Transcript

10.27.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good morning and a good Monday morning to everybody, and
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welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for this Monday,
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October twenty seven. As you know, Radio I is a
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reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton, and as usual,
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we try to start out Mondays by reading Paul Prether's
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weekly column from the Lexington Hair Leader. That Paul didn't
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have one this week, so let's take a look at
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the weather for the seven days forecast. It will be
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a shower or two today with a high fifty seven
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and low fifty one. Tuesday, periods of rain, high fifty six,
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low forty five. Wednesday, more showers, high fifty, low forty.
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Thursday we get a break and it's starting to have
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a little sun. High fifty, low thirty nine. Friday, though
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variable clouds high fifty eight, low forty seven. And Saturday
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mostly cloudy, a high fifty three and low forty one,
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but at least it's not down close to freezing yet.
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Looking at the almanac, Yesterday's high and low sixty one
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and thirty seven, normal sixty six and forty four last
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year it was seventy nine and fifty seven, and the
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record high in nineteen sixty three was eighty four. The
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low in nineteen ninety seven was twenty six. Precipitation on
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Friday nothing month to date six point two inches normal
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two point seven three. Year to date we've had fifty
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two point sixty one and the normal is forty one
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point three four, which is exactly what we had last year,
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and the record free yesterday's date was a whopping four
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point three to three inches and twenty oh seven for
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the sun and the moon. The sun will rise this
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It rose this morning at seven fifty eight. It will
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set at six forty seven to night. The moon came
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up at four minutes past midnight and it will set
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at nine oh four this morning. Our weather trivia during
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the past four decades, what has been the most deadly
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natural disaster, and that, believe it or not, this year
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has been drought. All right, Let's take a look at
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what's happening in the world on this Monday. In the
2:14
Washington Post, the first story, Chinese and US officials tentatively
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agree to avert one hundred percent tariffs from Kuala Lumpur
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in Malaysia negotiators have reached a framework of a trade
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deal to avert additional one hundred percent tariffs that President
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Trump had threatened to impose on Chinese imports, setting the
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stage for the US president's highly anticipated meeting with Chinese
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leader Xijin Ping on Thursday. Treasury Secretary Scott Descent set
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an interviews Sunday that constructive meetings with his Chinese counterparts
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led to the deal, with the delegation from Beijing agreeing
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to defer restrictions on rare earth minerals that were poised
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to harm the US economy. The announcement marked a significant
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de escalation of a whiplash in trade war between the
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world's two largest economies, which heated up when Trump threatened
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to ratchet up tariffs earlier this month in response to
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China's restrictions on the minerals, which are essential components in
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most electronics. President Trump gave me a great deal of
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negotiating leverage with the threat of the one tariffs, and
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I believe we've reached a very substantial framework that will
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avoid that and will allow us to discuss many other
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things with the Chinese, said on NBC's Meet the Press
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the set suggested in an interview with ABC News that
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China would defer the restrictions for about a year, although
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Chinese readoubts and included no details about a deferral of
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rare earth restrictions. He also said the countries had made
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progress to bring relief to US farmers who have struggled
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under China's boycott of US grown soybeans. Additionally, Hassan said
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the countries have reached a final deal on TikTok, which
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Trump had promised to restructure to avert a ban of
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the popular social media app in the United States. Congress
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enacted the ban, and then President Biden signed it to
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address national security concerns related to the app's Chinese parent company,
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Byte Dance. Trump last month signed a deal that would
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spin off the app to a group of mostly American investors,
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including some of his top political allies. The countries will
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also work together to address the fentanyl epidemic, which Trump
4:55
is called an emergency and used as a pretense to
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implement paroffs against China. The developments appear to have lowered
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the temperature ahead of Trump and Ji's face to face meeting,
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their first of the US president's second term. And the
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highlight of his five day swing through Asia. The summit
5:16
in South Korea will mark a critical inflection point in
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an economic conflict that is raged amid the President's escalating
5:24
trade barriers against China and Zi's tit for tat responses.
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The scent and the U s trade representative Jamison Grier
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spent Sunday negotiating with top Chinese trade negotiator Lie Chingang
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and Chinese Vice Premier Hi Laifing in Malaysia, while Trump
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also in Kuala Lumpur, signed a Cambodia Thailand peace deal
5:50
and met with Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula di Siliva.
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The US and China invoys came to a basic consensus
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after negotiating on a wide range of issues, including tariffs,
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export controls, ventinyl and agricultural trade. According to Chinese state
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news agency Xinhwa, further details must still be finalized and
6:16
approved domestically. China's Vice premier underscored the benefits of a
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US China commercial relationship, noting that the results of negotiations
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were hard won and need to be jointly upheld, and
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that he hopes the US and China will meet each
6:33
other halfway, further build mutual trust and managed differences, according
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to Xinhua. Meanwhile, Lee described the negotiations as intense and
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said that while US officials expressed a strong position, Beijing
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is firmly committed to safeguarding its interests, according to the
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Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Greer told Fox News Sunday that
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the US and Chinese delegations had constructive conversations in Kuala Lumpur,
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but he said only the leaders can determine when they
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have a final deal. It is really going to depend
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on Trump and President Xijen Ping, he said, and next
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Trump opened to extending Asia trip to meet with Kim
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Jong un from Tokyo, President Trump has been clear about
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one thing in particular on his three day country tour
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of Asia. He really wants to meet with North Korean
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leader Kim Jong un. So much so Trump suggested aboard
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Air Force One on Monday that he would extend his
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nearly week long trip to make the meeting happen if
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Kim agrees. It's our last stop, and it would be
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pretty easy to do, Trump told reporters on his way
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to Japan and asked whether he would delay his return
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to Washington on Thursday, if it meant meeting with the
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totalitarian States leader, the president, who met with Kim three
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times during his first term, said Monday he would love
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to do so again during this trip, but added that
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US officials haven't mentioned it to North Korean authorities. If
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he'd lied to meet, I'm around, Trump continued, I'll be
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in South Korea, so I could be right over there.
