Japan Just Caught Up With the Rest of the World
Save
To get John Authers' newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here.
It's not just US exceptionalism that has taken a beating this year. The same can be said for Japan's status as the exception to all economic rules.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Philippines goods to face 19% tariff, Trump says
The US will levy a 19% tax on imports from the Philippines, US President Donald Trump has announced after meeting with the country's president at the White House. Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday that the new tariff was part of a wider pact, in which the Philippines would remove duties on US goods and the two countries would cooperate militarily. "It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal," he wrote on social media, offering no further details about the apparent agreement. The plan, which was not confirmed by the Philippines, would leave the country facing a tax even higher than what Trump had threatened when he first announced sweeping global tariffs in April. At the time, Trump said his goal with instituting tariffs was to push countries to drop policies he saw as unfair to the US. His plans set off a flurry of trade talks with countries around the world. He has since announced a handful of deals, including with the UK, China and Indonesia. But the agreements so far have kept in place high tariffs, with key issues unresolved or unconfirmed by both parties. With Trump now threatening a new round of higher duties to go into effect 1 August, some of America's biggest and most important trade partners, including the European Union and Canada, remain in limbo. As hopes for a deal dim, officials in Europe are increasingly rallying around plans for potential retaliation. In Canada on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that "complex negotiations" were continuing but was noncommittal on the prospect of reaching a deal by Trump deadline next week. "We'll see," he told reporters after meeting with premiers in Ontario. "The Americans objectives are multiple, they change over time ... but what is clear is that the Canadian government will not accept a bad agreement. The objective is not to have an agreement at any cost." Trump's tariff plans sparked widespread financial turmoil when he announced them originally in April, putting forward a plan that would leave the US with its highest duties since the early 1900s. He subsequently suspended some of the plan's most aggressive measures, while leaving in place a universal 10% tariff on most goods and separately hitting certain items, such as cars, copper, steel and aluminium, with higher duties. But in recent weeks, as markets have calmed and the US economy held steady, Trump has returned to plans for higher duties, sending letters to countries outlining plans for new tariffs that he says will go into force on 1 August. In a letter to leaders in the Philippines this month, he had said he would charge a 20% tariff on the country's goods. That was up from 17% rate he had threatened in April. In a statement on Wednesday, the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines said the reduction in the tariff from the most recent rate threatened was "encouraging". "We will continue to find other ways to enhance and deepen our economic partnership," it said. The Philippines is a relatively small trade partner with the US, sending about $14.2bn worth of goods to the America last year. That included car parts, electric machinery, textiles and coconut oil. Meanwhile for companies, the cost of the new tariffs is increasing. General Motors on Tuesday said tariffs had cost it more than $1bn over three months. That followed an earlier disclosure from rival Stellantis, maker of Jeep, which said the measures had cost it €300m (£259.6m, $349.2m). Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
USA Today
15 minutes ago
- USA Today
In new deal with Trump, Columbia will pay millions in fines
The Ivy League school in New York City struck another deal with the Trump administration in an attempt to restore its federal funding. WASHINGTON – Columbia University, in hopes of restoring hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen funding, has struck another deal with the Trump administration, the university announced. The Ivy League school in New York City will pay a massive $200 million fine to the government, as well as some students and faculty, to settle allegations it violated federal civil rights laws and failed to protect members of its Jewish community from discrimination. It will also jointly appoint an independent monitor to update the federal government on its compliance with new policies, and pay an additional $21 million fine to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agreement marks the second major concession from the prestigious university in its protracted negotiations with the government. Despite the drawn-out talks, and many compromises on Columbia's part, the Trump administration has yet to reroute hundreds of millions of dollars back to the school. Columbia's acting president, Claire Shipman, said in a statement that the agreement preserves the university's independence and will restore research funding on which the school depends. 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' she said. 