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报复谷歌被开罚 特朗普恫言对欧盟展开新贸易调查

2026年7月25日 17:34 / 联合早报

欧盟以涉嫌垄断市场为由向谷歌开罚8亿9000万欧元。特朗普威胁将对欧盟启动新一轮贸易调查并加征关税，把罚款全数奉还。 （法新社）

（华盛顿综合电）美国总统特朗普恫言对欧盟启动新一轮贸易调查并加征关税，以报复欧盟对谷歌开出8亿9000万欧元（约13亿零700万新元）的罚款。这对看似趋向缓和的欧美贸易紧张关系带来了新的不确定性。

特朗普星期五（7月24日）在社媒贴文称，欧盟对谷歌开罚是非法和极不道德的行为，必为此付出极大代价。他说，美国不是欧洲的“储钱罐”，他将立即援引《贸易法》301条款对欧盟“掠夺”美国企业和纳税人的行为展开调查。

“这笔罚款将全数奉还，我们预期尽早对他们实施高额关税。”

特朗普政府刚于星期四（23日）引用301条款，向包括欧盟在内的60个贸易伙伴征收10%或12.5%关税，理由是它们疏于制止涉及“强迫劳动”的产品进口。

同日，欧盟委员会对谷歌开出两笔分别为4亿6000万和4亿3000万欧元的罚款，原因是它的搜索结果偏向自家的销售、酒店、交通和运动服务，还阻止应用开发商将用户导向谷歌商店以外的较便宜选择，违反了欧盟监管线上平台垄断行为的《数码市场法》。

这立刻引来特朗普再度批评欧盟对美国科企不公，包括早前对苹果和亚马逊的巨额罚款。

针对特朗普的最新威胁，欧盟委员会主管科技主权、安全与民主的执行副主席维尔库宁星期五向记者表明，欧洲坚定维护自身法律，在执法方面不会退缩。

爱尔兰驻美国大使纳森接受彭博电视访问时也说，欧洲原本正面看待美国早前宣布的“强迫劳动”关税，不过特朗普的最新表态“改变了双方的对话，很让人失望”。

她说：“我们没有对谷歌不公，我们心安理得，希望和美方展开对话，了解特朗普总统的话究竟是什么意思。”

SpaceX星舰成功完成上市后首次试飞

2026年7月25日 17:38 / 联合早报

星舰这次试飞的主要目标是再次验证第三代星舰的各项改良设计。 （路透社）

（纽约综合电）美国太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）的超重型运载火箭星舰（Starship）星期五（7月24日）顺利完成自公司上市以来的首次试飞，为今年底前开始提供常规商业服务铺平道路。

高122米的星舰火箭系统是在美东时间星期五傍晚6时50分（新加坡时间星期六上午7时50分），从SpaceX位于得克萨斯州的星舰基地发射升空。

第13次试飞的主要目标是再次验证第三代星舰的各项改良设计，并希望整个飞行过程能够顺利完成。

飞船按计划首次释放了20颗新一代星链卫星，并确认可通过无线电和激光链路与所有卫星建立通信，获取关键遥测数据。

这些卫星过后沿预定亚轨道飞行，并在重返大气层过程中烧毁。SpaceX说，这次测试将为扩展星链网络提供关键数据。

星舰的试飞持续约一小时，但它的第一级助推器以高于预期的速度落入墨西哥湾，未能完美完成返回地球的任务。

SpaceX希望到2026年底，能够利用巨型星舰火箭搭载第三代卫星扩展星链网络，以增加足够的通信容量，让普通手机也能在没有传统移动网络覆盖的地区，直接连接卫星并获得网络接驳服务。

Democrats concede NJ voter-roll failure was ‘horrible’ — but reject broader fraud fears

Senators and representatives called for election integrity reforms including paper trails and software reviews

July 25, 2026 4:00am EDT / Fox News

By Kiera McDonald

WATCH: Dem lawmakers react to NJ voter registration error

Democratic lawmakers say New Jersey’s voter registration error demands accountability but reject claims it points to widespread election fraud. (Credit: Nicholas Ballasy for Fox News Digital)

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Democratic lawmakers told Fox News Digital they agree New Jersey’s voter registration error demands accountability but say it doesn’t justify claims of widespread election fraud.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday said a “serious software error” led to the mistaken registration of roughly 6,600 noncitizens through the state’s Motor Vehicle System, while the company that provides the identity-related security services denied any wrongdoing.