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Ask what the United States could offer Kim during such
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a meeting, Trump floated the idea of adjusting sanctions against
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the country, laws that include bands on key exports from
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North Korea, among other consequences for the nation's nuclear power
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program and human rights violations. Well, we have sanctions, Trump said,
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of possible discussion points. That's pretty big to start off with.
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I would say it's about as big as you can get.
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The president's remarks Monday went further than what he's said
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late last week on his flight to Malaysia that he
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was open to meeting with the North Korean leader. He
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joked to reporters that they should put out the word
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for him to get Kim's attention about the summit. He
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suggested at the time that it had been difficult to
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contact Kim because North Koreans don't have a lot of
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telephone service. After leaving Japan on Wednesday, Trump will travel
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to South Korea to hold meetings with South Korean President
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Li jiang Yong and Chinese President Zijinping on the sidelines
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of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation For him, Trump is
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set to meet with Xi on Thursday before departing for Washington.
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Chinese and US negotiators and out Sunday that they reached
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a framework of a trade deal to avert additional one
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tariffs that Trump threatened to impose on Chinese imports. I
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would love to see him if he wants to, even
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if he gets this message upset of Kim aboard air
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First One on Monday. We haven't mentioned it, but he
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knows I'm going over there. The days before the trip,
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senior White House officials downplayed the likelihood of a meeting
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with Kim, and one told The Washington Post that it
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wasn't happening, But Trump has continued to muse about the
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prospect of a meeting with Kim this week, recalling hollow
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visit was hastily arranged for the two leaders. During Trump's
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twenty nineteen visit to South Korea on that trip. While
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still in Japan, Trump tweeted about his desire to meet
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Kim at the border and the DMZ, referring to the
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demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, just to shake
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his hand and say hello. A line of communications then
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opened between US and North Korean officials, who organized a
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meeting in just over a day in a village inside
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the demilitarized zone. Trump briefly stepped over the border into
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North Korea, becoming the first US president to do so.
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The leaders have not seen each other since, but each
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has continued to speak warmly about the other. I get
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along great with Kim Jong un, Trump told reporters Monday.
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During his speech last month, Kim said he still has
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good memory of President Trump, the North Korean state media reported,
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but Kim said he would meet with Trump only if
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the US drops its hollow obsession with denuclearization. North Korea
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has refused to halt its nuclear weapons program. Talks between
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Trump and Kim in twenty eighteen and nineteen did not
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result in an agreement by Kim to do so. Throughout
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those talks, Kim pushed Trump to lift sanctions on his
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country in exchange for a partial dismantling of the nuclear program.
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More recently, Kim has said he would not negotiate North
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Korea's nucletar program, and the country has continued to produce
12:02
nuclear fuel, raising doubts about the possibility of the U.
12:06
S lifting sanctions on the country. Him meanwhile, has strengthened
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ties with China and Russia, both of which have provided
12:15
military and political support to North Korea. During his wide
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ranging briefing aboard Air Force One on Monday, Trump and
12:25
top cabinet officials also addressed to the government shutdown, the
12:29
fragile ceasefire in the Middle East, and the search for
12:33
a new chairman of the Federal Reserve. The president blamed
12:37
Democrats for disruptions to air traffic control induced by the shutdown,
12:42
and he suggested that he could name a new Federal
12:45
Reserve chair before the end of the year. During the
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more than the thirty minute briefing, Trump also said that
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he had spoken on recent occasions with billionaire Elon Musk,
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his one time first buddy, who had an explosive falling
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out with the president over the summer. The two were
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seen talking in a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk
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and Trump said they have talked on and off since
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the event. In September, Trump also declined to rule out
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seeking a third term as president, and said he would
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love to do it. No, he shot down doing so
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by running on a ticket as a vice president, a
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strategy some allies and critics of life had suggested Trump
13:26
could use to skirt the Constitution's to term limit provision.
13:31
Trump said running to be vice president and then stepping
13:34
into the role of president would be too cute and
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the people wouldn't like it. Ask if he was ruling
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out seeking a third term in office, Trump remained coy,
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as he has on other occasions this year. When I
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asked the question my ruling it out, trumply pride, Trump replied,
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you'll have to tell me. After landing, Trump ended his
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first night in Tokyo with a brief visit from Nayurito,
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the Emperor of Japan, and additionally, Trump projects peacemaker image
14:09
at Cambodia Thailand Deal ceremony. Resident Trump signed an agreement
14:15
Sunday to resolve a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia,
14:20
starting his swing through Asia with the ceremony designed to
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bolster his campaign to be regarded as a global peacemaker.
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Trump set at a long table with the Southeast Asian
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leaders as they signed the Kuwala Lumpur Accord, which formalized
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to ceasefire. Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibraham helped
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broker in July. The dispute is among eight conflicts that
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Trump has taken credit for resolving during a second term
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as he makes a bid for a Nobel Peace Prize,
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even as his role in solving some of the conflicts
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remains contested. Trump's sprint through Asia, which will also take
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him to Japan and South Korea, is primarily focused on
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trade deals following his moves to implement sweeping tariffs on
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countries around the world. Trump officials said Sunday that they
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had reached framework for a trade deal to avoid additional
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one hundred percent tariffs Trump had threatened to impose on
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Chinese imports, while Beijing had agreed to defer restrictions on
15:25
rare earth metal rulds that were poised to harm the
15:28
U s economy. That agreement comes ahead of Trump's meeting
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with leader Zijinping in South Korea on Thursday, which, if
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all goes as planned. Trump is likely to tout as
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one of his successes on the trip on Sunday at
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the ASA n Summit, the gathering of the group's eleven
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Southeast Asian nations, held this year in Malaysia. He also
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signed deals with Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia that the White
15:58
House said would limit trade and balances and improve access
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to critical minerals at a time when China is restricting
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access to materials essential to the economy. Trump also met
16:10
with Brazilian leader Luis Ignacio Lula di Silva on Sunday
16:15
and said the United States would be able to do
16:18
some pretty good deals with Latin America's largest economy. Trump
16:22
said in July he would increase tariffs on Brazil, citing
16:26
the country's prosecution of former president Yar Bosnaro over his
16:31
alleged role in a plot to retain power by military
16:34
force following his twenty two electoral loss. At the peace
16:39
ceremony Sunday, Trump said his visit was a fulfillment of
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a promise he had made to anwar that he would
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travel to Malaysia if he were able to brok or
16:49
a deal between the countries. Trump recalled the day he
16:53
spent working on the seasefire agreement. During a golf trip
16:56
to his course in Turnbury, Scotland, in late July, after
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heavy fire killed civilians and displaced tens of thousands along
17:05
the border, Trump told the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand
17:09
that he would suspend trade discussions unless they stopped fighting.
