"New U.S. auto tariffs, Fentanyl warning for Beijing, China's cyber threat to U.S."
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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).
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Flagship
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The World Today
- New US auto tariffs
- China’s cyber threat to US
- Fentanyl warning for Beijing
- Changing oil supply chains
- Bolsonaro to face trial
- Gaza’s anti-Hamas protests
- Russia’s leftist protests
- Longevity science business
- Robotaxis in DC
- AI changes accents
A new podcast dives into the world of criminal informants, where “the stakes can be life and death.”
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Trump unveils new auto tariffs
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced 25% tariffs on imported cars, effective April 2. The new levies mark an escalation in Trump’s trade war against top US trading partners and allies; Mexico and Canada were among the US’ biggest automotive suppliers last year. Trump said the duties would prompt companies to manufacture in the US, though analysts say the extra import costs could be passed on to customers. Stocks fell ahead of the announcement, the latest sign of market trepidation over Trump’s rapid-fire trade policy. But the auto duties “are just an appetizer” for the broader, reciprocal tariffs Trump plans to unveil April 2, The New York Times wrote.
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China could exploit US Signal breach
Carlos Barria/Reuters China remains the biggest cyber threat to the US, a new government report said, and the stunning leak of American military plans in a Signal group chat could exacerbate the problem, lawmakers warned. A Republican congressman said he had “no doubt” that Russia and China were monitoring the devices of top White House officials in the chat, while a Democratic senator suggested the “erosion of trust” among US intelligence officials could embolden China to recruit those who have “been pushed out.” Such attempts may already be underway: Reuters reported that a secretive network of Chinese firms has tried to lure recently laid-off US government employees. “Major adversaries pray for this level of chaos, confusion and opportunity,” journalist Noah Shachtman wrote.
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Semafor Exclusive
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Fentanyl at center of US-China trade war
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Senator Steve Daines. Ng Han Guan/Pool via Reuters A Republican lawmaker and Donald Trump ally told Beijing’s leaders last week that China should help end the drug war in the US if it wants to prevent an escalating trade war. Fentanyl trafficking has become a major friction point between the US and China: Trump raised tariffs on all Chinese imports to penalize Beijing for failing to curb the flow of fentanyl chemicals, and the CIA head criticized China’s “intermittent” crackdown efforts. In conversations with Chinese officials in Beijing, Montana Sen. Steve Daines underscored how intertwined the trade and drug conflicts were: “I went to great lengths to make sure they understood that fentanyl was not an excuse for the additional tariffs,” Daines told Semafor. “It is the issue.”
For more scoops from Washington, subscribe to our daily politics newsletter, Semafor Principals. →
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Oil tariffs impact Asia’s calculus
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on nations buying Venezuelan oil is changing the calculus of refiners in India and China. India’s Reliance Industries, which operates the world’s largest crude refining complex, is reportedly set to halt Venezuelan oil imports. Indian refiners, already impacted by US sanctions on Russian crude oil, have started diversifying their sources, turning to African and Latin American suppliers, The Indian Express reported. For China, whose refiners are already struggling with excess capacity and small profit margins, Trump’s “secondary tariffs” present a dilemma: As Venezuela’s largest oil buyer, Beijing risks soiling a close diplomatic relationship if it abandons Caracas, but additional duties from the US would further hurt Chinese exporters, the South China Morning Post wrote.
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Bolsonaro to stand trial
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for allegedly orchestrating an attempted coup after he lost the 2022 election, the country’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The case could transform Brazil’s political landscape: Bolsonaro, who denies the charges, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted, but remains popular among his base and has insisted he’ll run for president again next year, despite being barred from public office. The far-right politician called for “American help” this week in an overture to US President Donald Trump, but “right now, I think Trump seems to have bigger priorities than Brazil,” a Brazilian political commentator said. “From a judicial standpoint Bolsonaro’s cornered.”
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Rare anti-Hamas protests in Gaza
Stringer/Reuters Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza protested against Hamas, in a rare sign of public dissent aimed at the group. The anti-war demonstrations on Tuesday and Wednesday marked Gazans’ frustration with Hamas’ handling of negotiations with Israel after nearly 18 months of war: Talks to extend a ceasefire fell apart, and Israel has since resumed deadly strikes on the devastated enclave. “It’s the only party we can affect,” one protester said. “Protests won’t stop the (Israeli) occupation, but it can affect Hamas.” The militant group has previously repressed protests during its 17-year rule over Gaza, but “we have absolutely nothing to lose,” a displaced Gazan said. “We have lost everything already, so we are not afraid.”