“In New Jersey, we absolutely need to have accountability for what happened,” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said.

“It was just horrible. There was a big problem with that computer problem that they had. We need to try to address that going forward.”

NEW JERSEY REMOVES 6,600 PEOPLE FROM VOTER ROLLS WHO WERE ELIGIBLE TO CAST A BALLOT FOR 2024 ELECTION

Representative Mikie Sherrill, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for New Jersey, during an election night event in East Brunswick, New Jersey, US, on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Kim said states should be given the tools to keep voter rolls accurate instead of relying on the Department of Homeland Security’s findings after the agency found roughly 250,000 potential noncitizens who may be registered to vote across New Jersey, California, Nevada and Pennsylvania during a preliminary review.

“The main thing is making sure states have what they need,” Kim added. “I don’t trust the idea that we’re just going to mesh it with some DHS database. That’s where a lot of the problems come in, but we should all be making sure we’re looking out for election integrity.”

Sherrill said she immediately ordered an investigation after the error was discovered and that the state’s Division of Elections is removing ineligible voters from the rolls. She said fewer than 400 of those improperly registered cast ballots.

Kim said improving election technology and maintaining paper trails need to be a priority.

GOP ERUPTS OVER 6,600 NONCITIZEN VOTERS FOUND IN BLUE STATE AS SCANDAL DEEPENS: ‘WORSE THAN ANYONE EXPECTED’

Current New Jersey Democratic Senator Andy Kim speaks during hearing on Capitol Hill.(J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I’ve been pushing on that. Why don’t we get behind that?” he said.

Pointing to state and county officials, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said they must ensure “only those who are eligible to vote, vote.”

The comments also come after House Democrats largely opposed a legislative package combining a congressional stock trading ban with federal voter ID measures, as New Jersey’s voter registration error reignites debate.

When asked whether the country needs a nationwide proof-of-citizenship requirement for voting, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread election fraud are “a figment of his imagination.”

“There’s no evidence for it, and I’m not going to validate his false narratives,” he said.

Despite acknowledging those involved should be “held accountable,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said noncitizen voting “remains extremely rare.”

“I have always said that people should have to prove that they are who they say they are before they vote, and we have systems in place to ensure that happens, which is why noncitizen voting remains extremely rare,” he said.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the error was “not acceptable” and pointed to Virginia’s voter ID requirements and election audits, saying they have never uncovered a noncitizen voting problem.

“We do have an ID requirement in Virginia,” he said. “We also have audits of elections, and we’ve never found there to be a noncitizen voting problem.”

Praising Sherrill for coming forward in a “transparent manner,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said election software should be continuously reviewed.

CALIFORNIA ACCUSED OF BLOCKING FEDERAL VOTER ROLL AUDIT AS DOJ ESCALATES PROBE OF ELECTION FRAUD CLAIMS

A voter casts their ballot at a polling location.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We need to constantly be looking at election software and making sure,” she said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., said he supports a “simple” voter ID law but opposed the House GOP bill because he said it went beyond a basic ID requirement.

“If they put up a simple voter ID bill for an up-or-down vote without any of the other bulls— in it, I would vote for it,” he said. “I think a lot of people on both sides would, too. But they keep adding other stuff, like gutting mail ballots, and that was the problem with yesterday’s bill.”

Kiera McDonald is a Production Assistant for Fox News Digital.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6402027367112

Focus: Michigan battles massive outbreak as state reels from Trump cuts

2026-07-25T10:06:52.154Z / reuters.com

CHICAGO, July 25 (Reuters) – Two weeks before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its cyclosporiasis health warning on July 14, Michigan warned of an unusually large outbreak of parasitic disease that was causing explosive diarrhea.

New cases are still being reported in the nine-state outbreak. Michigan is the hardest hit, with more than ​8,100 cases.

