McConnell Praises Trump’s Tough Trade Stance Toward China
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has praised President Donald Trump’s tough trade actions against China and says any efforts by Congress to block the president’s use of tariffs would likely “not be achievable.”
The Senate’s top leader told workers at a Kentucky manufacturing plant Friday that the Chinese “have been eating our lunch for years” on trade. McConnell commended Trump for “taking them on” and said he hopes his fellow Republicans’ policies result in a better deal.
The Trump administration this week announced it would proceed with previously announced 25 percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion of Chinese imports starting Aug. 23. China hit back by saying it would impose identical punitive duties on $16 billion of U.S. goods.
McConnell, a free-trade advocate, said a trade war will hurt both sides.
Bitcoin Scammers Target Wealthy, Threaten to Expose ‘Secret’
Men in a wealthy Washington suburb have been receiving letters threatening to expose their dark secrets to their wives.
The problem, The Washington Post reports , is some of these men don’t even have wives.
The letters are part of a growing scam that tries to extort people for Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that’s hard to track.
FBI Washington Field Office spokesman Andrew Ames says these scammers tend to flood high-income neighborhoods, trying to fool at least one person.
Jeff Strohl says he received a Nashville-postmarked letter from “GreySquare15” demanding a Bitcoin “confidentiality fee” worth $15,750. After his initial shock, he figured it was a scam. He posted about it on a community listserv to find he was far from the only Chevy Chase resident to receive such letters.
North Carolina Town Picked for Amazon Distribution Center
A North Carolina town will be the site of a new Amazon distribution center that officials say will lead to hundreds of millions in investment and the creation of more than a thousand jobs.
State and local officials announced Friday that Garner, a Raleigh suburb, will be home to a new distribution center for the Seattle-based web retailer. They say it will create 1,500 new jobs and $45 million annually in payroll for the workers.
The four-story, 2.6 million square foot distribution center will be built on the site of a former ConAgra Foods plant. The site was donated to local economic development authorities in 2012. Garner officials say the move is the result of seven years of searching for a suitable company to develop the site.
Ex-Nike Employees Sue Company, Alleging Unequal Compensation
Four women who used to work for Nike have filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging it violated state and U.S. equal-pay laws and fostered a work environment that allowed sexual harassment.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the suit filed Thursday in Portland is among the first to hit the company following complaints about alleged pay disparities and bad managers public earlier this year.
Nike responded by ousting at least 11 executives in March and April.
Attorney Laura Salerno Owens says Nike continues to have a “good-old-boy’s culture” in which women enter the company with lower pay, and receive smaller raises and bonuses.
The plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages, and a court order requiring Nike to pay its employees fairly without regard to gender.
Nike officials declined comment on the lawsuit.
Judge: Canadian Firm Can Go After Venezuela’s US Refineries
A Canadian gold mining firm has won the right to go after Venezuela’s U.S.-based oil refineries to collect $1.4 billion that it lost in a take-over by the late-President Hugo Chavez.
Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark of the U.S. Federal District Court in Delaware made the ruling Thursday in favor of Crystallex.
Chavez took over the gold mining firm and many other international companies as part of his socialist revolution.
Russ Dallen of the brokerage firm Caracas Capital Markets says the ruling could set off a scramble by a list of creditors owed $65 billion in bonds that Venezuela has stopped paying within the last year.
Dallen says Crystallex’s lawsuit makes it the lucky lottery winner because it got in line first.
Venezuela’s economy is spiraling into a deepening crisis.
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