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Trade Wars
A Year After ‘Liberation Day,’ Impact Of Trump Tariffs On Defense Industry Remains Muted
On April 2nd, just more than one year ago, President Donald Trump declared that a “chronic trade deficit” had become a national emergency, resulting in the need for the United States to impose retaliatory tariffs on American allies and foes alike to “make America wealthy again.” But the defense industry has largely ridden out the worst of the storm, thanks to a series of national security exemptions. Where the impacts have been most felt, they say, is on the man hours and administrative burden of applying to obtain those exemptions, which often have to be done on a case-by-case basis.
For most of 2025 defense and aerospace companies were primarily affected by the so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Companies have also suffered the ripple effects of tariffs on steel and aluminum purchases, known as Section 232 tariffs. Defense contractors can avoid being hit with steel and aluminum tariffs — which are widely used in the manufacture of ships, aircraft and other weaponry — through Chapter 98 of the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which provides an exemption for certain defense materials.
Read more at Breaking Defense
Amazon To Apply 3.5% Fuel And Logistics Surcharge On Fulfillment Beginning April 17
Amazon will soon levy a 3.5% fuel and logistics-related surcharge on fulfillment services for third-party sellers as the e-commerce giant battles elevated operating costs, according to an announcement Thursday. Starting April 17, the surcharge will be applied to fulfillment fees for the company’s Fulfillment by Amazon service in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to Remote Fulfillment with FBA shipping from the U.S. to Canada, Mexico and Brazil. On May 2, the surcharge will also begin applying to Buy with Prime in the U.S. and Multi-Channel Fulfillment services in the U.S. and Canada.
Amazon is joining the list of major logistics providers that are hitting shippers with price hikes and elevated surcharges as fuel costs rise amid the war in Iran. UPS and FedEx’s fuel surcharge rates continue to climb, and the U.S. Postal Service plans to launch an 8% temporary price hike on package shipping services April 26. The Amazon surcharge, which Amazon did not provide an end date for, is calculated based on seller fulfillment fees rather than the sale price of the items, according to Amazon. The 3.5% levy equates to an additional $0.17 per unit for U.S. Fulfillment by Amazon services, although it varies based on item size and dimensions.
Read more at US News
DiNapoli: Tariffs Result in Steep Decline in New York Exports
As a result of new tariff policies implemented under the Trump administration in 2025, exports declined to almost one-half of New York’s trading partners. Among the highest declines were in exports to Canada, the state’s most significant trading partner. Exports of more than two-thirds of product categories from New York declined. Exports to almost half of the nations (46.1%) the state does business with declined; those to Canada decreased by $3.8 billion and to Israel by $1.4 billion. While Belgium is not one of the state’s largest trading partners, it had the third largest decline in exports in 2025, $853 million (36.5%).
Exports to the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Hong Kong increased, with those to Switzerland and the United Kingdom over triple the 2024 amount, primarily reflecting significant growth in the trade of goods manufactured from nonferrous metal, excluding aluminum. Export growth was likely influenced by the significant increase in prices of the underlying metals. Excluding these products, New York exports declined, on a net basis, by $3.4 billion
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Read more at the Comptroller’s Website
Industry Bullish On Commerce Department Draft License Process For Novel Space Activities
US commercial space firms are by and large welcoming a Commerce Department proposal for a one-stop licensing shop for currently unregulated operations, including a number of new missions — such as on-orbit refueling, satellite repair and close-up inspections — that the Space Force hopes to be able to at least partially outsource to commercial firms in the future. “By providing a predictable and repeatable pathway to launch, this proposal will help the administration meet and exceed their goal to attract at least $50 billion of new investment in American space markets,” president of the Commercial Space Foundation Dave Cavossa said.
“Our proposal expedites and streamlines today’s laborious and sometimes duplicative system for regulating the commercial space industry with a consolidated space commerce certification process,” the Commerce Department draft proposal states. Our new ‘Space Commerce Certification’ can get companies to ‘yes’ with predictability and speed, allowing them to swiftly explore new technologies and missions to bring benefits to the American economy.” Companies would still require licenses from other regulatory bodies — the Federal Communications Commission that regulates use of spectrum, the Federal Aviation Administration responsible for ensuring spaceflight safety, and Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that licenses remote sensing operations — and those bodies would still be able to weigh in within 30 days with any objections.
Read more at Breaking Defense
GM Investing Over $150M for Next-Generation V8s
General Motors Corp. announced a new capital investment program for its Saginaw (Mich.) Metal Casting Operations, indicating the new manufacturing equipment and tooling will support production of the automaker’s “sixth generation” V-8 engine blocks and cylinder heads for full-size pickup trucks. Those models include the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD vehicles, the production volume for which GM recently announced it will increase by an estimated 1,100 vehicles per day.