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Trump said the peace deal was much more important than
17:16
playing around of golf. You cost me a very good entertainment,
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Trump said, as he turned to the leader seated next
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to him at the hassene at the summit, I could
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have had a lot of fun, but this is much
17:28
more fun for me than almost anything, because you're saving
17:33
people and saving countries. Malaysia, however, has been the central
17:38
mediator between Thailand and Cambodia, officials have told the Washington
17:42
Post after hosting multiple rounds of talks between the countries.
17:47
Malaysia drafted the terms of the declaration signed on Sunday.
17:51
During the signing ceremony, on War gave treadit to Trump
17:55
and praised his unconventional style. The world need leaders who
18:00
promote peace strongly, and to achieve that, you have to
18:04
break rules, Anwar said. Anwar said Trump did that on Sunday,
18:10
the American President delighted in running a foul of diplomatic
18:14
protocol to invite the Malaysian leader to join him in
18:18
his armored limousine known as the Beast. Visits between heads
18:22
of state typically follow strict security provisions and etiquette, but
18:27
Trump has violated those norms by inviting Russian President Vladimir
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Putin and other world leaders joined him in his vehicle.
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Trump landed here Sunday morning to a red carpet welcome
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from anwar who greeted him with a warm handshake as
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he stepped off Air Force one. He walked down a
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red carpet flanked by the Royal Regiment of Malaysian Army
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as a crowd waved American and Malaysian flags as he
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approached dozens of rows of dancers representing the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indigenous,
18:59
Sabah and Sadarwak ethnicities. Trump joined the performance with a
19:04
rendition of his signature dance he typically performs to Ymca
19:08
at his rallies. But resistance to Trump's visit flared up
19:13
in the center of Malaysian capital, about two miles from
19:16
where he met with the global leaders. More than five
19:19
hundred demonstrators gathered for an anti Trump protest organized by
19:23
pro Palestinian groups such as b DS Malaysia. People wave
19:29
signs that read smash US imperialism and Trump, you are
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not welcome in Malaysia. The crowd chanted Free Palestine. Relations
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with many countries in Southeast Asia were strained when they
19:45
were hit with some of the highest tariffs that Trump
19:47
set in April. The time, Cambodia faced the highest rate
19:51
of forty nine percent. The deal with Cambodia announced on Sunday,
19:55
would implement a rate of nineteen percent, though it remains
19:59
preliminary and many details need to be hashed out. As
20:03
part of the agreement signed with Trump, Malaysia pledged not
20:07
to ban or impose quotas on critical mineral exports to
20:11
the US and work with American businesses to expedite development
20:15
of its rare earth sector. Multiple countries in Southeast Asia
20:20
are rich in critical minerals. Low Malaysia is one of
20:24
the only ones with burgeoning process CABILO capabilities. The Australian
20:29
mineral giant Linus has operated a processing facility in central
20:34
Malaysia for over a decade. Ted Osius senior vice president
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at the U s Asne Business Council, said he was
20:43
glad to see the Malaysia deal included carve outs for
20:46
certain sectors, a key objective of many countries in the region.
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I think it's going to give all the assine countries
20:53
encouragement that deals can be done. And our next story,
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how Trump's perception of Japan collides with today's economic reality
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from Tokyo. The Japan that first caught President Trump's attention
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in the nineteen eighties was a Japan of glitzy excess,
21:14
big dreams, a place so flushed with cash that businessmen
21:18
dropped fourteen thousand dollars tips at hostess bars, and golf
21:23
memberships cost upward of three million dollars sales of high
21:27
end models of Ferrari citie Ben's car sword Land values
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were so high that the Imperial Palace grounds and the
21:36
center of Tokyo, measuring just over one square mile, were
21:41
worth more than all the real estate in California. In
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the nineteen eighties, when the thirty somethingter real estate developer
21:51
built a Golden tower in New York on Fifth Avenue
21:54
bearing his name, Japanese companies snapped up prime property in
21:58
the United States, including Rockefeller Center near Fifth Avenue. Japan
22:04
was also a global leader in innovation. It had invented
22:08
the Sony walkman VCRs, and in Nintendo games. Seemed like
22:14
Japan owned the future. Renowned Harvard professor and even book
22:19
published called Japan as number one. So certain did it
22:23
appear that Japan would leap frog the United States to
22:26
become the world's biggest economy. This Japan appears to be
22:30
the animating principle behind the tariff regime that Trump, now
22:34
on his second presidential term, is using to reshape the
22:37
global economy and stop, as he said, wealthy economies from
22:42
ripping off the United States. Experts say, first they take
22:47
all our money with their consumer goods, then they put
22:50
it back in buying all of Manhattan, Trump told Playboy
22:54
magazine in nineteen ninety So either way we lose his
23:00
solution than and now tariffs. But Japan today is not
23:07
the go go speculative booming Japan of Trump's memory. Today,
23:12
Japan is number four. Trump will arrive in Tokyo one Monday,
23:18
his first trip of this term. He in Japan's newly
23:21
elected Prime Minister, saney Tatkiichi are expected to discuss the
23:26
US Japan Trade agreement, under which Japan agreed to fifteen
23:30
percent tariffs on all of its exports to the United
23:34
States and promised to invest five hundred and fifty billion
23:38
dollars into the country. But Trump's trade policies are stuck
23:42
in the era of competition four decades ago. Analyst say
23:47
he's never really let go of that perception of Japan
23:51
as a peer challenger, even as Japan isn't exactly a
23:55
peer competitor with the United States anymore, said Paul Nato,
24:00
an expert and international trade policy at Temple University's Japan campus.
