Tag: change we can believe in

America sets 19% tariff on Philippine goods after crucial Trump-Marcos meeting

America sets 19% tariff on Philippine goods after crucial Trump-Marcos meeting

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Months after initial communications were made (click here and here), Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. finally met with US President Donald Trump in the White House and this ultimately resulted in a 19% tariff on Philippine goods by America, according to two related news articles (click here and here) by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

For the newcomers reading this, America initially announced a 17% tariff on products from the Philippines last April and it was recently revised to 20% which surprised many here in the Philippines. Now that the American tariff for Philippine goods has been settled at 19%, President Marcos called the reduction significant. It should be noted that America generated more than $100 billion in new revenue from tariffs under Trump this year.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the first PNA news article. Some parts in boldface…

Philippine exports to the United States (US) will now be subject to a 19 percent tariff, down from the 20 percent Washington initially planned to impose, US President Donald Trump announced following what he called a “beautiful visit” by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the White House.

Part of the new deal includes granting zero tariffs for American products bound for the Philippines.

Philippine President Marcos with US President Trump at the White House. (photo source – the White House)

“It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% Tariff,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account early Wednesday (Manila time).

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tweet of President Trump’s TRUTH Social post about the meeting with President Marcos and new trade deal.

He also described Marcos as a “very good and tough negotiator.”

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the US comprised the highest export value amounting to USD1.115 billion, or 15.3 percent of the country’s total exports in May this year.

Posted below is an excerpt from the other PNA news article related to Marcos’ description of the 1% reduction of tariff by America as well as his clarification about Philippines’ zero tariff approach on certain American products coming to the country. Some parts in boldface…

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. defended the Philippines’ new trade arrangement with the United States (US), saying the reduced 19 percent tariff on Philippine exports—down from the proposed 20 percent—is a “significant achievement,” amid questions over its fairness.

“One percent might seem like a very small concession. However, when you put it in real terms, it is a significant achievement,” Marcos said in a press briefing following his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday (Manila time).

The President acknowledged that the new deal also opens key Philippine markets to American products—particularly vehicles, agricultural goods, and pharmaceuticals—but said the arrangement will benefit Filipinos through lower prices and stronger bilateral trade.

“We will open that market and no longer charge tariffs on that… para makamura naman ‘yung mga – maging mas mura ‘yung gamot natin (so we can lower the cost of medicines),” he said.

Marcos said while the 19 percent tariff on Philippine goods is still substantial, it reflects a step forward in trade engagement with Washington D.C. and lays the groundwork for future negotiations.

For transparency, posted below is the official video from the White House YouTube channel.

Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you realize that there is a lot more about US and Philippines relations that go beyond the newly agreed trade agreement? Do you think America’s 19% tariff on exports from the Philippines will add challenged to the Philippine economy? What do you think about the Trump-Marcos meeting? Did you pay attention to the planned Subic Bay ammunition manufacturing plant that was mentioned? If you are based in the Philippines, do you look forward to importing American-made vehicles, agricultural products and pharmaceutical products once they enter the country without any tariffs imposed on them? Do you think the newest exchange between Trump and Marcos will make Communist China concerned or worried?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

USAID formally shut down and incorporated into State Department

USAID formally shut down and incorporated into State Department

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They finally did it! The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) –the independent agency of the American government responsible for administering civilian and foreign aid – was formally shut down by the Trump administration and has been incorporated into the State Department, according to a news report by Breitbart.

It should be remembered that USAID was heavily abused for a long time and a lot of taxpayers’ money was abused for questionable and wrongful purposes around the world such as funding LGBTQ projects, pushing abortion overseas, overseas tourism promotions, terrorist funding, creating a Sesame Street in Iraq, creating a mural in Parañaque City, and more.

As expected, there are high-profile figures who still want USAID to continue even though the abuses have been exposed. This new development with USAID is undeniably a major change decades in the making and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued statements defending the move.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Breitbart news report. Some parts in boldface.

The US foreign aid agency formally closed down Tuesday, with President Donald Trump’s administration trumpeting the end of the “charity-based model” despite predictions that millions of lives will be lost.

Founded in 1961 as John F. Kennedy sought to leverage aid to win over the developing world in the Cold War, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has now been incorporated into the State Department — after Secretary of State Marco Rubio slashed 85 percent of its programming.

