Trump tariff trauma… again!

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The daily Souk: On my shopping list

Editor’s note: As you may have noticed, we just unveiled a beta version of Souk—which has one simple goal: To help you find unique, high quality products that are worth your time and money. And to help us—the splainer team, lol! We have been happily wasting work hours browsing Souk—and thought it fun to share what made our shopping list—with Editorial Manager, Raghav, making his picks today.

One: The Home & Living section offers a diverse selection of items I fancy—but for now, I’m drawn to the Oh Damn Pickleball Paddle. One of my less sporty friends has been trying to get into the game all summer—with me as his weekly sparring partner. But we’ve found renting equipment to be a bit of a pain, which makes Outta Office Club’s racquet line a perfect, permanent replacement.

Two: I am the absolute laziest when coming up with housewarming gifts—usually reverting to booze or books, with the occasional generic scented candle. Fortunately, this Souk edit is the ideal cheat sheet for unimaginative guests like me that didn’t know some of the options on the list even existed. I got dibs on the luxuriously pretty Ilai Mugs and Heirloom Brass coasters!

Three: Like most people, I have an occasional weakness for snacking between meals—sweet stuff more than savoury, ideally with a kick of cocoa to go with my coffee. That’s why I’m eyeing the Millet Chocolate Chip cookies—which contain jaggery rather than too much refined sugar.

PS: This is a beta launch and feedback—good or bad—is key. So please email the team at dearsouk@splainer.in with your thoughts. We want to get this right!

Trump tariff trauma… again!

Editor’s note: The impact on India deserves more extended treatment—since Trump has now threatened to punish New Delhi for its close trade ties with Russia and Iran. And he’s cosying up with Pakistan. Trump has also taken an unexpectedly harsh tone—calling India a “dead economy” yesterday. The geopolitical implications are far greater than just a price increase on Indian goods. We will look at this in our Big Story on Monday (the part two of our Chola dynasty series will have to wait).

The August 1 deadline dawned over Washington—and Trump unleashed his favourite WMD at everyone who failed to cut a trade deal. Most of these will go into effect on August 7—other than Canada’s—and do not apply to goods already loaded onto ships before that date.

First, a quick overview of the shell-shocked (The Guardian has the full 92-nation list):

One: Canada was hit by a 35% rate. But it does not apply to goods covered by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement—which is about 94% of Canadian exports. But, but, but: Key goods like autos, steel and aluminium are still screwed.

Point to note: Trump is trying to use tariffs to block Canada’s plan to recognise Palestine as an independent state. This cavalier use of import duties as an all-purpose weapon is the most destructive and destabilising aspect of the tariff wars.

Also notable: Unlike Canada, Mexico has been given a 90-day reprieve for now—but will continue to deal with a 25% rate on all goods not covered by the tripartite trade agreement.

Two: Trump hates poor countries. Laos and Myanmar face a 40% tariff. Myanmar exports apparel—and Laos electronics equipment. Laos is being punished for exporting solar panels from Chinese factories—relocated to Laos to evade high tariffs. But others remain a mystery—including Libya (30%) Iraq (35%) and Sri Lanka (20%).

The biggest mystery: The 39% tariff rate on Switzerland.

Point to note: There is a flat 40% tariff on any product that has been “transshipped” to avoid higher duties. For example, ‘made in China’ goods shipped from another country.

Three: South Africa—which is being punished because of Elon Musk and Israel—now faces a 30% tariff. Harsher than the 25% tariff on India—but not by much.

Four: Beijing continues to enjoy special privileges. Its deadline doesn’t run out until August 12—and both sides have already agreed to extend it.

It’s all relative: Of course, no one wants added duties on their goods. But in the market, what matters is competitive pricing. As one Korean analyst explains:

But what matters is the relative export price for Korean companies, so we can sell our products to the U.S. market at a cheaper price compared to our competitors. In that sense, I can say it’s not bad.

This is why the 25% tariff on Indian goods feels catastrophic—when the rates for Vietnam and Indonesia (the other alternatives to China) are 20% and 19%, respectively. It will be even more damaging if Beijing manages to strike a sweeter deal.

The big picture: All American manias come to pass. That seems to be the mantra of most global businesses. For now, they are planning to just wait it out:

It will take a while for Korean companies especially to say ‘OK, this is a new regime, we will start to make these long-term decisions on our manufacturing base.’ Some companies I’ve spoken to are just saying, we’re just going to weather it out, at least a few years, before we feel comfortable.

Who knows what the next US election will bring…

Reading list: Since the tariff updates are still unfolding, the Guardian liveblog offers the best links to stay in the loop. Reuters via The Hindu offers a quick overview. BBC News offers the big picture on the Indian tariff rates.

