Trump Threatens to Impose Sweeping New Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on First Day in Office
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China as one of his first executive orders. The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers.
Trump’s Sharp Tariff Hikes Could Speed up China’s Shift to New Markets and Offshore Factories
YIWU, China (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to sharply raise tariffs on all Chinese imports and close some loopholes Chinese exporters currently use to sell their products more cheaply in the U.S. If enacted, his plans would likely raise prices in America and squeeze sales and profit margins for Chinese exporters. Smaller Chinese companies like those in Yiwu — an eastern Chinese city that is home to the world’s largest wholesale market — are bracing for the impact. Exporters are maneuvering to cope with the potential tariffs by becoming less reliant on the American market and selling more elsewhere. Some are moving production to Southeast Asia and elsewhere to avoid the duties.
Mexico Suggests It Would Impose Its Own Tariffs to Retaliate Against Any Trump Tariffs
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has suggested Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border. Sheinbaum says she is willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said drugs were a U.S. problem. She says “one tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put at risk common businesses,” referring to U.S. automakers that have plants on both sides of the border.
Israel Bombards Central Beirut As Its Leadership Prepares to Vote on Ceasefire With Hezbollah
BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli warplanes have struck central Beirut, and new evacuation warnings have been issued for 20 buildings in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs. Tuesday’s strike leveled a building, and authorities say at least three people were killed. It was not immediately clear if anyone in particular was targeted. Israel says its airstrikes target officials and assets with the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group. The strike in central Beirut came hours before Israel’s security Cabinet was scheduled to vote on a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal aimed at ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Biden Proposes Medicare and Medicaid Cover Costly Weight-Loss Drugs for Millions of Obese Americans
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of obese Americans would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning. The proposal, which would not be finalized until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, could cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade. It would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped people shed pounds so quickly that some people have labeled them miracle drugs.
Ukraine Says Russian Attack Sets a New Record for the Number of Drones Used
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian air force says Russia launched 188 drones against most regions of Ukraine in a nighttime blitz, describing it as a record number of drones deployed in a single attack. It said Tuesday that most of the drones were intercepted, but apartment buildings and critical infrastructure such as the national power grid were damaged. No casualties were immediately reported in the 17 targeted regions. Russia has been hammering civilian areas of Ukraine with increasingly heavy drone, missile and glide bomb attacks since the middle of the year. The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, issued a rare official acknowledgement of its assets being hit on its own soil by U.S.-made longer-range missiles that the U.S. recently authorized Ukraine to use.
Presidents Have Used Immigration ‘Parole’ Since the 1950s. Now It Could Disappear Under Trump
MIAMI (AP) — Cuba’s at one of its lowest points since the 1959 revolution. Gangs control the streets of Haiti’s capital. Nicaragua’s president has imprisoned protesters. Venezuelans suffer severe shortages and one of the world’s highest inflation rates. President Joe Biden let in half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans using a tool known as humanitarian parole. It’s been used for seven decades for people who can’t use normal immigration routes. President-elect Donald Trump appears certain to dismantle it, saying during his campaign that he would end the ‘outrageous abuse of parole.’ Through a variety of programs including parole, Biden formed a giant group of people with tenuous legal status whose protections now could disappear with the stroke of a pen.
Protesters Demanding Imran Khan’s Release March on Pakistan’s Capital. At Least 6 People Are Killed
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Supporters seeking the release of imprisoned Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan have broken through a ring of shipping containers blocking off the capital. They are battling security forces Tuesday despite a government threat to respond with gunfire. Six people have died in the violence. Thousands of security forces have poured into central Islamabad in an attempt to quell pro-Khan protests that have gripped the capital and its surrounding areas since Sunday. The popular politician has been in jail for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated. Authorities say only courts can order his release.
Proposals to Repeal No-Fault Divorce Cause Concern Even As Efforts Stall
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Warnings have been popping up on social media urging women who might be considering divorce to “pull the trigger” while they still can ever since President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance won the election. While Trump hasn’t championed overhauling the country’s divorce laws, Vance did lament that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others. Yet despite concerns, even those who want to make divorces harder to get say they don’t expect big, swift changes. There is not a national coordinated effort underway. And states determine their own divorce laws, so national leaders can’t change policy.
New Rule Allows HIV-Positive Organ Transplants
People with HIV who need a kidney or liver transplant will be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV. That’s according to a new rule announced Tuesday by U.S. health officials. Previously, such transplants could be done only as part of research studies. The new rule takes effect Wednesday. It’s expected to shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status, by increasing the pool of available organs. The practice is supported by a decade of research, during which 500 transplants of kidneys and livers from HIV-positive donors have been done in the U.S.
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