Posted inWorld

China’s ‘Weaponized Negotiation’ Could Backfire, Expert Says

By Sean Tseng Beijing recently tightened export controls on some critical rare earth elements, ratcheting up its tariff standoff with Washington. By monopolizing more than 90 percent of global rare earth processing, China has long held these 17 elements as a strategic chokepoint. Analysts say Beijing’s new export-licensing rules—ostensibly applying to all countries, but aimed […]

Posted inNational News

US Manufacturing Activity Beats Wall Street Estimates Despite Tariff Uncertainty

By Andrew Moran U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the second straight month in April, but the sector performed better than market forecasts. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI)—a monthly survey of the industry’s prevailing economic direction—fell to 48.7 last month from 49 in March. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in […]

Posted inNational News

Why the US Denied a Request From Mexico for Water

By Autumn Spredemann Mexico’s delinquent water deliveries, in violation of an 81-year-old treaty with the United States, have exposed years of “blind eye” policies, rapid population growth, and hydrological changes, according to an expert at the U.S. Army War College. Evan Ellis, research professor of Latin American studies at the college’s Strategic Studies Institute, told […]