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Trump Fuels Fear Among Immigrant Farm Workers in California’s Central Valley

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The farmers in California’s Central Valley like to say they feed the world, and it is not hyperbole.The valley stretches for 450 fertile miles from Bakersfield in the south to Redding in the north, yields an estimated 40 percent of the fruit, vegetables and tree nuts grown in the United States, and exports half of that bounty overseas. California agriculture overall is a $60 billion annual business.It is also one that President Trump has thrown into turmoil. Only in recent weeks has he offered vague glimmers of hope.When agents from the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement turned up last month at farms and packing houses in Ventura County, well south of the Central Valley, there was panic in the valley’s fields, where an estimated 80 percent of farmworkers are undocumented. Farmers here, most of whom voted for Mr. Trump and had expected him to protect them, were in a rage.“I would love to just call a general strike,” said one fuming grower, Vernon, who stood among his acres of plum trees near the town of Kingsburg on a recent sweltering morning. “Let’s just quit feeding America for one week!” Vernon asked that only his first name be used because of the undocumented workers he employs.There have been no raids so far this month in the Central Valley, but Manuel Cunha Jr., the president of the Nisei Farmers League, which represents 500 farmers and more than 75,000 farmworkers, mostly in the region, is on edge. “If we get one Border Patrol raid, we’re screwed,” he said in an interview in his Fresno office. “Because no one is going to go to work in any field or packing house.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump Tariffs Aim to Settle Scores With Countries, No Matter Their Size

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    The president’s tariff announcements suggest he has not backed away from his initial strategy, where even smaller trading partners will face tariffs.President Trump added on Wednesday to his growing list of countries that would face steep tariffs in the coming weeks if they fail to reach trade agreements with the United States, as he threatens to drag nations large and small into his trade war.On his social media account, the president posted form letters informing countries — including the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Brunei, Libya, Iraq and Algeria — that they should prepare for double-digit tariff rates. Except for the name of the country and the tariff rate, the letters were identical to those he posted on Monday, which targeted 14 nations.Later Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Trump issued another threat to impose a 50 percent tariff on products from Brazil. His letter implied that the higher rate was partly in response to what Mr. Trump described as a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing trial for attempting a coup.Brazil and the other trading partners that Mr. Trump targeted Wednesday join a growing list of countries that will face additional tariffs Aug. 1, including Japan and South Korea. The president’s renewed threats against both large and small trading partners suggests that he is hewing to a global tariff strategy he announced in early April that punishes countries broadly for a variety of trading practices and policies he has deemed unfair.In issuing his threat to Brazil, which was more sharply worded than the previous form letters, Mr. Trump cited the country’s “insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans (as lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to U.S. Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market).”As part of his attack, Mr. Trump also directed his trade representative, Jamieson Greer, to begin investigating Brazil’s digital trade policies, which could result in further tariffs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump Takes Reins on U.S. Economy With Policy Bill and Tariffs Renewal

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    His expensive tax cuts have been signed into law. His steep global tariffs are taking clearer shape. And his twin campaigns to deregulate government and deport immigrants are well underway.With the major components of his agenda now coming into focus, President Trump has already left an indelible mark on the U.S. economy. The triumphs and turbulence that may soon arise will squarely belong to him.Not even six months into his second term, Mr. Trump has forged ahead with the grand and potentially disruptive economic experiment that he first previewed during the 2024 campaign. His actions in recent weeks have staked the future of the nation’s finances — and its centuries-old trading relationships — on a belief that many economists’ most dire warnings are wrong.Last week, the president enacted a sprawling set of tax cuts that he believes to be the ingredients for rapid economic growth, even as fiscal experts warned that the law may injure the poor while putting the U.S. government on a risky new fiscal path.Then, on Monday, Mr. Trump began to issue his latest round of tariff threats, insisting that “we’re done” negotiating as economists warned about a potential surge in consumer prices that could arise from taxing imports.The White House also proceeded with its aggressive and legally contested plans to eliminate scores of federal regulations and deport millions of migrants. The immigration crackdown, in particular, could come to the detriment of many sectors, like agriculture, that rely heavily on foreign labor, experts believe.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump Didn’t Always Tout Tariffs. Now He Sees Them as a Way to Flex Power.

