Oil Traders Shun China-Made Ships for US Flows on Trump Levies
Oil traders looking to book ships that call at US ports are trying to avoid Chinese-built vessels, after President Donald Trump proposed hefty fees on them in a bid to revive American shipbuilding.
Charterers booking ships to haul cargoes that will load from, or discharge at, US terminals are asking for vessels that weren't constructed in Chinese yards, according to people involved in the market. The requests are being made when traders have alternatives, such as South Korean-built tankers, the people said, declining to be identified discussing sensitive commercial matters.
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San Francisco Chronicle
35 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Can schools like St. Bonaventure and FIU thrive in college athletics without the big bucks?
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — As schools prepare to begin sharing millions with their athletes, there is no avoiding the reality that if you're not a Power Four school, you're at a disadvantage. With major conferences running the show, St. Bonaventure and Florida International don't even have a seat at the table. FIU and St. Bonaventure aren't necessarily worried about a head-to-head fight over top players with deeper-pocketed schools. The priority has become survival and finding a balance between athletics ambition and financial sustainability. Adrian Wojnarowski spoke candidly about the challenges he faced during his inaugural season as the general manager of the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team. Solidifying a recruiting class that would improve the team and embrace the school culture was not easy. After July 1, when lucrative paychecks will pretty much become mandatory for blue-chip prospects, it's not going to get any easier. With some 2,000 undergraduate students, the Bonnies are outnumbered in resources and revenue when competing even against other Atlantic 10 teams like VCU, Dayton, and Saint Louis. Wojnarowski, ESPN's former lead NBA reporter, thinks he has identified a formula for locating the ideal prospect. To him, St. Bonaventure is a landing spot for international players adjusting to a new culture and college life, transfers who may have fallen short at a high major and need development, or those looking to move up to a mid-major. He admits the school upstate New York could be a pit stop on a player's journey. 'I want them to see that our environment, our coaching staff, our small school, especially for international players coming over, what I really try to sell is your adjustment to American college life," he said at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and Affiliates Convention this week. 'I think for a lot of kids, it's easier in a school with 1,900 students than a school with 19,000. And you'll come to have two great years with us, and then you'll probably end up at schools with 19,000 or 29,000,' he said. "And so you're selling, for us, we're your first step on the way to somewhere else, or the other one to me is we're the place to come when you've got to get the basketball right.' If the plan goes awry and a recruit slips away, one thing the former NBA insider refuses to do is blame the money. 'Fundraising is hard, creating new revenue streams is hard, but the one thing that I try to stay away from with us is not saying, 'Oh, we didn't get him because they offered more money,' and using that as a crutch all the time. I really examine when we lost a player,' Wojnarowski said. 'Are we being honest with ourselves in saying that we did everything outside the economics to make our case to this person?' FIU has more than 40,000 undergraduates, but the athletic department is using a similar philosophy, pinpointing advantages and opportunities to come from the settlement instead of the negatives. Similar to St. Bonaventure, FIU doesn't expect to come close to the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap available over the next year. For a competitive edge, unlocking new revenue streams is fundamental. 'To compete, from a revenue standpoint, you have to think outside the box of your conventional fundraising and targeting donors,' senior associate athletic director Joseph Corey said. 'That's why you're looking at concerts being held at different venues, different festivals to generate extra revenue to bring in, different revenue streams, and not just fundraising going after the same donors. You've got to go beyond that in order to be able to compete.' Being based in Miami has its perks. Proximity to celebrities is one of them. In August, FIU secured a 10-year partnership with Pitbull, the singer and rapper who coins himself 'Mr. 305.' 'We did the partnership with Pitbull – Pitbull Stadium. He's on tour, but part of the deal was that he would be collaborating with us and doing events for us from a fundraising standpoint," Corey said. "You've got to think outside the box. Especially in a city like Miami, it's about the experience too.' Schools unlocking creative revenue streams is something that can be expected. FIU competes in Conference USA alongside teams like Liberty, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State. The football team went 3-5 in 2024, finishing sixth in the conference. The men's basketball team finished last with a 3-15 conference record. It's hard to sell donors on losing teams. 'Let's call it what it is, FIU's not going to be able to keep up with the Alabama's of the world, the Georgia's, Michigan, or Texas, but what can we do? We can be the best in our conference. That is our goal,' Corey said. 'Let's be the best in our conference and really compete there because once you're at the top of your conference, that means more revenue in other areas. Everyone wants to donate to a winner.'
