Tracking Trump's Tariffs and Turbulent Trade Talks

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US-China trade tensions escalate as tit-for-tat port fees come into effect • FRANCE 24 English​

Oct 14, 2025 #China #USA #Shipbuilding
Port fees imposed by China and the US took effect on Tuesday, adding a new front to the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. In this edition, we explore the reasons behind these new fees and their impact on the broader talks between Washington and Beijing. Also, we examine how US soybean farmers are being affected by China’s halt on imports of US-produced soybeans.

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Trump threatens China with cooking oil embargo over soybean snub​

  • President Donald Trump said his administration is considering “terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil” in retaliation for Beijing refusing to buy U.S. soybeans.
  • The president’s latest criticism follows a recent spate of critical remarks he has made about China, raising questions about the status of ongoing trade talks and sending stocks careening up and down.
  • China has been the top buyer of U.S. soybeans by far, but it has not bought a single American soybean in months amid an ongoing trade war.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration is considering “terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil” in retaliation for Beijing refusing to buy U.S. soybeans.

China is committing an “Economically Hostile Act” by “purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Ending business with China on cooking oil and “other elements of Trade” are possible forms of “retribution” that Trump said he is weighing.

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For anyone interested:

China’s new port service charges for US vessels​

China’s new port service charges for US vessels

On 10 October 2025, China's Ministry of Transport announced that, starting 14 October, special port charges will apply to United States (U.S.) vessels at Chinese ports. This measure responds to the U.S. port service fees, effective the same day, targeting Chinese-owned, operated, flagged, or...
www.skuld.com

Update: Guidance on the implementation of the China Special Port Charges due to take effect on 14 October 2025​

Update: Guidance on the implementation of the China Special Port Charges due to take effect on 14 October 2025

The Chinese Ministry of Transport has released the Implementation Measures regarding special port charges for US vessels. This article gives guidance and a link to detailed instructions for completing the “Reporting Form of US Linked Vessel Information.”
www.skuld.com
 

Tariffs are pushing prices higher and consumers are feeling the hit, Fed’s Beige Book shows​

  • President Donald Trump’s tariffs are pushing inflation generally higher as companies are caught between absorbing the costs or passing them onto customers, according to a Fed report.
  • The central bank’s periodic Beige Book report categorized overall economic growth as having “changed little” since the last report Sept. 3.
  • The release comes amid a dearth of relevant economic data due to a government shutdown entering its third week.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs are pushing inflation generally higher as companies are caught between absorbing the costs or passing them onto customers, according to a Federal Reserve report Wednesday.

The central bank’s periodic Beige Book report, published eight times a year generally at about six-week intervals, categorized overall economic growth as having “changed little” since the last report on Sept. 3. Labor markets “were largely stable” as demand was “muted” for most of the Fed’s 12 districts.

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If true, what would the taxes the dems wanted to impose on corps and the rich do? Why wouldn't those taxes have been passed on to consumers too?

You've expressed support fordem tax proposals to tax big corps and the rich, so what's the dif betwixt the two? All taxes have the ability to raise prices if the one being charged the tax has the ability to pass the cost along. As all corps and the rich have the ability to do.
 
Cutting the military budget in half and stopping all foreign aid INCLUDING ISRAEL is the only thing that will work. Sadly DemonRats and Repukes are two sides of the same coin.
 
Fatrat said:
Cutting the military budget in half and stopping all foreign aid INCLUDING ISRAEL is the only thing that will work. Sadly DemonRats and Repukes are two sides of the same coin.
Click to expand...

We spend more money on our military budget than any country on earth. Gazillions to prop up governments where we're hated. T wans to give 40 billion to Argentina.

WTF..................how about heath care for Americans. A decent social security raise. Maybe actually lower food costs.

You're absolutely right. R or D............. two sides of the same coin.
 
FWIW (dyodd)

China Is Already Winning the Trade War America Wanted​

Historians may record these recent weeks as the moment when our new age of economic warfare got very real indeed. At the end of September, the US Department of Commerce announced a crackdown on provision of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to subsidiaries of blacklisted Chinese companies. Beijing then went massive in its retaliation, unveiling export licensing requirements that weaponize China’s rare-earths dominance to an unprecedented degree.

China, wrote Dean Ball, who recently served in the Trump administration, had asserted “the power to forbid any country on Earth from participating in the modern economy,” because it had put their access to materials that underpin a wide array of strategic industries at risk. US President Donald Trump responded angrily, calling the restrictions a “moral disgrace” while also threatening China with new sanctions and heavy tariffs. If implemented, those measures would restore a de facto trade embargo between the two largest economies in the world.

