U.S.-China agree on framework to implement Geneva trade consensus after second day of London talks
The U.S. and China have reached consensus on trade, representatives from both sides said following a second day of high-level talks in London, according to an NBC transcript.
"We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
That echoed comments from the Chinese side, shared via a translator.
Lutnick said he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will head back to Washington, D.C., to "make sure President Trump approves" the framework. If Xi also approves it, then "we will implement the framework," Lutnick said.
Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters he was headed back to the U.S. in order to testify before Congress on Wednesday.
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Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Catastrophic': Rural public media stations brace for GOP cuts
Public media stations around the country are anxiously awaiting the results of Thursday's House vote that could claw back $1.1 billion from public broadcasting, with leaders warning that the cuts present an existential crisis for public media's future. For smaller stations — many of which are in rural parts of the country — the funding makes up critical chunks of their yearly operating budgets. Many of them are being forced to plan how they'll survive the cuts, if they can at all, public media executives say. Local leaders say the cuts would not only deprive their audiences of news and educational programming, but could also lead to a breakdown of the emergency broadcast message infrastructure that is critical for communities with less reliable internet or cellular service. 'That would mean an almost immediate disappearance of almost half our operating budget,' David Gordon, executive director of KEET in Eureka, California, said of the rescission proposal. 'Assuming [KEET] would continue, it would be in a very, very different form than it is right now.' The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity that distributes federal money to public media stations via grants, said about 45 percent of public radio and TV stations it provided grants to in 2023 are in rural areas. Nearly half of those rural stations relied on CPB funding for 25 percent or more of their revenue. But that funding is being targeted for a vote as part of a push from President Donald Trump that also aims to cut $8.3 billion in foreign aid. The rescissions package would cut CPB funding already approved by Congress for the next two fiscal years. The proposal, which only needs approval from a simple majority, must pass both chambers of Congress within 45 legislative days from the day it's introduced. The House is set to vote on Thursday. If the House and Senate follow their current schedules, the deadline to vote on the cuts is July 18. If the deadline passes and Congress has not approved the cuts, the White House will be required to spend the money — but funding could still be cut in future budgets. If approved, the package would codify a series of cuts first picked out by the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year. Both Trump and Elon Musk, former head of DOGE, have repeatedly accused NPR and PBS of bias against Republicans. In 2023, the Musk-owned social media site X labeled NPR as "state-affiliated media," falsely suggesting the organization produces propaganda. Trump regularly suggested cutting federal funding for public media during his first term. But his second term has brought increased hostility to mainstream media outlets, including the Associated Press, Voice of America, ABC News and CBS News. Approximately 19 percent of NPR member stations count on CPB funding for at least 30 percent of their revenue — a level at which stations would be unlikely to make up if Congress approves the rescissions, according to an NPR spokesperson. Ed Ulman, CEO of Alaska Public Media, predicts over a third of public media stations in Alaska alone would be forced to shut down 'within three to six months' if their federal funding disappears. PBS CEO Paula Kerger said in an interview she expects 'a couple dozen stations' to have 'significant' funding problems 'in the very near term' without federal funding. And she believes more could be in long-term jeopardy even if they survive the immediate aftermath of the cuts. 'A number of [stations] are hesitant to say it publicly,' she said. 'I know that some of our stations are very, very worried about the fact that they might be able to keep it pieced together for a short period of time. But for them, it will be existential.' Smaller stations with high dependency on federal funding may be forced into hard choices about where to make cuts. Some stations are considering cutting some of what little full-time staff they have, or canceling some of the NPR and PBS programming they pay to air. Phil Meyer, CEO of Southern Oregon PBS in Medford, Oregon, said his station will have to get creative just to stay afloat. 'If we eliminated all our staff, it still wouldn't save us enough money,' Meyer said. 'It becomes an existential scenario planning exercise where, if that funding does go away, we would have to look at a different way of doing business.' Some rural stations are worried they won't be able to cover the costs to maintain the satellite and broadcast infrastructure used to relay emergency broadcast messages without the federal grants. In remote areas without reliable broadband or internet coverage, public media stations can be the only way for residents to get natural disaster warnings or hear information about evacuation routes. After Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina last year, leaving the region without electricity for days, Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville, North Carolina, provided vital information on road closure and access to drinking water for people using battery-powered and hand-cranked radios. 