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Brazil's Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies liable for user content
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The majority of justices on Brazil's Supreme Court have agreed to make social media companies liable for illegal postings by their users. Gilmar Mendes on Wednesday became the sixth of the court's 11 justices to vote to open a path for companies like Meta, X and Microsoft to be sued and pay fines for content published by their users. Voting is ongoing but a simple majority is all that is needed for the measure to pass. The ruling will come after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned of possible visa restrictions against foreign officials allegedly involved in censoring American citizens. The only dissenting Brazilian justice so far is André Mendonça and his vote was made public last week. The social media proposal would become law once voting is finished and the result is published. But Brazil's Congress could still pass another law to reverse the measure. The current legislation states social media companies can only be held responsible in those cases if they do not remove hazardous content after a court order. Mauricio Savarese, The Associated Press
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Rubio vowed to revoke Chinese student visas. Trump now says Chinese students are welcome
In a potential pullback after U.S. officials said two weeks ago that they would 'aggressively' revoke visas for Chinese students enrolled at U.S. universities and increase vetting of student visa applicants, President Trump said Wednesday that he had come to an agreement with China on students 'using our colleges and universities.' The president offered no details on the students in the announcement posted to his Truth Social platform as part of a brief outline of a trade deal with China that he said was pending approval by each side. But the decision appeared to relax a clampdown on America's second-largest international student group that has been under increased scrutiny since May 28, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the U.S. would broadly revoke Chinese student visas and target individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or who studied unnamed 'critical fields.' On Wednesday, Trump said that having Chinese students at U.S schools 'has always been good with me!' 'Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me. Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. Relationship is excellent! Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Trump said in his all-caps post. The State Department did not respond to a request for clarification on the visa matter, including the question of whether Rubio's comments still applied. The May policy to aggressively cancel Chinese student visas has roiled higher education nationally and in California. Universities depend on the full tuition fees paid by international students and see Chinese and other foreign students as integral to their academic operations and missions to foster diverse campuses. The May 28 Rubio announcement — and now the potential relaxing of it — has exacerbated growing uncertainty at universities, which have been dealt a barrage of actions under Trump, including grant cancellations, federal investigations into alleged antisemitism and investigations into admissions policies. International students have especially been in the crosshairs. There have been thousands of student visa cancellations over the spring for violations as minor as speeding tickets and attempted deportations of pro-Palestinian college activists who are international students. There is a pause of new student visa application appointments while the State Department increases security vetting procedures, including probing social media profiles for pro-Palestinian language and imagery. Trump's new travel ban, which went into place Monday, has also led some universities to advise incoming students from countries on the list to defer enrollment. Of the 1.1 million foreign students enrolled at U.S. universities, roughly 277,000 are Chinese — second only to Indians. The 51,000 Chinese nationals in California make up more than a third of the state's nearly 141,000 foreign students. The University of California has 17,832 Chinese students across all of its campuses. Locally, USC has nearly 6,000 and UCLA has 2,208. A UC spokesperson declined to comment on Trump's social media post and pointed The Times to the university's prior statement on Chinese student visa restrictions that said it was 'concerned about the U.S. State Department's announcement to revoke visas of Chinese students.' 'Chinese students, as well as all our international students, scholars, faculty and staff, are vital members of our university community and contribute greatly to our research, teaching, patient care and public service mission,' the statement said. A USC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. While there are no data pointing to widespread security concerns over Chinese students and scholars, there have been incidents in recent years. This week, the U.S. said it arrested a Chinese scientist who was arriving in Detroit to pursue research at the University of Michigan. The scientist, from University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, is accused of illegally smuggling biological material related to worms that require a government permit. In an interview, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), a member of the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce, called the potential Trump shift on Chinese student visas an example of 'TACO,' a phrase some Democrats are using to say 'Trump always chickens out,' reflecting the president's policy shifts. Republicans have argued that the president's shifts are a negotiation strength. 'In allowing Chinese students to come here, it's part of the importance of the United States being a draw for students from everywhere,' Takano said. 'But his overreach, his interference in the operations of universities ... endangers the higher education enterprise of America.' There is also political value to the U.S. in having Chinese students here, experts said. 'For the United States, bringing Chinese students [here] isn't just about educating them in subjects like math and science — it is about educating them in American values, like democracy and freedom of speech,' said Emily Baum, an associate professor of modern Chinese history at UC Irvine. 'And the expectation is that either they will stay in the United States because they enjoy life here or take those values back to China and influence the political system.' It could be that some Chinese students are turned off by the vacillations of the Trump administration and decide to stay in China for university, one expert added. Gaurav Khanna, an associate professor of economics at UC San Diego, said that around the year 2000, China began a major campaign to build new universities. Within about half a decade, it had doubled the number of institutions in the country, he said. 'They invested heavily,' Khanna said. 'In some ways, they are well-suited to say, 'Hey, don't risk your future going to a second-tier American university. Why don't you stay back here in China and go to this really good university where ... there is funding for research?''
