On Tuesday, President Trump explained that he is delaying 10 percent tariffs on thousands of Chinese consumer goods until Dec. 15 "for the Christmas season, just in case some of the tariffs would have an impact on U.S. customers. ... Just in case they might have an impact on people, what we've done is we've delayed it so that they won't be relevant to the Christmas shopping season."
Analysts who had seen the list of items spared until mid-December — cellphones, video game consoles, laptops, toys, some clothing items and footwear — had already figured this out. But Trump's remarks were notable in that he finally broke from his mantra that "the Chinese are paying the full price of his tariffs," Heather Long writes at The Washington Post. "It's a line that the overwhelming majority of economists and business owners say is false, but Trump kept saying it — until Aug. 13."
U.S.-based companies pay the tariffs on Chinese imports, and a U.S. family of four would pay about $350 a year if Trump's latest tariffs took effect and the full cost was passed on to consumers, the Tax Foundation estimates. The previous round of tariffs focused on parts and supplies, and "many U.S. companies opted to absorb a lot of the added costs, effectively canceling out some of Trump's corporate tax cut," Long notes. But the new tariffs "will hit may finished goods like shoes and iPhones that are assembled fully in China," and "business owners say it's a lot more difficult to absorb those costs or find ways around them."
Most retailers will have stocked their holiday products before Sept. 1, Reuters says, but if you're inclined to last-minute shop, Trump still plans to impose 10 percent tariffs on thousands of other consumer goods in September, including Apple Watches and Fitbits, smart speakers from Google and Amazon, Bluetooth headphones, flat screen TVs, live animates, dairy products, lithium ion batteries, and golf balls, among other merchandise. Peter Weber
From movie to Broadway musical ... back into movie?
That's the journey Mean Girls is going on, as Tina Fey is working on a feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical Mean Girls that is itself based on the 2004 movie of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter. There's no word yet on who might direct the film set up at Paramount, but Fey will write it, as she wrote the 2004 version.
This new Mean Girls, Uproxx notes, will be added to the "very short list" of films based on musicals based on films that aren't musicals — other examples include Hairspray and Little Shop of Horrors. To make it even more confusing, the original Mean Girls was based partially on the self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes, technically making this a movie based on a musical based on a movie based on a book.
In a statement, Fey said she's "very excited to bring Mean Girls back to the big screen," comparing it to "my Marvel Universe," while producer Lorne Michaels said it's been "a joy to work on Mean Girls and to watch it go from film, to musical, and now to musical film." Now, Mean Girls: The Movie: The Musical: The Movie: The Ride may be the natural next step. Brendan Morrow
Jim Lehrer, the longtime anchor of PBS NewsHour who moderated more presidential debates than anyone else, has died at 85.
Judy Woodruff, managing editor of PBS NewsHour, said in a press release that the beloved journalist died "peacefully in his sleep at home" on Thursday.
"I'm heartbroken at the loss of someone who was central to my professional life, a mentor to me and someone whose friendship I've cherished for decades," Woodruff said. "I've looked up to him as the standard for fair, probing and thoughtful journalism and I know countless others who feel the same way."
PBS President Paula Kerger said the network is "deeply saddened" by Lehrer's death, noting that he "exemplified excellence in journalism throughout his extraordinary career." Lehrer served as PBS anchor for 36 years, founding PBS NewsHour with Robert MacNeil. He also moderated 12 presidential debates, which PBS notes in its press release is the most of anyone in U.S. history, and wrote numerous novels, memoirs, and plays.
Journalists paid tribute to Leher on Thursday, with CNN's Jake Tapper remembering him as a "wonderful man and superb journalist," Fox News' Bret Baier calling him "one of the best debate moderators and an inspiration to a whole generation of political journalists — including this one," and The Washington Post's Robert Costa writing, "I will miss him, particularly the love of country and politics he brought to everything he did." Brendan Morrow
Apocalyptic doom is apparently closer than it's ever been before.
Every year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announces the world's status on its "doomsday clock," which reveals just how close all of humanity is to certain destruction. And after putting it at a dangerous two minutes from apocalypse for the last few years in a row, scientists upped their prediction to an unprecedented 100 seconds on Thursday.
The greatest threats to humanity, as outlined by the Bulletin, are "nuclear war and climate change," which are "compounded by a threat multiplier — cyber-enabled information warfare — that undercuts society's ability to respond." The scientists specifically called out how 2019 saw the end of "several major arms control treaties and negotiations," while "political conflicts regarding nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea remain unresolved and are, if anything, worsening."
As for climate change, scientists acknowledged "public awareness of the climate crisis grew over the course of 2019, largely because of mass protests by young people around the world." But "government action" hasn't risen to meet that public push, and even the UN has "put forward few concrete plans to further limit the carbon dioxide emissions," the statement continued. Altogether, this puts the world closer to a metaphorical midnight than ever before in the clock's 73-year history. Kathryn Krawczyk