US Plans Port Fees For Chinese Ships To Revitalize American Maritime Industrial Base

 The Trump administration announced plans on Thursday to impose new port fees on Chinese commercial vessels—part of a broader effort to revive America's dwindling shipbuilding industry, which officials now view as a national security risk amid the urgent need to bolster hemispheric defense across the Americas in an increasingly fractured, bipolar world.

"Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer wrote in a statement, adding, "The Trump administration's actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the U.S. supply chain, and send a demand signal for U.S.-built ships."

The Federal Register notice titled "Notice of Action and Proposed Action in Section 301 Investigation of China's Targeting the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance, Request for Comments," published Thursday by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), states that new fees will be imposed on all Chinese-built and Chinese-owned ships docking at ports across America. These fees will be based on net tonnage or the volume of goods carried per voyage and will only be charged once per voyage and not per port arrival.

"The fee will be set at $0 for the first 180 days, will then be set at $50/NT, and will increase incrementally over the next three years," the USTR notice read. 

Service Fee on Chinese Vessel Operators and Vessel Owners of China (courtesy of CNBC):

• Effective as of April 17, 2025, a fee in the amount of $0 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of October 14, 2025, a fee in the amount of $50 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of April 17, 2026, a fee in the amount of $80 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of April 17, 2027, a fee in the amount of $110 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of April 17, 2028, a fee in the amount of $140 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

The USTR notice explained that "any such fee would be charged per rotation or string of U.S. port calls, and no more than five times a year on an individual vessel." 

Service fees for vessel operators of Chinese-built vessels are lower.

• Effective as of April 17, 2025, a fee in the amount of $0 for each container discharged.

• Effective as of October 14, 2025, a fee in the amount of $18 per net ton ($120 per container)

• Effective as of April 17, 2026, a fee in the amount of $23 per net ton ($153 per container)

• Effective as of April 17, 2027, a fee in the amount of $28 per net ton ($195 per container)

• Effective as of April 17, 2028, a fee in the amount of $33 per net ton ($250 per container).

The second phase will begin in three years and target Chinese LNG vessels. USTR explained the purpose of this action:

"To incentivize U.S.-built liquified natural gas (LNG) vessels, limited restrictions on transporting LNG via foreign vessels. These restrictions will increase incrementally over 22 years."

New taxes on Chinese commercial ships add to the complexity of a broadening trade war between the two economic superpowers. Trump recently slapped all Chinese goods entering the U.S. with a 145% effective tariff rate, while Beijing has slapped all U.S. goods entering China with a 125% levy.

The USTR notice continued, "A few comments agreed with the proposals, noting that the proposed fees would address trade imbalances, enhance national security, support investment in the American maritime industrial base, and promote higher environmental and labor standards. One commenter suggested that the proposed fees be captured in a U.S. shipbuilding and mariner compensation trust fund to be expended each year for reviving the U.S. merchant marine."

Time to make America's shipbuilding industry Great Again. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-plans-port-fees-chinese-ships-revitalize-american-maritime-industrial-base

Gabbard Exposes Alarming Biden-Era 'Domestic Terrorism' Strategy

 by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times,

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on April 16 fulfilled her past promise to declassify information related to President Joe Biden’s domestic counterterrorism strategy.

Dubbed the “Strategic Implementation Plan” (SIP), the 15-page-long document details the Biden administration’s findings and action plan to counter an alleged increase in homegrown domestic terrorism.

Gabbard released the documents in response to prompting from conservative groups like America First Legal, which expressed concerns about the Biden administration allegedly “censoring disfavored speech on the Internet by labeling such speech ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ ‘hate speech,’ ‘domestic terrorism.'”

Coming in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, after which the Biden administration claimed that domestic terrorism was the greatest terror threat the United States faced, the SIP represents the government-wide counterterrorism strategy.

Here’s what the declassified documents show.

Four-Pillared Plan

The plan in the declassified documents is based on four pillars:

1. “Understand and Share Domestic Terrorism-Related Information,”

2. “Prevent Domestic Terrorism Recruitment and Mobilization to Violence,” 

3. “Disrupt and Deter Domestic Terrorism Activity,” and 

4. “Confront Long-Term Contributors to Domestic Terrorism.”

The broad goals laid out by the plan included identifying and intervening with “potentially dangerous individuals,” “strengthen[ing] norms of non-violent political expression and rejection of racism and bigotry,” and increasing Americans’ “faith in democracy and the government.”

The plan called for dedicated research and analysis of domestic terrorism, including any potential links to international organizations or governments. 