'I think it's pretty catastrophic,' Sherece Lamke, president and general manager of Pioneer PBS in Granite Falls, Minnesota, said of the potential consequences of losing the 30 percent of her station's budget supplied by CPB. Station managers around the country have made direct pleas to their home congressional delegations in the past year, urging them to protect public broadcasting from the rescission proposal and publicly opposing Trump's executive order calling on CPB to stop providing funding to stations. PBS, NPR and some local stations have sued the Trump administration to block the order. Brian Duggan, general manager of KUNR Public Radio in Reno, Nevada, said he's optimistic about the chances of the House voting down the funding cuts, particularly after talking with his local member of Congress, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), who co-signed a statement opposing cuts to public media on Monday. 'I maintain optimism … based on my conversations with the congressman,' Duggan said. 'I will just hold out hope to see what happens ultimately on the House floor.' Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, whose public media stations are among the most dependent on federal grants in the country, told POLITICO on Wednesday she's concerned about stations in her state and is trying to get the package changed. In the wake of Trump administration pressure, some stations have seen an uptick in grassroots donations. But while larger stations in well-populated metro areas have broader, wealthier donor bases to draw on for additional support, many rural stations can only expect so much help from their community. Some of the stations in rural areas are forced to navigate the added complication of asking for donations from Republican voters as Trump rails against the public media ecosystem. 'We live in a very purple district up here,' Sarah Bignall, CEO and general manager of KAXE in Grand Rapids, Minnesota said. 'If we started kind of doing the push and the fundraising efforts that were done in the Twin Cities, it would be very off-putting to a lot of our listeners.' Increases in donations, sponsors and state funding — only some states fund public broadcasting, and other states are pushing their own cuts to public broadcasting — would be unlikely to cover the full loss of smaller stations with heavy dependence on federal grants. 'It's not like we can just go, you know, 'Let's find a million dollars somewhere else.'' Lamke said. 'If we knew how to do that, we would have.' Longtime public media employees have experience in managing the lack of certainty that comes with the nonprofit funding model. But some said that the federal cuts, along with the White House effort to eliminate the public media model, have made forecasting the future of their stations more difficult than ever. 'I think this is the biggest risk that we've had, certainly in the time that I've been in public broadcasting,' Kruger said. 'And I've been in this business 30 years.' Calen Razor contributed to this report.
Buzz Feed
38 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Small American Business Owners Are Sharing How Tariffs Are Affecting Them
When tariffs on Chinese goods spiked dramatically — peaking at over 100% in some cases before recent reductions — small business owners across America found themselves facing an impossible math problem. From toy designers to computer repair shops, countless entrepreneurs discovered that products they depend on — and that simply aren't made anywhere else — suddenly became prohibitively expensive. When u/toymakerinchina, a manufacturer of indoor playground equipment, asked how US small businesses were handling these dramatic tariff increases, the responses painted a sobering picture of an economy under strain: "Honestly, they're not able to cope. I know two people in separate small businesses in this situation who were running the numbers at 104% yesterday. They're already in a place with not-high margins. They also have to get their product out to distributors and on to end consumers, and there is a markup at each step. They're trying to increase direct-to-consumer sales to get a bit more efficient, but that's really hard. It's more likely they'll go bankrupt unless things get fixed fast. There aren't any American alternatives for the imported supply, and there won't be in the future. They're doomed to fail." "I have a computer repair shop. Literally everything computer-related is made in China, with few exceptions — Taiwan and Mexico, sometimes. New computers are about to get real expensive. This will either surge my business, in which case we'll just lower our margin on parts and maintain labor cost, or people are going to pay out the nose for new computers." "I've just had to place an order for $80,000 worth of equipment to be produced. Specialized gear only made in China. The budget was around $110,000 total. Now maybe $150,000. It will hurt if this level — or worse — is in place when it's ready to be shipped. It will take about three months to fabricate it all. I don't know if I have any way to mitigate this." "Our selling prices are going way up. Our sales volume will suffer because our poorest customers won't be able to afford our product. It's an item for people with disabilities. It's sad." "My sister designs plush toys and runs her own business. She's a small operation, but it's been her full-time gig for almost 10 years. On average, her orders are around 2,000 to 5,000 toys at a time. Her latest order was flat-out cancelled by the supplier. She's completely screwed. There simply isn't a viable alternative company that isn't based in China." "The previous steel and aluminum tariffs from the pandemic were rough. This is on another level. I don't think most people understand how screwed we are. Currently, my suppliers are trying to raise prices slowly. They're playing chicken with each other. They know they can't raise everything overnight, as they're also competing with other suppliers, and they still need to move product in order to maintain cash flow. I've been hoarding lots of inventory in preparation, but how long will it take to move that product if the economy is slow due to overall inflation? Our costs are just one aspect of being in business. If our customers are squeezed from every direction by tariffs on everything, then they don't have cash to purchase things from us. Then toss in some idiotic DOGE nonsense, where you eliminate millions of people from viable employment." "I'm about