Newsletter: Today: How You’re Paying for the Tariffs
American consumers are already seeing higher prices for some goods from China.
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How You’re Paying for the Tariffs
President Trump has repeatedly said that when it comes to tariffs on Chinese goods, China pays the price. But if you’ve shopped around for luggage or major appliances lately, you’ve probably noticed that it’s U.S. consumers who actually pay when export and import firms and manufacturers choose to pass along the cost. And the tariffs’ effects could become more pronounced, as both sides dig into an escalating trade war. As the stock market tumbled Monday and China hit the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs, saying it would “never surrender” to outside pressure and invoking memories of “national humiliation” by foreign powers in the past, Trump defended his use of tariffs and announced he was devising a new relief package for farmers of about $15 billion.
More From Washington
-- The Supreme Court gave a boost to antitrust laws in the digital era as it cleared the way for Apple to be sued for allegedly monopolizing the sale of apps on its iPhones. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, joined by the court’s four liberal justices, rejected Apple’s defense that it could not be sued over the price of apps because it simply offered a platform for others to sell their product.
-- California has won in the U.S. Supreme Court after a 28-year fight with an inventor, but liberal justices worry that it might signal more precedents could be overturned by conservatives.
-- California has filed its 50th lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging a new federal rule that the state argues interferes with the ability to deduct union dues from the paychecks of workers in a government program that helps the elderly and disabled in their homes.
Grand Plans, but Read the Fine Print
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced with great fanfare that he was backing a California sales tax exemption on diapers and tampons as an important step in helping low-income families. But he omitted a key detail in presenting his plan to the public and lawmakers: The tax cuts in his revised budget would last for only two years. And critics say it isn’t the first time he’s been accused of over-promising and under-delivering.
Scaling Up Suburbia
If you live in a single-family home in California, it’s likely everyone else in your neighborhood does too. That could change under Senate Bill 50, a state measure that would require cities and counties to permit duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes on much of the residential land now zoned for only single-family houses — on top of other changes aimed at solving the housing crisis. But some say that could alter the very nature of California life for the worse.
Sentimental Journey
Doris Day was the “wholesome girl next door.” She was “a feminist before there was feminism.” She helped America look at AIDS with empathy and love for Rock Hudson. She was an outspoken animal rights activist. And she did it all with a song in her heart. Now, the tributes are pouring in for Day, who died at 97 at her Carmel Valley, Calif., home — and remained a bit of a mystery to the very end for some of her devotees.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
On this date in in 1935, the Griffith Observatory opened. “They have brought the universe to Los Angeles,” The Times announced back then, as L.A. became “the third city in the U.S., after Chicago and Philadelphia, to possess a planetarium, one of the most useful and attractive devices by which the layman may learn some of the most important details of the mighty universe surrounding this little earth planet.”
CALIFORNIA
-- Gov. Newsom has pardoned seven former felons, including two Cambodian refugees the Trump administration wants to deport, in his first acts of clemency since the Democrat took office in January.
-- As she pleaded guilty for her role in the college admissions scandal, a tearful Felicity Huffman tried to explain what motivated her.
-- The Hungry Cat, chef David Lentz’s seafood restaurant in Hollywood, will close at the end of June after a 15-year run. “I’m kind of sad,” Lentz says. “It’s tough these days; the rent’s too high.”
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- What a difference a year makes. Or does it? With the preeminent cinematic event that is the Festival de Cannes, both ways is the way it’s always going to be, writes film critic Kenneth Turan.
-- First person: “In ‘Game of Thrones,’ I was an extra in that King’s Landing crowd scene.”
-- How the show “Lucifer,” banished from Fox, found sympathy for the devil from Netflix.
-- The L.A. County Museum of Art plans to hang hundreds of paintings on concrete walls in its new building. Art critic Christopher Knight explains why that is a problem.
NATION-WORLD
-- In Alaska, at least three people were killed after two sightseeing airplanes carrying cruise ship tourists collided in midair, the Coast Guard said.
-- Female film workers in Georgia are urging Hollywood not to boycott after the governor signed a law banning almost all abortions.
-- Former President Jimmy Carter broke his hip at his Georgia home, underwent successful surgery and was recovering comfortably, a spokeswoman for the Carter Center said.
-- Poland has abruptly canceled the visit of an official Israeli delegation en route to Warsaw over concerns that talks would focus on restitution of seized Jewish property.
-- In Sudan, prosecutors have charged ousted President Omar Bashir with involvement in killing protesters and incitement to kill protesters during the uprising that drove him from power last month.
BUSINESS
-- Battles over warehouse jobs, especially those in the Inland Empire, have erupted as the California Legislature moves to curb subsidies.
-- The U.S. government is withdrawing a proposal to require all passenger vehicles to have safety systems to prevent unintended acceleration. The government says the rule isn’t needed.
-- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing a pair of credit-repair firms. Consumer columnist David Lazarus explains why it’s a welcome but surprising move.
SPORTS
-- The Lakers have entered the NBA draft lottery with a slim chance of landing the No. 1 pick. They’ll find out today if that comes true.
-- You’ve probably already seen Kawhi Leonard’s game-winner for the Toronto Raptors. But have you heard the basketball announcers’ calls of it in multiple languages?
OPINION
-- In San Francisco, police target a journalist — and flout the law.
-- Holding Atty. Gen. William Barr in contempt over the Mueller report is the definition of “dirty politics,” writes columnist Jonah Goldberg.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- The White House is said to be reviewing military plans against Iran that echo the Iraq war. (New York Times)
-- How Times reporter Matt Pearce drew on the wisdom of readers about how to cover the 2020 campaign. (Nieman Lab)
-- No more Mr. Nice Guy: Bill Nye made a fiery NSFW video to call attention to climate change. (USA Today)
ONLY IN L.A.
It’s called the Lodge — a two-plus-acre estate with a Tudor-style home of about 11,000 square feet in the Beverly Hills Post Office area. Actor-producer Mark Damon has owned the property since 1984, when he paid $2.4 million; now, the 86-year-old has relisted it for sale. So what does $8.995 million get you? Take a look for free here.
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