6-19-18 Great Guests for Your Show

1. Lowell Ponte: The Ominous New Politics of Trade

2. Joseph Tartakovsky: Judge Paved the Way to Fight Trump's Travel Ban More Than a Century Ago

3. Jeff Ferry: The U.S. Auto Industry and National Security

4. James Hirsen: Back to the Future for the AT&T-Time Warner Merger

5. Michael Stumo: More on the Section 301 Tariffs

6. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: Combating Underage Use of E-Cigarettes

The Ominous New Politics of Trade

By Lowell Ponte

Last Friday, markets were shaken by President Donald Trump’s levy of $50 billion in tariffs via a 25 percent duty on 1,102 Chinese products involving industries such as aerospace, communications and information technology, and robotics. In the wake of the G-7 meeting in Canada a week ago, we have seen a less justifiable and more cynical political use of tariffs by America’s competitors. In response to President Trump’s new 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum, European Union lawmakers intend to launch retaliatory tariffs of specific, targeted U.S. products, including Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Levi jeans, and bourbon whiskey. Such targets are not chosen randomly. [more...]

Judge Paved the Way to Fight Trump's Travel Ban More Than a Century Ago

By Joseph Tartakovsky

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of President Trump’s travel ban, a policy that has provoked immense division and cries, is not “unprecedented” territory. In fact, neither the ban nor the legal clash over it are without precedent. The case will be decided within legal bounds established by a Supreme Court justice named Stephen J. Field, a Californian who took his seat on the court 155 years ago this month. Field’s rulings over Chinese laborers became the cornerstone of constitutional law regarding foreigners who wish to start a new life in America. Appointed by President Lincoln during the Civil War, Field was the court’s first westerner and one of its fiercest, most iconoclastic justices. [more...]

The U.S. Auto Industry and National Security

By Jeff Ferry

The Trump administration is considering tariffs on automotive imports under the Section 232 provision for safeguarding U.S. national security. A final decision will be likely in the fall. The steel and aluminum tariffs that came into effect earlier this month were based on the argument that civilian and military use of vital materials are inseparable. A healthy, progressive industrial sector developing military products and applications can only exist simultaneously with a healthy civilian industry. Modern industry is large and complex. Developing new state-of-the-art products takes time and millions of dollars. The only way to build and sustain a world-class military industry is to share costs with a civilian industry.  That’s the business model that works for the steel and aluminum sector and the same logic also applies to the motor vehicle sector. [more...]

Back to the Future for the AT&T-Time Warner Merger

By James Hirsen (Legal Analyst)

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon recently greenlighted the $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner merger, while failing to impose any conditions or restrictions upon the massive media consolidation. The merger, about which reports have circulated since late 2016, was publicly opposed by President Trump as well as by the Department of Justice, which in the fall of 2017 went to court to stop the transaction. After a six-week trial, Judge Leon ruled that the merger could move ahead, belittling the government’s legal arguments. [more...]

More on the Section 301 Tariffs

By Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America

What are American organizations saying about the China tariffs? [more...]

Combating Underage Use of E-Cigarettes

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

E-cigarettes maker Juul Labs, Inc. plans to back efforts to raise the minimum age of buying tobacco products and spend at least $30 million on measures that could help keep its items away from minors. Juul Labs said it would support state and federal measures that would restrict tobacco purchases to people age 21 and older. The company, one of the most popular sellers of such products in the U.S., also said it would spend money over the next three years to fund independent research, youth and parent education, as well as community-engagement efforts. [more...]