The problem with eco-friendly menstrual products

The context: Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used since the 1940s in everyday products—from nonstick cookware and food packaging to firefighting foams. They are called "forever chemicals” because they don’t fully break down in your body or the environment. These compounds are linked to several health issues such as cancer, kidney disease, birth defects, etc—but scientists have not established a cause-effect relationship as yet.

What happened now: A new study has found high levels of PFAS in 19 out of 59 reusable period products—including menstrual cups, reusable pads, and period underwear. The products were highly contaminated with “neutral” PFAS (without an ionic charge)—which were hard to detect and measure until now:

That’s important because neutral PFAS tend to fly under the radar but can be more easily absorbed through the skin, or even mucous membranes like those in the vagina because they can more easily move through fatty tissues.

Here’s the bad news: According to the authors:

When we measured the neutral PFAS there were much higher concentrations — not parts per trillion, not even parts per billion, but levels at parts per million — that’s very, very high.

Even worse, the high levels are a feature not a bug:

What’s shocking is that we found 33% of period underwear and 25% of reusable pads had intentional PFAS use — meaning the chemicals had been put there, likely to keep the products from leaking.

What’s notable: is the lack of manufacturing protocol—and hence, visibility, even to the brands:

Many reusable materials were sourced from third-party suppliers in other countries, who may not be as aware of the dangers of PFAS as domestic manufacturers, he said. It did seem to be random — sometimes they put PFAS in the inside layer of material, sometimes on the outside, sometimes between the layers, all of which suggests they have no idea what they’re doing. There’s no labeling, so consumers have no clue because there’s no way they can tell.

Point to note: Most of these brands were American, some were South American and a couple were from Australia and Europe.

What’s the alternative? PFAS are found in disposable tampons and pads as well:

In a series of lab analyses commissioned between 2020 and 2022 by the consumer watchdog site Mamavation and Environmental Health News, 48% of sanitary pads, incontinence pads, and panty liners tested were found to contain PFAS, as were 22% of tampons and 65% of period underwear.

But all is not lost. Researchers say they found reusable products without PFAS: “Only a subset of the products had high levels of PFAS present, which means that PFAS must not be essential in the manufacture of reusable feminine hygiene products.”

The bigger picture: According to a WHO report: “In Europe and the United States of America, over 80% of menstrual products end up in landfills, where disposable pads may take 500–800 years to break down.” Also this:

Whether we wear feminine hygiene products or not, we will all be exposed… Everything in the US ultimately goes into landfills, and with time these forever chemicals leach into our drinking water, our irrigation water and our food supply.

So, sticking to those reusable period products still makes a difference—not just to women but all humanity. (CNN)

In very related good news: New research has found that gut bacteria in mice may be effective in flushing PFAS out of the body:

In the recent study, researchers observed that mice carrying specific types of gut bacteria were able to excrete PFAS more effectively through faeces, compared to germ-free mice… The mechanism is not one of chemical breakdown, but rather of sequestration, where microbes like Lactobacillus or Bacteroides bind to PFAS in the gut and trap them for elimination.

The discovery offers a potential path toward limiting tong-term PFAS exposure. (The Hindu, paywalled)

Guess my age, YouTube!

YouTube is cracking down on fake birth dates with a new AI tool:

[T]he age inference system... uses machine learning to process different pieces of information about a user to determine their age. Those signals include the types of videos the user searches for, the categories of videos they watch, and how long their account has been active.

So what happens if YouTube thinks you're under 18?:

If a user is believed to be under 18, YouTube will disable personalized advertising, turn on digital wellbeing tools like reminders to take a break, and throw up some content guardrails to prevent the kid from “repetitive views” of certain types of content.

To opt out, you’ll need to prove you're an adult—with a government ID or credit card.

Point to note: You don’t have to do anything if the AI thinks you’re an adult.

The big picture: Age checks are becoming stricter across the globe. The UK now requires them on porn sites—and the US Supreme Court recently upheld a Texas law demanding the same on both porn sites and social media platforms. Of course, none of this may work given the umpteen workarounds available. (Gizmodo)

Sticking with YouTube: Until now, the platform automatically limited ads on videos that contained swear words in the first seven seconds of the video. Not any more. This is part of a longer trend—in 2023, moderate cussing like “asshole” was allowed. That said, swear words in titles or thumbnails will still be penalised—as will excessive or repeated strong language—as in compilation videos. Plus, hate speech or abusive content remain strictly off-limits under community rules. (Engadget)

MAP Academy fellowships alert!!

Editor’s note: As you know, the wonderful MAP Academy is our content partner for Advisory. It is one of the few Indian institutions deeply invested in cultural research and education. They also offer rare funded opportunities for researchers, designers, archivists, journalists, writers and educators. The Nalli Fellowship is one of them.

