The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) upped the ante on their estimate for fiscal deficit reduction last week, all due to higher tariffs that kicked into effect this month. Tariffs are offsetting tax cuts signed into law this summer in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).
America is dangerously reliant on high-risk foreign suppliers for essential generic drugs, especially APIs concentrated in China and India. That over-reliance has already triggered preventable crises, such as nationwide chemotherapy shortages when a single overseas plant shut down.
It’s been three full months of record-high tariffs, and yet rolling 12-month overall inflation came in at 2.7% in July, the same percentage rate as June, according to last week’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) inflation report. Core inflation (CPI), which excludes food and oil, rose 3.1% in July, up from 2.9% in June.
The initial report of the CPA/PSSI China Space Security Initiative (CSSI) details how Beijing is working to penetrate and control the space sectors of more than 120 countries through hundreds of ostensibly commercial agreements, via state-controlled Chinese companies that, in effect, act as fronts for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The trade deficit fell 16% in June to a low $60.2 billion, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday, but despite a 3.7% reduction in imports, the goods deficit for the month was surprisingly resilient compared to recent years without tariffs.
The United States has become incredibly dependent on imports to meet its daily pharmaceutical needs. This heavy reliance on imports is now creating serious drug shortages and has led to a flurry of safety concerns.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), enacted in 2000, was designed to promote economic development and democratic reform in Sub-Saharan Africa by granting duty-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products.
America’s generic drug supply is at a crisis point. As detailed in previous reports, the United States is dangerously reliant on a high-risk imported drug supply, and today’s widespread drug shortages stem not from shipping delays or unexpected demand—but from a collapse in domestic production.
On July 17, at an event at New York University, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Christopher Waller, said that tariffs are not inflationary. “Tariffs are one-off increases in the price level and do not cause inflation beyond a temporary surge,” he said.
An economist with the San Francisco Federal Reserve wrote in their “Economic Letter” from July 14 that tariffs are going to lead to much higher inflation in the weeks ahead. There’s just one caveat, and senior economist Mauricio Ulate admits it up front.
