So wonderful to watch J.J. Spaun win the U.S. Open. He and his beautiful family help me believe in this country again.

If you think trade is boring or obscure, think again. This is going to be the issue on which American democracy lives or dies. My latest: foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/28/t...

Trump’s Tariff War Is a Test of American Democracy

Congress has a chance to reassert itself against the president’s power grab.

foreignpolicy.com

“The worst trade adviser any modern U.S. president has had.” Thanks to Ana Swanson for including my comments in her comprehensive profile of Peter Navarro. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/b...

Peter Navarro: The Architect of Trump’s Tariffs (Gift Article)

Once sidelined, President Trump’s counselor Peter Navarro has returned to Washington and quickly upended the global trading system.

nytimes.com

Some news for US home builders: “The U.S. is set to more than double the duty it charges on softwood lumber imports from Canada, with the planned new rate set at 34.45 per cent, up from the previous 14.54 per cent.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

U.S. to significantly hike softwood lumber duties, landing fresh blow to B.C. forestry industry | CBC News

The U.S. is set to more than double the duty it charges on softwood lumber imports from Canada, with the planned new rate set at 34.45 per cent, up from the previous 14.54 per cent.

cbc.ca

Are tariffs bad for growth? Yes, say five decades of data from 150 countries pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Are tariffs bad for growth? Yes, say five decades of data from 150 countries

The empirical evidence on the growth effects of import tariffs is sparse in the literature, notwithstanding strong views held by the public and politicians. Using an annual panel of macroeconomic data...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

reality check -- Japanese negotiators in DC to try to get exemption from Trump tariffs and can't even get a meeting. Oh well. That is how allies get treated these days. asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Trad...

Japan grapples with next move in Trump tariff negotiations

Industry scrutinizes government's handling of economic diplomacy

asia.nikkei.com

@budgetlab.bsky.social: Trump’s auto tariffs will cause vehicle prices to rise by 13.5% on average, the equivalent of an additional $6,400 to the price of an average new 2024 car. budgetlab.yale.edu/research/fis...

“The world needs more grown-ups. We need more adults dude” — p 1 from The Wisdom of Mike Myers.

Will Jennings📉🗳️@drjennings.bsky.social · last yr.

Fascinating to watch political communication of positive nationalism. (These are immense political ads.)

This Revolution of Destroyers Demands New Names via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...

This Revolution of Destroyers Demands New Names | The Tyee

Mafia state. Führer democracy. We need honest terms that signal the threat posed by Trump and his mimics.

thetyee.ca

Outrageous!

Cartoonists Rights@cartoonistsrights.org · last yr.

The full statement from the family of R.E. Burke clarifies that there were no grounds whatsoever for the British cartoonist to be detained by ICE for almost 3 weeks – she held a valid ESTA, had broken no rules or laws in the US, and was ready & able to return home. downthetubes.net/comic-creato...

“Border-first approaches may be increasingly popular—and politically appealing—but they are certain to fail, and to hurt many innocent people in the process,” write @edwardalden.bsky.social and Laurie Trautman.

The Myth of the Hardened Border

Crude restrictions can’t stop migrants, drugs, or disease.

foreignaffairs.com

In a recent executive order, President Trump cited that immigration at the southern border threatens public health. @edwardalden.bsky.social uses the COVID pandemic as a case study on the limitations of border closings for preventing disease transmission. [Feb. 2025]

Pandemic Responses Should Not Rely on Border Closures | Think Global Health

Lessons learned from COVID-19 should inform future public health responses

thinkglobalhealth.org

But of course we’ll just close our borders and everything will be fine, right?

Mehdi Hasan@mehdirhasan.bsky.social · last yr.

“The Trump administration’s pause on foreign aid has hobbled programs that prevent and snuff out outbreaks around the world, scientists say, leaving people everywhere more vulnerable to threatening viruses and bacteria.”

Sure, but done the way they are being done by Trump, tariffs are going to hurt far more manufacturing workers than they will help.

Rosemyne@rosemyne.xyz · last yr.

You won’t get anywhere conceding, “Actually, the Republicans have a point.” They don’t compromise—they take ground and weaponize the Democrats’ own moves against them. They’ll vote against your legislation, then campaign on its successes while you sit back, clinging to the illusion of bipartisanship

When it comes to threats from abroad, politicians must stop promising quick fixes through border closures—and start investing in the infrastructure needed to actually mitigate these dangers, argue @edwardalden.bsky.social and Laurie Trautman.

The Myth of the Hardened Border

Crude restrictions can’t stop migrants, drugs, or disease.

foreignaffairs.com

Thank you Colleen! And coming out on the eve of yet another ill-conceived “travel ban.”

Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh@colleenputzelkav.bsky.social · last yr.

"Governments cannot solve the problems of disease, drugs, and illegal immigration by simply battening down the hatches." Excellent piece by @edwardalden.bsky.social and Laurie Trautman www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

“These policies were ostensibly directed outward, targeting foreigners. But as is often the case with border controls, they inflicted damage internally too, infringing on citizens' rights.” reason.com/2025/02/18/w...

When COVID authoritarianism met border authoritarianism

All 194 countries in the World Health Organization imposed COVID travel restrictions. The authors of 'When the World Closed Its Doors' argue it was a failure.

reason.com

So pleased to see this excerpt from my new book with Laurie Trautman running in @thetyee.ca. I grew up in Vancouver, ai this is where my own journey with cross-border living began. thetyee.ca/Culture/2025...

Looking Back at the 2020 ‘Summer of Love,’ Major Lessons Emerge | The Tyee

It’s not easy to look back at the recent, difficult past, but the future of borders is at stake. A new book excerpt.

thetyee.ca

Was pleased to join Washington International Trade Association for a panel yesterday with USTR alums Wendy Cutler and Stephen Vaughn, as well as @edwardalden.bsky.social and Arancha González (former foreign minister of Spain). We got into the future of WTO and more. www.wita.org/events/2025-...

Like I said: This is a betrayal of America’s identity as a nation that offers a haven for refugees — including my own family when we fled the Soviet Union in 1976. wapo.st/40XERMF

Opinion | U.S. soft power took decades to build. Trump is dismantling it in weeks.

With tariffs and an aid freeze, the president is eroding the United States’ standing in the world.

wapo.st

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2y ago

President Trump's border czar expected flights carrying Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. back to Venezuela to begin "within the next 30 days," he told us. It's the first indication of a timeline to send people back after Trump said he struck a deal with the country’s autocrat, Nicolás Maduro.

Our region is a model for how two nations can work together to advance shared interests. It's at risk with recent wall- building measures at the border. Check out Dr. Trautman and @edwardalden.bsky.social alden.bsky.social's most recent Op-Ed in the @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social to learn more.

The U.S.-Canada relationship is a special one — and one that has defined much of my own life. We need to fight for it! Thanks to Laurie Trautman for co-authoring this piece with me on what we can do here in Washington state. www.seattletimes.com/opinion/u-s-...

JUST IN: A federal judge in Washington says she's concerned that the White House is still implementing the spending freeze that she and a Rhode Island judge have ordered temporarily halted. Judge AliKhan is inclined to issue a restraining order.

Hey look, Biden got Mexico to deploy 10,000 troops to the border at the beginning of his presidency. And he didn’t threaten a trade war to do it. It’s so damn sad how Trump plays with & deceives his followers.

Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 2y ago

April 12, 2021.

Reminder - shuttering USAID may cause millions of people to die throughout the developing world in the next few weeks. Whatever else he thinks he’s doing madman Musk may about to become a mass murderer. open.substack.com/pub/simonwdc...

"The U.S. President Is Quietly Killing So Many Lives" - Holding Trump To Account For The Chaos, Disruptions, Recklessness And Malevolence

We need to keep fighting The Unacceptable 4 - Gabbard, Kennedy, Patel, Vought

open.substack.com

Thanks to Think Global Health @cfr.org for publishing this. The big takeaway from our new book on the Covid travel restrictions ia that borders are at best a limited tool for stopping diseases. Instead of learning that lesson, the US is doubling down. www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/pand...

Pandemic Response Should Not Rely on Border Closures | Think Global Health

Lessons learned from COVID-19 should inform future public health responses

thinkglobalhealth.org

The tariffs that President Trump has announced against 3 of the United States’ biggest trading partners—Canada, China, and Mexico—look poised to shatter the era of a rules-based order with global economic ramifications, writes trade expert @edwardalden.bsky.social.

Trump’s Risky New Era of Broken Trade Norms

The tariffs that President Donald Trump has announced against three of the United States’ biggest trading partners—Canada, China, and Mexico—look poised to shatter the era of a rules-based order with…

cfr.org

This is a must read on the guardrails (as weak as they are) against Trump’s tariff craziness.

Alan Beattie@alanbeattie.bsky.social · 2y ago

My Trade Secrets today. The tariffs are crazy and illogical, and there's not much in their way. (Not the courts, not Congress, certainly not the Democrats. Maybe markets and the economy.) But the real nightmare is the seizure of the state by the likes of Elon Musk. on.ft.com/3EnZZ60

Why stop at academics? There are so many of us in so many professions who would be thrilled to be poached!

Mauricio Drelichman@mdrelichman.bsky.social · 2y ago

If Canadian universities had a bit of vision, they would be launching a Manhattan project to poach every US-based top researcher. And the federal government would be drastically expanding tri-council funding and creating an expedited review process for those holding NSF and similar grants.