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Polls show falling US support for Trump's deportations

Polls show falling US support for Trump's deportations

Straits Times2 days ago
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More than half of Americans polled by CBS News found that US President Donald Trump's administration was targeting migrants who do not threaten public safety.
Polls released on July 20 showed falling support among Americans for US President Donald Trump's hardline measures against illegal immigration, as the Republican president celebrated six months back in power.
Mr Trump won last year's election in part with promises to
launch a historic deportation drive , riling up his base with exaggerated claims of mass violence committed by undocumented migrants, whom he referred to as 'savages' and 'animals.'
Polls from both CNN and CBS show that he has lost majority support for his deportation approach.
55 per cent of respondents feel the raids – frequently seen online in viral videos of masked, unidentified agents seizing people off the street – have gone too far, CNN said.
This was up 10 per cent from a similar poll in February, shortly after Mr Trump took office.
A majority – 57 per cent – said they oppose plans for construction of mass detention facilities, with only 26 pe cent supporting the idea, CNN said.
A CBS News poll found that 56 per cent of Americans believe Mr Trump's administration is targeting migrants who do not represent a threat to public safety, up from 47 per cent last month.
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According to the poll, only 49 per cent of Americans approve of Mr Trump's immigration policies, down from 54 per cent last month and 59 per cent in February.
Support remains nearly universal among Republicans, however, with 91 per cent in favor of the deportations.
Opposition among independents is nonetheless at 59 per cent and among Democrats at 86 per cent.
Mr Trump marked the six-month mark of his second presidency by heading out to his golf club in Virginia, near Washington, and posting on social media that the period was 'being hailed as one of the most consequential periods of any President.'
'Six months is not a long time to have totally revived a major Country,' he wrote on Truth Social.
'One year ago our Country was DEAD, with almost no hope of revival,' he said, adding that now the US was the 'most respected Country anywhere in the World.'
In keeping with other surveys, the CBS News poll found Mr Trump's overall approval rating is underwater. Currently only 42 per cent of Americans approve of his job, compared to 53 per cent in February. AFP
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US, China to discuss tariff deadline extension as Trump reaches Philippines deal, Money News
US, China to discuss tariff deadline extension as Trump reaches Philippines deal, Money News

AsiaOne

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US, China to discuss tariff deadline extension as Trump reaches Philippines deal, Money News

WASHINGTON — US and Chinese officials will meet in Stockholm next week to discuss an extension to the deadline for negotiating a trade deal, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday (July 22) as President Donald Trump announced a deal with the Philippines and released terms of a previous deal with Indonesia. "I think trade is in a very good place with China," Bessent told Fox Business Network's Mornings With Maria programme. He added that the meetings with his Chinese counterparts would take place next Monday and Tuesday with discussions over rebalancing the US-China trade relationship. After Bessent announced the Stockholm meetings, Trump announced a new 19 per cent tariff rate for goods from the Philippines following a visit to the White House by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Trump said there would be no Philippines tariffs on US goods. Later, the Trump administration confirmed the same 19 per cent tariff rate for Indonesia, down from an initial 32 per cent, as it released terms of a deal reached last week that calls for Indonesia to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers on most US goods. 'Mutual understanding' In a post on X, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson welcomed the US-China talks that his country will host next week, saying they were important for the global economy. "It is positive that both countries wish to meet in Sweden to seek mutual understanding," Kristersson said. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington said Beijing and Washington had finalised implementation details for a consensus on trade reached by Trump and President Xi Jinping. "Please stay tuned for further developments," the spokesperson added, without elaborating. Since mid-May, Bessent has met twice with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Geneva and London. The pair sought to work out and refine a temporary trade truce that dialled back duelling triple-digit retaliatory tariffs that threatened to cut off all trade between the world's two largest economies. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang also participated in those talks. So far, Beijing has agreed to end its export ban on rare earth metals and magnets to the US Washington agreed to restart shipments to China of semiconductor design software and production materials, as well as commercial aircraft engines and other goods. The sides set a 90-day deadline to resolve deeper issues, including US complaints about China's state-led and subsidised export-driven economic model that has created excess manufacturing capacity, flooding world markets with cheap goods. China denies that it subsidises its industries and attributes their export success to innovation. Tariffs could snap back to 145 per cent on the US side and 125 per cent on the Chinese side without a deal or negotiating extension. "We'll be working out what is likely an extension" at the Stockholm talks, Bessent said, adding that US officials would discuss other issues, including reducing China's over-reliance on manufacturing and exports. "Hopefully we can see the Chinese pull back on some of this glut of manufacturing that they're doing and concentrate on building a consumer economy," Bessent said. [[nid:720228]] Bessent's deputy, Michael Faulkender, told Bloomberg Television that the discussions would touch on Chinese export controls of rare earths, access to markets and the overall tariff rate. "There is enormous space for us to talk about what for decades has been practises by the Chinese government that give them unfair advantages in the global marketplace," he said. Russian oil sanctions Bessent said he also wants to issue warnings to China about continuing to buy sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil and China's efforts to aid Russia's war against Ukraine. Bessent said there was bipartisan support in the US Senate for legislation aimed at imposing tariffs of 100 per cent on goods from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, namely China and India. "I'm going to be in touch with my European counterparts. The Europeans that have talked a big game about sanctioning Russia, and it'll be very important for the Europeans to also be willing to put on these high levels of secondary tariffs for sanctioned Russian oil." He said the US was poised to announce "a rash of trade deals" with other countries, and Japan could be among these despite an election setback for Japan's ruling party and difficult negotiations. "I wouldn't be surprised if we aren't able to iron out something with Japan pretty quickly," Bessent said. Nonetheless, he said that for most countries, tariffs would "boomerang" back towards April 2 levels from the current 10 per cent, but negotiations on trade deals could continue. [[nid:720233]]

