San José, CA – On June 19, stock markets around the world fell in reaction to U.S. President Trump’s promise to escalate the U.S. trade war with China. The Japanese Nikei index fell almost 2% along with other Asian markets. In Europe, Germany’s export-oriented economy meant its stocks were hit the hardest, with the German DAX index down more than 1%. The world sell-off ended in New York City, with the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 1%, bringing the average to below its starting point for the year.

San José, CA – On Friday, June 15, President Trump signed orders to place tariffs (taxes) on $34 billion of imports from China beginning July 6. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will be imposing tariffs on another $16 billion of imports from China in the near future for a total of $50 billion in imports facing 25% taxes. This represents another turnaround in trade from a few weeks ago, when Trump’s Commerce Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the trade war was “on hold” after initial negotiation with the Chinese government, which had offered to increase purchases of U.S. goods and further open the Chinese economy to foreign investments.

San José, CA – On Friday, June 1, new U.S. tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imported from Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU) went into effect. These countries supply about half of U.S. steel imports. All of the countries responded with counter-tariffs on U.S. exports that will start in a month or less. In addition, the other countries are going to be filing suit with the World Trade Organization (WTO), charging that the U.S. reason of “national security” is just a fig leaf to cover U.S. violation of WTO rules.

New York, NY – Around 50 socialists and community organizers gathered on Sunday, May 6 to celebrate the 200th birthday of Karl Marx – the founder of scientific socialism.

Editor’s note: Fight Back! will be running a number of articles to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx.

Part three of a three-part interview with Professor Masao Suzuki

This is part three of a three-part interview. Click for part one and part two of this interview. Fight Back!: President Trump seems intent on risking on a trade war with China in order to narrow the U.S. trade deficit. Trump thinks the U.S. trade deficit means that the U.S. is a loser, and by bringing down the trade deficit the U.S. economy will grow by the same amount, creating jobs and income here in the U.S. What do you think?

Part two of a three-part interview with Professor Masao Suzuki

This is part two of a three-part interview. Click for part one and part three of this interview. Fight Back!: In your opinion, what are the main causes of the U.S. trade deficit?

_Part one of a three-part interview with Professor Masao Suzuki _

This is part one of a three-part interview. Click for part two and part three of this interview. Fight Back!: Professor Suzuki, there has been a lot in the news about the Trump administration’s new tariffs and the U.S. trade deficit. How big is it really?

The U.S. stock market fell again Friday, April 6, with the broadest measure, the S&P 500, falling more than 2%. This followed President Trump’s tweet on Thursday that he would ask for a list of an additional $100 billion in imports from China to put tariffs on, raising the total to more than $150 billion. It was also revealed that there are no negotiations between China and the U.S., raising the likelihood of a full-blown trade war.

San José, CA – On March 22, the U.S. stock market staggered with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 700 points or almost 3%. That day, President Trump had fired an opening salvo of trade restrictions aimed at China by announcing steep tariffs on $60 billion of imports from China. He promised that this was just the first of many restrictions on Chinese goods in what could be a new trade war with China.