San José, CA – Over the last few days, since President Trump’s latest tariffs were announced on April 2, comments have often called them “bizarre,” “weird” or similar terms. But there is a method to what might seem to be Trump’s madness.
The tariff rates announced were calculated on the basis of the U.S. trade deficit with each country, or how much more the United States imports from said country than the amount of U.S. goods it buys. This was often dismissed as “nonsense,” but it reflects President Trump’s longstanding obsession with U.S. trade deficits.
San José, CA – Why are so many Republicans in Congress going along with Trump’s tariffs? For decades the Republican Party has been a party of free trade and “lower” taxes, so why the support, or at most silence, from Republicans in Congress?
San José, CA – The day after President Trump levied tariffs on virtually every country in the world, the People’s Republic of China, or PRC, hit back. The PRC matched Trump’s tariff of 34% announced on Thursday with the same 34% tariff on imports from the United States. These are mainly soybeans and other foods, electrical machinery, petroleum and civilian aircraft. In addition, China put restrictions on exports of seven rare earth metals to the United States that are used in making lasers, wind turbines, radar other technology goods.
San José, CA – On Thursday, April 3, one day after Trump’s newest tariffs announcement, prices did start to fall as candidate Trump promised. The only problem is that it was the prices of stocks, not groceries.
Commerce City, CO – This March, United Parcel Service laid off 70 employees in the Commerce City Hub. Another 20 from one shift were laid off temporarily as a part of their recent efforts to automate buildings across the country.
This is the next step of UPS’s national “Network of the Future” campaign, which sees the displacement of workers from their jobs, the closure of up to 10% of its buildings in 2025, and, consequently, the elimination of a large section of the workforce to meet its automation goals. The recent layoffs came in a more unpredictable way to workers compared to the layoffs in January, with workers getting informed of their layoff dates with less than a week's notice and no cooperation or meetings with Teamsters beforehand. This has left many workers in the building feeling uncertain about their futures.
San José, CA – On Monday, March 10, U.S. stock markets fell. The S&P 500, which includes 500 of the largest U.S. corporations, dropped 2.7% for the worst trading day of the new Trump administration. The NASDAQ, which is over-weighted in technology stocks, fell even more, dropping 4% as high-flying technology stocks continued their descent to earth. Both the broader market and the technology sector were led down by a 15% drop in Tesla share prices, bringing that stock down about 50% from its high just months ago.
San José, CA – On Friday, March 7, the Department of Labor released its report on the job market in February. This is the first report based on the labor market in the first weeks of the new Trump administration. Overall, the job market looked a little softer; job creation was a bit less, at 151,000 rather than economists’ expectations of 170,000 net new jobs. The unemployment rate also ticked up to 4.1% from 4.0% in January.
San José, CA – At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday morning, President Trump’s trade war was launched against the three largest trading partners of the United States. Canada and Mexico were hit with across the board 25% tariffs, with the exception of Canadian energy products: oil and electricity, which were given 10% tariffs. China was hit with an additional 10% tariff, bringing the total rate to 20% with the initial 10% tariffs back in February.
San José, CA – Consumers cut back on purchases in January 2025, the largest decline since February 2021. The Bureau of Economic Analysis report on Personal Income and Outlays released February 28 said that household spending fell by 0.5%, adjusted for inflation. This is much greater than the 0.2% drop expected.
San José, CA – On Thursday, February 27, the Department of Labor reported that new claims for unemployment insurance jumped by 22,000, or 10% in the week ending February 22. New claims for UI have risen substantially in the first weeks of the new Trump administration. The total increase in new claims has been 34,000 or 15%.
San José, CA – On Monday, February 24, Denny’s, one of the three largest breakfast chains in the United States, announced that it would be rolling out an extra surcharge on eggs. Denny’s followed Waffle House, another large breakfast chain. Both are trying to pass along the rising costs of eggs, which are up almost 20% just since December. This is mainly because of the spreading bird flu, where quarantine measures have meant the killing more than 100 million poultry, including 20 million of chickens, just in the last three months of 2024.
San José, CA – On Friday, February 21, all the major U.S. stock indices fell. The broadest measure, the S&P 500, dropped more than 100 points. What scared the stock markets were a pair of indicators showing signs of rising inflation and a slowdown in the economy, which is commonly called stagflation.
San José, CA – On Thursday, February 13, President Trump signed another executive order, this time to study implementing his plan for “reciprocal tariffs.” While many businesses and financial investors breathed a sigh of relief that these would not go into effect until April, the Trump administration will use this time to try to define many policies of other countries as tariffs – even when they are not.
San José, CA – On Friday, February 14, the Department of Commerce released its report on Retail Sales for January 2025. For those hoping for a strong report on Valentine’s Day, there was no love as retail sales fell 0.9%. While this report was seasonally adjusted for the fact that sales in January are typically lower than December, it is not adjusted for inflation. With inflation up 0.5% in January according to the Department of Labor’s report earlier in the week, it is likely the real, or inflation adjusted sales fell more than 1% in one month, a very weak report.
San José, CA – On Monday, February 10, President Trump signed an executive order raising tariffs, or taxes on imports, to 25% on steel and aluminum. The tariffs are to start on March 4. While his first round of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China was based on a “national emergency” of refugees and drugs coming into the country, the latest tariff order used a “national security” rationale. They are seen as less likely to be suspended as the first round was.
San José, CA – On Wednesday, February 12, the Department of Labor said that inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, rose in January as compared to December of 2024. The monthly increase in prices was one half of one percent, as compared to 0.3% in December. This was the highest monthly increase in prices in over a year. Compared to a year ago, prices were up 3%, but if January’s increase continued for the rest of the year, the inflation rate would be 8%.
San José, CA – On Sunday, February 9, President Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to stop producing pennies.
Can he legally do this? Probably not, but Trump has shown a disregard for the law and even the Constitution that he swore to uphold. After all, he is a convicted criminal. It is Congress, not the president, nor the Federal Reserve Bank that determines the production of coins.
San José, CA – On Monday, February 3, after a drop in U.S. stocks, President Trump relented and paused his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days. Stocks bounced back, recovering most of their initial losses.
San José, CA – On Saturday, February 1, Trump continued his flurry of executive orders, this time targeting trade with Mexico, Canada and China. Unlike Trump’s first term in office, where he targeted imports of intermediate goods - that is, manufactured goods that are used to make other goods, like steel - these are broad tariffs covering all goods, from raw material like crude oil, to intermediate goods, to final goods that are sold to consumers, like cell phones.
San José, CA – With just one day to go before the federal government runs out of funding, President-elect Donald Trump, with the help of billionaire Elon Musk, derailed a bipartisan agreement to keep the government running through March. This plan would have also added billions of dollars in disaster relief aid to help pay for the damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton earlier this year.