'The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track.' The announcement also comes after the Trump administration pushed the University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League school, to agree to a series of demands related to preventing transgender athletes from competing. Similarly, that deal was reached to restore massive amounts of federal money. Read more: Lia Thomas, Title IX and $175M: Why Penn struck a deal with Trump Meanwhile, Columbia is facing a separate battle over its accreditation status, which the school needs in order to distribute federal financial aid dollars to students. The Education Department has pushed Columbia's accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, to reevaluate its standing. Though Middle States has placed the university on warning, such a step would be virtually unprecedented, and a long and complex process would have to be followed before its accreditation could be revoked. Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @
New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
Europe won't pay its NATO share, COVID tied to bioweapons work and other commentary
Defense beat: Europe Won't Pay Its NATO Share President Trump's call for Europe to pay 5% of GDP for its defense has been much 'ballyhooed,' notes Gerard Baker at The Wall Street Journal, but the 'math agreed to by all members except Spain is on closer inspection a little fuzzy.' While some Euro nations such as Poland and Finland are 'serious about their defense,' Germany, France and Britain 'face economic, demographic, political and cultural challenges' that will make real change unlikely because the 'fiscal positions of most European countries' are simply too ugly for them to pay more. 'Budget restraint' in Labour-run Britain is impossible to impose, and European 'climate policies are blowing even larger holes in budgets.' Only 'economic growth' can get these countries on the right footing to afford to pay more for their own defense. Foreign desk: COVID Tied to Bioweapons Work 'A bioweapons expert likely to head the Trump administration's top Pentagon post for countering weapons of mass destruction has charged in a new report that the Covid-19 pandemic was probably the result of a military-research-related accident in a Chinese laboratory, and that work at that lab may have been part of research China was conducting in possible violation of a treaty banning biological weapons,' reports City Journal's Judith Miller. The report, by Robert Kadlec, 'adds to the growing consensus' that COVID 'was the result of a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and not a naturally occurring outbreak of a deadly virus originating in animals.' But the report is strong grounds for Team Trump to start 'prioritizing U.S. intelligence efforts aimed at Chinese bioweapons research.' Mideast journal: Iran's Long Road Back to Nukes The '19 senior Iranian nuclear scientists' Israel assassinated during the 12-Day War had 'nuclear knowledge spanning decades' — much 'centered on explosives, nuclear coding, and ballistic missiles,' cheers Adam Kredo at The Washington Free Beacon, citing a new intelligence assessment by a leading nonproliferation organization. The scientists' 'average age was 60,' suggesting 'Israel targeted the most experienced crop of engineers.' Plus, the Jewish state 'successfully destroyed' Iran's nuclear 'technological blueprints.' Indeed, the attacks 'evaporated decades of nuclear know-how, striking at the heart of Tehran's weapons program in a way kinetic attacks could not.' The result: 'Recovering may be far more difficult and take far longer.' From the right: Poll Flags Border Ignorance A new CBS poll suggests 'significant numbers of Americans, even now, are not fully informed' about immigration under President Trump, marvels the Washington Examiner's Byron York. The poll found 56% of respondents disapprove of Trump's immigration approach, but it also asked a factual question: whether Trump's policies are making the number of migrants crossing the border 'go up, go down, or not change.' Only 64% 'gave the obviously correct response — Trump has made the number of migrants crossing' go down. 'And 8% said crossings have actually gone up, which was crazy wrong.' This reveals a 'lack of knowledge' of basic facts and 'could tell us something about the answers to all the other immigration questions in the CBS poll, and perhaps in other polls as well.' Education beat: Don't Use AI To 'Teach' The Computer Lab 'was that magical room' where students could experience 'the wonders of the Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Mavis Beacon,' reminisces Understanding America's Oren Cass. Back then, computers 'did not teach, they were a subject to be taught.' Yet 'the irresistible logic of technophilia determined that every child needed a computer' to 'compete in the global economy of tomorrow.' Today, the same is being said of AI: 'All students need to know how to use AI,' and 'AI should be integrated throughout the educational experience.' Trouble is, AI 'will offer counterproductive shortcuts for not only unengaged students, but also their teachers.' Kids need to understand that 'learning is not a technological function' but 'a habit of mind.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
