According to the Associated Press, the Nikkei closed down 4,451.28 points at 31,458.42 on Monday after it went down 5.8 percent on Friday, marking the worst two-day decline ever.
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Commentary: Free Traders Are Wrong – It’s Time to Try Trade a New Way
A recent Daily Mail poll showed 54 percent of voters support Trump’s proposal to put 10 percent tariffs on most imports, from China or not. This is sacrilege to American free traders.
The free-trade globalization crowd – who saw the 80s up to early 2000s as their heyday– believe in a world that does not exist the way they say it does on paper. Do you think Germany allows Ford Mustang’s into their country tariff free? EU charges Ford a 10 percent tariff, four times what we charge their automakers.
Read MoreU.S. to Announce Major Shakeup in Military Ties with Japan as China Threat Looms
The U.S. and Japan will announce a historic upgrade to security ties, including a collaborative military command, next month as the two former adversaries move closer together in determination to counter China, according to media reports published Monday.
Chief among the changes under consideration involves sending a four-star general, the highest peacetime rank, to head U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) and jointly oversee a military command with Japan for planning and exercises, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the discussions. Tokyo also hopes to establish a new Japanese Self Defense Forces (SDF) headquarters, whose head will serve as the Japanese counterpart to the American four-star, by March of 2025, the sources said.
Read MoreSemiconductor Giant Faces U.S. Delays While Racing Ahead in Japan amid Biden Chips Funding Uncertainty
A major Taiwanese chip manufacturer’s plan to build a key factory in the U.S. has been plagued with significant delays. Meanwhile, the chipmaker is on schedule to open a separate facility in Japan.
One of the plants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is building in Arizona has delayed manufacturing until 2027 or 2028 instead of 2026 because of uncertainty regarding funding it will receive from President Joe Biden’s administration, according to The New York Times. TSMC’s factory in Japan is on track to operate on schedule as the country’s government has helped the factory by committing billions in funding and assisting with assembling thousands of employees to build it, the WSJ reported.
Read MoreCommentary: War Is Not Just a Western Notion
“It is well that war is so terrible; otherwise, we should grow too fond of it.”
– Robert E. Lee
“Wars and rumors of wars,” to borrow a well-known Biblical phrase from Matthew 24, seem all too commonplace these days. Is that because more wars are going on now than in the past, or because mass media brings us word of them ‘round the clock? It’s a debatable point.
This much is eminently clear: War dates back as far as the day when Cain slew Abel. It’s doubtful that there ever was a time on Earth when nobody was at war with anybody. It’s a depressingly familiar curse.
Read MoreCommentary: An Amazing Story of Redemption Out of Pearl Harbor
December 7th, 1941 is “a date which will live in infamy,” declared President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Read MoreCommentary: America’s Fertility Crisis Will Only Worsen with the College Gender Gap as U.S. Follows Japan
Declining fertility in advanced economies is nothing new. Since birth control was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1960, at the same time more women were entering the labor force and attending higher education, amid higher inflation, greater unemployment and a weaker economy, birth rates have plummeted significantly, from 3.65 babies per woman in 1959 to 1.73 by 1976, according to World Bank and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Read MoreDeSantis Calls for US-Led Military Alliance in Pacific, ‘Economic Independence’ from China
Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate, is calling for the United States to create a stronger military alliance in the Pacific to counter China’s rising aggression, as well as wage a strategic decoupling of the American economy from Beijing.
Read MoreYoungkin Meets with Japanese Prime Minister to Discuss Economic Interests
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo to discuss trade and business investments between the commonwealth and Japan.
Japan is the second stop on Youngkin’s Asian tour, concluding with a visit to South Korea. The governor highlighted mutual economic interests, which they hope will strengthen relations.
Read MoreYoungkin Signs Executive Order Establishing Virginia Trade Office in Taiwan
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin took historic steps by signing an executive order establishing a foreign trade office while meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan in Taipei earlier today, kicking off his Asian tour.
This will be the commonwealth’s fourth international office; others are in Japan, South Korea and Germany. Youngkin is scheduled to visit Japan and South Korea during his Asian trip.
Read MoreVirginia Gov. Youngkin to Visit Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea
Amid speculation that he could be weighing a potential presidential run in 2024, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will travel to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea as part of his first intentional trade mission as governor later this month, his office announced Tuesday.
While overseas, the governor is slated to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, as well as other government officials, business associations, company executives and global industry leaders, according to Youngkin’s office. The trip is scheduled for April 24 through April 29.
Read MoreDepartment of Energy to Release Millions of Barrels of Oil From Reserve to Combat Surging Gas Prices
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Tuesday the release of millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to combat soaring gas prices.
The DOE approved the release of 13.4 million barrels from its SPR, marking the second-largest exchange from the reserve and bringing the total amount of oil released from the cache to almost 40 million barrels.
Exchange contracts for the released oil have were awarded to seven companies. President Joe Biden authorized a plan in November 2021 to release 50 million barrels of crude oil from the SPR in a coordinated effort with China, India, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. to combat surging gas prices and assist in the COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
Read MoreCommentary: Remembering Pearl Harbor … Accurately
Most Americans once were mostly in agreement about what happened on December 7, 1941, 80 years ago this year. But not so much now, given either the neglect of America’s past in the schools or woke revisionism at odds with the truth.
The Pacific war that followed Pearl Harbor was not a result of America egging on the Japanese, not about starting a race war, and not about much other than a confident and cruel Japanese empire falsely assuming that its stronger American rival either would not or could not stop its transoceanic ambitions.
Read MoreBiden Asks Asian Countries to Release Oil Reserves as Administration Scrambles to Combat High Gas Prices: Report
The Biden administration asked China, Japan, South Korea and India to tap into their emergency oil reserves as the president continues to grapple with rising gasoline prices, Reuters reported.
The effort to simultaneously release oil reserves represents a rebuke of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the cartel that controls oil production throughout the Middle East, several anonymous sources familiar with the request told Reuters on Wednesday. OPEC has repeatedly rejected requests from President Joe Biden and other top administration officials to increase oil production amid rising gasoline prices.
The four Asian nations the president appealed to represent some of the largest energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters, according to a University of Oxford database.
Read MoreTexas Education Agency Opens Backdoor to ChiCom Surveillance of Students Through Virtual Tutorial Firm
The Texas Education Agency contracted with a virtual-tutorial marketing company through the end of the 2022-2023 school year that relies on tutorial services from VIPKids, the Beijing-based company backed by the Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent tied to surveillance and censorship. “We believe all students deserve equal access to rigorous…
Read MoreShinzo Abe, Japan’s Longest-Serving Prime Minister, Announces His Resignation
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe announced his decision to step down from the post Friday, citing the return of a health problem, the Associated Press reported.
“It is gut-wrenching to have to leave my job before accomplishing my goals,” Abe said during a news conference announcing his decision, mentioning ongoing tensions with North Korea and a border dispute with Russia.
Read MoreWhile Know-It-Alls Lecture on Tariffs Against China, Trump Dials Up New Trade Deals with UK, Europe and Japan
by Robert Romano While President Donald Trump continues to bring the pressure to China, so far with 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods shipped to the U.S., rising to 25 percent in Jan. 2019, which comes atop another 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods…
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