Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of eighty-four. Sunrise is 5:40 AM and sunset 8:22 PM, for 14h 42m 33s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 95.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1999, the first Brewer is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame:
On this date Robin Yount became the first player inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in a Brewer’s jersey. Yount entered the major leagues at the age of 18 and spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers as number 19 at short stop and center field. His awards are numerous, including being selected as an all-star three times as well as American league MVP twice.
Recommended for reading in full —
Rick Barrett reports Trump’s trade war sweeps across Wisconsin, raising prices and putting jobs at risk:
President Donald Trump’s trade war is sweeping across Wisconsin — with manufacturers, farmers and soon the rest of us bracing for the impact.
Dairy products, cars, motorcycles, appliances, electronics and sporting goods are just a few things subject to new tariffs, or threats of tariffs, in trade disputes that have engulfed the U.S., Canada, Mexico, China and the European Union.
More: Harley-Davidson profit falls as company warns of damage from Trump’s trade war
In Milwaukee, Mike Darrow, president of the Russ Darrow Group of automotive dealerships, says sales of cars and trucks could hit a wall if Trump follows through on a threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles and parts.
It would raise the price of a typical new car sold in the U.S. by $4,400, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Jeff Daniels reports China could bring more pain to US soybean farmers if Trump escalates the trade war:
If China were to add another round of duties on soybeans, it could add pressure on the Trump administration due to the economic importance of soy exports to China. However, the White House may have helped prepare for more pain in the American agriculture sector by rolling out a $12 billion emergency plan for U.S. farmers on Tuesday.
“Nobody is going to win in this trade war,” said Bret Davis, an Ohio soybean farmer and a member of the American Soybean Association’s governing committee. “We just hope instead of a tariff that we come to an agreement and make it better for our side and their side.”
Still, there is precedent for China slapping “double whammy” tariffs months apart on the same U.S. agricultural products. For example, China imposed two rounds of tariffs on pork, nuts and fresh fruit. In the case of pork, after the additional tariff went into effect July 6, “the other white meat” is now subject to an import tax that exceeds 70 percent.
John Fritze and Deirdre Shesgreen report Trump offers help to farmers hit by escalating China trade war:
WASHINGTON – As President Donald Trump embarks on a multistate tour through parts of the country hit heavily by trade battles, his administration said Tuesday it will direct $12 billion to farmers whose harvests have been hurt by tariffs.
But the idea faced immediate criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Responding to farm groups and the Republican discontent, administration officials said they have been working since April on a short-term plan to shore up slipping prices for soybeans, pork and other crops hit with retaliatory tariffs from China.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue described the programs as “a firm statement that other nations cannot bully our agricultural producers to force the United States to cave in.”
But the idea drew sharp and immediate criticism from some Republicans on Capitol Hill, who described it as “welfare” for one sector of the economy affected by the tit-for-tat raising of trade barriers that has been ushered in by Trump.
“This trade war is cutting the legs out from under farmers,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “The best relief for the president’s trade war would be ending the trade war.”
(Tariffs are taxes, and now on top of more de facto taxes from his trade war, Trump wants more spending that will require higher taxes to pay for the spending outright or as interest on additional deficit spending.)
Rich Kremer reports Wisconsin Ag Groups Mixed On $12B Trump Aid For Farmers Caught In Tariff Battles (“Industry Leaders, Members Of Congress Criticize Move As Government Handouts”):
But in Wisconsin, farm and agricultural trade groups wondered how long it will take for that new trade policy to be hammered out and whether $12 billion would be enough to help every impacted farmer.
Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board Executive Director Robert Karls said it’s a frustrating situation for farmers who would rather see a fair and level playing field rather than a situation where they’re dependent on a government aid program. He said soybeans have already lost more than $2 a bushel in value over the last 45 days, which will eventually impact everyone.
These sanctioned tariffs, these retaliation tariffs are truly, truly damaging and everybody is going to feel it“These sanctioned tariffs, these retaliation tariffs are truly, truly damaging and everybody is going to feel it,” said Karls. “People, locally, are going to feel it when they buy their groceries. It’s going to impact their households. There’s just no doubt.”
(Even the agricultural industries Trump aims to support know that his support is a bad idea.)
Watch as a Huge Whale Breaches Inches From Kayaker: