The Wire - April 9, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z April 9, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: ECONOMIC SHAKEUP CONTINUES. BOMBING CONTINUES IN YEMEN, TALKS WITH IRAN TO TAKE PLACE OVER THE WEEKEND.//

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-International Events-

Taiwan: A 5.4M earthquake struck north of the island overnight, resulting in strong tremors being felt throughout the nation. By morning, not much damage was reported.

Middle East: American strategic bombing in Yemen has continued to increase as Yemen claims to have downed another American MQ-9, bringing the total number of drones shot down by the Houthis during this campaign to 18. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continue with the Iranians. The White House announced that more direct talks with Iranian diplomats will take place on Saturday.

-HomeFront-

Texas: Almost immediately upon the SCOTUS ruling yesterday, a federal judge in Texas blocked Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Tren de Aragua members from the United States.

Washington D.C. - The market shakeups continue as the trade wars deepen between the United States and many other nations. China announced that they will be raising their tariffs on the United States to 84%, an increase from 34% previously. In response, the White House announced that American tariffs on China will be raised to a total of 125%, effective immediately. Trump also stated (as confirmed on his Truth Social page) that he is initiating a 90-day pause on tariffs with some nations. This is in addition to lowering tariffs on non-reciprocating nations to 10%.

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Analyst Comments: This time, the 90 day pause policy is indeed real, or at least this is the official statement posted on President Trump's social media page. Not much context or amplifying information was conveyed, leaving much uncertainty during this very fluid situation. As one might expect, the events of today caused a significant surge in the US stock market, though since the situation is changing by the minute, anything goes at this point. In short, the mood of the week is chaos, and thus it will take some time for the situation to calm down enough to figure out the long term impacts of the radical economic shakeups over past few days.

Despite the harsh rhetoric on the international stage regarding trade disputes, some nations have come to the negotiating table without much open hostility. Japan and South Korea, for instance, have both expressed a willingness to negotiate, and have not taken the hostile diplomatic tone expressed by China and most of Europe.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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