The state is straining to keep up with the caseload in part due to federal funding cuts, as well as what officials in two counties and a third source familiar with the ‌state’s response called lagging or limited communication from federal agencies.

As a result, state and county health officials are borrowing staff and recruiting volunteers to sleuth out potential causes for the outbreak beyond the bagged lettuce that has been linked to Taylor Farms and Taco Bell, Michigan state and local health officials said in interviews.

The strain illustrates how states are struggling to get ahead of a fast-spreading foodborne outbreak without the federal resources that have been available in past health emergencies.

Michigan has 23 fewer infectious disease workers and 123 fewer county health staff after the ​Trump administration in 2025 canceled around $12 billion in COVID-era grants to states.

“We have had to pull in dozens of staff from other areas, from hepatitis C and interns who are working on gun violence prevention,” said ​Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive.

Ingham County, which includes most of the state capital of Lansing, has reported about 700 cases.

However, its health department’s staff of five nurses ⁠has only investigated about half of those. It has decided to drop old cases and focus on new ones, said Anne Barna, deputy health officer for Ingham County, which has a population of 290,000.

“That way we can try to help ​the state and the feds understand what is still causing people to get cyclospora,” she said.

Cuts to federal agencies have made the response more challenging, former CDC officials and food safety experts said.

The Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency ​for International Development also cut $40 million in funding that supported a CDC lab that investigates parasitic diseases. Resignations and staffing cuts last year have also taken a toll, said Dan Jernigan, a former senior CDC official.

COMMUNICATION LAG

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on July 17 linked the outbreak to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants sourced from privately held Taylor Farms’ operations in central Mexico. The agency says it is still investigating other sources.

Taco Bell, owned by Yum Brands

(YUM.N), opens new tab
, has stopped using iceberg lettuce supplied from Taylor Farms nationwide, and Taylor Farms ​has removed lettuce sourced from central Mexico from shelves.

The CDC has reported 4,173 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis and said there are more than 7,400 unconfirmed cases nationwide.

Michigan’s investigation did not identify a single fast-food chain as a source, Bagdasarian ​said. She noted about 12% of patients have no clear link to having consumed lettuce or eaten at a fast-food chain.

In past outbreaks, the CDC has taken a leadership role in coordinating information among states, the officials said. The state then passes information along ‌to local health ⁠departments. But Ingham County’s Barna said there were several instances where she first learned new information from the news.

Typically states involved in a large outbreak would be meeting with the CDC at least weekly, said John Besser, a former CDC food safety expert.

While Michigan has received prompt answers to technical questions put to CDC and the FDA, they are not having regular, formal meetings with their federal partners, said a source familiar with the state’s response, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rejected that characterization, saying the CDC was meeting daily with FDA and state officials nationwide to share updates and gather information about the outbreak.

Spokespeople for Ohio and West Virginia, both ​of which are part of the nine-state outbreak, said they ​had been having regular calls with federal agencies. ⁠The CDC sent a group of epidemic intelligence experts to Ohio on July 22 for three weeks, the HHS spokesperson said.

LABOR INTENSIVE

Because cyclospora, the parasite involved in the outbreak, cannot be traced using advanced testing methods, states rely largely on labor-intensive interviews that can take up to 45 minutes each.

In Oakland County, which has nearly 1.3 million residents, a team of ​four communicable disease nurses and three epidemiologists is handling interviews. As of July 24, they had reported 710 cases.

During the COVID pandemic, Oakland County’s health department had 12 ​additional staff members to help with ⁠outreach, said Kate Guzman, county health officer. That included four other nurses who were let go this past spring, she said.

The county has pulled in nurses from its hepatitis C and HIV programs to help with outreach.

Guzman said the state health department was passing along as much information as possible to local health departments, but she said she believes the state often lacks details from federal partners.

Staff at the Washtenaw County Health Department are investigating more than 770 cases, leaving less time for dealing with other ⁠illnesses or clinic ​appointments, spokesperson Susan Ringler Cerniglia said.

The outbreak feels mysterious because it is large and officials do not have definitive answers for what is causing ​it, she said.