The sixth-generation V-8 is a small-block, 6.7-liter engine also called the LS6 and set to debut in the 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Grand Sport. According to GM’s announcement, its commitment builds the $579-million investment from January 2023 to manufacture the new V-8 engines. “This significant investment of over $150 million is a clear commitment to the plant and our people,” stated Saginaw Metal Casting Plant director John Lancaster. “By enabling the production of next-generation engine blocks and cylinder heads for full-size trucks, the plant is well-positioned for the future.
Read more at American Machinist
FDA Approves New GLP-1 Weight Loss Pill from Eli Lilly
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new weight loss pill from drugmaker Eli Lilly, marking the second GLP-1 in pill form to hit the market in recent months. On Wednesday, April 1, Eli Lilly announced that its drug Foundayo had been approved for adults with obesity and overweight people with weight-related medical problems. The drug, also called Orforglipron, will be available via the company's LillyDirect service, with prescriptions accepted immediately and shipping beginning Monday, April 6.
According to Eli Lilly, Foundayo will be offered in six doses. Most patients who take the drug will start on the lowest dose and work their way up to reduce side effects. The pill can also be taken at any time of day without meal restrictions — unlike Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill, released in December, which must be taken on an empty stomach in the mornings. Eli Lilly also said in its announcement last Wednesday that costs could start at $25 per month with commercial coverage, but it is currently unclear how private insurance companies will cover the drug. Medicare could begin covering Foundayo as early as summer 2026, with copays starting at $50 per month, per NBC.
Read more at AP
North American Farmers Pinch Pennies On Farm Machinery As Profitless Growing Season Approaches
Farm machinery salespeople are wrapping up a dismal season of farm shows across North America as farmers gear up for spring planting without much new equipment. Farmers have not stopped buying, but many have slashed spending and are avoiding big-ticket items due to high machinery, fertilizer and fuel prices, as well as a global grains glut pushing down crop prices. "They might not buy the million-dollar combine, but they'll buy a $100,000 implement," said Chad Jones of manufacturer Degelman Industries.
Farm machinery sales have been hammered by a squeeze on farmer finances exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war tariffs that have escalated the production cost of already-expensive machines like tractors and combines. These items, known by farmers as "big iron," are manufactured from large amounts of steel and often with imported components. In its most recent quarterly earnings call, a John Deere (DE.N), opens new tab official said the company estimates tariffs will cost it $1.2 billion in 2026, and that not all of 2025's tariff costs had been passed on to farmers. Last Friday, Trump called on the manufacturers to cut prices in order to help farmers. But for the beleaguered industry, Trump's tariffs are the problem. The easiest way to bring the cost of machinery down would be "to significantly scale back on the tariffs that are hitting the manufacturers, and the retaliatory tariffs that are hitting farmers," said Kip Eideberg of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
Read more at Reuters
Tesla Q1 Deliveries Higher, But Miss Estimates In Challenging EV Landscape
Tesla (TSLA) released first quarter deliveries that missed estimates on Thursday, reporting another slip in sales in a challenging EV landscape. Tesla delivered 358,023 vehicles globally versus 364,645 expected, per Bloomberg consensus, up 6.3% year over year, though the company’s total from last year was down due to the changeover to the new Model Y, which impacted sales. Tesla produced 408,386 vehicles globally in Q1.
Tesla’s energy business deployed 8.8 GWh of energy storage products in the quarter, down sequentially compared to the 14.2 GWh deployed in Q4. Tesla’s Q1 2026 deliveries are up only marginally compared to a poor quarter for the company last year. In addition, backlash a year ago against CEO Elon Musk’s role in the White House was at its highest, with protests at Tesla dealerships around the globe.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Where is Artemis II? Follow Updates As NASA Mission Approaches The Moon Today
Astronauts on the Artemis II mission to orbit the moon are preparing for perhaps the most exciting phase of their journey, when they will lay eyes on the far side of the moon, as they continue on their trajectory on Sunday, April 5. The Artemis II crew has traveled over 206,482 miles from Earth and is closing the distance with each passing second. The lunar flyby will happen today, April 6, in a roughly six-hour window when the sun, moon and Orion spacecraft are aligned to give the crew a view of the far side of the moon that can't be seen from Earth.
You can follow along on the crew's exact movements using NASA's Artemis II tracker. The tracker, called the "Artemis Real-time Orbit Website" (AROW), shows how far the Orion capsule is from Earth, its distance from the moon and how fast it's traveling. The tracker uses data collected in real time by sensors on Orion that are sent to the Mission Control Center in Houston. The website is being constantly updated, and users can see moment-by-moment updates to the space mission's position.
Follow the Mission on the NASA Tracker
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