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    Instead of treating tariffs as part of a broader trade policy, President Trump views them as a valuable weapon he can wield on the world stage.President Trump’s allies often describe him as a 40-year devotee of tariffs who, stymied by his first-term advisers, is finally able to put his long-held economic theory into practice.But while Mr. Trump spoke about tariffs off and on before becoming a presidential candidate, he usually described his broader grievance about trade in terms of other countries or companies “ripping off” the United States. It is since Mr. Trump became a candidate in 2015 that he has talked about tariffs in earnest, describing them as a tool that he could easily deploy to rebalance the country’s economic footing.“We are going to have 10 percent to 20 percent tariffs on foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years, we are going to charge them 10 percent to 20 percent to come in and take advantage of our country because that is what they have been doing,” Mr. Trump said in August 2024, one of many comments he made in that race emphasizing he would impose sweeping tariffs if he won, far beyond those in his first term.Mr. Trump’s latest retreat this week from his own self-imposed tariff deadlines underscores the challenge he has faced in treating tariffs as a quick-fix — a tool that he asserts will bring in lots of money for the country while swiftly resetting trade relationships.A review of Mr. Trump’s comments about tariffs over the decades shows he has often been fairly vague on the topic, and only more recently came to describe them as the centerpiece of his approach to trade.Far more frequent and durable has been Mr. Trump’s repeated refrain that other countries are turning the United States into “suckers.” His references to tariffs often came as part of his description of a feeling of national injury that became common as the country’s manufacturing base began eroding. That attentiveness to trade as an issue, even absent a cohesive policy plan, helped Mr. Trump win in 2016.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    The Businessman Grateful for Trump’s Tariffs

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    A small company in northern Mexico had faced steep competition from China in making straps, plugs, fasteners, grommets, zip ties and clamps. Now, U.S. tariffs have driven a spike in his business.Jorge H. Martínez, the owner of a small Mexican company near the U.S. border, has seen how President Trump’s threats of steep tariffs have upended markets, bent geopolitics and thrown businesses into uncertainty.He’s thrilled about it.As much of Mexico’s business world worried over the nightmare outcomes that tariffs could cause, Mr. Martínez saw an opportunity.“In a crisis, if you’re prepared, you win,” Mr. Martínez, 40, said as he sat in his office above the hum and clank of machines spitting out tiny plastic parts by the dozen. “Truth is, this whole thing benefited us.”He is the chief executive of Micro Partes, which has about 50 employees in the industrial city of Monterrey. They create a tiny universe of straps, plugs, fasteners, grommets, zip ties and clamps — objects that are critical to many production lines but that most people don’t give a second thought to, if they notice them at all. The products include a hollow ring to protect cables as they pass through walls, a lid to cover the heads of the washing-machine screws, and buttons to hold advertisements on shopping carts.Some of the parts that Micro Partes makes. The company used to compete with Chinese suppliers that sold similar products at low prices.Mr. Martínez has long faced steep competition from China, where many of these parts are made cheaply.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 138 Shares28 Views

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    Trump Revives Trade War, Threatening Steep Aug. 1 Tariffs on Allies

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    President Trump said Japan and South Korea would face tariffs of 25 percent unless they reached an agreement with the United States. Other countries received notice of higher levies.President Trump revived his trade war threat with more than a dozen countries on Monday, telling them that they would face steep tariffs on their exports as of Aug. 1 unless they agreed to trade deals by then. The president targeted two of America’s closest foreign allies, Japan and South Korea, as well as Malaysia, Indonesia and South Africa.Mr. Trump also officially extended the timeline for dozens of other countries to agree to deals with the United States or face tariffs, signing an executive order on Monday afternoon delaying the stiff levies that were supposed to snap back on July 9.Markets dropped as investors assessed the prospect of more trade conflict with some of America’s closest allies and largest trading partners. The S&P 500 ended Monday down 0.8 percent. Other major indexes also fell.In nearly identical letters to the president of South Korea and the prime minister of Japan, Mr. Trump wrote that the countries would face a 25 percent tax on their exports next month, adding that “we have decided to move forward with you, but only with more balanced, and fair, TRADE.”“Please understand that the 25 percent number is far less than what is needed to eliminate the trade deficit disparity we have with your country,” he wrote.A few hours later, the president posted several more letters to social media detailing tariff rates that products from other foreign countries would face: 40 percent for exports from Myanmar and Laos, 30 percent for exports from South Africa and 25 percent for exports from Malaysia. He quickly followed with new tariff rates for Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia and other countries. More