In a farewell to remaining staff on Monday, former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama — as well as U2 frontman Bono — saluted their work and said it was still needed.

Bush pointed to PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/AIDS that he considers one of the top achievements of his 2001-2009 Republican presidency.

“This program shows a fundamental question facing our country — is it in our nation’s interest that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is,” Bush said in a video message seen by AFP.

Obama, who like Bush has been sparing in openly criticizing Trump, said that ending USAID was “inexplicable” and “will go down as a colossal mistake.”

“Gutting USAID is a travesty and it is a tragedy because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,” the Democrat said.

A study published in the medical journal The Lancet predicted that more than 14 million people would die, a third of them small children, by 2030 due to the foreign aid cuts.

‘Little to show’ –  Rubio painted a drastically different picture of USAID, which was an early target of a sweeping government cost-cutting drive led for Trump by billionaire Elon Musk.

Rubio said that USAID’s “charity-based model” fueled “addiction” by developing nations’ leaders and that trade was more effective.

“Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War,” Rubio wrote in an essay.

He also complained that many recipients of US aid do not vote with the United States at the United Nations and that rival China often enjoys higher favorability among the public.

A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that The Lancet study relied on “incorrect assumptions” and said the United States will continue aid but in a “more efficient” way.

He said that PEPFAR will remain, with a priority on stopping HIV transmission from mothers to children.

But he acknowledged the United States was no longer funding PrEP medication, which significantly reduces the rate of HIV transmission and has been encouraged by high-risk communities.

“No one is saying that gay men in Africa shouldn’t be on PrEP. That’s wonderful. It doesn’t mean that the United States has to pay for every single thing,” the official said.

He said the Trump administration was looking at “new and innovative solutions” and pointed to food deliveries in war-battered Gaza staffed by US military contractors and surrounded by Israeli troops.

Witnesses, the United Nations and local Gaza officials have reported that Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire and killed Palestinians waiting for aid — although the US-backed initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, denies any deadly incidents.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this development? Are you satisfied with the formal end of USAID and its incorporation into the State Department? Do you think a lot of people’s lives around the world will suffer from the shutdown of assistance from USAID?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Global scandal of USAID exposed!

Global scandal of USAID exposed!

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – the independent agency of the American government responsible for administering civilian and foreign aid – was exposed big-time by the Trump administration revealing a growing list of overseas projects funded by American taxpayers’ money.

These projects were approved by the failed Biden-Harris administration and a lot of them are related with the toxic DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and woke principles of the Satanic Left which explains why the Democrats are angry and outraged now.

To put things into perspective, posted below is the Sky News Australia news video plus the related news report (some parts in boldface)…

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has blasted the United States Agency for International Development for having “insane priorities”.

USAID was formed in the early 1960s to administer humanitarian aid programmes on behalf of the United States government around the world.

The United States spent around $US68 billion on international aid in 2023, according to government data. Ms Leavitt publicly took aim at the agency’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion projects.

Some of the projects listed included $1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia’s workplace, $70,000 for a production of a DEI Musical in Ireland, $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia and $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru.

For the newcomers reading this, USAID was founded in the 1960s which was the result of US Congress approving the Foreign Assistance Act in 1961 which mandated the agency’s creation and was followed with the executive order of then US President John F. Kennedy.

Going back to the USAID scandal, it is one thing for America to come up with taxpayer-funded overseas projects to help foreigners, it is completely another thing to have projects that emphasized the Satanic Leftist ideologies. Seriously, does the $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru and the $70,000 for a DEI musical production in Ireland have anything relevant with USAID’s traditional purposes of disaster relief, poverty relief, bilateral interests and socioeconomic development. USAID was also abused by the Democrats to fund Leftist news media outlets as well. For more insight, watch the videos below.

But there is still a lot more! The list of questionable overseas projects funded by USAID continues to grow and it includes funding for terrorism, contraception, opium growth, sex change and more. Posted below is the excerpt from the CBN News story (some parts in boldface).

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) published another list of projects and programs she says the agency has funded over the years until DOGE stepped in.

“From funneling tax dollars to risky research in Wuhan to sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, USAID is one of the worst offenders of waste in Washington… all around the world,” Ernst posted to X this week.

