The [Sen.] Bernie Sanders [I-Vt.] element of the Democratic Party doesn't stand for free trade. Hillary Clinton said she would get out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership if she had become president. There is a movement in our party that Trump's seized that got him the nomination, and...

How sharper than a serpent's tooth to have a despotic pediatric dentist. Parents who decide, for whatever reason, that they don't like their children's oral care provider should be forewarned. Empowered by government "mandatory reporter" laws, dental offices are now using their authority to threaten families with child abuse charges if they don't comply with the cavity police. Mom Trey Hoyumpa shared a letter last week on Facebook from a dental office called Smiles 4 Keeps in Bartonsville, Pennsylvania. It informed her that if she did not make a dental appointment for "regular professional cleanings" for her child, she could...

The German government warned Monday that a transatlantic trade war would harm both Europe and the US, urging Washington not to take a “wrong path” after a weekend of aggressive trade rhetoric. “I don’t want to judge how close to or far from a trade war we are. Such a trade war would not be in German, European or American interests,” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. However, “closing oneself off and protectionism are the wrong path,” Seibert added, after President Donald Trump at the weekend threatened to impose tariffs on car imports from the European...

If the U.S. were to exit NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the price you pay for most foodstuff at the grocery store would drop 10% in the first quarter and likely drop 20% or more by the end of the first year. Here’s why: Approximately a decade ago the U.S. Dept of Agriculture stopped using U.S. consumer food prices within the reported measures of inflation. The food sector joined the ranks of fuel and energy prices in no longer being measured to track core inflation and backdrop Fed monetary policy. Not coincidentally this was simultaneous to U.S. consumers seeing...

TWO BIG THINGS threaten the improving U.S. economy: a weak dollar and trade protectionism. Both routinely seduce policymakers, and both always result in bitter aftermaths with terrible political consequences. Yet some in the Trump administration are playing with both--and with fire. 1) The dollar. Great nations do not have weak currencies. Nonetheless, with a surety born of ignorance, Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has bluntly stated his desire for a weak dollar. Thankfully, President Trump immediately contradicted him. But the fact that Mnuchin and his department want to undermine the value of our currency is troubling. Mnuchin has bought into the...

When Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the US last January, politicians in Berlin worried that it could have a dramatic impact on relations between the two allies. A year on, there are reasons for optimism, as well as continued concern. […] Top of the list of German concerns about a Trump administration were his insinuations that the US would no longer automatically come to the defense of Europe in the event of an attack on a NATO member. And the fact that he repeatedly barracked Germany for its trade surplus with the US in his...

Wolfgang Schäuble, who is due to become the next president of Germany’s lower house of parliament, on Saturday made his last appearance at the annual conference of the International Monetary Fund as Germany’s finance minister. During his speech, Schäuble reiterated his warnings against protectionist economic policies and appealed for closer trade cooperation among countries. “We should all be worried about the weak growth of global trade and the increasing anti-free trade rhetoric,” he said. “We need more openness rather than less.” […] Schäuble, the chairman of the G20 finance group this year, said he believed the backlash against globalization was...

Republican Sens. John McCain and Mike Lee introduced legislation Thursday to permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act shipping law. The senators say the Trump administration's decision Thursday to grant a 10-day waiver of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico does not go far enough to help rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Maria and encourage long-term economic growth on the bankrupt island. "While I welcome the Trump administration's Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico, this short-term, 10-day exemption is insufficient to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria," said McCain, R-Ariz. "Our legislation would permanently...

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called for the world to reject protectionism even as American and European pressure mounts on Beijing to lower market barriers, speaking at the start of a Chinese-led summit of five large emerging economies now overshadowed by North Korea’s sixth nuclear test. […] Xi was speaking to business representatives of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — a day before he opens a summit with the leaders of these major emerging markets in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen. This will be the ninth summit of the BRICS grouping, which...

A Mexican federal court has made an unusual ruling that bans the import of U.S. potatoes on the grounds the imports violate Mexicans’ right to food sovereignty and a healthy environment. A group of Mexican potato growers had sought a constitutional injunction on the imports, claiming they threaten to spread agricultural diseases. The court said Mexican agricultural authorities had failed to use methods like radiation treatment of imports to prevent diseases. But because federal injunctions are intended only to protect constitutional rights, the ruling had to break some new ground. The court ruled the ban must be implemented to preserve...

How much of the economy has been affected by Trump's protectionist policies? People on both sides predicted he'd create a recession with his policies. I know he killed TPP and had a tariff on lumber from Canada, but has he taxed companies and put tariffs on other goods? Are the jobs the result of just getting rid of many regulations?

The new US bill on anti-Russian sanctions will affect European countries cooperating with Russia in the energy sector, and, therefore, these restrictive measures can ultimately run counter to international law, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Brigitte Zypries, said in an interview with the newspapers, which are part of Germany’s Funke media group, published on Monday. "We believe this is a violation of international law," the minister said referring to the fact that the fresh sanctions may restrict companies’ activities in the EU. "America cannot fine German companies for doing business in another country," she said. "According to Zypries,...

Scotland has called for Scotch to be defined in U.K. law so its vital whisky industry can be protected after Brexit. Scottish Economy Secretary Keith Brown has written to officials asking for strong legal protections for the industry, which is worth around £4 billion ($5.3 billion) in exports. A European Union definition of whisky currently protects sales from substandard products — but EU laws will no longer apply to Britain after the country exits the bloc in 2019. …

Angela Merkel’s cabinet agreed on Wednesday to tighten scrutiny on takeovers of companies in strategic industries by buyers outside the EU, the Economy Ministry said, reacting to Europe-wide disquiet over Chinese takeovers. New regulations will allow Berlin more time to probe takeover bids, especially in sectors affecting critical infrastructure, and extend the range of deals eligible for examination by the authorities. “We remain one of the most open economies in the world, but we also have an eye on fair competition. We owe that to our companies,” Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said in a statement. “In the future, reporting requirements...