Free Republic

Food prices are continuing to rise at an alarming rate. The 8.8% year-over-year increase (March 2022 compared with March 2021) is the largest in more than 40 years. Over the past seven months, each month’s year-over-year food price increase has been above 4% and each successive month has been higher than the previous month (starting at 4.6% in September and reaching 8.8% in March). This upswing in food prices is being reflected across multiple food categories, from fresh fruit (10.1%) to fish and seafood (10.9%). Skyrocketing food prices are regressive and particularly damaging to low-income Americans, as they spend a...

MP Materials, which runs the sole operating rare earths mine in the United States, is an unusual victim in the year-long tit-for-tat trade war between the two largest economies on the planet, as the conflict looks set to open up a new battlefront over technology. The operator of the Mountain Pass mine in California said it will kick-start its own processing operation by the end of 2020, after China last week more than doubled an import duty on concentrates to 25 per cent effective June 1. MP exports pellets – ground-up ores that contain oxides of rare earth elements –...

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will hike tariffs on most imports from China as his trade war with Beijing escalates. The U.S. will raise duties on $250 billion in Chinese goods to 30% from 25%, and increase tariffs on another $300 billion in products to 15% from 10%. Earlier, China announced new tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. goods — and Trump ordered U.S. companies to find an “alternative” to operating in China.

Go Wilburine! U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has slapped a whopping $4.4 billion countervailing duty on Chinese cabinet manufacturers... U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of the wooden cabinets and vanities from China based on subsidy rates of as much as 229%... China has no substantive tools in their economic armory to defend against President Trump in a one-on-one battle. And Trump keeps landing body blows, the latest was the seizure of all Venezuelan assets. The number one investor in Venezuela is China (by a mile). China owns 49% of PDVSA Venezuela’s state owned oil...

International trade has always been in the news. Business reporters talk about a trade deficit, politicians wail about jobs being exported overseas, and every so often, the government signs a new free trade agreement or trade promotion agreement (they are different things) with one or two or a hundred faraway countries. But despite all this, international trade policy has not been at the forefront of the news cycle in a generation; not since the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement was voided 25 years ago, to be replaced by NAFTA, a three-party FTA between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Thanks to...

The Trump Administration has announced its formal inquisition into America’s trade deficit, with a particularly loaded day of testimony scheduled for May 18, in which the administration hopes to learn the various causes for America’s huge import volume. The administration conjures up an image of evil old foreign prime ministers and their assistants – grasping witches with candy-covered cottages in the forest, looking for sweet little American manufacturers – Hansel Inc. and Gretel LLC – tempting them with tasty morsels and sweet confections, luring them off the American path, moving them permanently into their distant foreign domains. While the single-minded...

My apologies for the vanity, but I could use some advice from experienced Freepers. Yesterday, I got notification from our County's election bureau that I was elected to both JUDGE OF ELECTION and MINORITY INSPECTOR of ELECTION in our precinct.I didn't run for the office, but I have suspicions that a few of my neighbors wrote me in during the November 5 election.I am curious to know why I am getting notified only now, almost two months later. I'd also like some advice as to what these positions actually do and whether I should decline the lower office as they...

think all of us who embark on a certain career path, or status or vocation have a certain file in our life called “other duties as assigned.” Priests, and especially pastors are no exception. Since most of us live on site, there are many custodial duties that often find their way into our “other duties as assigned” file.

The US has imposed duties on Chinese solar panel manufacturers after it said that they received unfair subsidies. Chinese exporters into the US - including Suntech - will now face customs tariffs of between 2.9% and 4.73%, the Commerce Department said. In 2011, imports of solar cells from China into the US were valued at $3.1bn (£1.96bn), it added. The price of solar panels dropped more than 30% last year, mainly linked to cheaper panels made in China. "Countervailable subsidies are financial assistance from foreign governments that benefit the production of goods from foreign companies," the Commerce Department said. China's...

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The United States has set preliminary anti-dumping duties ranging from 90 to nearly 175 percent on about $30 million worth of electric blankets from China, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday. The ruling is a victory for Jarden Consumer Solutions, a Florida-based subsidiary of consumer products company Jarden Corp (JAH.N). It filed a petition earlier this year asking for protection against its Chinese competitors. The relatively small case is of one several ongoing U.S. investigations into charges that Chinese companies are selling their goods in the United States at unfairly low prices and benefit...

