Simon Lester

Seoul, Washington at odds on agriculture, $350 bn fund ahead of summit Seoul, Washington at odds on agriculture, $350 bn fund ahead of summit

South Korean media reporting this morning that there is a divergence in US and SK officials' descriptions of what both parties agreed to on ag market access.

www.chosun.com/english/nati...

Modi Defiant as Trump Steps Up Pressure on India’s Russia Oil Purchases Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a defiant tone in the face of US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, urging the nation to buy local goods as his administration signaled it would continue buying Russian oil.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a defiant tone in the face of US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, urging the nation to buy local goods as his administration signaled it would continue buying Russian oil

Autarky is harder than it looks. Maybe the North Koreans can offer some guidance here?

It's very annoying!

Screenshot of a public Facebook post by Clara Mun (wife of Bishop Suffragan Allen Shin of the Episcopal Diocese of New York): “Please pray for YeonSoo Go, daughter of Rev. Kyrie Kim, Episcopal priest in The Episcopal Diocese of New York! YeonSoo is student at Purdue university and was detained by ICE after her visa interview at federal immigration court. This is wrong! #FreeYeonsoo #FreeKetty #Freethemall” Photo of Yeonsoo Go with her mother who is wearing a clerical collar, both smiling, as they stand in front of the altar in an Episcopal church that is decorated for Christmas.

According to my friend and divinity school classmate Bishop Matthew Heyd of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, Yeonsoo Go, daughter of an Episcopal priest, is being detained at a facility with no beds or showers or hot food. ⚓️

With or without giving tariff revenue to people, the budget deficit is going to be really high this year. Will be hard for the administration to explain that away.

I'm heartbroken to hear of the passing of wonderful Loni Anderson. We did Bob Hope specials together & a Christmas movie 2 years ago. The sweetest, most gracious lady! I'm just devastated to hear this! Love & condolences to her beloved Bob (who was w her each day on set) & her family, who she adored

I guess she’d aged out. But still seems to fit a certain pattern.

Also, I suspect the pierogi place has made out pretty well here, with a ton of new customers!

"analysts expect that the tariffs, if left in place, could be worth more than $2 trillion in additional revenue over the next decade"

$200 billion per year in revenue is not really that substantial when the government spends $7 trillion per year.

I think we should put an end to all this egghead talk about "policy" and every future administration should dedicate all its resources to prosecuting the previous administration

If the economy crashes, but there is no one to report the data, has it actually crashed?

Trump, Carney to speak in coming days, Canadian official says Trade minister sees 'option' to reach deal that reduces 35% tariff

Trump, Carney to speak in coming days, Canadian official says
https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/trade-war/trump-tariffs/trump-carney-to-speak-in-coming-days-canadian-official-says

I mean, yes, domestic companies who compete with imports will always want tariffs on their competitors! But I'm thinking here about the views of average people

I think most of the recent polling shows that a majority of people are skeptical of Trump's tariffs

Ha, I meant a future administration! I suppose there is a scenario where the economy crashes and the Dems win the midterms though

With regard to whether high tariffs are here to stay, it is worth noting that when a recession eventually hits, there will be a strong argument for tariff lowering as a way to boost economic growth

There is now an AI generated transcript for last week's CAFC IEEPA tariff oral argument. See link below.

In the Google Play case they court rested on the jury's finding of an "Android-only" relevant market. The earlier case challenging the same conduct by Apple found a market for "mobile game transactions" that included both Android and Apple. Can both of them be correct?

China welcomes 183 Brazil coffee sellers in wake of US tariffs China has approved 183 new Brazilian coffee companies to export products to the Chinese market, according to a social media post of the Chinese embassy in Brazil on Saturday.

China welcomes 183 Brazil coffee sellers in wake of US tariffs reut.rs/4mp1Ise

"China has approved 183 new Brazilian coffee companies to export products to the Chinese market ... The measure, a boon to local exporters after the United States government's announcement of steep tariffs on Brazilian coffee and other products, took effect on July 30."

Gov. Jared Polis on Trump's tariffs: "There's certainly no upside...With Europe, we historically had a tariff rate of 2-3%. This new deal has it at 15%. That's five times higher than it's ever been...They're a regressive tax that hurt our economy."

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

someone at a white house press briefing should ask why the president consistently refers to his black american critics as “low IQ”

Ro should think about the tradeoffs involved in protecting US industries from competition, and whether the economy as a whole – as opposed to just particular companies – would benefit from more protectionism.

Second, I don't think economic patriotism is a "transformative vision." Despite all the talk about "neoliberalism," protectionism has been part of US trade policy for decades. Trump has ratcheted it up considerably of course, but it was always there.

This post by @rokhanna.bsky.social on the other site has an odd framing of the choices for Democrats.

First of all, no one is "consumed by revenge & dripping hatred for MAGA." Instead, they are trying to work out the right policy approach going forward (they don't agree but that's to be expected!)

Trump administration officials say that enforcing the trade deals will be easy (just impose tariffs!), but I have questions about enforcing the market access commitments: Will they get input from interest groups? Will there be transparency as to the decisions made on perceived non-compliance?

two men are sitting next to each other on a subway and talking . ALT: two men are sitting next to each other on a subway and talking .

It feels like Risk as played by Kramer and Newman

Maybe, although the Phillies had already shelled out for Pete Rose at that point