24:05
He never got it, passed it, and like every prime
24:10
minister since the real estate bubble burst in nineteen ninety one,
24:13
Takeiichi has vowed to reinvigorate the Japanese economy. By nineteen
24:19
ninety one, the greatly inflated stock and land prices collapsed
24:24
after the Japanese Central Bank aggressively raised interest rates to
24:28
cool the market. It brought about a financial crisis that
24:33
led to prolonged economic stagnation for more than thirty years,
24:39
known as the Lost Decades of Almos. Snow Growth corporations
24:44
became hesitant to invest. The spiraling demand led to a
24:48
long bout of deflation, the Asian currency crisis in the
24:53
late nineteen nineties. Major natural disasters and the Japanese central
24:58
bank policies contributed to of the slump. Now, Japan faces
25:03
a multitude of economic problems. Rapidly aging and shrinking population,
25:08
with around thirty percent of its population of about one
25:11
hundred and twenty three million over sixty five years old.
25:15
A severe worker shortage caused by a shrinking population and
25:20
low fertility rate have opened the door to more foreign
25:23
workers than ever before, a big change in homogeneous immigrant
25:28
wary Japan, a weak currency all cost of living crisis
25:34
as prices are finally rising after three lost decades. In
25:39
Japan's automobile industry, which was a source of trade friction
25:43
with the United States both in the nineteen eighties and
25:46
currently in the second Trump era, is now lagging behind
25:50
China as the world's largest auto exporter, particularly in the
25:54
global shift toward electric vehicles. Japan is now known for
25:59
its socials ability rather than rapid growth, with its exceptionally
26:03
punctual trains, impeccably clean streets, and a deep cultural commitment
26:09
to social harmony, but the sluggish growth of the past
26:14
three decades also means the decadent tales of Japanese luxury
26:18
in the nineteen eighties are now a distant memory. In retrospect,
26:24
it was obvious hubris, said Jasper Cole, an influential economist
26:29
who has been a residence here since nineteen eighty six.
26:33
In nineteen eighty seven, Japan's GDP per capitas surpassed that
26:37
of the US, creating profound shifts and American views of
26:41
their place in the world. The envy of being outbid
26:45
by the Japanese during the bubble was certainly there. It
26:48
absolutely shaped Trump's worldview, Cole said, adding that Japan showed
26:54
the United States economic dominance could be challenged. Germans had cars,
27:00
they weren't in your living room. They weren't your landlords.
27:03
A German born coal whereas the Japanese they made your cars,
27:08
They were in your living room, and they were your landlords.
27:12
Even as American fascination with the Japanese culture and products
27:16
grew and memories of World War II receded, a wave
27:19
of anxiety about Japan's economic rise swept the United States
27:24
In nineteen eighty seven. Some members of Congress gathered on
27:27
the Capitol lawn and smashed at Toshiba Radio with sledgehammers
27:32
to show their disdain for the Japanese electronics company. Trump
27:37
and New York real estate developer at the time, latched
27:39
onto those frictions. In nineteen eighty seven, he paid almost
27:44
one hundred thousand dollars to take out full paid ads
27:48
in the Washington Post and New York Times and The
27:50
Boston Globe, complaining that for decades Japan and others have
27:56
been taking advantage of the United States by not spending
28:00
enough on its own defense. He argued that the US
28:03
should tax the wealthy nations like Japan, which built a
28:08
strong and vibrant economy with unprecedented surpluses. That is an
28:13
approach he has applied with vigor in his second term,
28:16
slapping tariffs on countries rich and poor alike. He has
28:21
been particularly strident in his approach towards China, the country
28:25
now lining up to overtake the United States, and has
28:29
threatened aggressive tariff hikes extended strict controls on exports of
28:34
the advanced computer chips China needs to pull ahead. The
28:39
good news is that Trump's views now on tariffs and
28:43
Japan can also be moderated. NATO of Temple University noted
28:49
that Trump's first term, when he questioned the values of
28:53
alliances and demanded Japan pay more to host US troops,
28:56
he still developed a friendship with then Prime Minister is
29:00
Shinzo Abbey, who managed Trump's impulses to lash out against
29:04
Japan through flattery and golf games. And officials in Trump's
29:09
second administration, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Descent and US
29:13
Trade Representative Jameson Greer, have similarly helped bring more nuance
29:19
to the US Japan trade relationship. NATO sid plus, some
29:25
things have gone Trump's way in the intervening decades. In
29:31
nineteen ninety, Trump visited Tokyo on a business trip with
29:34
Japanese bankers and to attend a boxing match featuring American
29:38
boxing champion Mike Tyson. Trump wasn't completely taken with the place.
29:43
He refused to eat raw fish, eating McDonald's instead. According
29:47
to the nineteen ninety three book Lost Tykoon The Many
29:49
Lives of Donald J. Trump, and during a walk at
29:52
the Imperial Gardens, Trump decided he wanted to meet with
29:55
the Emperor and ordered his entourage to set up a meeting.
30:00
The Emperor's spokesman did not know who he was informed Trump,
30:04
and an appointment might be arranged in one year's time
30:08
if he submitted a written request. According to the book,
30:11
trop returns to Tokyo this week as president. In this
30:15
time he already has an appointment with the Emperor. In fact,
30:20
it will be their second time meeting each other and
30:24
next China's trade bullying can't stand up to a united front.
