Author: News Room

The Chinese government has strongly criticized a planned deal by a Hong Kong conglomerate to sell ports in Panama and elsewhere to an investment group led by an American asset manager, warning that the deal would deprive China of needed influence over key shipping routes.The criticism marks an abrupt shift in Chinese policy toward Panama and the control of seaports around the world. When President Trump raised concerns soon after taking office that China had too much power in the Panama Canal, his comments were initially ridiculed by Beijing.But Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper owned by the Chinese…

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the TV celebrity doctor, is expected to face a tense confirmation hearing on Friday, with Democratic senators planning to question how he would oversee Medicare and Medicaid now that Republicans and the Trump administration are weighing significant changes affecting millions of Americans.Among the possible plans being considered by Republican lawmakers and President Trump are severe reductions to health insurance coverage for low-income people and a greater shift toward private plans for older Americans.Dr. Oz, 64, a cardiothoracic surgeon who rose to fame through his successful daytime show, appears poised to secure confirmation by the full Senate.His confirmation…

French wine producers have typically had a love-love relationship with the United States, their biggest export market. But President Trump’s threat to impose 200 percent tariffs on European wine, Champagne and spirits sent shudders through grand châteaus and small vineyards across the country.“A 200 percent tax on European wines and spirits would mean an immediate halt to all shipments to the United States,” Gabriel Picard, chairman of the Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters, told French media on Thursday. “That’s almost 4 billion euros wiped off the French trade balance, for zero gain.”The size of the tariff suggested by Mr.…

Officials in Beijing are increasingly worried that President Trump’s tariffs on Mexico may be the start of a broad campaign to force developing countries around the world to choose between trade with the United States or with China.Ever since Mr. Trump imposed extensive tariffs on goods from China during his first term, companies have been investing heavily in countries like Mexico, Vietnam and Thailand to assemble Chinese components into goods for shipment to the United States. Doing final assembly in these countries offered a back door to the U.S. market regardless of trade frictions between Washington and Beijing.China’s trade surplus…

President Trump has called the word tariff “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” He imposed hefty tariffs during his first term and promised expansive new ones as he pursued his second. On his first day back in the White House in January, he issued an executive order directing his cabinet picks to prepare even more tariffs.In the first 50 days of his second term, those sweeping actions have upended diplomatic ties, shaken markets and confounded entire industries. But so has President Trump’s whipsawing commitment to his tariffs, which he has paused, reversed or withdrawn — at times almost as…

CrossFit, the crisis-riddled fitness company, is for sale once again.The sale comes against the backdrop of several tumultuous years for the fitness brand, after a drowning at last year’s CrossFit Games, a significant drop in registrations for its annual membership-wide competition and deepening financial concerns.The company, which has 10,000 affiliate gyms across the world, plans to “review a wide range of buyers,” according to an email sent to CrossFit gym owners this week.“This moment of transition comes with significant opportunity,” CrossFit’s chief executive, Don Faul, said in the March 12 email. “I’m excited by the potential this holds for the…

Questions linger over what this year’s layoffs and ranger protests at the National Park Service will mean for travelers, who made a record 331 million visits to park properties last year. Adding to the confusion is the federal court ruling on Thursday that the firings were done unlawfully and agencies must rehire their cut workers.The National Park Service’s parks, sites and monuments, however, are not the only public lands affected by the seesawing reports of staffing levels and budget cutbacks brought on by the Trump administration’s goal to trim government spending.The Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and…

It’s not clear who will benefit if President Trump follows through on his threat to impose 200 percent tariffs on all wines and alcoholic beverages from the European Union, but it certainly would not be American consumers.The tariff warning was posted by Mr. Trump on social media Thursday in retaliation to 50 percent tariffs on American whiskey and several other products announced by the European Union, which were themselves a response to a set of U.S. tariffs that took effect last week.Mr. Trump said in his post that tariffs “will be great for the wine and Champagne businesses in the…

For the second time this week, President Trump has threatened to disrupt trade with a close ally for retaliating in a trade war that he started — a tactic that could lead to compromise, or to economic spats that spiral further out of control.On Thursday morning, Mr. Trump tried to cow the European Union into submission, threatening in a social media post to put a 200 percent tariff on European wine and Champagne unless the bloc dropped a 50 percent tariff on U.S. whiskey. The European Union had imposed that tariff in response to levies that Mr. Trump put on…

Earlier this year, everything seemed set for a major renovation to make two Chicago apartment buildings for mostly lower-income elderly residents more energy efficient. An affordable-housing organization had secured a federal loan, a state loan and money from private investors.But the project, which was to start in a few weeks and include the installation of solar panels, is on hold after the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development delayed funding a critical $5.4 million loan that it had previously approved.“Things are in limbo,” said Aaron Gornstein, chief executive of the Preservation of Affordable Housing, a Boston-based firm behind the…