During the second night of this week's Democratic primary debates, President Donald Trump's approach to China came under fire as candidates spoke about how they would approach relations with the country and explained what they believed to be the greatest threat to the United States.
The moderators' discussion of China comes amid ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing — including several cycles of tariffs on billions of dollars on both American and Chinese goods — and just weeks after the Trump administration announced it would effectively ban Chinese telecoms giant Huawei over security concerns.
During Wednesday's debate, former Rep. John Delaney, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Tim Ryan, and former HUD Secretary Julián Castro all pointed to China as one of or the greatest threat to the nation.
While some candidates, during the second night of debates, called Russia the greatest threat to the United States, there was agreement that China poses a significant challenge, but debaters maligned Trump's aggressive imposition of tariffs.
"On China, I think the president's been right to push back on China but has done it in completely the wrong way," said Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who otherwise targeted Russia as the top threat. "We should mobilize the entire rest of the world, who all have a shared interest in pushing back on China's mercantilist trade policy."
<i>The 10 Democratic candidates in the first primary debate on Wednesday. / Cheddar</i>
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang pointed to Moscow's meddling in the 2016 election as evidence that Russia should be Americans' greatest concern. "They've been hacking our democracy successfully. They've been laughing their asses off about it for the last couple of years," he said.
However, on China, Yang said: "They do pirate our intellectual property, it's a massive problem. But the tariffs and the trade war are just punishing businesses and producers and workers on both sides”
He pointed to the challenges of farmers, who, facing tariffs, fear losing valuable foreign contracts that they've worked years to secure.
“The beneficiaries have not been American workers or people in China. It’s been Southeast Asia, and other producers, that have then stepped into the void.“ Yang argued.
Farmers, who produce a large portion of the U.S.'s trade surplus, have been the primary target of retaliatory tariffs imposed by China. This pain has been acutely felt by soybean farmers, who saw their crop prices hit a 10-year low in May.
"We've got to recognize that the China challenge really is a serious one," cautioned South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. "This is not something to dismiss or wave away. And if you look at what China is doing, they're using technology for the perfection of dictatorship. But their fundamental economic model isn't going to change because of some tariffs."
"Manufacturers — and especially soy farmers — are hurting. Tariffs are taxes. And Americans, are going to pay, on average $800 more a year, because of these tariffs," Buttigieg added.
"Meanwhile, China is investing so that they could soon be able to run circles around us in artificial intelligence," the mayor said. "The biggest thing we've got to do is invest in our own domestic competitiveness."
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