30:31
It's been a busy month for China's trade weaponization. Last week,
30:36
Beijing slapped punitive sanctions on five US subsidiaries of a
30:40
Korean shipping company. This followed its October ninth announcement imposing
30:45
sweeping export controls on rare earth minerals. Chinese official cited
30:50
national security concerns for the moves, but in truth, they
30:54
were just the latest act in a three decade long
30:57
power play. As president, than Trump tours Asia, he should
31:02
consider a way to work with allies and partners stop
31:05
the bullying. Individually, the targets of Chinese economic pressure find
31:10
it difficult, if not impossible, to hold their ground against
31:14
the second largest economy in the world. But if they
31:17
act collectively, they can deter China's coercion once and for all.
31:23
This is especially vital given how China deploys its economic
31:27
might to achieve aims beyond the economic sphere. Leveraging its
31:32
massive market, China uses tariff and non tariff barriers to
31:37
infringe on the sovereign political choices of others. The goal
31:41
is not the conventional one in protecting domestic markets. Rather,
31:45
Beijing seeks to change the target's policies on Taiwan, Tibet,
31:50
Hong Kong, Xinxiang, and other areas deemed core interests by
31:55
the Chinese Communist Party. This trade weapon is station has
32:01
increased dramatically under President's Zijin Pin. The three of US
32:05
have compiled of dataset tracking instances of Chinese economic coersion
32:10
over the past twenty eight years, and the pattern is
32:13
clear worldwide. Since nineteen ninety seven, there have been twenty
32:18
three cases of targeted pressure by China against governments. In
32:22
five hundred and eighty two against individual companies. In twenty twelve,
32:27
China stopped importing Philippine bananas over a territorial dispute. In
32:32
twenty twenty, it slapped tariffs as high as two hundred
32:36
and eighteen percent on Australian wine and blocked beef imports
32:42
from ten processors because Canberra called for an independent investigation
32:48
into the origins of COVID nineteen. US companies like Apple, Amazon, FedEx, Google, Intel, McDonald's, Microsoft, Nike,
32:57
and Walmart have all failed retaliation by China for myriad
33:03
supposed transgressions, including objections to labeling of Hong Kong and
33:08
Taiwan on websites and products, or actions such as sending
33:11
packages or selling T shirts perceived as supporting Hong Kong protests.
33:18
In almost all cases, the government or company quickly conceded
33:22
in order to minimize losses. China pocketed the win and
33:27
moved on to the next target. However, what if Trump,
33:31
rather than tarifing European and Asian partners, tried to bring
33:35
them into a collective economic deterrence pledge in the spirit
33:39
of NATO's Bedrock Article five Mutual Defense Commitment, which such
33:45
a pledge would treat economic coortion against one as an
33:48
economic coortion against all, to be answered with retaliation by
33:53
the whole group. Great interdependence is a two way streak,
33:58
and China is not the only one with left rich. Indeed,
34:02
targets of China's coercion export almost six hundred goods with
34:06
raw materials that China is heavily dependent on. The Group
34:11
of seven countries plus Australia and South Korea together produce
34:16
about six hundred items worth thirty seven billion dollars that
34:20
China is heavily dependent on. The US exports one hundred
34:24
and thirty two of these items Japan one hundred and
34:27
forty seven items, South Korea forty eight, Canada twenty six,
34:31
and Australia twenty two. These exports range from intermediate goods
34:36
such as silver powder used for solar panels and spotamine
34:41
used for lithium batteries, to luxury items likes lobster, fine brandies,
34:46
cold weather Kentucky bluegrass seeds for soccer pitches. Currently, China
34:52
sees no vulnerability in this trade dependence because it assumes
34:56
that no target would dare retaliate against it. A collective
35:01
pledge to use high dependence items to answer Chinese economic
35:04
intimidation tip for TET would make China think twice. A
35:10
coalition of exporters could even deter China's persistent leveraging of
35:15
critical minerals. While China dominates this market, it is largely
35:20
dependent on international trade for nickel and nickel related by
35:25
products for its steel and electric vehicle industries. More than
35:30
eighty percent of Chinese imports of nickel alloys, bars, rods,
35:34
and profiles come from the United States, Japan, and Germany,
35:39
while fifty seven percent of nickel catalysts and fifty five
35:43
percent of nickel articles imported by China come from the
35:47
US in Germany and the US in Korea, respectively. Because
35:52
its nickel reserves constitute only four percent of the world's
35:55
total reserves, China lacks the viable domestic alternatives. Collective economic
36:02
deterrence has already been shown to work. In response to
36:06
China's sactions against Lithuania in twenty twenty one for opening
36:10
a Taiwan office, the European Union credited a list of
36:14
retaliatory measures and an adjudication system for identifying China's coercion.
36:21
Since its inception in December of twenty twenty three, the
36:25
EU's anti coercion instrument has been relatively successful at deterring
36:30
further bullying by Beijing. No such mechanism currently exists in
36:36
Asia or involves the United States, it's time to create one.
36:42
Importantly collective economic deterrence would only be used if China
36:47
acts out. In this sense, it is a strategy aimed
36:51
not at starting a trade war, but it's stopping China's
36:54
destruction of the free trade order. To do nothing into
37:00
China's demands only insures more intimidation and our next story,
37:08
Nebraska's corn Husker clink for migrant detainees upends a rural
37:14
town from McCook, Nebraska. For nearly twenty five years, prisoners
37:21
like Mitch Stone moved furniture, mode lawns, and renovated buildings
37:26
and no cost to residence of this small city in
37:28
mid and western Nebraska. Stone, who's fifty, spent two years
37:35
at a local work ethic camp where he maintained the
37:38
county fair ground for three dollars and seventy eight cents
37:41
a day while serving time after a DUI conviction. Camp
37:45
helped me out a lot, said Stone, who was now
37:47
full time employee at the same facility where he worked
37:50
as an inmate. By the end of this week, Nebraska's
37:55
Governor Jim Pillen, the Republican, says the state will turn
37:59
the camp into the Corner and husker Klink the Great
38:02
Plains version of Florida, Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, where the state
38:06
plans to house up to three hundred undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation.
