*By Jacqueline Corba*
Proposed U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are essentially an "attack" against the American consumer, said the Consumer Technology Association's director of strategic communications, Izzy Santa.
"The whole entire internet, and all the devices along with it, will be taxed," Santa said Monday in an interview on Cheddar. "In order for products to work, they need to be connected to the internet and the data centers that support that information are also going to be taxed under tariffs."
Six days of [off-camera hearings](https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2018/august/public-hearings-proposed-section-301) on the state of the trade wars began Monday with [nearly 360 people set to testify](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-20/companies-try-again-to-temper-trump-s-tariffs-in-third-hearings) about the proposed U.S. sanctions on Chinese goods. CTA, along with a number of its member companies, are among those on the docket.
Santa said this is a crucial moment for businesses and the American public to rally against tariffs.
"Now is really the time for businesses to get involved and really dig into their companies and figure out how tariffs are going to impact them," she said. "This is a very important time in history."
A first round of 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods, mostly industrial equipment like water boilers and x-ray machine components, went into effect in July. Levies on an additional $16 billion imports ー which include tractors, speedometers, and motorcycles, kick in Thursday. The Trump administration has threatened to tax an addition $200 billion of more consumer goods like furniture, bicycles, and cradles.
[According to a recent report by the CTA](https://prod1.cta.tech/CTA/media/policyImages/Estimated-Impacts-of-Proposed-Tariffs-on-Imports-from-China_-Printed-Circuit-Assemblies-and-Wireless-Telecommunications-Accessories.pdf), the tariffs may cause consumers to pay up to $3.2 billion more in 2019 for electronic products, including smart speakers, smartwatches, and other Bluetooth-enabled devices. Santa said that costs may rise even higher than the CTA anticipates.
"We just don't know the final hit, because we're still in the proposal stage with the federal government," she said.
For Santa, the stakes ー and the economic repercussions ー are high.
"The economy is going to suffer."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-trade-wars-could-impact-consumer-electronics).
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
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.
