Trump cuts China tariff after Xi signals tougher fentanyl enforcement, rare-earth pause

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said 'it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then'

Landon Mikon /  Fox News  

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he will cut tariffs on Chinese imports after a highly-anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, citing new understandings on fentanyl enforcement, farm trade, and a pause on rare-earth export limits. 

The meeting in the City of Busan marked the final stop of Trump’s Asia trip, which also included stops in Malaysia and Japan, and focused on cooling the economic standoff between Washington and Beijing. 

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has levied major tariffs on Chinese imports – a move that prompted Beijing to tighten its control over exports of rare earth elements. Both leaders signaled interest in reducing tensions to avoid further shocks to the global economy.

Ahead of Thursday's summit, U.S. and Chinese aides...Read more and see video here. 

Fed cuts interest rates for second time this year amid labor market weakness

Fed's second interest rate cut comes despite inflation remaining above the central bank's 2% target

Eric Revell / FOXBusiness 

 

The Fed policymakers voted to lower the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a new range of 3.75% to 4%. The move follows a rate cut of that size in September, which was the first reduction this year.

Policymakers have been monitoring economic data, which has shown a slowdown in the labor market in recent months as businesses grapple with changes in trade and immigration. Meanwhile, inflation has trended higher as tariff-related price hikes filter into government data.

Those trends have put the Fed in a bind as it looks to fulfill its dual mandate goals of stable prices in line with the 2% long-run target for inflation as well as promoting maximum employment.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which guides the central bank's monetary policy moves, noted in its announcement that there...Read more and see video here. 

Zohran Mamdani’s Mother Says He Is 'Not an American at All' in Resurfaced Interview

Dmitri Bolt / Townhall Tipsheet  

Zohran Mamdani's mother, in a resurfaced interview with the Hindustan Times from 2013, said her son is "not an American at all." She also used terminology that many view as derogatory to the United States.

"He is a total desi," filmmaker Mira Nair said about her son while he was attending Bowdoin College. "Completely. We are not firangs at all. He is very much us. He is not an Uhmericcan (American) at all. He was born in Uganda, raised between India and America. He is at home in many places. He thinks of himself as a Ugandan and as an Indian."

In Hindi and Urdu, the word "firang" refers to foreigners, particularly Westerners. But Mehek Cooke, an attorney born in India who now works as a consultant for the GOP, told Fox News the term is not “some harmless cultural term,” but rather a “slur.”

"It’s the word used back in India to mock outsiders, to say you don’t belong," Cooke said. "Using it here about your own child raised in the United States carries the same tone as calling someone a derogatory word — or worse. It’s flippant, divisive, and dripping with contempt for the very country that gave your family a better life."