To the same end, it called for increased information sharing within federal law enforcement related to domestic terrorism.

Additionally, this pillar proposed that the government “explore” ways to identify domestic terrorism through financial activity, including through greater involvement with financial institutions and scrutiny of citizens’ financial records.

It also called for the government to “Enhance [its] understanding of how foreign state and non-state information operations, particularly disinformation, relate to the domestic terrorism threat.”

That’s essentially federal government parlance for analyzing the impact of foreign actors online. 

The Biden administration and Democrats repeatedly claimed that Russian “trolls” were responsible for spreading disinformation and misinformation online.

Relatedly, the SIP reveals a plan to “implement evidence-based digital literacy programming to combat online disinformation and DT recruitment and narratives.”

The plan also calls for the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, among others, to “share with relevant technology and other private-industry companies, as appropriate and as expeditiously as possible and on a consistent basis, relevant information on [domestic terrorism]-related and associated transnational terrorist online content.”

It called for guardrails on information-sharing with technology companies, factoring in “legal, privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties review.”

Many conservatives have long been critical of alleged collusion between federal agencies and tech platforms, with many saying that the Biden administration sought to censor and deplatform conservative viewpoints in violation of the First Amendment.

Social Proposals

The final pillar of the plan, calling to “confront long-term contributors to domestic terrorism,” is laden with potentially controversial social proposals.

This section identifies “ghost guns”—unregistered weapons without a serial number, often created via 3D printer—as one such contributor, and calls to “[r]ein in the proliferation” of such weapons, “encourage state adoption of extreme risk protection orders, and drive other executive and legislative action including banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”

It also called for “advancing inclusion” as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic to “mitigate xenophobia and bias.”

This would be in order to “address hate crime reporting barriers faced by disadvantaged communities by promoting law enforcement training and resources to prevent and address bias-motivated crimes,” according to the SIP.

Additionally, the plan encouraged “teaching and learning of civics education that provides students with the skill to fully participate in civic life,” and promoting “literacy education for both children and adult learners and existing proven interventions to foster resiliency to disinformation.”

*  *  *

[ZH: We decided to give the final word to Matt Margolis over at PJMedia (worth a read): who summarized this shitshow perfectly:

The founding fathers would be rolling in their graves...

Let's cut through the bureaucratic noise and call this what it really is: a systematic blueprint for targeting and silencing conservative Americans. 

While Biden was preaching "unity" from his teleprompter, his administration was quietly crafting plans to turn Big Tech into their personal censorship machine.

Remember this  the next time you hear Democrats pontificating about "defending democracy." 

They've shown us exactly what they mean by "democracy," and it looks nothing like the Constitutional Republic our founders envisioned.

Well said, Matt.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tulsi-gabbard-exposes-alarming-biden-era-domestic-terrorism-strategy

Medical Journals Get Letters From DOJ

 A federal prosecutor sent a letter

opens in a new tab or window to a medical journal editor, probing whether the publication is "partisan" when it comes to "various scientific debates."

Edward R. Martin Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, sent a list of questions to CHEST Editor-in-Chief Peter Mazzone, MD, MPH, of the Cleveland Clinic, asking how the journal handles "misinformation" and "competing viewpoints," among other things.

MedPage Today has learned that at least two other journals have received similar letters.

"It has been brought to my attention that more and more journals and publications like CHEST Journal are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates," the letter stated.

Martin's letter asks five questions, including how the journal assesses its "responsibilities to protect the public from misinformation," and how it "clearly articulate[s] to the public when you have certain viewpoints that are influenced by your ongoing relations with supporters, funders, advertisers, and others."

It also asks whether the journal accepts manuscripts from "competing viewpoints" as well as how it assesses the role of "funding organizations like the National Institutes of Health in the development of submitted articles."

Finally, it asks how the journal handles allegations that authors "may have misled their readers."

"I am also interested to know if publishers, journals, and organizations with which you work are adjusting their method of acceptance of competing viewpoints," Martin wrote. "Are there new norms being developed and offered?"

Martin requested a response by May 2.

The letter to CHEST was dated April 14 and was originally posted on Xopens in a new tab or window by Eric Reinhart, MD, of Chicago. Mazzone did not return a request for comment from MedPage Today.

Adam Gaffney, MD, MPH, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts, said the letter "should send a chill down the spine of scientists and physicians."

