The crypto industry is suddenly at the heart of American politics
IN LATE APRIL Fr8Tech, a logistics firm based in Texas with a market capitalisation of about $3m, initiated an unusual investment. It said it was borrowing as much as $20m to buy $TRUMP coins, a cryptocurrency Donald Trump had launched three days before beginning his second term as president. ('Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW,' he urged on social media.) The company managing $TRUMP had just announced that the biggest investors in the meme coin would be invited to dine with the president in late May. Javier Selgas, Fr8Tech's CEO, said buying the coin would be 'an effective way to advocate' for the sort of trade policies Fr8Tech wants.
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Reuters
15 minutes ago
- Reuters
Swiss economic output increases as firms rush to beat US tariffs
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The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
China vows ‘forceful measures' after accusing US of violating tariffs truce
China said the US 'severely violated' the consensus reached during their recent trade talks in Geneva and threatened 'forceful measures' in response, dealing a big blow to the prospect of a thaw in the trade war between the two largest economies. The Chinese commerce ministry on Monday accused Washington of seriously undermining progress in mending trade relations with its series of actions, including the revocation of visas for Chinese students. The statement marked the latest sign of deteriorating relations between China and the US under Donald Trump, who imposed sweeping import levies on Beijing and sparked a tit-for-tat tariff war. The two sides had managed to dial down tensions after a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, last month led to the lowering of tariffs on goods imported from each nation and even raised hopes of a phone call between Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The commerce ministry said China was 'strictly implementing' the consensus reached in Geneva but the US was taking steps that 'seriously undermine' it, state media reported. 'The United States has been unilaterally provoking new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations,' it said. 'If the US insists on its own way and continues to damage China's interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.' This came after Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday that China had 'TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US'. The president said he had agreed to a fast deal with Beijing to 'save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation'. 'So much for being Mr NICE GUY!' he added. Mr Trump told reporters he wanted to speak with Mr Xi to resolve their ongoing disputes. China, on the other side, accused Washington of violating trade agreements by issuing "export control guidelines for AI chips, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and announcing the revocation" of visas for students from the Asian country. As tensions resurfaced, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday the negotiations with China were "a bit stalled'. "What China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe, and that is not what a reliable partner does," Mr Bessent told CBS News. He suggested that a phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Xi would be necessary to break the stalemate. Mr Trump had signaled his wish to have a phone call with Mr Xi as early as February and even said he was willing to visit his counterpart, although no such arrangement was scheduled.
The Herald Scotland
28 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
The fundamental battle which unites Donald Trump and Nigel Farage
There is a fundamental contest under way - with those who purport to be on the side of the people pitching themselves against those whom they decry as the failing Establishment. Look at the recent elections in the UK and the USA. Sir Keir Starmer did not enter Downing Street on a tide of love. Rather, he benefited from loathing directed at the departing Tories. A revulsion he helped foment. That does not mean that his election was illegitimate. Rather, that it is predicated upon disquiet and discontent, rather than optimism and hope. Read more by Brian Taylor In the USA, Donald Trump regained the White House by positing himself as the voice of a disgruntled people. A siren yelling at an Establishment which he chose to depict as anyone opposed to him. This political turmoil has common origins on both sides of the Atlantic; a sluggish, static economy. It can thus be traced back to the banking crash of 2008. Folk feel unsettled and discontented. Looking for scapegoats, they blame – or are exhorted to blame – those who have held power over a prolonged period. In EU countries like Germany and France, that has resulted in the rise of the populist Right, held off – just, so far – by more mainstream offers. In the USA, that has meant the election of a President – whose supporters previously stormed the Capitol building and who is now in direct conflict with counter-balancing elements of the Constitution he is pledged to uphold. Donald Trump won by decrying the entire political structure in the US. He won by pitching a populist appeal against elements he claimed had weakened America in search of self-interest. While corporate America sought calm constraint, he surrounded himself with individualistic, oligarchical figures whose chief talents lie in disruption, in challenging the status quo. Elon Musk has now left Team Trump, with a whimper of disquiet. He was never a team player, happier issuing orders rather than compromising. But, more, he fears that Trump's 'big beautiful bill' will counter his own cost-cutting efforts by devoting far too many dollars to defence spending. But, as we wish so long to Elon, there is now a far more significant controversy. A federal court has ruled that President Trump exceeded his powers on trade tariffs. Nigel Farage (Image: free) That is out to appeal. But President Trump's initial response is intriguing. He seeks to depict his rivals and the judiciary as part of an Establishment rump which he blames for undermining him – and, by extension, the America for which he purportedly stands. It is a quite deliberate and specific challenge to the entire structure of countervailing power upon which America is founded. President Trump summons up a crisis – then offers himself as the sole, incontestable solution. A tactic not unknown elsewhere down the decades and centuries. Generally associated with despots. Not that such a term should be applied to the elected 47th President of the United States of America. Across the US northern border, there is turmoil of a different kind – and the positing of an intriguing solution. While President Trump identifies and excoriates his enemies within, the Canadians are angry and unhappy over an external challenge. From Donald J. Trump who wants to annexe Canada as the 51st American state. Enter, briefly, King Charles. Opening the Canadian Parliament. Delivering the Speech from the Throne, as his mother did in 1977. The task usually falls to the Governor General, a term that speaks of times past. But the King sought to look to the future, from this troubled present. And his choice of language echoed our age of anxiety. A diplomatic nod to the annexation issue, vaunting Canada as 'strong and free'. His audience will not have missed the significance of the freedom reference. But he went further, adding: 'The Crown has for so long been a symbol of unity for Canada. It also represents stability and continuity from the past to the present.' In essence, the King was responding to a decidedly North American political conflict by offering a regal hand across the ocean. Equating monarchy with permanent reassurance. But what of the sovereign's regular home, this United Kingdom? Here too there is disquiet. But, more than that, there are signs of fragmentation in the political system, exemplified above all in the rise of Reform UK. Nigel Farage may attract adulation and loathing to varying degrees – but he is reading contemporary politics well. To be frank, that is scarcely difficult. Folk are thoroughly unhappy and, indeed, angry. They are upset over the cost of living, energy bills, taxation. They are discontented with the familiar political system, feeling it pays no heed to their concerns. Enter Nigel. He discloses a hitherto understated concern for those on benefits by offering to reverse Labour government constraint. Read more Mr Farage presents established parties with a conundrum. Do they ignore him and hope he fades away? Or do they, like the Prime Minister this week, assail his policies as unfunded, damaging drivel? Then there is Scotland. Firstly, that row with Anas Sarwar. Mr Farage plays innocent. He was only quoting the Scottish Labour leader who had hoped people of Asian heritage might enter politics. The Reform version had Mr Sarwar prioritising the Pakistani community. Mr Sarwar stresses he intended no such thing – and calls Mr Farage a spiv for good measure. This particular controversy will subside – although canine whistles can persist, faintly. But there is a broader issue, which has featured in the Hamilton by-election. Does Reform represent an enduring challenge to the already fractured Scottish political system? Scots are very far from immune in the age of anxiety. Plus, as The Herald disclosed, they now count immigration among their chief concerns. Each of the major political parties knows the response. They need to focus upon delivery, upon popular concerns. But they need to do so through measured, thoughtful discourse. The people will tolerate no less. Brian Taylor is a former political editor for BBC Scotland and a columnist for The Herald. He cherishes his family, the theatre - and Dundee United FC