to close shop after doing it as my exclusive job for 10 years. It's screwed." "I have a $48,000 order that I placed two days ago just before the latest China tariff increase. Haven't paid the deposit yet, and now reassessing the move. Considering 1) reducing the order size just to not have such a large bill come due in two to three months and start seeking other suppliers in lower-tariffed countries or the US — although I would expect that even if we found a US manufacturer, the price would work out to be the same if not higher; 2) keep the order, but start adding a tariff fee to invoices now; 3) do nothing and hope the jerk in charge changes this move before the goods hit customs. We've already negotiated a lower price with our supplier, so not much else to be done there. We just raised our prices for the first time in three years to finally pass along some of the cost increases we've incurred in that time. It looked like we'd finally improve our margins over where they've been the last few years. And now this." "My family runs a restaurant. If our prices for takeout containers and other small disposables skyrocket, we're going to put some behind a price instead of giving them out for free. Currently, a large takeout foam container is 20 cents. If it hits 40 cents or more, we will tack on a 25-to-50-cent fee depending on just how high it actually goes. Please, everyone, understand that a small mom-and-pop style restaurant only runs 3% to 6% pure profit if that — right now, we are at about 4%." "My partner had a bunch of inventory on hand pre-tariff so he's just selling that and not ordering anything for now. And he raised prices because he can. He's pointing out that price increases are due to tariffs to educate his red-leaning customers on what they voted for." "Our wholesale will probably shut down after the last of our inventory is sold. It was a good run of 10 years but the Chinese tariffs will make continuing business impossible." "I am a small business owner — I create medieval and costume artistic wigs from wig bases made in China. I will pass the tariff on to the customer as I have no other choice. The US will never make what I need, and other countries making wigs don't come even close to the quality of wigs that China makes, not to mention the trust I have with my years-long suppliers and whatnot. I have no solution because I feel like even if we find loopholes, they can be 'plugged' overnight by the Trump administration. I wish I could include the sum of what my customer pays on tariffs in my pricing separately. That's not going to happen, I know. I will have way fewer customers, lose competitiveness on international markets, and will have to start a second business on the side. I see all this as very pessimistic and feel sorry for all of us affected in the US as well as China." "We're exhausted. We're exhausted from running the numbers, coming up with a barely workable solution, only to have the goal posts moved and that solution obliterated again and again and again. My entire industry is imploding. Yesterday, my company laid off the entire team except for the founder, who is still trying to pivot and find yet another workable solution in hopes he can bring us all back before we find other, more permanent placements." "I have a couple retail stores, and I've received calls from multiple wholesale companies saying many items will get 20% to 50% price increases. This was before China's retaliatory tariff increase. I just won't stock any items that have increased by 50%, other than extreme cases. Any items that I continue to stock will get price increases slower than how much they got increased by tariffs. It's so that customers won't notice the sudden sharp increase in price and leave my business with a sour taste. I will eventually increase it to match the same profit margin in the end, but I will do it slowly, even if it eats away my profit in the short term, to stay competitive. If this tariff war continues, I would assume many retail stores in my industry, maybe even I, won't be able to stay afloat and will go out of business. My hope is that I can outlast the competition while this tariff craze is going on. I just hope I don't have to let go of my employees." "The tariffs pose a huge threat to my business. I have an art business in the US, and I print my artwork on various art and stationery products. All of my stationery is manufactured in either Canada or China. I also print on various specialty papers that are only manufactured outside of the US. I have done some preparation by buying a year's worth of supplies to continue printing some of my own products, but I will have to discontinue many of my items for the foreseeable future. I am a small business and can't afford to buy products at such high markups. If these tariffs last long, I will be forced to close my business. I am already preparing by looking for a part-time job to supplement the loss of income this will be for me. Plus, my customer base is not wealthy people. Even if I had the savings to afford 104% tariffs, my customers would not." "Many of my materials are imported because US manufacturers charge almost 90% more for a similar sheet of material. So now my competitors and I will have to pay more for the product. Then we will mark it up the same percentage. $50 with a 100% markup meant I sold it for $100, and the company earned $50. Now it's $75 per sheet, and I mark it up to $150, and the company makes $75. We're more profitable. Sure, we may lose a few sales here or there because people can no longer afford to buy a sign for their business or housing development, but during COVID when scarcity drove prices up, we never ended up in a worse position, so I doubt we will here since people need our products, just as I'm sure people need your products." Are you a small business owner dealing with the impact of tariffs, or do you have thoughts on how these policies are affecting the economy? Whether you've witnessed these challenges firsthand, have ideas for solutions, or simply want to share your perspective on what this means for American businesses, drop your thoughts in the comments — or anonymous form — below. Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
Epoch Times
