Canada is striking back at the United States with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, as the trade war between the once-friendly neighbors escalates. Darline Graham won the Republican nomination to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, on South Carolina’s general election ballot, notching another win for President Donald Trump after he threw his support behind the political novice. And Justice Department lawyers told a court that if Trump’s name does not appear somewhere on the Kennedy Center, then the cultural center may be “required to be taken down.” How data center controversies have transformed the midterm elections The snowballing opposition to data centers across the United States has transformed the midterm election landscape and has Trump defending the world’s richest companies.
Few people had even heard of a data center before the late 2022 debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT ignited worldwide demand for chatbots and other generative AI products that typically require large amounts of computing power. Now Oracle, Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft expect to plunge more than $700 billion into data centers in the U.S. this year alone. Trump continues to stick up for data centers, even as politicians from both parties run from them and many communities try to block them.
His administration is pushing to help tech giants build and connect data centers to power plants and high-voltage power lines. Trump champions data centers, but some Republicans are wary Republicans as well as Democrats are turning data centers into a punching bag. The president says AI development is key to competing against China, and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said a federal pause on data center construction might be a “dangerous prospect.” But most registered voters oppose building a data center in their area, according to a July Fox News poll, including 60% of Republicans and 53% of MAGA voters.
Many Democratic leaders and candidates have withdrawn support for data centers. Greg Abbott has announced a halt on approval of new data centers until audits determine their impact on the state’s electrical grid. Trump says tech companies “can use a little public relations help,” but he says data centers bring “jobs and lots of money and lower taxes.” Key inflation gauge remains elevated during Iran war and ongoing US trade fights An inflation measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve was unchanged last month, in the latest sign that many Americans are still struggling with higher costs.
The Commerce Department’s Wednesday report showed that prices rose 3.7% in July compared with a year earlier. Inflation has worsened since the Iran war began in late February, when it stood at 2.9%. It remains noticeably above the Fed’s target of 2%.
Stubbornly high prices are shaping up to be a key issue in the midterm elections, particularly as the Iran war keeps gas prices high, Trump is threatening new tariffs on Canada and China, and spending on AI infrastructure has pushed up the cost of computers, gaming consoles, and semiconductors. Analysts predict an eventual US-Canada trade war compromise The U.S. and Canada have ramped up their trade war with steep new tit-for-tat tariffs, but analysts are betting the longtime allies will eventually strike a deal to end a conflict neither side really wants. The prospects for compromise appear bleak right now with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reacting to Trump’s new 50% U.S. tariffs on certain Canadian goods by taxing about $20 billion in American products including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment.
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