Gov. Gavin Newsom's grand plan of building 3.5 million housing units by 2025 is off to a terrible start. In the first six months of 2019, builders gained approval for 51,178 new homes in California, nearly 20% fewer than the same period a year earlier. That puts the state on track...
Tariffs and Bee Research Cuts. How Will Trump Hit Farmers Next?
American farmers who backed Donald Trump in 2016 can be excused for wondering when they'll get some presidential love. After approving a bee-killing pesticide last month, the White House said Saturday that it would stop collecting data on declining honey bee populations. The Trump administration cited budget cuts for temporarily...
Perdue Comes to Valley, Hears Trade War, Deportation Concerns
LOS BANOS — The parade of plaid-shirted gentlemen sat politely in the octagonal Germino Building at the Merced County Fairground. About 200 farmers participated in a town hall meeting Friday with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and four California congressmen. Perdue answered hot-button ag issues about tariffs and labor with...
More Bad News for Almond Growers: India Enacts 70% Tariff
India is on President Donald Trump's trade war hit list and that's bad news for California's almond growers. India has struck back against the United States by imposing tariffs on 28 products. Among them: almonds, apples, lentils, and walnuts. The 70% tariffs went into effect Sunday. They are retaliation for...
Biden and Trump Attack Each Other in a Possible 2020 Preview
DAVENPORT, Iowa — President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden repeatedly laid into each other while traveling in the battleground state of Iowa, unleashing verbal attacks that at times felt more appropriate for the final weeks before Election Day than a lazy summer about 17 months before voters...
White House Says Tariffs 'Going Forward' as Talks Continue
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on Mexico are set to take effect Monday as planned, the White House said Friday, even as negotiators continued to meet to try to stave off his latest push to force the U.S. ally to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United...
Talks Resume as Trump's Mexico Tariff Deadline Looms
WASHINGTON — U.S. and Mexican officials headed into a second day of talks Thursday, working to avert import tariffs President Donald Trump in threatening to impose as he tries to strong-arm Mexico into stemming the flood of Central American migrants at America's southern border. Both sides claimed headway in lengthy...
GOP Senators Line up Against Trump's 5% Mexico Tariff Plan
WASHINGTON — In a rare confrontation, Republican senators are declaring deep opposition to President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. from Mexico. But it's unclear they have the votes to stop him, and Trump said they'd be "foolish" to try. All sides, including officials from Mexico meeting...
Mexicans Launch Friendly Defensive to Deflect US Tariffs
MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have copied a page from President Donald Trump's playbook in recent days, taking to Twitter to communicate that they are working flat-out to de-escalate tensions over immigration and avoid punitive tariffs on all Mexican exports to the U.S. Announcements of meetings in Washington, selfies and...
Economy Grew at Solid 3.1% Rate in Q1; Slowdown Expected
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.1% rate in the first three months of the year, but much of that gain was based on temporary factors that will likely fade, leaving growth much slower in the current quarter. The Commerce Department said Thursday that the first quarter...