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I finished building my house just before new tariffs hit​

Anthony Cabrera breathed a sigh of relief when, three weeks ago, he bought the last big items - couches - for his newly-built home in Hopatcong, New Jersey.

Mr Cabrera, who started working with a contractor in March to construct the three-bedroom house, was eager to get ahead of a fresh round of tariffs on key building materials and home items that took effect earlier this week.
Mr Cabrera had already seen his initial budget of roughly $300,000 balloon to $450,000 as prices for a range of products, like cabinets from Asia, started going up since the spring.

Earlier this week new US tariffs came in on items needed to renovate your home including imported kitchen cabinets, timber and wooden furniture.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/rea...-new-tariffs-hit/ar-AA1OQsRd?ocid=socialshare
 

Watch CNBC's full interview with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins​

Oct 21, 2025
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss ongoing U.S.-China trade war, impact on U.S. soybean farmers, potential aid for the industry, state of beef prices, whether the U.S. is considering Argentine beef, and more.

10:19
 

US-China now in a ‘very different kind of trade war’, experts warn​

Relations between the United States and China are tense, once again, with experts saying that the administration of US President Donald Trump “doesn’t quite know how to deal with China”.

The latest flare-up took place when Beijing, on October 9, expanded its restrictions on the export of rare-earth metals, increasing the number of elements on the list.

China has the largest reserves and the majority of processing facilities of rare-earth metals that are used in a range of daily and critical industries like electric vehicles, smartphones, laptops and defence equipment.

In a first, it also required countries to have a licence to export rare-earth magnets and certain semiconductor materials that contain even trace amounts of minerals sourced from China or produced using Chinese technology.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/othe...war-experts-warn/ar-AA1OVa0v?ocid=socialshare
 

Trump says U.S. cattle ranchers ‘don’t understand’ tariffs after some slam Argentine beef plan​

  • President Donald Trump said U.S. cattle ranchers “don’t understand” how they have benefitted from his tariffs.
  • “They also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
  • Some ranchers — and Republican lawmakers — have openly criticized Trump’s proposal to import beef from Argentina in order to bring down prices for American consumers.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said U.S. cattle ranchers “don’t understand” how they have benefitted from his tariffs, adding that they “have to get their prices down.”

The admonition came after some ranchers have openly criticized Trump’s proposal to import beef from Argentina in order to bring down prices for American consumers.

Trump claimed that those ranchers “don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States.”

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Well of course they don't like it. They are getting record high prices for their product.

It'd be like asking people here at this point of record high PM prices, who might be looking to sell PM's, if they'd like getting less for them.

They also said:
“This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices,” National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall said in a statement on Monday.


How is that even possible? If more beef is imported, how could it not lower prices for beef?
.....and if somehow it doesn't, then what's the problem? They'll still get the same record high price for their beef too.
 
There was that thing about only four meat packing houses left forcing a monopoly too...
Who are the big 4 meat packers?


AI Overview



+4


The "Big 4" meatpackers in the United States are Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef. These four companies control a majority of the U.S. beef market, with some sources stating they handle 80-85% of the country's beef processing. Their dominance extends to the pork and poultry industries as well, though the exact market share and specific companies can vary by type of meat.

  • Tyson Foods:
    A major American multinational corporation that is one of the largest producers of chicken, beef, and pork.

  • JBS:
    A Brazilian company that is one of the world's largest food production companies, with significant operations in the U.S. beef market.

  • Cargill:
    A privately-held American multinational conglomerate that is a major player in food, agriculture, and industrial products.

  • National Beef:
    Another significant U.S.-based beef processor that is often cited among the "Big 4" for its market share.
 
More about trade than tariffs with a tout for a book thrown in.

How geopolitics is redrawing the world’s shipping routes - Splash247

Globalisation isn’t dead, but it’s changing course, writes Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, and author of this year’s bestseller The Fractured Age. Commentators have been quick to declare globalisation dead. But, as is so often the case in economics, the reality is more...
splash247.com
 

On the flip side...................

 

'This is going to hurt us': U.S. ranchers push back on Trump’s Argentina beef deal​

Oct 22, 2025
Farmers, ranchers and cattle producers are opposing President Trump’s plan to buy more beef from Argentina. Prices have jumped nearly 14% over the past year, and many cattle ranchers and farmers’ groups are concerned the move will come at their expense. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Buck Wehrbein, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

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