“We’ve got this huge volume (of cases) and so many people working on it and it’s not getting clearer,” Ringler Cerniglia said.

In rural Shiawassee County, with a population of about 68,000 people, the health department is bringing in qualified volunteers to help investigate about 450 cases, said Larry ​Johnson, its director.

“This really just hit us so fast,” he said. “It was like, ‘Boom, here it is.’”

Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Additional reporting by Leah Douglas and Yasmeen Abutaleb in Washington; Editing by Caroline Humer and David Gaffen

SpaceX星舰成功完成上市后首次试飞

2026年7月25日 17:38 / 联合早报

星舰这次试飞的主要目标是再次验证第三代星舰的各项改良设计。 （路透社）

（纽约综合电）美国太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）的超重型运载火箭星舰（Starship）星期五（7月24日）顺利完成自公司上市以来的首次试飞，为今年底前开始提供常规商业服务铺平道路。

高122米的星舰火箭系统是在美东时间星期五傍晚6时50分（新加坡时间星期六上午7时50分），从SpaceX位于得克萨斯州的星舰基地发射升空。

第13次试飞的主要目标是再次验证第三代星舰的各项改良设计，并希望整个飞行过程能够顺利完成。

飞船按计划首次释放了20颗新一代星链卫星，并确认可通过无线电和激光链路与所有卫星建立通信，获取关键遥测数据。

这些卫星过后沿预定亚轨道飞行，并在重返大气层过程中烧毁。SpaceX说，这次测试将为扩展星链网络提供关键数据。

星舰的试飞持续约一小时，但它的第一级助推器以高于预期的速度落入墨西哥湾，未能完美完成返回地球的任务。

SpaceX希望到2026年底，能够利用巨型星舰火箭搭载第三代卫星扩展星链网络，以增加足够的通信容量，让普通手机也能在没有传统移动网络覆盖的地区，直接连接卫星并获得网络接驳服务。

Maine Democrats are poised to pick their Senate nominee at an unusual party convention

2026-07-25T09:00:25.512Z / CNN

Bangor, Maine—

Maine Democrats are poised to pick Troy Jackson as their new Senate nominee on Saturday, the culmination of a brief and unusual contest to replace Graham Platner after he left the battleground race amid scandal.

Organizers of the party convention had envisioned a robust field of candidates vying to win a majority of 601 delegates picked from across the state. Instead, Jackson, the former Maine Senate president who lost a bid for governor earlier this year, filled most delegate slots with his supporters and forced his most serious opponents to drop out. He has one opponent left: Saundra Pelletier, a political unknown.

“I don’t think anybody saw it coming,” said Dan Kleban, who was among the candidates to enter the field after Platner’s withdrawal only to step aside for Jackson. “I know there are people who might be a little bitter about the process or the way Troy played it, but we’re going to need someone who can put together that kind of sophisticated organization and Troy showed he could do that.”

Jackson’s expected nomination will wrap up a tortuous journey by Maine Democrats to find a candidate for one of the most consequential races in this year’s battle for control of the US Senate.

https://www.cnn.com/

‘Disorienting’: Maine Democrats race to bolster new candidate in must-win race

3:38 • Source: CNN

‘Disorienting’: Maine Democrats race to bolster new candidate in must-win race

3:38

In a 100-day sprint, Jackson will now try to something that has eluded Democrats for 30 years: defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a fellow northern Maine native who has GOP-aligned groups ready to spend tens of millions of dollars to bolster her campaign.

As Democratic delegates from across Maine began arriving in Bangor for Saturday’s convention, some front yards were still dotted with Platner campaign signs, while a stack of “Troy Jackson for Governor” signs were still on display at a union hall.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” said Sarah Bigney McCabe, organizing director for the Maine AFL-CIO, who rushed to tuck away Platner signs when a reporter visited her office this week. “It’s a very compressed timeline to only have just over 100 days to win a competitive US Senate race.”

Platner, an oyster farmer, excited the state’s Democrats with his insurgent primary campaign, defeating Gov. Janet Mills along the way and overcoming a series of scandals over his personal behavior and online comments. But his bid ultimately collapsed after an allegation of rape that he has denied.

