Abercrombie & Fitch stock plunged 25% on Wednesday. JCPenney stock is trading at $0.80 per share, down from a high of $80 in early 2007. And Dressbarn is closing down entirely.
What to watch: Now comes the trade war. Hallmark doesn't expect to be able to exempt greeting cards from the next tranche of Chinese tariffs, according to an internal memo seen by Axios' Dan Primack.
"Don't say we didn't warn you." With these words, China has signaled that its next step in the trade war might be to cut off America's access to rare earth minerals — a key component in everything from cellphones to missile systems.
The impact: China exports about 80% of the rare earths imported by the U.S., and a boycott could cripple much of American high-tech manufacturing.
If Trump's 5% tariff on Mexican goods takes effect later this month, the president's trade policies would constitute a bigger tax hike than Bill Clinton’s in 1993.
By the numbers: Tariffs already in place against Mexico will increase revenues by $69 billion, the Tax Foundation estimates — or about 0.32% of GDP. Add in the threatened 5% tax on Mexican imports, and that rises to about 0.40% of GDP.
The U.S. is in the middle of a full-blown trade war with China, our largest source of imports. There's broad bipartisan consensus that even if the Trump administration's tactics are misguided, China achieved its dominant trade position unscrupulously, being selective as to which international trade norms it would accept.
GoPro will move some production from China to Mexico to avoid Trump tariffs.
— Silicon Valley Business Journal headline, May 14
Republican lawmakers are voicing their concerns and grievances following President Trump's Thursday announcement of new tariffs against Mexican goods.
Why it matters: While Republicans still argue that border security and immigration are top policy issues, some are worried Trump's sanctions could jeopardize plans to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on "Fox News Sunday" that President Trump is "deadly serious" about his threat to impose a 5% tariff on all Mexican goods crossing the border until the "illegal immigration problem is remedied," adding that he believes "American consumers will not pay for the burden of these tariffs."
Fox News is standing behind TV host Laura Ingraham after she aired a graphic of white supremacist Paul Nehlen and others she described as “prominent voices censored on social media," CNN reports.
The impact: So far, only 1 advertiser — a photo-printing company called Fracture — has pulled ads from Ingraham's show, per the Washington Post. More advertisers boycotted Ingraham's show last year over her Parkland tweets, which resulted in the show's ad time being slashed by more than 50% and some brand perception damage.
In her role as U.S. House representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cotez (D-N.Y.) takes home $174,000 annually; but she picked up a bartending shift on Saturday in an effort to increase awareness about raising the national minimum wage to $15.
The United States' trade deficit with China is by far the biggest of any country and is a central reason for the ongoing trade war.
The big picture: President Trump is obsessed with the trade deficit — it's often the only number he requests and the only number he mentions. But the vast majority of economists agree the number is a misleading indicator of whether the U.S. is getting the better of any trade deal.
