Price tag wars: Trump vs Amreeka Inc

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Price tag wars: Trump vs Amreeka Inc

Everyone knows that Americans will have to pay more for stuff because of steep import taxes. Except Trump voters who are uninterested in economics and other reality-based fields. US companies are now calling out the price increase attributable to tariffs in the final bill—because it gets them off the hook:

From bathroom-fixture makers to toy shops, companies are starting to tack tariff surcharges onto invoices as a separate line item. Some are a $5 flat fee, while others represent as much as 40% of the subtotal. The tactic is a way to pass on at least some tariff costs to consumers—especially on Chinese-made goods, with levies totaling 145% since January—while passing the buck to President Trump.

Some like the sex toy brand Dame have leaned in even further—as a form of passive-aggressive protest lol:

The ‘Trump tariff surcharge’ even has its own product page. According to CEO Alexandra Fine, “it doesn’t cover the full cost—not even close—but it felt better than pretending everything’s fine.”

But, but, but: Such luxuries are reserved only for chota independent brands in the land of the free. When the big companies planned to do the same, all hell broke loose at the White House. The Trump administration totally lost it over reports that Amazon was planning to call out the tariff surcharge at checkout—attacking it as a “hostile and political act.” Trump personally called Jeff Bezos to express his displeasure. Ofc, Amazon caved in asap—saying the plan was “never approved” and is “not going to happen.”

Why so mad at Amazon? This is the interesting bit. Small brands can afford to call out the tariff—because a customer usually buys one or two items. No one is stocking up on a lifetime supply of sex toys over at Dame. So at best you may pay anywhere between $5 to $15 extra. OTOH, Americans do a great part of their daily shopping on Amazon—from groceries to household products. And they do it because Amazon shopping is fast, easy and heavily discounted.

So imagine if you had to pay an extra $5 on everything in your shopping cart—which may have, say, 15 items. That would make you really mad, really fast. Hence, the Trump meltdown. Morning Brew has a good overview. CNBC reports on the rage over at the White House. Quartz gives you a sense of how much the prices have climbed for popular brands.

In highly related news: The US economy has already gone into reverse. Its growth rate was (-)0.3% in the first quarter: “That’s a sharp slowdown from the fourth quarter’s 2.4% rate, and much worse than the 0.8% rate economists projected. GDP is adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation.” Our suggestion: Maybe Americans should try banging on pots and pans—to drive away the Trump virus causing an economic pandemic. (CNN)

Meanwhile, over at Microsoft: While Bezos kisses the ring in Washington, Microsoft is presenting itself as a knight in shining armour to the Europeans. In fact, the US company has promised to take its own government to court—to protect European customers:

The Big Tech group said it would contest any government order to cease cloud services to European customers, including through the courts. It also promised to have its cloud computing service in the continent overseen by a European board of directors and operating under European law. The company is planning to boost its European cloud and artificial intelligence operations by increasing its data centre capacity in Europe by 40% over the next two years, expanding operations in 16 countries.

Translation: We won’t allow Donald Trump to use our tech as a club to bully the EU. FYI: Europe accounts for over a quarter of Microsoft’s global business.

Why this matters: It marks the first time a major US tech company has publicly pledged to safeguard European digital access from “geopolitical volatility.” (Financial Times, paywalled)

Monsoon extremes threaten Bay of Bengal’s marine lifeline

A new study warns that extreme shifts in India’s summer monsoon—whether too weak or too strong—will severely disrupt food supply for marine life. Specifically, it will decrease the amount of plankton available on the surface—which sustains fish. The reason: the fluctuations prevent nutrient-rich deep waters from mixing with the surface—which starves the plankton, and by extension, the fish.

Why this matters: The Bay of Bengal makes up less than 1% of the world’s oceans—but contributes close to 8% of global fish production:

The ocean’s ability to support plankton growth is the foundation of the marine food web. If ocean productivity declines, it will powerfully affect the ecosystem, reducing fish stocks and threatening food security for coastal communities.

Phys.org and The Telegraph offer overviews of the study, which you can find here.

Stunners from the Smithsonian Magazine photo contest

This year, there were 30,000 entries from more than 150 countries. The images span six categories—People, Travel, Natural World, Drone/Aerial, American Experience and Artistic. The winner of the Grand prize—by Takuya Ishiguro—is a gruesome shot of a praying mantis "decapitating" another mantis. The judges gushed: “It’s like a horror scene out of some crazy science fiction movie.”

We personally prefer the winner in the Artistic category—taken by Anna Wacker—a gorgeous shot of a cyclist against the backdrop of a government building in Berlin:

Representing Indians: Somenath Mukhopadhyay who made the shortlist with this beauty—which shows little girls getting ready for a folk performance:

And we are mesmerised by this portrait from Mihaela Rogova:

You can check out the winners gallery here and the 60 shortlisted photos here.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Bitcoin’s bouncing back toward its all-time high—but thanks to soaring power costs, mining it now costs more than it’s worth, even for the big players.
iPhone production is live in southern India, with another plant set to start shipping in May, as the company moves away from tariff-troubled China.
Spotify’s shelled out over $100 million to podcasters this year—power play to lure creators from YouTube’s grip.
Bangladesh just gave Starlink the green light—making it the second South Asian country after Sri Lanka to bet on Musk’s satellite internet.