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    Here Are Trump’s New Tariff Threats

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    President Trump has told 14 countries that they will face tariffs of at least 25 percent on Aug. 1 if they don’t reach agreements by then.President Trump informed Japan, South Korea and 12 other nations on Monday that they will face tariffs of at least 25 percent starting Aug. 1 unless they can broker new trade deals imminently with the United States.The newly announced rates, communicated in letters to those nations’ leaders and posted on social media, marked a revival of Mr. Trump’s trade brinkmanship, with additional threats targeting other nations expected throughout the week.The new tariff rates essentially replace the sky-high duties that the president announced in April. At the time, Mr. Trump quickly paused his so-called reciprocal levies for 90 days, mostly so his administration could broker favorable trade agreements around the globe.But the White House has made minimal progress on what an official once described as a campaign to strike “90 deals in 90 days,” with the deadline set to lapse on Wednesday.To buy more time, Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Monday that extended his initial pause, while sending notes to countries informing them about the new taxes on their exports to the United States.His initial battery of letters went to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Tunisia and Thailand.Both Japan and South Korea, which each represent about 4 percent of U.S. imports, face 25 percent tariffs on Aug. 1. Thailand would see a rate of 36 percent and Bangladesh 35 percent.Mr. Trump also threatened to raise rates even higher if any of the countries sought to retaliate with import taxes of their own or tried to evade the U.S. duties by shipping through other nations.In the coming days, the White House is expected to send additional letters to other countries, some of which will be subject to the tariffs outlined by the president in April. More

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    Trump Keeps Foreign Countries on Edge as Tariff Deadline Nears

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    The president is again threatening higher tariff rates on a dozen foreign nations, as a deadline elapses this week for making trade deals.President Trump is set to rekindle economic pressure on America’s trading partners this week, as a deadline for making trade deals elapses and the administration begins notifying countries of the tariffs they’ll face on exports to the United States.For 90 days, the administration has been trying to reach trade pacts with dozens of countries in an attempt to lower economic barriers to U.S. exports. In April, the president imposed stiff global tariffs on nearly every trading partner but paused most of those levies until July 9 to try and win concessions.So far, the United States has reached only two preliminary trade deals, with Britain and with Vietnam, which are scant on details and leave much to be worked out.More such limited trade deals could be announced in the coming days, including an initial trade framework with India. Countries that have so far agreed to trade deals, even preliminary handshake agreements, have qualified for lower tariff rates than what Mr. Trump threatened in April.Other countries that have not reached agreements are expected to face sharply higher tariffs, although the president and his advisers have recently implied that the tariffs may not go into effect until Aug. 1, rather than on July 9.Still, with tariffs threatening to strain diplomatic relations and bring some global commerce to a halt, a delay of a few weeks may not to do much to soothe many foreign governments. It could also further unsettle financial markets, which revolted when Mr. Trump initially announced his global tariffs, a meltdown that prompted Mr. Trump to institute the 90-day delay.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Bessent Says He Expects Trade Deals by This Week’s Deadline

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    But the Treasury secretary also said that some countries working toward agreements with the United States could have until Aug. 1.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he was confident the Trump administration would be able to reach deals with some countries before the deadline on Tuesday for steep tariffs would take effect.But he also held out the possibility that the deadline could be extended to Aug. 1 for countries seeking to reach deals.“There’s a lot of foot dragging on the other side, and so I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” Mr. Bessent said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added, “We’re going to be very busy over the next 72 hours.”In addition, Mr. Bessent said that the administration would begin informing countries about the tariff rates they could face if they did not quickly reach trade agreements with the United States.“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that, if you don’t move things along, then, on Aug. 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Mr. Bessent said. “So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly.”Mr. Bessent’s comments came just three days before a 90-day pause on Mr. Trump’s steepest levies is set to expire. Mr. Trump first mentioned the possible Aug. 1 extension in comments to reporters on Air Force One on Friday night.“It’s not a new deadline,” Mr. Bessent said Sunday. “We are saying this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice.”Mr. Trump announced his so-called reciprocal tariffs, in early April, only to suspend them shortly after, when the threat of the steep duties roiled global financial markets. So far, the United States has reached preliminary trade deals with Vietnam and the United Kingdom, far from Trump’s goal of 90 deals in 90 days.Mr. Bessent said he was confident that the administration would be able to reach deals within the next few days once the letters were sent out. “We have the leverage in this situation,” he said. More