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Growing student movement in Russia
Moscow State University. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters Campus movements are on the rise in Russia, in response to a growing rightward tilt in academia. The far-right philosopher Alexander Dugin was recently appointed head of a new political school, itself named after a 20th-century Russian thinker who advocated for a “fascist monarchy” as the ideal government. Dugin’s hiring led to online petitions and protests from students in multiple universities. Russia’s political left is fragmented, Meduza reported, “with groups ranging from the traditional to the bizarre”: Marxists, Maoists, social democrats, Stalinists. But the inter-university protesters have united to form the Student Anti-Fascist Front and champion a big-tent approach. Pushback from Dugin and state television have not yet managed to scare them off, Meduza wrote.
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Plug
Your daily dose of what’s happening in emerging tech. The Download from MIT Technology Review delivers insights and analysis on key technology headlines and must-read articles from across the industry right to your inbox. Sign up for free now.
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Debate over anti-aging treatments
Advances in longevity science are driving an uptick in new businesses — but researchers dispute that the treatments work. Firms seeking to extend lifespan gained $5 billion in venture capital in the first half of last year, The Economist reported, and there have been promising results in animal studies. One company offers $60-a-bottle supplements it says control aging, according to The Wall Street Journal; other scientists argue there is no evidence that they are effective. The science around anti-aging is improving, but whether it can soon create working treatments — and profitable businesses — is unclear: The fate of 23andMe, which thought real advances in genetic sequencing could turn a profit, but filed for bankruptcy last week, might be a warning sign.
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Waymo expands into DC
Laure Andrillon/Reuters Waymo will expand its robotaxi operation into Washington, DC, next year. The Alphabet-owned self-driving car firm already runs taxis in Austin, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, and is planning expansion into 10 more cities over the next two years. Older East Coast cities will provide different challenges for robotaxis than West Coast ones: They are denser and less regular, having expanded in the pre-automobile days. But Waymo, despite its significant market lead, is aware that challengers such as Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox are on its heels, and is keen to expand coverage to cement its position, TechCrunch reported.
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Accent-changing AI tech expands
Artificial intelligence is boosting the accent modification industry. Krisp, known for its noise reduction technology, launched a new AI tool that changes a speaker’s accent into American English in real time. It caters to 17 Indian dialects, with plans to add Filipino accents, among others, The Verge reported. The world’s largest call center operator recently began using a similar AI feature that softens its Indian workers’ accents, a move the company claimed would make them more understandable to international clients. Critics of the tech argue it strips workers of their humanity and homogenizes them. “This isn’t about bias,” countered Krisp’s president, who noted people struggle to understand his accent. “It’s simply a reality of communication.”
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The World Economy Summit
The World Economy Summit 2025 will bring together US Cabinet officials, global finance ministers, central bankers, and over 200 CEOs of the world’s largest companies. The three-day summit will take place April 23–25, 2025, in Washington, DC, and will be the first of its kind since the new US administration took office. Featuring on-the-record conversations with top executives such as Alex Chriss, President and CEO, Paypal; Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO, Nasdaq; Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder, Manas AI & Partner, Greylock; Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO, Netflix; and Evan Spiegel, CEO, Snap, the summit will advance dialogues that catalyze global growth and fortify resilience in an uncertain, shifting global economy.
April 23-25 | Washington, DC | Learn More
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Flagging
March 27:
- Myanmar’s military junta observes Armed Forces Day amid the country’s four-year civil war.
- The US publishes its revised fourth-quarter GDP estimate.
- Thai rapper and K-pop star Lisa celebrates her 28th birthday.
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Curio
The Boston Globe A gripping new podcast from The Boston Globe’s investigative Spotlight team delves into the illicit netherworld of police informants. Their perilous work, according to Snitch City host Dugan Arnett, constitutes “the backbone of nearly every drug investigation in America.” Operating in the shadows, and maintaining a criminal façade in order to deeply infiltrate and surveil organized crime groups, informants ostensibly work with an eye toward helping to secure convictions, the Financial Times wrote. But the network operates with a lack of transparency and supervision, Arnett said: “The stakes can be life and death and no one wants you to know how it really works.”
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Semafor Spotlight
Supantha Mukherjee/Reuters The new partnership between DoorDash and Klarna to offer installment loans for food delivery is the latest effort to turn normal commerce into Wall Street-bound cash flows, wrote Semafor’s Liz Hoffman.
It’s all “a bit spicy,” even for one executive who does it for a living. But if the economy cracks, Hoffman wrote, how eager will consumers be to stay current on their burrito bonds?
Subscribe to Semafor Business, a twice-weekly briefing from two of Wall Street’s best sourced reporters. →
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.