While Jackson was among those who called on Platner to drop out after the rape allegation, he heavily appealed to Platner’s former supporters in seeking to replace him. His platform includes passing the universal health care program known as Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and hiking taxes on billionaires.

“This movement has always been about working people having the opportunity, showing up and fighting for what they deserve,” Jackson told delegates during county nominating conventions last weekend. “I’m running for every worker who’s ever been told to keep their head down, accept less, and grateful for the scraps that they were given.”

Saturday’s proceedings could be short.

The convention is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the Cross Insurance Center. After delegates establish quorum and adopt any last-minute rules, they will hear nominating and candidate speeches. Then they will vote, which will take just one round because a majority is required to win and there are only two candidates left.

Jackson’s only remaining opponent is Pelletier, the CEO of Evofem Biosciences, a women’s healthcare company. She has warned against a “coronation” in Bangor.

“No candidate can claim victory before the delegates have voted,” she said during a telephone town hall Thursday night. “I respect the delegates far too much to accept that the decision has already been made for them.”

Jackson, meanwhile, has continued to consolidate support from former opponents and Maine Democratic leaders despite reports in recent days detailing alleged angry outbursts when he was in the state Senate, including one incident where he threw a water bottle. His campaign has acknowledged that there have been “moments when he let his frustration get the better of him” but said he took responsibility for his conduct afterward.

Jackson has shifted his attention more to Collins in recent days, focusing on her support for Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. He has also criticized Collins’ votes to fund ICE in the wake of an agent shooting and killing a man earlier this month in the coastal town of Biddeford.

Collins has not extensively addressed Jackson ahead of the convention but made comments to reporters labeling him a “Bernie bro,” a sometimes derisive term for supporters of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sanders backed Jackson when he was running for governor but has stayed out of the Senate nominating process.

Crystale Lapham, a volunteer organizer for Platner’s campaign who helped form the Maine People Powered Movement, said she intends to work just as hard on behalf of Jackson to accomplish the ultimate goal of defeating Collins. Asked about the “Bernie bro” comment, she smiled.

“I welcome her being dismissive about this,” Lapham said. “I believe that we are more aligned than we are divided.”

青年抗议持续数日 印度教育部长辞职

2026年7月25日 17:49 / 联合早报

6月2日，印度青年大会党工作人员在孟买举行集会，举着印上印度教育部长普拉丹照片的标语牌，要求他为试题泄露等一系列问题辞职。 （法新社）

面对全国学生大规模抗议示威和发生警民冲突后，印度教育部长普拉丹星期六（7月25日）宣布辞去职务。这标志着要求他为全国统一考试试卷泄露等违规事件承担责任的青年抗议者取得重大胜利。

据路透社报道，普拉丹（Dharmandra Pradhan）星期六（7月25日）通过社交媒体X宣布辞职的决定。

在他宣布辞职的几个小时前，警方在新德里发射催泪弹驱散示威者。抗议领袖原本预定在数小时后与内阁部长展开新一轮谈判。

示威活动主要由学生发起。他们从星期一（20日）上午开始在简塔·曼塔（Jantar Mantar）天文台附近聚集，要求普拉丹为近期全国多项国家级考试中发生的试题泄露、技术故障及系统性违规问题负起政治责任。这是新德里五年来最大规模的示威活动。

青年抗议持续数日 印度教育部长辞职

2026年7月25日 17:49 / 联合早报

6月2日，印度青年大会党工作人员在孟买举行集会，举着印上印度教育部长普拉丹照片的标语牌，要求他为试题泄露等一系列问题辞职。 （法新社）

面对全国学生大规模抗议示威和发生警民冲突后，印度教育部长普拉丹星期六（7月25日）宣布辞去职务。这标志着要求他为全国统一考试试卷泄露等违规事件承担责任的青年抗议者取得重大胜利。