sports & entertainment

It’s a PR disaster for Neha Kakkar down under—as she reportedly refused to perform for 700 fans who turned up to her concert in Melbourne back in March, claiming she wasn’t paid by the organisers. Indian Express has more.
Sticking with concerts, Financial Times (splainer gift link) has a must-read on how Live Nation calls the shots for the live music industry in the US.
Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the Italian Open due to injury. FYI: He has been going through a slump in form, having lost his last three matches.
Champak vs BCCI: the beloved kids' magazine has dragged cricket’s top body to court over its IPL robot dog’s name, claiming trademark theft.
Bye, bye CSK—the five-time champions are the first team to be eliminated from IPL playoff contention this year, after losing to Punjab Kings by 4 wickets.

health & environment

The geological process that creates rocks usually takes at least thousands of years, but a new study suggests that industrial waste is turning into rocks within a few decades.
The Guardian reports on how the summer heatwave has arrived with new levels of intensity—and record-high temperatures—across India and Pakistan.
Despite technological advances in modern medicine, life expectancy for women in the American South has remained unchanged compared to a century ago.
Among the south Indian states, Telangana had the highest number of preventable C-sections—according to a study that cites National Family Health Survey-5 data.

meanwhile, in the world

Despite dire warnings, new data suggests the economic blow of cyber-attacks has actually shrunk since 2003—with the infamous NotPetya virus (a 2017 Russian malware that accidentally crippled companies worldwide) now looking more like a digital drizzle than a cyber-hurricane.
Just weeks before Trump’s Middle East visit, the Trump Organization has inked a real estate and golf deal with a Qatari government-backed firm—adding to its growing roster of foreign government ties.
In an astonishing act of foreign military interference, Israel launched airstrikes on Syria. It has threatened to strike government forces if its fighters continued to battle militiamen from the Christian minority.
A Vermont judge ordered the release of Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi—saying legal residents were being targeted for their views. Note: the only reason he was let go of is because officials couldn’t get him to Louisiana.
The US says it’s struck a deal to tap into Ukraine’s mineral riches—but offered zero details, no promise of security, and nothing that matters without a ceasefire.
UNRWA claims over 50 of its Gaza staff were abused and used as human shields during Israeli military detention.
Iran’s foreign minister confirms nuclear talks with Europe in Rome on Friday, ahead of US-Iran negotiations on Saturday.
Also, amid these high-stakes US-Iran talks, Iran has executed a man linked to Israeli espionage.
The UK joined the US in airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, marking their first move in America’s intensified campaign against the Iranian-backed group.
Harvard’s internal reports reveal anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic bias on campus, leading to an apology from the university president and vows to review policies amid growing pressure from the White House.

meanwhile, in India

For the first time since 1931, India will count caste in the Census—the Centre just gave it the green light. Though, the Centre is still quiet on when exactly the Census will be conducted.
Rahul Gandhi has welcomed the surprise caste census push—while also demanding a timeline, quota in private colleges, and a removal of the 50% reservation cap.
The Reporters’ Collective have published an investigative report into the death of a slain journalist from Bastar, Mukesh Chandrakar, who was found murdered in January this year.
The Supreme Court has called digital access a basic right—and told the govt to ease KYC norms for disabled people and acid attack survivors to build a more inclusive system.
The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch has booked ex-ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in a Rs 2,000-crore scam over classroom construction during AAP’s time in power.
The Hindu has a good read on how soaring temps are affecting India’s mango yield—and why genetic diversity might just be the fruit’s secret weapon against climate change.
Four attempted cyberattacks by Pakistan-backed groups on Indian defence-linked sites were swiftly shut down—with school websites, housing data, and Air Force records all isolated in time.
Days after Pakistan blocked its skies, India has shut its airspace to Pakistani aircraft.
Ashok Khemka—India’s most transferred IAS officer with 57 postings in 33 years—is calling it a day after a career spent locking horns with the system.

Four things to see

One: April 30 marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war—when Americans hastily piled into helicopters and left the South Vietnamese to their fate. The now reunified nation held a huge military parade in Ho Chi Minh city. Interesting to note: Chinese troops took part in the event. This comes on the heels of Xi Jinping’s visit to woo Vietnam—which is critical to global supply lines. Watch the parade clips here. We were very impressed by dem fighting ladies below. (Reuters)

Two: A Dutch town hall has “most likely” thrown a 1980s Andy Warhol print in the garbage. It was a portrait of former Dutch queen, Queen Beatrix—and is one of 46 other artworks that are now missing. This supposedly happened during a renovation last year. But seriously—who looks at this and thinks ‘garbage’? (BBC News)

Three: The Vatican has released special postage stamps to be used in the interim period between the Pope’s death and the election of his successor. You might want to rush out and get them though: “With the election of the new pope, they lose the postal value, but the collectible value goes up.” They carry the words “Citta del Vaticano”—Vatican City—and “Sede Vacante MMXXV”—which means "the [Holy] see being vacant.” (Associated Press)

Four: Check out the trailer for the buzziest Warner Bros movie—‘Weapons’—helmed by Zach Cregger of the ‘Barbarians’ fame. The horror movie is about a whole class of children who go missing in the middle of the night in a small town in Florida. FYI: The script sold for an insane $38 million. The movie is set to release on August 8. (Variety)