Trade war with China cools—for now
China and the United States have agreed to roll back their triple-digit protective tariffs for what appears to be a 90-day trial beginning May 14.
Both nations agreed to cut the duties by 115 points, lowering the surcharge on most goods imported from China to 30% and dropping the duties levied on U.S. exports to the Communist nation to 10%.
The news reversed much of the drop in major stock indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial average immediately jumped by 1,000 points or 2.5%, while the Nasdaq rose by 3.5% and the S&P by 2.6%.
The mutual tariff rollback was the big news out of negotiations held between the two superpowers over the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. negotiators sounded a conciliatory note post-meeting, a marked change from the saber rattling of past communications.
“It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greier.
He was joined on the U.S. side of the negotiating table by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
The agreement with China followed the White House’s announcement on Thursday that it has agreed to lower the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the United Kingdom, though the details have yet to be negotiated.
It’s official: New York will offer meals to all K-12 students
The state budget signed into law Friday by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul includes an 89% increase in funding for the state’s school meal program, or enough to provide lunches and breakfasts free of charge to all students of participating institutions.
The Democratic governor sought the $340 million allocation, a steep jump from last year’s $180 million budget, in anticipation of the federal government cutting the funding that has been used to subsidize meals for low-income students. In the coming school year, students in pre-school through high school will be entitled to meals regardless of their household incomes.
The move is expected to save New York families about $165 annually in food expenditures.
The Empire State joins a handful of states that have moved toward universal free meals, a trend that gained momentum during the pandemic.
Lower-pressure dishwashers?
Restaurants and other food-away-from-home outlets could see a slight change in their water bills as the result of an executive order issued last week by President Trump.
The order overturns mandated limits on the water pressure of urinals, dishwashers, faucets, toilets, and other amenities that rely on water for their cleaning power.
The curbs had been implemented to conserve water by tempering the flow. But weak shower pressure has been a pet peeve of the president, who has joked that a weak stream makes washing his hair far more difficult. He slammed the pressure limit as “unnecessary radical green agenda policies.”
Water pressure standards are usually set by state or local governments. The executive order states that the federal rollback pre-empts those regulations.
100 Washington, D.C., restaurants get an onsite I-9 heads-up
The restaurant industry of Washington, D.C., was hit with another trying issue last week when federal immigration agents showed up at 100 establishments to warn they’d be back in three days to verify all employees were eligible to work in the U.S.
No one was arrested, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, but local media reported that operations were disrupted and that many of the audited restaurants opted to close in the wake of the visits.
The enforcement agents from ICE did not check the visited establishments’ I-9s, the forms that indicate a worker’s citizenship and eligibility to work in the U.S. Rather, the officers provided what’s known as a Notification of Inspection, which requires an employer to present the I-9s for its employees within three days.
“We remain committed to being transparent, proactive, and supportive as this situation evolves,” the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) said in a statement following the ICE visits. “We’re here to help you navigate this together.”
The association said it sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security official in charge of the visits and any follow-up actions, asking among other things if extensions of the three-day window were possible.
Restaurants in the nation’s capital have been struggling as of late. Many government workers have not yet resumed working downtown, severely shrinking the pool of potential customers.
In addition, labor costs have soared as the result of the local tip credit being phased out. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently stunned her fellow Democrats by calling on the labor-friendly City Council to reinstate the break for full-service establishments.
Downtown traffic has also been thinned by the perception that crime has soared since the pandemic.
More natural dyes get FDA approval
Three more natural coloring agents have been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for use in foods, a step forward in the agency’s efforts to promote alternatives to commonly used synthetic dyes.
The accelerated approvals came almost simultaneous with the indication from Tyson Foods, one of the nation’s largest food producers, that it intends to replace all the petroleum-based dyes in its products with natural alternatives by the end of May.
Earlier this month, the International Dairy Foods Association pledged that its members would remove artificial colorings by the start of the next school year from dairy products provided to youngsters under federal school feeding programs.
The non-petroleum-based colorings approved by the FDA are...
• Galdieria extract, a blue dye approved for use in a variety of beverages, including milkshakes, as well as desserts like puddings and whipped toppings;
• Butterfly pea flower extract, a blue coloring agent approved for use in cereals and a wide variety of chips; and
• Calcium phosphate, a whitener approved for chicken and sugar.
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.
Cover image courtesy: Closed Loop Project