Surat Al-Israa' was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in Makkah after his Night Journey from Makkah to Jerusalem. In verses 23–39 of this surah, Allah mentions some basic commitments of Muslims. Without fulfilling these commitments, no individual or group can succeed. Muslims have to live by these values and should invite humanity to these principles. These principles are not limited to one race, tribe, or group; they are universal in their scope and application. These are also called the hikmah or the teachings of wisdom. It is wise for everyone to follow them. If followed...

BAGHDAD, July 12, 2006 – The Iraqi government will announce tomorrow that for the first time, Iraqi police forces will take over security control of a province, the U.S. general in charge of coalition troops here said today. Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, greets Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld upon Rumsfeld's arrival in Balad, Iraq, July 12. Photo by Airman 1st Class Andrew Oquendo, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The transfer of responsibility will take place in Muthanna province, which borders Saudi Arabia, U.S. Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2006 – Coalition troops operating in Iraq's Muthanna province will soon transfer security responsibilities to Iraqi police, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said today in Baghdad. When coalition forces leave Muthanna sometime next week, the province will become the first of Iraq's 18 provinces to be responsible for its own security, Air Force Brig. Gen. Kurt A. Cichowski told Pentagon reporters during a video teleconference. Yet, the transfer of security doesn't have any bearing on the numbers of U.S. and coalition troops, Cichowski said. About 127,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq. "It's important to understand that...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (March 3, 2006) -- The sounds of their cadence roll through the halls and across the grounds of the depot. Up to 65 Marines go to Drill Instructor School each cycle. During this training period, students learn methods of training recruits to become United States Marines. The overall goal of this institution is to give these students as much knowledge from their instructors’ own experiences, as best they can, said Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Hambaugh, Drill Instructor School instructor. Every instructor served time in the trenches before he became an instructor at the school....

ABOARD HMS BULWARK -- HMS Bulwark (L15), the Royal Navy's most modern and versatile warship, assumed duties Feb. 28 from USS Cape St. George (CG 71) as the flagship for the Royal Navy staff which leads Combined Task Force 58 (CTF 58), a multinational coalition that conducts maritime security operations (MSO) in the North Arabian Gulf (NAG). Maritime security operations help set the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment as well as complement the counter-terrorism and security efforts of regional nations. MSO deny the illegal use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to...

The Commerce Department said Tuesday it will comply with a NAFTA panel's order to drastically cut U.S. duties on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. U.S. officials said they disagree with the rationale behind the ruling, but respect its authority. The decision, announced late Tuesday, means the United States will reduce the punitive duties, which average about 16 percent, to less than 1 percent. Separate antidumping tariffs averaging about 4 percent will not be affected. Despite its action, the Commerce Department said it retains its right to appeal the NAFTA ruling, which it considers unfair. "We start off with a premise...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that likely will force him to step down as House majority leader. DeLay attorney Steve Brittain said DeLay was accused of a criminal conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay's national political committee. GOP congressional officials said the plan was for DeLay to temporarily relinquish his leadership post and Speaker Dennis Hastert will recommend that Rep....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2005 – The National Guard troops reporting for duty in the Gulf region to help maintain security are trained professionals, many who serve as civilian law enforcement officers when not on military duty, the chief of the National Guard Bureau told reporters today. Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum said the Guard forces aren’t simply troops with no police skills pulled into the mission; they’re bringing solid expertise to the mission and an understanding that they’re supporting existing law enforcement authorities, not replacing them. “They are military police, trained badge-carrying law enforcement officers that discharge their duties...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Cabinet minister and 21 lawmakers allied with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will boycott their official duties to protest an attack Wednesday on their leader's office in Najaf, a key supporter said. The move could seriously complicate efforts to convene parliament to vote on a new constitution and raises fears of internal conflicts among the Shiites at a time when Sunni Arabs are outraged over the new draft constitution. The statement by Fattah al-Sheik was confirmed by Transport Minister Salam al-Maliki, who said he had "suspended" his membership in the Cabinet to protest the burning of...

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday stripped many of the duties of his top economic adviser - an outspoken critic who has accused the Kremlin of trying to muzzle voices of dissent and civil society in Russia. Andrei Illarionov, who last week said the Kremlin efforts to censure the public would eventually spark mass protests, was stripped of his responsibilities as Russia's envoy to the Group of 8 industrial nations, the Kremlin said. Another top adviser, Igor Shuvalov, was given Illarionov's duties, which typically involve heavy preparations for G-8 summit and meetings, earning the envoys the affectionate...