Over to MAP Academy…

We’re pleased to announce that a new cycle of the MAP Academy & Nalli Fellowships will open to applications soon. Designed to support research and practice in South Asia’s diverse textile traditions, the Fellowship is born out of a collaboration between MAP Academy and Nalli Silks, a heritage textile brand based in India.

Programme Details: Four fellowships, each with a grant of INR 5,50,000, will be awarded.

The programme is open to a wide range of people, from individuals to collectives, from researchers to practitioners. We’re hoping to receive applications on a range of subjects, and these include:

Histories of clothing and costume
Community or personal textile archives
Textiles in religious or liturgical contexts
Environmental impact of textile production and consumption
Endangered or disappearing textile traditions
Critical perspectives on revivalism
Labour in textile production, with a focus on caste, class, and gender
Textiles in relation to other cultural forms—storytelling, poetry, music, architecture, and material culture
Textiles in the context of archaeological study
Textiles as symbols or metaphors in literature or mythology
Techniques and tools used in specific textile traditions

You can read more about the Fellowships here. We will begin accepting applications starting 18th August 2025.

To register your interest and receive a reminder when applications open, please visit this link. For any queries, contact us at: fellowships@map-india.org

what caught our eye

business & tech

Microsoft has hit a $4 trillion market value after a strong earnings report, joining Nvidia in an elite club as the tech giants continue riding the AI wave.
Amazon will pay the New York Times over $20 million a year to use content from its news, cooking, and sports sections in its AI models.
US inflation ticked up in June as tariffs drove up prices—prompting fresh attacks from Trump on the Federal Reserve for holding interest rates steady.
A California startup is using AI and robotics to bring a traditional Japanese fish-killing method to US fine dining, promising better-tasting sashimi and a more humane process.

sports & entertainment

The Foo Fighters have brought in Ilan Rubin—best known for drumming with Nine Inch Nails and Angels & Airwaves—as their new drummer, just months after parting ways with Josh Freese. Meanwhile, Freese has re-joined Nine Inch Nails.
The French badminton federation is worried about rising shuttlecock prices—thanks to China’s growing appetite for pork, which has led to fewer ducks and geese, and a global shortage of feathers.
German Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died in a mountaineering accident in Pakistan after being hit by a rockfall in the Hushe Valley, part of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.
The Hindu revisits Mohammed Rafi’s timeless hits to mark 45 years since the legendary singer’s passing.

health & environment

The pandemic may have sped up brain aging—even in people who never caught Covid—thanks to stress, isolation, and prolonged uncertainty.
A new study finds that men born in the summer are more likely to show signs of depression later in life.
Peacock feathers, when dyed multiple times, can emit laser light—marking the first known example of a biolaser in the animal kingdom.
Roman concrete—long thought to be more eco-friendly—actually produces as much carbon dioxide as modern cement.
Mint unpacks India’s rising bird flu cases—41 outbreaks across 10 states so far this year—and why the virus showing up in animals like tigers and cats has experts on alert.
Scientists—including Indian geochemist Shamik Dasgupta—have discovered tubeworms and molluscs living at a record depth of 9,533 metres in the Pacific, marking the deepest known occurrence of such creatures.

meanwhile, in the world

Russia launched a deadly missile and drone attack on Kyiv, killing at least 11 people, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s Parliament has unanimously voted to restore the independence of two major anti-corruption bodies, following mass civilian protests.
Myanmar’s junta has lifted the state of emergency ahead of a December election facing a boycott from opposition groups and criticism from global observers.
Donald Trump is seriously considering a presidential pardon for Sean “Diddy” Combs, as the latter faces up to 20 years in prison at his October sentencing after being convicted of prostitution charges. You can read more about his conviction here.
New York Times (splainer gift link) has a good read on how love motels in Belém—with their dance poles and leopard-print walls—are stepping in to house guests for the COP30 climate summit amid a hotel room crunch.
At least 25 people were injured after a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam hit severe turbulence and was forced to land in Minneapolis.
The Guardian has an exclusive on missionaries using hidden solar-powered audio devices to spread Bible messages in Brazil’s Javari valley, defying laws meant to protect isolated Indigenous communities.

meanwhile, in India

Pet-friendly cab services are catching on in Bengaluru, with animal activists saying they’ve made it easier to rush pets to emergency care during the critical golden hour.
Tourists heading to Mussoorie must now register themselves and their vehicles online before checking in.
Sacred Buddhist relics excavated from northern India in 1898—once slated for auction in Hong Kong—have been returned to the country. For context, read our curation here.
Former Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam has formally quit the BJP-led NDA, citing months of political neglect and being snubbed by PM Modi during his recent visit to the state.

One trailer to see

Here’s the trailer for ‘Twinless’—the Audience Award-winning dark comedy that debuted at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It is directed by James Sweeney who also acts in it—alongside Dylan O’Brien. Both of them play young men who’re grieving the loss of their twin. It is slated to release on September 5. (Variety)