38:12
The closure has McCook officials and local nonprofits that depend
38:17
on the prison labor scrambling to find a new workforce.
38:21
Camp wages were paid by the state. Nebraska will met
38:25
about fourteen million dollars from the deal with immigration and
38:28
customs enforcements, according to the governor's office, but that money
38:33
will not go to the town's coffers. City official say
38:37
and local residents worry they will lose business from people
38:40
who came to town to visit incarcerated family members. We
38:45
didn't ask for this, said Nate Schneider, McCook city manager.
38:49
Court filings and interviews, McCook residents say they took pride
38:54
in their relationship with the work Ethic camp, which they
38:57
saw as mutually beneficial. The inmates set up tables at
39:01
the Salvation Army, renovated the weight room at the YMCA,
39:06
and managed an out of control apple orchard. According to
39:09
a lawsuit filed by local residents seeking to stop the takeover,
39:14
of the facility. In the process, inmates learned new skills
39:19
and gained a level of independence that the prison system
39:22
doesn't typically offer, they said. On Friday morning, a half
39:26
dozen protesters opposed to the migrant detention center gathered outside
39:30
the courthouse in downtown McCook, holding signs that said shame
39:35
on Pilling and Pillin is selling out McCook. Inside, a
39:40
county district judge heard arguments from state lawyers seeking to
39:44
dismiss the residence lawsuits, which argues that the governor failed
39:48
to get state legislative approval for the Cornhusker Clink. But
39:53
the work ethic camp has already ceased regular operations. Stone
39:58
said he is concerned that won't get the same opportunities
40:02
that he did. He's also worried about keeping up with
40:06
the workload at the fairground. With the additional labor camp,
40:09
we had to scramble. We're losing all our crews for
40:13
cleans and installs, he said. To replace them, the county
40:17
fair bought a forty four thousand dollars vacuum to suck
40:21
out the hundreds of horse stalls, which the crew sometimes
40:25
only has two days to clean before the next event.
40:27
He said. He's not opposed to the Trump Administration's immigration policy,
40:32
Stone said, but losing the camp to an ICE detention
40:36
facility is asenine for this community. The converted detention facility
40:42
is part of the Trump Administration's plan to build attainment
40:45
capacity for one hundred and seven thousand immigrants this year,
40:50
an ambitious project supported by a staggering forty five billion
40:55
dollar budget. ICE has worked diligently greater necessary detention space
41:02
to deliver on the American people's mandate to remove violent
41:06
and dangerous criminals from our communities, said Trisha McLaughlin, Department
41:11
of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, in an email statement. We
41:17
look forward to the opening of this new partnership with
41:20
Nebraska very soon. On the social media site x EHS
41:27
celebrated the facility with an image of cornstalks wearing ICE hats.
41:31
Every state is a border state. Nebraska is going to
41:35
do its part to make sure that our nation and
41:38
Nebraskans are safe and secure. Philon said in a statement
41:42
on Thursday. This facility will be key in providing regional
41:47
support to ICE officials who are working tirelessly to identify
41:52
illegal criminals and get them off our streets. The Governor's
41:57
office did not respond to a request for common The
42:01
work Ethic Camp opened in twenty oh one to ease
42:05
overcrowding and other state prisons and help inmates prepare for
42:08
their release. Between twenty oh one and twenty twenty, five thousand,
42:14
six hundred and three inmates were successfully discharged from the camp,
42:18
according to a twenty twenty legislative report. It quickly became
42:23
a labor source for local government agencies and nonprofits that
42:26
requested their help. Diane Lyons first encountered camp workers fifteen
42:31
years ago when she taught them bookkeeping at a community college.
42:36
Well recently, she's enjoyed watching them set up a holiday
42:39
display called Santa Claus Lane from the window of the
42:43
library where she works. They were good people and they
42:47
were trying, said Lyons, who was still Facebook friends with
42:51
some of the former inmates. They got to learn a
42:54
skill that hopefully they could use when they got home.
42:58
It's upsetting to think about what's replacing the camp, she said.
43:02
I don't like the idea of ice anyway, and they're
43:05
the things that they're doing in our nation, line said,
43:08
and I especially hate the fact that they're bringing that
43:12
to our corner of the world two to three times
43:15
a month. Then from the work at the camp went
43:18
to the campuses of McCook Public schools and helped rip
43:22
up carpets, renovate classrooms, and build a retaining wall at
43:26
the football stadium. When the grass was high, the district
43:30
would have four inmates bowing the property six hours a day. Now,
43:35
Jeff Gross, business manager for the district, said they will
43:40
have to find a replacement workforce. We have a very
43:43
tight budget. Gross said in an interview. During the summer
43:47
he can pay students to do the work, but when
43:49
school starts, that doesn't work. He said. The camp is
43:54
undergoing a makeover to prepare for the detainees. Prisoner cots
43:58
are being released with metal bunks. Doug Kobernick, the Inspector
44:03
General of the Nebraska Correctional System, said in an interview
44:06
with The Washington Post multi purpose spaces within the facility
44:11
will be repurposed to accommodate additional beds. According to the
44:15
Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, the facility, which the department
44:20
said will house non violent adults for five to forty
44:23
five days, is also adding sixty five jobs to accommodate
44:27
the number of detainees, including an interpreter. According to job
44:32
listings on the state's websites, his exiting staff can keep
44:37
their jobs in some roles and ain't change, though A
44:40
spokesperson for the prison declined to say how. It costs
44:45
the state ten point two million dollars a year to
44:47
operate the camp, but the federal government will pay two
44:51
point four or five million dollars a month, or more
44:54
than twenty four million dollars a year for it to
44:56
operate as an immigration detainee facility. According to a statement
45:01
from the governor's office, the contract expires in September of
45:05
twenty twenty seven. Chad Hall spent six months at the
45:09
McCook camp in twenty nineteen while serving a sentence for
45:13
burglary and other charges. That place changed my life, he said.