据路透社报道，普拉丹（Dharmandra Pradhan）星期六（7月25日）通过社交媒体X宣布辞职的决定。

在他宣布辞职的几个小时前，警方在新德里发射催泪弹驱散示威者。抗议领袖原本预定在数小时后与内阁部长展开新一轮谈判。

示威活动主要由学生发起。他们从星期一（20日）上午开始在简塔·曼塔（Jantar Mantar）天文台附近聚集，要求普拉丹为近期全国多项国家级考试中发生的试题泄露、技术故障及系统性违规问题负起政治责任。这是新德里五年来最大规模的示威活动。

This wave of Trump tariffs is likely here to stay; more are coming

2026-07-25T10:02:34.835Z / https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/this-wave-trump-tariffs-is-likely-here-stay-more-are-coming-2026-07-25/

Summary

• New forced-labor duties of 10% or 12.5% cover 99.4% of U.S. imports, USTR said
• Greer said rebuilt tariff layers will not exceed caps in negotiated trade deals
• The latest actions include probes into excess capacity and alleged Vietnamese intellectual property theft

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump had no time for lengthy tariff investigations when he returned to office last year, wanting to hammer trading partners right away to wring concessions.

What followed was a chaotic start to a ​trade agenda that was eventually upended by a stinging Supreme Court defeat this year. Now he and his team are moving into a new phase to build a more durable U.S. tariff wall using ​more traditional and court-tested trade laws, those he had little patience for 18 months ago.

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His latest global tariff salvo — duties of 10% or 12.5% on 60 countries over allegedly weak enforcement of forced-labor bans — marks the first of numerous tariff actions to be unveiled in the months ahead. They include probes into excess industrial capacity, alleged intellectual property theft by Vietnam, and national security protections for strategic industries from semiconductors to robotics and industrial machinery.

“We’re at the end of the beginning of the Trump tariff agenda,” said Dan Ujczo, associate general counsel at Canadian oil producer Cenovus ​Energy, who specializes in U.S.-Canada trade. “Within the next few weeks, and certainly by the end of the summer, we will see large parts of President Trump’s trade policy fully in effect.”

This could bring more clarity and certainty ​for businesses on Trump’s ultimate tariff structure, along with dread in foreign trade ministries that they may have to cough up more concessions to protect access to a $3.4 trillion U.S. ​import market.

DIRECT REPLACEMENTS

Trump’s new anti-forced labor duties imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the unfair trade practices statute used against China during his first term, almost directly replace a global 10% temporary tariff that expired on Friday. ​They cover 99.4% of U.S. imports, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said.

This rebuilds part of Trump’s signature “Liberation Day” tariffs of 10%-50% on nearly every country, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as illegal under an untested national emergencies law Trump used ​to impose them.

Another part of the baseline tariffs is likely to be rebuilt by another Section 301 investigation into excess industrial capacity, targeting 16 big trading partners, including China, the EU, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Vietnam. That ongoing probe targets industrial subsidies and other export-focused policies.

Amid a wider uproar over Trump’s move, some viewed it as largely maintaining the status quo.

Mark Bissell, CEO of Michigan-based vacuum maker Bissell Inc, said the newest tariffs were largely what the company anticipated and it hadn’t frontloaded inventory from China and elsewhere to try to beat them.

“We continued to run ​the business based on the belief that the tariffs would stay in the 10-15% range,” Bissell said in an email to Reuters.

BUDGET IMPACT

Trump’s gamble on quick but untested tariffs right out of the gate did four things. It heaped added costs ​onto retailers and other import-dependent industries; it brought dozens of trading partners to the negotiating table, yielding concessions for lower rates; it prompted swift retaliation and tariff escalation from China that led to a delicate truce; and it filled U.S. fiscal coffers with hundreds of ​billions of dollars.

​The Liberation Day tariffs alone yielded $166 billion in revenue, a major offset to a growing federal deficit, but refunds to importers have now turned those collections negative.

The 150-day temporary tariffs, based on a law meant to quell balance-of-payments crises, have added $31 billion in assessed revenue through July 5. But if a federal court ruling against them stands, that money, too, is subject to refund.

With U.S. public debt approaching $40 trillion, Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, said subsequent administrations may become addicted to tariff revenue that is likely to be sustained.

“The tariff wall is being rebuilt strong brick by strong brick, and it’s very durable,” Lipsky said.

