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The Trump administration is taking steps to impose levies on Chinese vessels docking at U.S. ports, a move that would likely raise costs across the U.S.
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced yesterday that all Chinese-built and-owned ships seeking to dock in the U.S. would now be subject to a tonnage-based fee per trip. Ships made by non-U.S. builders carrying vehicles would also be affected.
The proposal has its roots in a Biden-era effort to determine whether Chinese shipbuilding threatens national security.
The new measure would go into effect in six months; ship operators will have the fee waived for up to three years if they can show that they’ve ordered a new U.S.-built vessel.
Critics of the plan say it would raise costs for U.S. consumers and producers alike, including farmers who rely on Chinese vessels for their exports.
Mack Trucks has announced it will lay off between 250 and 350 workers at a plant in Pennsylvania in part as a result of the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
The Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported the trucking giant had experienced a slowdown in demand amid the uncertainty generated by Trump’s policies.
“Heavy-duty truck orders continue to be negatively affected by market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes, and the impact of tariffs,” spokesperson Kimberly Pupillo said.
Trucking nationwide was already experiencing a slump as the economy has slowed down from its post-Covid boom; now, there are too many trucks for too few orders. Earlier this week, trucking and logistics group JB Hunt reported an 8% decrease in operating income from the year prior, causing a significant decline in its share price.
A union official confirmed the layoffs at the Lehigh Valley facility, which employs more than 3,000 total workers.
“Due to the market being in decline, there will be a rate and line reduction. I have heard all the same rumors you guys have heard. This is the first time I have an official word from the company that there will be a layoff,” United Auto Workers Local 677 shop chair Tim Hertzog said in a letter posted on the union’s Facebook page yesterday.
All AmeriCorps volunteers have been sent home and pulled from projects across the country, per a notice sent to an AmeriCorps volunteer obtained by NBC News.
The email cites Trump’s executive order implementing DOGE’s ‘Cost Efficiency Initiative’ which has resulted in AmeriCorps “working within new operational parameters that impact the program’s ability to sustain program operations.”
“As a result, AmeriCorps is sending all NCCC members to their homes of record as soon as possible,” the email said.
All volunteers were instructed to return to their region campus “immediately— as soon as is safely practicable” and were told they would be on administrative hold with pay through April 30, after which they will be exited from the program.
The National Civilian Community Corps, known as AmeriCorps, was founded in 1993 for young adults ages 18 to 26 to engage in community projects across the U.S. in areas including disaster response, environmental conservation, and education.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said on X last night that his state would be suing to stop the termination of the AmeriCorps program: “DOGE’s actions to dismantle AmeriCorps threaten vulnerable Californians, disaster response and recovery, and economic opportunities. California will be suing to stop this.”
A spokesperson for AmeriCorps or DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump lashed out at Van Hollen in a post on Truth Social this morning after the Democratic senator revealed last night that he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.
“Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media, or anyone. GRANDSTANDER!!!” Trump wrote.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said at a town hall last night that he hopes the U.S. doesn’t transform into Germany during the rise of the Nazi party.
The congressman was discussing the current climate under the Trump administration and explaining what Democrats can and can’t do to fight back.
“All we can do is share with you what we’re doing and ask for your prayers for this country will not allow itself to go the way of Germany in the 1930s when people stood by,” said Clyburn at the town hall in Summerton, South Carolina.
He then read to the audience Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous poem, “First they came” which reflects on the inaction of Germans as the Nazis targeted vulnerable groups including Jews.
“And we remember what happened to the Jews,” Clyburn said after reading the poem.
The longtime congressman who previously served in Democratic leadership said that people will have to speak out because Democrats lack the votes in the House and Senate to pass their agenda.
Vice President JD Vance spoke briefly about the negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine during a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Palazzo Chigi in Rome this morning. Meloni met with Trump at the White House yesterday.
“I want to update the prime minister on some of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and also some of the things that have happened, even in the past 24 hours. I think we have some interesting things to report on, of course, in private,” Vance said. “Some of those negotiations — I won’t prejudge them — but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close.”
A controversial deportation case has opened up a rift within the Democratic Party over how aggressively to go after Trump on an issue that has been one of his biggest political strengths.
Some members of the party are leaning heavily into Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador without due process, accusing Trump of defying a court order. But others, while still objecting to Trump’s actions, have sought to shift the focus to economic concerns amid the whiplash of the president’s tariff policies and persistently high prices.
Trump officials initially conceded that Abrego Garcia, who was subject to a withholding order preventing his expulsion to El Salvador and wasn’t convicted of a crime, was removed to his home country due to an “administrative error.” The administration has alleged he was a gang member and deserved deportation.
Read the full story here.
Mehmet Oz is set to be sworn in today as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees health care coverage programs for roughly half of the U.S. population.
Trump is set to participate in the ceremony, scheduled for noon ET in the Oval Office.
The Senate confirmed Oz earlier this month in a 53-45 vote along party lines.
The U.S. may be ready to “move on” from its efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if there is no clear progress in the coming days, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
“We’re not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end,” Rubio told reporters in Paris after a grueling day of talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials in Paris.
Read the full story here.
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Trump administration live updates: Marco Rubio says U.S. could 'move on' from Ukraine peace efforts – NBC News