"It is yet another example of the Trump administration's effort to control academic inquiry and stifle scientific discourse -- an administration, it warrants mentioning, that has embraced medical misinformation and pseudoscience to reckless effect," Gaffney said in an email to MedPage Today. "Journal editors should join together and publicly renounce this as yet more thinly guised anti-science political blackmail."

JT Morris, a senior supervising attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, noted that in a First Amendment case such as this, the law is clear: "A publication's editorial decisions are none of the government's business, whether it's a newspaper or a medical journal."

"When a United States Attorney wields the power of his office to target medical journals because of their content and editorial processes, he isn't doing his job, let alone upholding his constitutional oath," Morris said in an email to MedPage Today. "He's abusing his authority to try to chill protected speech."

"Like with any bully, the best response is to stand up to them -- and that includes officials who try to intimidate Americans into parroting the government's view," he added. "The First Amendment packs a powerful punch, and it has these medical journals' backs."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/115180

More background on FSU shooter

 In the wake of the deadly shooting at Florida State University on Thursday, a portrait of the alleged gunman -- the stepson of a local sheriff's deputy -- has emerged.

At least two people were killed and six others were injured when shots rang out near the Tallahassee institution's Student Union, officials said during a press conference.

Leon County Sheriff has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Pheonix Ikner, shown in this photo posted to social media.

Instagram

First responders shot the suspect on campus and he has since been hospitalized, officials said. He was taken into custody with non-life-threatening injuries, multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The suspect was identified during the press conference as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner. At the press conference, authorities described Ikner as the son of Leon County Sheriff's Deputy Jessica Ikner. However, court documents indicate she is the suspect's stepmother.

Law enforcement work at Florida State University campus after a mass shooting in Tallahassee, Fla., April 17, 2025.

Alicia Devine/USA Today Network via Imagn Images via Reuters

Sheriff Walter McNeil said Phoenix had access to one of his stepmother's personal weapons, which was one of the weapons found at the scene. He had a handgun and a shotgun with him at the time of the shooting, officials said.

Jessica Ikner has been a deputy with the department for more than 18 years and "her service to this community has been exceptional," McNeil said.

Florida State University campus shooting

Google Maps, Florida State University

McNeil added that the 20-year-old suspect was also a "long-standing member" of the Leon County Sheriff's Office's Youth Advisory Council.

Pheonix had been "steeped in the Leon County Sheriff's Office family," McNeil said, adding, "It's not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons," he added.

Suspect was once at center of international child custody dispute

Ikner was previously at the center of a protracted battle between his parents that featured a custody dispute stretching from the Florida panhandle to Norway, according to court documents.

At the time of the custody dispute, the suspect was a child and was known as Christian Gunnar Eriksen. (He changed his name in 2020 and is now identified as Phoenix Ikner.)

Christian was taken by his biological mother to Norway in March 2015 in violation of a child custody order, according to a 2015 probable cause affidavit from the Leon County Sheriff's Office. Anne-Mari Eriksen was accused of telling Christian's father, Christopher Ikner, that she was taking him to South Florida for spring break.

"Instead of staying in South Florida, the defendant allegedly fled the country with him in violation of their custody agreement," the affidavit says. "Mr. Ikner advised that Christian has developmental delays and has special needs which he feared would not be taken care of without access to his doctors here in the United States."

The sheriff's affidavit said the child was on medication for "several health and mental issues, to include a growth hormone disorder and ADHD."

The document stated that Christian and his biological mother were dual citizens of the United States and Norway.

Christian was eventually brought back to the United States. His mother was arrested at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in July 2015 and later pleaded no contest to illegally removing a child from Florida.

In October 2015, Anne-Mari Eriksen filed a lawsuit alleging slander and libel on behalf of herself and her son against the father and Christian's stepmother, sheriff's deputy Jessica Ikner, along with two other relatives.

"The emotional and psychological harm done to the minor child will be evident for years, and will require counseling, and given the child being the age of 11, will have memory impacted by the behaviors of all the defendants for the false claims done on his mother, and for the parental alienation of the close relationship of the minor child," the lawsuit claimed.

The lawsuit sought more than $80,000 in damages to use toward Christian's college fund.

A judge dismissed the suit seven months later.

An investigation into the motive of the deadly shooting is ongoing.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/alleged-florida-state-university-gunman-son-local-sheriffs/story

FDA Commissioner Makary on New Policy on Individuals Serving on FDA Advisory Committees

 In keeping with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s promise to carry out the Department’s work with “radical transparency” and mitigate perceived industry influence and conflicts of interests, FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H., announces a policy directive that limits individuals employed at companies regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, such as pharmaceutical companies, from serving as official members on FDA advisory committees, where statutorily allowed. As part of this effort, the agency will prioritize and elevate the role of patients and caregivers, strengthening the voices of their communities.

