Latest news with #TrumpAdministration
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge temporarily blocks Trump tariffs for Vernon Hills toy company
The Brief A federal judge temporarily exempted a Vernon Hills-based toy company from Trump-era tariffs, siding with the company's lawsuit challenging the president's authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The company, which owns Learning Resources and hand2mind, argued the tariffs threatened its survival and the jobs of about 500 employees in the U.S. and U.K. The ruling includes a two-week pause for appeal; the judge said the company would suffer irreparable harm without the injunction. VERNON HILLS, Ill. - A federal judge on Thursday ruled in favor of a Vernon Hills toy company, granting it a temporary reprieve from tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, as a growing number of lawsuits continue to challenge the policy. The decision means that, for now, the Trump Administration is not permitted to collect tariffs from the business, which makes some of its toys in the United States but manufactures the majority of its products overseas. What we know The family-owned educational toy company, which consists of several brands including Learning Resources and hand2mind, called Thursday's ruling a major victory—sharing that excessive tariffs have the potential to put them out of business. With rising costs and ever-changing trade policies, small and mid-sized businesses like theirs are among those struggling to navigate the unpredictable nature of the economy. "We just don't know what tomorrow is going to bring," explained Elana Ruffman, VP of Marketing & Product Development with hand2mind. "How do we know as a manufacturer where we should make our products?" It's why the company is taking its concerns to court. In early April, Learning Resources and hand2mind sued President Donald Trump, arguing that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which Trump invoked, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. "We are an importer, about 60 percent of our products are made in China," Ruffman said. "The challenge with the reciprocal tariff policy, it was essentially a ban, there was no way you can import at those prices." A 33-page court opinion released Thursday sided with the company, stating that without preliminary injunction, the business "will sustain significant and unrecoverable losses." Furthermore, the federal judge also denied the Trump Administration's motion to transfer the lawsuit to the United States Court of International Trade (CIT). The ruling included a two-week pause anticipating an appeal from the Trump administration, which has already been filed. What they're saying Based in Vernon Hills, the toy company employs about 500 people in the United States and 50 others in the United Kingdom. Specializing in educational toys and resources, its products are used in about half of U.S. school districts, according to Ruffman. Ruffman, who is the fourth generation in her family to work at the company, shares that sweeping tariffs could be devastating to the business, but more importantly—to its employees. "We want to protect all the employees that work for us so that was why we decided to bring the lawsuit. We are a family business, we've been around for over 100 years, and we take our commitment very seriously," Ruffman said. "There are 500 people who work for us and their families depend on us for their livelihood and that's something that we don't mess around with." Ruffman adds that on a larger scale, rising prices and potential cutbacks caused by tariffs could limit children's access to educational toys worldwide. What's next Now, Ruffman says they will wait for the legal process to play out and tells FOX 32 Chicago she won't be surprised if the case makes it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. RELATED: Appeals court temporarily reinstates Trump tariffs
NHK
28 minutes ago
- Business
- NHK
China pledges support for Pacific island nations to address climate change
China has pledged to continue its support for Pacific island nations to address climate change. Beijing apparently intends to strengthen its influence in the Pacific region by stressing that it takes a different position from the US on global warming. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterparts from 11 island nations, including Kiribati, the Solomon Islands, and Nauru, gathered in the city of Xiamen in China's Fujian Province. The countries wrapped up the meetings and issued a joint statement on Thursday. The statement refers to strengthening trade relations, and continued Chinese support for Pacific nations to deal with the challenges posed by climate change. China's support contrasts with the reluctant stance of US President Donald Trump's administration on the issue. The Trump administration has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change. It has also frozen some US aid programs in the Pacific region. The move has triggered widespread concerns.
Al Jazeera
43 minutes ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Chinese students in US grapple with uncertainty over Trump's visa policies
Washington, DC – For Anson, hearing the news that Chinese student visas were the latest target of US President Donald Trump's administration was 'heartbreaking'. The Chinese graduate student, who is studying foreign service at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera that he feels uncertain about the future of students like himself after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US would begin to 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields'. 'There is definitely a degree of uncertainty and anxiety observed amongst us,' Anson said, asking that only his first name be used. The Trump administration has offered little further clarity on which students would be affected, with some observers seeing the two-sentence announcement, which also vowed to 'revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny' for future visa applicants from China and Hong Kong, as intentionally vague. While 23-year-old Anson said he understood the US government had concerns about foreign influence and national security when it came to China, he was confused as to why the Trump administration's new policy was potentially so wide reaching. Most students from his homeland, he said, were just like the other more than one million students who study every year in the US, a country that is known both for its educational opportunities and for its 'inclusivity and broad demographics'. 'It is heartbreaking for many of us to see a country built by immigrants becoming more xenophobic and hostile to the rest of the world,' he said, adding that he and other Chinese students in the US were still trying to decipher the policy shift. It is not the first time the Trump administration has taken aim at Chinese students, with the US Department of Justice in 2018, during Trump's first term, launching the so-called 'China Initiative' with the stated aim of combatting 'trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage'. An MIT analysis instead showed the programme focused predominantly on researchers and academics of Chinese descent, in what critics said amounted to 'racial profiling and fear mongering'. It was discontinued in February 2022 by the administration of former US President Joe Biden. Since then, there has only been 'greater and greater suspicion in the US, almost on a bipartisan basis, of various aspects of Chinese technology, actions by Beijing around the world, and now these concerns about surveillance and spying within the US', according to Kyle Chan, a researcher on China at Princeton University. That included a Republican-led congressional report in September 2024 that claimed hundreds of millions of US tax dollars – funneled through US-China partnerships at universities – helped Beijing develop critical technologies, including those related to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, and nuclear capabilities. But Chan, while acknowledging 'genuine security concerns' exist, said the broad announcement from the Trump administration did not appear to actually address those concerns. Instead, it has sent 'shock waves of fear throughout university campuses across the country', he said. That uncertainty has been compounded by Trump's recent pressure campaigns on US universities, which most recently involved a since-blocked revocation of Harvard University's ability to enrol international students. 