Trump’s broad use of Section 301 in the forced-labor case prompted an immediate legal challenge by small businesses, but trade and ​legal experts say this will take time to play out. ​The statute has a solid track record in the ​courts, and judges may be reluctant to enjoin actions aimed at curbing forced labor and lowering barriers to U.S. goods.

MORE TO COME

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer made clear this week that Trump will use everything at his disposal to erect tariffs to reshore production and shrink the trade deficit.

“The specific authorities this administration is using have changed, but the trade strategy has not,” ​Greer told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

Greer, who has not committed to a timeline for the industrial capacity investigations, has said the layers of tariffs being rebuilt will not ​exceed caps included in deals he ​has been negotiating, including 15% for the EU, Japan and South Korea and higher rates for Southeast Asian countries.

Administration officials say even though China is viewed as the world’s largest source of excess manufacturing, its rates will not exceed the cap of about 20% agreed by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November, which is on top of the 25% tariffs from his first term.

Some nominal — or announced — duties may be higher than actual applied rates, which analysts say may be an enforcement mechanism for countries to stick ​to agreed trade ​deal terms.

Still, some things continue to come out of the blue, including the 50% duties on Canadian beer, dairy, hockey sticks and other products Trump ​announced on Monday over Ottawa’s refusal to make trade concessions, and his threat to cut off all trade with Spain over not meeting NATO military spending targets.

That proclivity for spontaneous tariff announcements remains an ongoing risk, said Eswar Prasad, a trade professor at Cornell University and former head of the International ​Monetary Fund’s China department. “Trump’s eagerness to impose tariffs to address a whole range of grievances will not only continue disrupting the global trading system but will have significant adverse effects on American households and businesses.”

Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Maine Democrats meet to select Senate nominee to replace Graham Platner

July 25, 2026 / 6:00 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Maine Democrats are gathering Saturday for the party’s nominating convention to select a U.S. Senate nominee to replace Graham Platner on the ballot in November, with former state Senate President Troy Jackson poised to secure the nomination.

Around a dozen Democrats planned to seek the nomination earlier this month, after Platner dropped out of the race in the wake of a sexual assault allegation.

But the field narrowed last weekend after Maine counties held nomination meetings to select delegates, and Jackson succeeded in getting most of his slates of delegates elected. The vast majority of the 500 delegates elected are backing Jackson.

Jackson effectively locked up the nomination, having informally secured a majority of the delegate slots that will determine the nominee.

The outcome led the race’s other prominent candidates — like Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah — to bow out. They encouraged the party to come together to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

But lesser-known candidates David Costello and Saundra Pelletier are still set to appear on the convention ballot Saturday. Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban also qualified to appear on the ballot, but said he’s endorsing Jackson and submitted a request to withdraw.

“We look forward to hearing directly from these candidates and bringing Democrats from every corner of Maine together on Saturday to choose the strongest nominee to defeat Susan Collins,” Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a statement.

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At the nominating convention, delegates from Maine’s 16 counties will cast their votes. And while the delegates on Jackson’s slate aren’t legally bound to support him, they’re widely expected to do so.

Troy Jackson speaks to reporters at an event for his gubernatorial campaign on June 5, 2026, in Bar Harbor, Maine. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

What to know about Troy Jackson

Jackson, 58 and a fifth-generation logger, was state Senate president from 2018 to 2024, and previously served as a state representative in Maine’s northernmost region. He used to be a Republican and in his first state House race ran as a Republican. Jackson was first elected to the state House as an independent in 2002, but then became a Democrat.

Before entering the race for U.S. Senate, he ran for governor and was backed by Platner and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Jackson finished third in the gubernatorial primary in June.

He’s generally aligned with Sanders, having also worked on his 2016 presidential campaign, and he supports progressive policies.

Platner’s departure from the Senate race triggered an abbreviated process to find a replacement. After winning the nomination in June, Maine election law stated that a nominee must withdraw by 5 p.m. on the second Monday in July in order to be replaced on the ballot, at which point the party has two weeks to select a new nominee.

Maine Democrats pursued the nominating convention to select a candidate with input from Mainers, and scheduled it just before the July 27 deadline.