The FDA uses its advisory committees to obtain independent expert advice and recommendations on scientific, technical, and policy decisions.

“While the FDA should be partnering with industry to ensure a user-friendly review process, the scientific evaluation of new products should be independent,” said Commissioner Makary. “Industry employees are welcome to attend FDA advisory committee meetings, along with the rest of the American public, but having industry employees serve as official members of FDA advisory committee members represents a cozy relationship that is concerning to many Americans. In fact, the FDA has a history of being influenced unduly by corporate interests.”

“Public trust in the healthcare-industrial complex is at an all-time low. We need to restore impeccable integrity to the process and avoid potential conflicts of interest,” said Commissioner Makary.

Today’s action will not preclude employees of regulated companies from attending or presenting their views at advisory committee meetings or serving as representative members of the committee when required by statute. Also, exceptions can be made in rare circumstances (i.e., when the scientific expertise in an area is only available from an employee of an FDA-regulated company) provided that the official strictly complies with the applicable ethics requirements.

By limiting employees of FDA-regulated companies from serving as officials, the FDA aims to boost public trust in its decisions and improve how its advisory committees operate.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-commissioner-makary-announces-new-policy-individuals-serving-fda-advisory-committees

US FDA suspends some food safety quality checks after staff cuts

 The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for its food testing laboratories as a result of staff cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

The proficiency testing program of the FDA's Food Emergency Response Network is designed to ensure consistency and accuracy across the agency's network of about 170 labs that test food for pathogens and contaminants to prevent food-borne illness.

The firing and departure of as many as 20,000 HHS employees have upended public health research and disrupted the agency's work on areas like bird flu and drug reviews. President Donald Trump hopes to slash as much as $40 billion from HHS.

"Unfortunately, significant reductions in force, including a key quality assurance officer, an analytical chemist, and two microbiologists at FDA's Human Food Program Moffett Center have an immediate and significant impact on the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Proficiency Testing (PT) Program," says the email sent on Tuesday from FERN's National Program Office and seen by Reuters.

The program will be suspended at least through September 30 and means the agency will be unable to do planned quality control work around lab testing for the parasite Cyclospora in spinach or the pesticide glyphosate in barley, among other tests, the email says.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/us-fda-suspends-food-safety-quality-checks-after-staff-cuts/ar-AA1D80kF

Potential Sale Of Americans' DNA In 23andMe Database May Trigger National Security Review

 The U.S. Department of Justice submitted a formal notice to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, which is overseeing the Chapter 11 case of defunct 23andMe Holding Co. (Case No. 25-40976), warning that the potential sale of its assets—including a gigantic pool of millions of Americans' genetic data—may trigger a national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming wrote in a filing that 23andMe is prohibited from selling the genetic data of more than 15 million customers to "covered persons"—companies classified as foreign entities that are 50% or more owned by entities based in countries such as China, Russia, and North Korea.

Fleming's notice does not ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh to take action against any potential 23andMe transactions. Instead, the U.S. government is requesting that CFIUS review any sale of genetic data to ensure foreign adversaries are not using shell companies to acquire it.

Safeguarding the gigantic pool of genetic data of Americans is a national security priority because of the increasing risk that precision bioweapons can be designed to target specific genetic traits or ethnic groups, based on shared DNA markers.

For example, if a hostile actor or rogue group linked to Iran or the Chinese Communist Party accessed genomic data, they could develop pathogens that are more virulent or lethal to those with certain genetic traits. 

Last month, James O'Keefe of O'Keefe Media Group stoked maximum fears after releasing a video featuring an undercover journalist speaking with Nathaniel Johnson, a policy advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

In the footage, Johnson suggested that 23andMe may have already sold off users' genetic data: "Do not give your information to those people [23andMe]... they sell it to other people."

Johnson explained: "There's a clause in their contract, that basically says, like, we can give your information to our shareholders. So that they can do stuff. And all of their shareholders are, like pharmaceutical companies. But some of those pharmaceutical companies are based in other countries, and those pharmaceutical companies in other countries are like the property of, like the Ministry of Defense of Russia. Or, like, owned, by China."

The risks of genetic data being weaponized for biological warfare should be on the minds of the Trump administration as the great power competition with China goes into hyperdrive by the 2030s.

 

*   *   * 

Read the filing here:

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/potential-sale-americans-dna-23andme-database-may-trigger-national-security-review