41 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
Former Chinese Military Doctor Leaks CCP Plan to Use Taiwanese Troops as Organ Bank
A former Chinese military doctor, who witnessed the Chinese communist regime's crimes of live organ harvesting, has warned that Beijing has outlined an intent, as well as the equipment and technology, to extract the blood and vital organs of surrendered Taiwanese troops in the event of a Taiwan invasion—in violation of international laws dictating the humane treatment of prisoners of war. Zheng Zhi, a former Chinese military doctor currently living in exile in Canada, traveled to Taiwan to answer audience questions at screenings of the award winning documentary 'State Organs' from June 4–15, which features Zheng's eye-witness account of the regime's forced organ harvesting crimes as a military doctor in China. The documentary, directed by Raymond Zhang, focuses on the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) systemic forced live organ harvesting that primarily targets Falun Gong practitioners in China in its more than two decades long persecution of the faith group that teaches living in accordance to the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The live organs-for-profit industry has become a massive industrial-scale supply chain facilitated by the CCP's extrajudicial powers in China, bringing in a huge amount of money for the regime. Lion Films, the Taiwanese distributor of 'State Organs,' invited Dr. Zheng as a special guest. Zheng and Ming Chu-cheng, an honorary professor of political science at the National Taiwan University, spoke at the post-screening Q&A session after the Taipei screening on June 4. Hsu Chih-chieh, a legislator in the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) who was the main promoter of a legislation to combat and prevent organ harvesting, also came to the event to show support and call for joint efforts to end the atrocities by the CCP. Zheng said he was happy to visit Taiwan and to contribute to protecting it from the CCP. Related Stories 6/10/2025 6/11/2025 'I hope everyone will support the Legislative Yuan in passing the 'Anti-Organ Harvesting Act.' For the sake of the more than 23 million Taiwanese people, I am willing to travel to every region to tell everyone that I hope the evil of organ harvesting will no longer harm Taiwan,' Zheng said. 'The CCP's organ harvesting is real, and it's killing people on a large scale by taking their organs. This is horrific.' Surrendered Taiwanese Soldiers as Potential Organ Bank Zheng revealed that 'the CCP military makes a combat plan against Taiwan every year.' 'Once a war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, the greatest pressure for them will be on logistics support because millions of troops may be mobilized to the front line of the Taiwan Strait,' he said. 'In addition, two to three million logistics personnel will be needed to provide support in order to fight.' He said that from the CCP's view, 'the most difficult part of the logistics to supply the front is the storage, refrigeration, and transportation of blood, as many soldiers will be bleeding or burnt in combat. So blood supply will become the biggest pressure.' For that reason, 'the CCP's military came up with a solution,' Zheng said. 'That is, when attacking Taiwan, they planned to put the surrendered Taiwanese officers and soldiers in detention and draw blood from them and give it to the wounded CCP soldiers, and also take pieces of skin from the Taiwanese soldiers and transplant them to the burnt CCP soldiers.' So if communist China invades Taiwan and the Taiwanese military surrenders, 'the first thing they will face is having their blood taken by the CCP because the Chinese military needs a large amount of blood locally,' Zheng warned of the extent of the CCP's military plans. No Morality, 'No Technical Barriers' Zheng said the regime has turned its back on morality and basic ethics. 'The CCP no longer has any bottom line of how to treat human beings. As long as the Taiwanese military surrenders or they are still alive, they are the best blood supply bank and organ bank for the CCP,' Zheng said. China has 'no technical barriers to harvesting organs from the surrendered Taiwanese troops who are alive,' considering 'current medical technology and the CCP's organ harvesting industry chain,' according to Zheng. 'It is quite easy. It's just a matter of the number of living people to be 'killed on demand,'' Zheng said. He added that the CCP's military, the PLA, has developed modular blood processing equipment, 'including blood testing and blood processing equipment, all of which are placed in containers for easy transportation.' When the CCP starts to invade Taiwan, 'it can be quickly transported to the front battlefield via container trucks, airplanes, etc., and can be set up immediately, just like a 'field hospital,'' Zheng said. Falun Gong practitioners re-enact illegal payment for human organs in Washington on April 19, 2016. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images Professor Ming agreed in the Q&A that 'the bottom line of the CCP's thinking is far lower than we imagined.' 'I just heard Zheng Zhi say a lot of things, which are still beyond my imagination,' he said, referring to the CCP's leaked plan to use surrendered live Taiwanese soldiers as a blood and organ bank in the event of invasion. Ming said that he was shocked after watching 'State Organs' to learn that live organ harvesting is still happening in China. He noted, as Zheng said, that the CCP's organ harvesting crimes are 'killing people on demand.' He said he wants to tell those Taiwanese people who are ready to surrender to the CCP in the hope of saving their lives that this may be the fate that awaits them. Lawyer Chen I-shen told The Epoch Times, responding to the CCP's military plans revealed by Zheng: 'Taiwanese, do you think you will be safe after surrendering to the CCP? Absolutely not!' 'What the Taiwanese can do is to unite and fight against the CCP! Let more people know the truth about the CCP! Only by fighting against the CCP can we protect a democratic and free Taiwan! Only then can there be true peace!' he urged his compatriots. Zhong Yuan contributed to this report.