'I think the vagueness is part of the [Trump administration's] strategy, because it is not about a concrete policy,' Chan told Al Jazeera. 'I don't think it's really, at the end of the day, about national security and trying to find the few individuals who may pose a genuine risk.' Instead, he saw the move as aimed at Trump's political audience, those sitting at an 'overlap between people who are very anxious about immigrants in general, and people who are very anxious about China'. The administration has offered little clarity on the scope of the visa revocations, or how it will define students with 'connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields'. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce gave few further specifics, saying only that the department 'will continue to use every tool in our tool chest to make sure that we know who it is who wants to come into this country and if they should be allowed to come in'. 'The United States, I further can say here, will not tolerate the CCP's exploitation of US universities or theft of US research, intellectual property or technologies to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition,' she said. Despite the dearth of clarity, the eventual shape of the policy will determine just how 'disruptive' it could be, according to Cole McFaul, a research analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. He pointed to 'real concerns about research security and about illicit IP [intellectual property] transfer' when it comes to Beijing, noting there have been a handful of documented cases of such activity in recent years. 'My hope is that this is a targeted action based on evidence and an accurate assessment of risk that takes into account the costs and the benefits,' McFaul said. 'My worry is that this will lead to broad-based, large-scale revocations of visas for Chinese students operating in STEM subjects,' he said, referencing the abbreviation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. McFaul noted that about 80 percent of the estimated 277,000 Chinese students who study in the US annually are in STEM subjects, in what he described as 'an enormously important talent pipeline from China to the United States for the past 40 years'. A vast majority of Chinese PhDs in STEM subjects – also about 80 percent – tend to stay in the US after their studies, in what McFaul described as another major benefit to the US. 'The question is, what counts as someone who's working in a critical technology? Are life sciences critical? I would say 'yes'. Are the physical sciences critical? I'd say 'yes'. Is computer science critical? Is engineering critical?' McFaul said. 'So there's a world where the vast majority of Chinese students are disallowed from studying in the United States, which would be an enormous loss and tremendous disruption for the United States science and technology ecosystem,' he said. As the policy remains foggy, Chinese students in the US said they are monitoring the often fickle winds of the Trump administration. Su, a 23-year-old applied analytics graduate student at Columbia University, said she swiftly changed her plans to travel home to China this summer amid the uncertainty. 'I was afraid if I go back to China, I won't be able to come back to the US for when classes begin,' said Su, who asked to only use her last name given the 'sensitive' situation. 'When Trump announces something, we never know if it's going to be effective or not,' she told Al Jazeera. 'It's always changing'. Deng, a graduate student at Georgetown who also asked that his full name not be used, said he broadly agreed that reforms were needed to address issues related to Chinese influence in US academia. Those included intimidation of political dissidents, the spread of nationalist propaganda, and 'oligarchy corruption', he said. But, in an email to Al Jazeera, he said the administration's approach was misguided. 'The current measures not only do not achieve such goals,' he said, 'but [are] also generating unnecessary fear even among the Chinese student communities that have long been fully committed to the development and enrichment of US society.'
CNA
an hour ago
- Politics
- CNA
US probes effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff, WSJ reports
U.S. federal authorities are investigating an effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said Wiles had told associates that some of her cellphone contacts had been hacked, allowing the impersonator to access private phone numbers. The incident affected her personal phone, not her government phone, the report said. The Journal reported that in recent weeks, senators, governors, top U.S. business executives and other figures received messages and calls from a person who claimed to be Wiles, citing the people familiar with the messages. The White House and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House has struggled with information security. A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broad swathe of American officials, Reuters reported recently. And late last year, a White House official said the U.S. believed that an alleged sweeping Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon targeted and recorded telephone calls of "very senior" American political figures. As Wiles is a key Trump lieutenant and a lynchpin of the White House's operation, the content of her personal phone would be of extraordinary interest to a range of foreign intelligence agencies and other hostile actors. Wiles has reportedly been targeted by hackers at least once before, in the final months of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. At the time, hackers alleged by U.S. authorities to be acting on behalf of Iran approached journalists and a political operative with a variety of messages sent to and from Wiles, some of which were eventually published.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Arab News
US probes effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff, WSJ reports
US federal authorities are investigating an effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said Wiles had told associates that some of her cellphone contacts had been hacked, allowing the impersonator to access private phone numbers. The incident affected her personal phone, not her government phone, the report said. The Journal reported that in recent weeks, senators, governors, top US business executives and other figures received messages and calls from a person who claimed to be Wiles, citing the people familiar with the messages. The White House and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House has struggled with information security. A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broad swathe of American officials, Reuters reported recently. And late last year, a White House official said the US believed that an alleged sweeping Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon targeted and recorded telephone calls of 'very senior' American political figures. As Wiles is a key Trump lieutenant and a lynchpin of the White House's operation, the content of her personal phone would be of extraordinary interest to a range of foreign intelligence agencies and other hostile actors. Wiles has reportedly been targeted by hackers at least once before, in the final months of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. At the time, hackers alleged by US authorities to be acting on behalf of Iran approached journalists and a political operative with a variety of messages sent to and from Wiles, some of which were eventually published.