Trump pulls US out of UN cultural agency Unesco for second time, World News
Trump pulls US out of UN cultural agency Unesco for second time, World News

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Trump pulls US out of UN cultural agency Unesco for second time, World News

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Trump says trade deal struck with Japan includes 15% tariff, Money News
Trump says trade deal struck with Japan includes 15% tariff, Money News

AsiaOne

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Trump says trade deal struck with Japan includes 15% tariff, Money News

WASHINGTON/TOKYO — President Donald Trump on Tuesday (July 22) said the US and Japan had struck a trade deal that includes a lower 15 per cent tariff that will be levied on US imports from the country, including autos. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the deal would include US$550 billion (S$703 billion) of Japanese investments in the United States. He also said that Japan would increase market access to American producers of cars, trucks, rice and certain agricultural products, among other items. Trump's post made no mention of easing tariffs on Japanese motor vehicles, which account for more than a quarter of all the country's exports to the United States and are subject to a 25 per cent tariff. But NHK reported that the deal lowers the auto tariff to 15 per cent, citing a Japanese government official. "This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan," Trump said on the social media platform. Japan is the most significant of the clutch of deals Trump has struck so far, with two-way trade in goods between the two superpowers totaling nearly $230 billion in 2024, and Japan running a trade surplus of nearly $70 billion. Japan is the fifth-largest US trading partner in goods, US Census Bureau data show. The announcement sent stocks in Japan higher, led by big gains in automakers as Honda, Toyota and Nissan all gained six per cent or more, and US equity index futures gained ground. The yen strengthened against the dollar. Reuters could not immediately confirm the elements of the deal announced by Trump, and details were scant. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for additional details. Speaking early on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he had received an initial report from his trade negotiator in Washington but declined to comment on the specifics of the negotiation. Ishiba is under intense political pressure in Japan, where the ruling coalition was set back by losing control of the upper house in an election on Sunday. Ishiba said he couldn't say how a trade deal would affect his decision on whether to step down from office until he saw the details. 'Mission complete' Trump's announcement followed a meeting with Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, at the White House on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. "#Mission Complete," Akazawa wrote on X. Kazutaka Maeda, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute, said that "with the 15 per cent tariff rate, I expect the Japanese economy to avoid recession". The deal was "a better outcome" for Japan than it potentially could have been, given Trump's earlier tariff threats, said Kristina Clifton, a senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "Steel, aluminium, and also cars are important exports for Japan, so it'll be interesting to see if there's any specific carve-outs for those," Clifton said. Autos are a huge part of US-Japan trade, but is almost all one way to the US from Japan, a fact that has long irked Trump. In 2024, the US imported more than $55 billion of vehicles and automotive parts while just over $2 billion were sold into the Japanese market from the US. Speaking later at the White House, Trump also expressed fresh optimism that Japan would form a joint venture with Washington to support a gas pipeline in Alaska long sought by his administration. Japanese officials had initially doubted the practicality of the project but warmed to it — and a range of other investments dear to Trump — as a potential incentive to resolve trade disputes with Washington. Trump aides are feverishly working to close trade deals ahead of an Aug 1 deadline that Trump has repeatedly pushed back under pressure from markets and intense lobbying by industry. By that date, countries are set to face steep new tariffs beyond those Trump has already imposed since taking office in January. While Trump has said that unilateral letters declaring what rate would be imposed are tantamount to a deal, his team has nonetheless raced to close agreements. Trump has announced framework agreements with Britain, Vietnam, Indonesia and paused a tit-for-tat tariff battle with China, though details are still to be worked out with all of those countries. At the White House, Trump said negotiators from the European Union would be in Washington on Wednesday. Trump's announcement on Tuesday was of a pattern with some previous agreements. He announced the deal on social media shortly after a meeting or a phone call with a foreign official, leaving many key details a mystery, and before the other country issued its own proclamations. Nearly three weeks after Trump announced an agreement with Vietnam — in similar fashion — no formal statement has been released by either country spelling out the particulars of the deal that was ostensibly reached. [[nid:720233]]

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