45:19
The money he made, however little, helped him buy deodorant
45:23
and other essentials while incarcerated. I would have done it
45:27
for free because I was on the other side of
45:29
the fence, he said. It kind of saved me, showed
45:34
me I was a human still today. Hall lives near
45:39
his grandkids about an hour north of McCook and runs
45:42
a mobile mechanic business. The closure of the work Ethic
45:46
Camp has him worried. I don't like them taking that
45:49
place and disrupting the lives of people that are possibly
45:52
changing for the better. He continued, I changed for good
45:55
in that place, and now there's so many people that
45:58
might not or won't change from their programming. That makes
46:03
me angry. And with Halloween at the end of the week,
46:07
the next article is luxury pumpkin porches are the latest
46:12
trend in holiday decorating. The one hundred and twenty ten
46:16
pound pumpkins journey required a crew of tractor drivers and
46:21
a determined businesswoman who carefully loaded it into a truck
46:25
headed toward its final destination. After it was rolled along
46:29
in a utility cart and lifted up a few stairs,
46:33
the pumpkin was strategically positioned on a homes porch, the
46:37
crown jewel of an autumn display. Sold by a Virginia entrepreneur.
46:43
The service offered is sophisticated, esthetically pleasing, and part of
46:47
a growing nationwide trend clients willing to pay hundreds of
46:52
dollars to have their porch professionally decorated with pumpkins. Demand
46:59
for the displays have skyrocketed in the past couple of years,
47:03
providing an opportunity for hopeful entrepreneurs, most of whom are women,
47:08
to make a profit using their creativity and project management expertise.
47:13
It also comes as consumers are opting to spend more
47:17
money than ever on decorations than costumes are candy for
47:21
the Halloween season. According to the National Retail Federation, It's
47:27
not uncommon for people to pay for landscaping, house cleaning,
47:31
or other maintenance services, but now consumers are also outsourcing
47:35
planning to elaborate toddler birthday parties or creating luxury college dorms.
47:42
Pumpkin porch arrangements are also part of the trend toward
47:46
more intense holiday decorps, which now spans more occasions. The
47:50
Washington Post has reported the clients paying for fancy porch
47:55
goards do it for a variety of reasons. Several pumpkin
47:59
entrepreneurs tole the Post. Some do it for the Instagram
48:03
flare or lack of time to decorate themselves. Others may
48:08
be unable to physically lift the pumpkins, or they buy
48:11
the porch packages to get to others, something akin to
48:15
a flower delivery. These things are not what I would
48:19
find at my typical grocery store, said Tracy Kemp Stallings,
48:22
who hired Rebecca Ravinger in Richmond to create a pastel
48:26
pumpkin display. What she does esthetically mixes the pumpkins with
48:32
these gourds. It's just very fluid and very unique. Most
48:38
entrepreneurs point to Heather Torres, the Pumpkin Queen of Dallas,
48:43
for creating the business idea, but Torres credits taking multiple
48:48
trips with her young children to the Dallas Arboretum and
48:52
Botanical Gardens' annual Pumpkin Village display as her inspiration. At first,
48:59
Torres designed for her own house. She won a Yard
49:02
of the Month award from the Neighborhood Association in twenty thirteen,
49:06
which fueled her to keep creating bigger, more elaborate pumpkin
49:10
cascades year after year, and eventually friends and family began asking,
49:17
could you do this at my home too. I realized
49:21
everybody loves decorating for Christmas, Tours said, but what if
49:25
I started offering this for fall. She officially launched Ports
49:31
Pumpkins in twenty twenty, setting a schedule that would work
49:34
around her family's priorities. As a stay at home mother,
49:38
after dropping her kids off at school, she would drive
49:41
to a warehouse, take out the car seats, and pile
49:45
the pumpkins into her suv to conduct routes. At the
49:49
end of the school day, she'd pick up her kids
49:51
in a pumpkin less car. The task would still continue
49:54
into the evening, Tours said. When her husband got off work,
49:58
then they would tag team to deliveries that would included
50:01
fifty to one hundred pound companies. Torres's goal in twenty
50:05
twenty was direct to decorate fifty homes. She did two
50:10
hundred and fifty each year, We've grown anywhere from ten
50:15
to twenty percent in sales, said Torres, who has scaled
50:18
her team to include assistants, designers, and delivery workers. It's
50:23
five years in business, but it's been six seasons. So
50:27
in my sixth season, we did thirteen hundred homes across
50:32
Dallas and Houston, and this year we added Austin to
50:36
our delivery list. Torres's formula for pumpkin ports success has
50:41
been picked up across the country, including states that do
50:45
not typically experience changing leaf colors and cooler weather, and
50:50
to put together the picture ready displays. Savvy entrepreneurs embrace
50:55
serious physical exertion, organized spreadsheets and word of mouth advertisement.
51:01
The pricing for their services takes into consideration the cost
51:05
of the pumpkins, which the business people try to source
51:08
from local farms, as well as the design and cleanup.
51:13
The grander the display, the more the package costs, and
51:17
some go for upwards of one thousand dollars. Ravager, the
51:24
Virginia entrepreneur, turned to pumpkin porch decorating as a way
51:29
to bring in an income after she was laid off
51:31
in January amid the toughest labor market in years. So
51:35
she made a job for herself Pumpkin in Chief. According
51:40
to her LinkedIn page of Patch to Porch Rva, Ravager's
51:45
first big break was when a local farm agreed to
51:48
source her pumpkins. The next came which she was connected
51:52
to a compost company that could do pumpkin cleanup. To
51:56
bring in customers, Ravager has left postcards on doors and
52:00
passed out flyers, and now weeks later she is close
52:05
to her goal. I just have so much gratitude, she said.