The Iowa senator gave more detail in a thread noting the organization spent millions on wasteful projects including:

*    “A whopping $20 million to create a Sesame Street in Iraq

*    $2 million for Moroccan pottery classes and promotion

*    $2 million promoting tourism to Lebanon

*    More than $9 million of USAID’s ‘humanitarian aid’ intended to feed civilians in Syria ended up in the hands of violent terrorists, including an affiliate of Al Qaeda in Iraq.“

Ernst points out that millions of dollars were sent to farmers in Afghanistan to get them to grow food crops instead of opium.

“The results: opium poppy cultivation across the country nearly doubled, according to the U.N.,” Ernst wrote.

“USAID has long been a reckless, out-of-control, unaccountable rogue agency,” she concluded. “USAID has failed to put the American people first and routinely tried to cloak its actions in secrecy. Those days are over.“

A White House fact sheet also contends that American taxpayer dollars were inadvertently used to fund terrorism.

It notes:

*    As much as $10 million was used by an al Qaeda-linked group for meals.

*  $78,000 to a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations including Pakistan’s Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation — even after an inspector general launched an investigation.

*  $15 million in taxpayer funds to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to help distribute ‘oral contraceptives and condoms.’

The fact sheet lists millions of dollars in additional wasteful spending, including:

*    $6 million was used to fund tourism in Egypt

*    $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam

*   $1.5 million to ‘advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.’

Here in my native Philippines, there were several projects and recipients of USAID as reported by the Philippine Star. Environmental – check, health – check, assistance for LGBT – check, a mural painting event – check.

Thank the Lord for the return of US President Donald Trump whose administration has been working hard to restore dignity and meritocracy in America. The Trump administration is focused on wiping away the Democrats’ corruption and waste of taxpayers’ funds.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to the USAID scandal? Did your local government participate in any USAID-related projects that were done locally in recent years? Are you tired of seeing wokeness, Leftist and DEI being emphasized in USAID projects that were launched during the years of the failed Biden-Harris administration? Do you think USAID should be abolished and the countries that benefited from it should move on and launch their own projects to help their respective people independently?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Change we can believe in

Change we can believe in

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Last November, Donald Trump pulled off the greatest American comeback ever by winning the US Presidential Election again. A few days ago, the inauguration in Washington, DC, took place indoors and Trump formally returned as US President (starting his non-consecutive 2nd term). Indeed, the craziness and wickedness of the Biden-Harris administration has ended much to the relief of the many Americans who suffered over the previous four years (the lost years).

For insight, watch the selected YouTube videos below…

To read the content of President Trump’s 2025 inaugural address, click here.

Trump did not just return to the Oval Office. He really accelerated the start of his 2nd term by signing so many executive orders (EOs), proclamations, memoranda and executive actions to initiate serious reforms with improvements, prosperity and common sense in mind. Think very carefully about all the woke garbage, all the blunders and all the nonsense left behind by Joe Biden and the demonic Democrats. President Trump is reversing the Biden standards to make America great again while also fulfilling the promises he made to the people with regards to policy.

Already, President Trump signed the following EOs: the declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, the designation of cartels and other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, putting an end to radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing, the defense of women from gender ideology extremism, withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization and more. To see more presidential actions or EOs signed by Trump, click here. For additional insight, watch the CBN News video below.

The early presidential actions done by Trump is all about making America better in many ways. This is about change that people can really believe in. American citizens are meant to be prioritized, the national sovereignty is meant to be protected, while the illegal immigrants are meant to be deported. Common sense, not the wicked DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and not the disease called wokeness, should be the standard when it comes to education, corporate ethics and the labor force.

Democrats and woke mob can shout and cry all they want, but President Trump’s mission is to make America great again and that means restoring sanity, common sense and meritocracy around the nation.

Overseas, America’s enemies are already feeling intimidated by Trump’s return. The terrorist state of Iran knows that a reinvigorated Israel-America alliance will cripple them severely. The renewed Israel-America alliance involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu collaborating with President Trump could potentially change the Middle East in the near future.

Thank the Lord for the return of President Trump.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: Are you delighted to see the return of Donald Trump as the President of the United States? Do you believe that the many executive orders Trump signed on his first day will result in reforms? Are you convinced that the woke influence on America will significantly fade away as Trump restores sanity and common sense around the country?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco