When an important policy is implemented, the market will react. Trump's tariff policy caused the US stock market to plummet for two consecutive days, losing about $640 million (nearly 50 trillion Hong Kong dollars) in market value. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell publicly admitted that the tariff shock exceeded expectations, and Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, a well-known expert on international trade theory, even bluntly said that Trump was crazy. He pointed out that his tariff policy is not only a mistake in economic logic, but also likely to trigger a global trade war and cause far-reaching damage to the US and world economies.
Many people have pointed out that Trump's tariffs are similar to the tariff laws passed by the United States in 1930. The 1930 Act, which was notorious in the United States, was introduced in response to the Great Depression, but it caused an even greater economic crisis, a sharp contraction of American international trade, and an even worse Great Depression in the world.
There are two major differences between Trump's global tariff campaign and the 1930 tariff laws. First, the 1930 Tariff Act was a protectionist policy, raising tariffs on more than 20,000 imports, while Trump imposed so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on the world's trade rivals, regardless of what goods they had. Second, the Tariff Act of 1930 was passed by Congress; Trump, however, is on his own, Congress has no role at all, and Trump is doing whatever he wants.
Seeing Trump lightly holding a piece of cardboard at a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, saying that tariffs would be imposed on this country by 34% and tariffs on that country by 49%, many people sweated on their foreheads and couldn't help but worry about the return of the Great Depression.
Trump stressed that the tariffs are "reciprocal tariffs”, and he will impose the tariffs on imports into the United States the same level as the other countries impose on goods imported from the United States. However, the comments seen on the internet all believe that the data does not reflect the facts. Krugman bluntly said that the tariff data cited by Trump was grossly inaccurate. For example, he said, Trump claims that the European Union imposes 39 percent tariffs on American goods, but the actual average tax rate is only 1.7 percent. In addition, China's tariffs are exaggerated at 67 percent, but WTO data show an average tax rate of only 4.9 percent in 2024.
A financial reporter in the United States also found that Trump's tariff calculation was wrong. There is a free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea, but why is South Korea's tariff rate calculated at 50%? Naturally, he also noticed that the EU did not impose a 39% tariff on the United States at all, where did this figure come from?
Ocean
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ST. PAUL, Minn., (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz denounced the Trump administration's latest threat to withhold federal funds from Minnesota as another step in a “retribution” campaign as he unveiled a package of legislation Thursday intended to fight fraud in public programs, a persistent problem that provided an impetus for the federal government's immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
The Democratic governor made the announcement a day after Vice President JD Vance said the administration would “temporarily halt” some Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns, as part of what he described as an aggressive drive against the misuse of public funds. Walz's proposals were in the works well before Vance's announcement. They followed other initiatives Walz launched previously to try to come to grips with a problem that eventually helped lead him to drop his bid for a third term.
“This is a targeted retribution against a state that the president doesn’t like,” Walz said at a news conference, where he said the administration is using the same kind of “false information” on fraud as a “pretext” the way it did to justify Operation Metro Surge, in which the Department of Homeland Security sent over 3,000 federal officers into Minnesota.
The Trump administration’s move to freeze the Medicaid funds was part of a larger effort to spotlight fraud around the country. The administration had previously cited allegations of fraud involving day care centers run by Minneapolis-area Somali residents as a reason for a massive enforcement surge there.
One Minnesota federal prosecutor last December estimated that the total fraud across several programs could exceed $9 billion. But John Connolly, the state’s Medicaid director, told reporters Thursday the state has no evidence to substantiate such a high figure.
Other fraud cases in Minnesota have included a $300 million pandemic food fraud scheme revolving around the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, in which 78 defendants have been charged, with at least 57 convictions so far, in what prosecutors call the largest COVID-19-related fraud scheme in the country.
The governor's long list of proposals is aimed at better detection and oversight, strengthened investigative and enforcement authority and increased criminal penalties. One of them is the creation of a centralized Office of the Inspector General to lead fraud prevention efforts. The state Senate passed a bipartisan inspector general bill last year. But it remains stalled in the House amid disagreements over whether it should have law enforcement authority or, as the Walz administration prefers, just focus on investigations and leave enforcement up to the existing state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said at a news conference Wednesday with Vance that the government would hold off on paying $259.5 million to Minnesota for Medicaid, the health care safety net for low-income Americans. Oz said the money would be delivered only after Minnesota implements "a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem.” And he gave Walz 60 days to respond.
“How does taking and punishing children and elderly have anything to do with fighting fraud?” Walz countered. He added that the Trump administration has given his team no guidance for how to address its concerns, nor any opportunity to show the work that Minnesota has already done over the years to fight fraud. His administration estimates that 1.2 million Minnesotans could be hurt.
Officials at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which administers Medicaid, noted that withholding $259.5 million — retroactive to the fourth quarter of 2025 — follows earlier federal action to withhold more than $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding to the state. The agency said the state submitted a corrective action plan earlier, and is still in the process of appealing that decision.
The state agency said it has implemented several new processes and reforms to prevent and detect Medicaid fraud since 2024. The changes included identifying areas at high risk of fraud, imposing stricter controls such as criminal background checks on providers, and more unannounced site visits.
Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison are both scheduled to appear before the U.S. House Oversight Committee next Wednesday for a hearing on misuse of federal funds in Minnesota's social service programs.
Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks beside Vice President JD Vance during a news conference on efforts to combat fraud, in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks during a news conference in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Vice President JD Vance and Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz take questions from reporters following remarks on the administration's efforts to combat fraud during a news conference in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