52:10
It was one of those things that I didn't really
52:13
know what to expect I remember the first time I
52:16
had someone reach out for press and I just started
52:19
crying happy tears. After my first order came in, I
52:23
was crying because of that. Across the country, Heather Walker,
52:29
the Pumpkin Lady of Salt Lake City, saw measurable growth
52:33
in her second year running Pumpkin Porch Ferry, even without
52:36
any formal advertising. She opened orders in late August, but
52:41
she's already planning to start earlier next year. This year,
52:46
she designed a pumpkin laden porch for a backyard wedding
52:49
hosted by Courtney's Wick. Zueck said Walker drew her attention
52:53
when she left a flyer wrapped in a bow tie
52:56
on her door handle. Her request to Walker was simple.
53:00
Z Wick, who was not a fan of the orange color,
53:03
wanted white or ghost pumpkins. Walker delivered. But it's a
53:08
bit of a splurge for something like that, But I'm
53:10
willing to do it because it made sense for me,
53:13
Easwick said, especially here in Utah, everybody takes pride in
53:18
their decorations. When the festive season is over, Walker will
53:23
deliver the pumpkins to local ranchers who will use them
53:26
as animal feed. I hope people look at the business
53:29
and go wow, we are helping our own local community,
53:33
Walker said. From a local farmer to a local businesswoman,
53:38
and then to a local rancher who produces, whether it's
53:41
hogs or cows, what feeds our community? Right. Others valued
53:46
the decor are the simple joy it inspires. LeAnn Alexander
53:51
of Phoenix brought a display from Lisa Shrugs Pumpkin Line Porch, Arizona,
53:58
seeking a positive boosting a hard time in her life.
54:02
She has family in the military and some of her
54:04
relatives have been affected by the government shut down. Creating
54:08
porch displays with pumpkins and other traditional symbols of the
54:11
fall is difficult in Arizona's dry heat, Shug said, both
54:16
in terms of setting them up in that weather and
54:18
how long the pumpkins can last before they go bad.
54:22
During one delivery in the beaming sun with temperatures well
54:25
above one hundred degrees, Shug said she would place the pumpkins,
54:29
run to her car to cool off, assess necessary adjustments,
54:33
and run back to the porch in a continuous cycle.
54:37
Some displays take hours and hours to work without questions,
54:40
said Shug, who has rows of pumpkins in her garage,
54:45
but it's worth it. But she hears that her clients
54:47
are happy with results. Most people really love this time
54:51
of year, and especially people wanting to share it with
54:54
friends and family. She said. People just want to share
54:58
in that nostalgia feeling of this time of the year,
55:02
the crisp bear for those who live in other parts
55:05
of the country, and the leaves changing. And now let's
55:09
finish up with this story. A colossal buck eaes broke
55:14
a small Colorado town from Palmer Lake, Colorado. The organizers
55:20
of the pumpkin patch outside the local town hall canceled
55:23
this year's event so that evil doesn't win. A local
55:28
lawyer stopped watching Sunday football at sports bar because he
55:31
got tired of people yelling at him. A gregarious chief
55:36
turns his head when he drives past neighbors who have
55:39
shunned him. Over the past year. The social fabric of
55:43
this town of two thy five hundred has been torn
55:46
apart by a gas station. An enormous gas station. BUCkies,
55:53
the Texas chain known for its jaunty beaver mascot and
55:56
sparkling bathrooms, wants to erect a seventy four or one
56:00
thousand square foot travel plaza, far larger than football field
56:04
along a nearby interstate. The proposal is exact expected to
56:09
go to a public vote this winter, but already it
56:12
has led to cursing and a packed town meeting, mud
56:15
slinging on social media and text, accusations of vandalism, litigation,
56:21
the downfall of a mayor and the ouster of two
56:23
town trustees, and the resignation of a third. Combatants on
56:29
both sides see themselves as savers of a town they
56:32
cherish for its quiet streets, forested foothills and dark skies.
56:37
In those favor of the project consists the financial security
56:40
of the new tax revenue will preserve Palmer Lake. Those
56:44
opposed say there is nothing preservationist about a colossal commercial
56:49
venture that would threaten wildlife in groundwater. With many residents fear,
56:54
the bitter fight has already inflicted lasting scars, whether or
56:59
not the BUCkies has ever built. I think those divisions
57:04
will take possibly a long time to heal, said fifty
57:06
year resident and former mayor Paul Oliver, who teared up
57:10
when speaking about the polemics around BUCkies. We have people
57:14
that lived here and that were friends for many years.
57:17
And now they're fighting against each other. We have family
57:20
members opposing family members. He would know his daughter and
57:26
grandson has spoken publicly against BUCkies. It will be stark
57:30
shift in our town's culture forever, said Chase Oliver, twenty and,
57:34
who told the Board of directors in December, shortly before
57:37
and voted to advance the proposal. Bucky's plan was inflammatory
57:41
from the instant it was unveiled. With the second Colorado store,
57:45
the company I had apply a private land along Interstate
57:48
twenty five, nearly two miles east of town, but he
57:51
needed a source of water tall order for the drought
57:55
struck in West Mark Waller, an attorney and former Republican
57:58
state lawmaker, is now Companies on the ground consultant knew
58:02
the leadership of Monument, a larger town closer to the parcel,
58:06
was wary of more growth outside the town hall. Opponent's
58:10
unferral of banner reading stop BUCkies dot Com. Neither side
58:14
greeted each other as they walked past. BUCkies has shredded
58:18
this community in half, they said, shaking their heads. And
58:23
this concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today, Monday,
58:26
October twenty seventh, Your reader for today has been Rod Brotherton.
58:31
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions concerning the program,
58:35
please feel free to call us at eight five nine
58:37
four two two sixty three ninety. Thank you for listening,
58:40
and now please stay tuned for more news right here
58:42
on Radio LI