April 16th, 2025: Trump’s Tariffs Crush China’s Chip Market & A Wave Of Narco Terror In France
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It's Wednesday, the 16th of April. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start things off with more fallout from President Trump's tariff blitz. Chinese chip traders now say orders have vanished, and for some, it's reportedly gotten so bad that they're asking, what's the point of even showing up to work?

Later in the show, following weeks of U.S. airstrikes, Yemeni government forces may now be preparing for a ground war to reclaim some of the territory currently controlled by the Houthi rebels. Plus, chaos in France, or as they say in France, le chaos, where the nation's prisons have been targeted in a wave of terror attacks amidst, say, drug crackdowns.

And in today's back of the brief, Caribbean leaders are sounding the alarm that Haiti's government may be on the verge of falling, warning that the nation's powerful gangs may attempt to take control. Well, you know, frankly, gangs have controlled most of the capital of Port-au-Prince for months now. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

We'll begin with the ongoing fallout from President Trump's terror war with China, which appears to be rapidly destabilizing the communist regime's export-dependent economy.

As we all know by now, last week President Trump hit China with a 145% tariff on most of their exports, prompting China to retaliate by placing a 125% tax on U.S. goods. While much of the media coverage of the trade war has been focused on the domestic impact for U.S. consumers, the effects within China have already been severe. According

According to an exclusive report from the South China Morning Post, manufacturers and distributors of Chinese semiconductors are beginning to buckle under the pressure, struggling to find international buyers as prices spike.

One anonymous chip distributor told the outlet, quote, "...orders have plunged since last week. We've had almost no orders in recent days due to the price increase," end quote. The price of a single central processing unit, or CPU chip, the most common chip exported from Chinese markets, has reportedly increased anywhere from 10 to 40 percent. The jump in prices has caused an exodus of customers and forced some chip makers in China to halt their operations.

The chip distributor said, quote, If prices keep rising over the next couple of days, we're planning to close our doors and take a break. We'll reopen once there are changes in policies or tariffs or something else. They added, quote, There's no point in working right now. We're not making any money. And staying open only adds to our expenses, end quote.

According to the owner of a semiconductor distribution company, some suppliers of U.S. chips abruptly stopped quoting prices and halted shipments last Friday afternoon, right after the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP, announced their 125% tariff retaliation.

Another veteran chipmaker, who also chose to speak anonymously, said the tariffs are having a ripple effect across global markets, particularly in Southeast Asia, causing a sharp decline in orders as buyers become increasingly cautious. He said boxes of ready-to-ship chips are now stacking up at his business with nowhere to go.

He lamented, quote, no matter how arbitrary the tariffs may seem, you can't avoid them. My attitude now is to do business if there are orders. If not, there's nothing I can do, end quote.

The report comes as operations at two of China's most critical ports for foreign trade have slowed to a crawl, with virtually no cargo ships bound for the U.S. as of last Thursday. Warehouses are now reportedly filled with unsent goods, mostly intended for U.S. buyers, and factory floors in China's top exporting provinces have reportedly ground to a standstill. As the Chinese economy buckles, irate officials are increasingly lashing out at the U.S.,

Xia Baolong, a senior Chinese official who oversees Hong Kong and Macau, said in a speech Tuesday that Trump's trade policies were, quote, brutally unreasonable and threatening, quote, our very survival. Baolong attempted to spin the situation, however, extolling Chinese resilience and warning the Trump administration that the tariffs will eventually backfire on the U.S.,

He bluntly said, quote, Let those peasants in the U.S. wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, end quote.

Well, given the escalating war of words and Trump's unwavering position regarding his tariffs, it doesn't appear that relief is in sight for China's surplus-driven economy. Now, as we reported yesterday on the PDB, the pain goes both ways. The CCP has now stopped the export of essential rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S.,

Given that China essentially has a monopoly on the refining of numerous critical minerals key to the manufacture of military and commercial components, as well as a near monopoly on rare earth magnets, this is a pain point that could seriously impact U.S. national security interests over the long term.

All right, coming up next, U.S. airstrikes are setting the stage for a Yemeni ground war against the Houthis. Plus, chaos in France as gunmen target prisons in a wave of narco-fueled attacks. I'll be right back.

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Yemeni militias, aligned with the internationally recognized government, are preparing a ground offensive aimed at reclaiming portions of the Red Sea coast from the Iran-backed Houthis. The offensive looks to take advantage of the ongoing U.S. airstrikes that degraded the terror group's capabilities, according to American and Yemeni officials.

Factions supported by the United Arab Emirates, the UAE, began drafting plans last week to seize Houthi-held territory, including the strategic port of Hodeidah. The port is a vital hub for arms smuggling and one of the terror group's primary revenue generators. The U.S. has not formally endorsed the operation, but is reportedly open to supporting the effort.

Private American security contractors have been tapped to advise Yemeni fighters on the potential offensive. I don't see how that could go wrong, which would push north along the country's western coastline. Now, the objective, obviously, drive the Houthis out of their coastal bastions, disrupt their missile and drone launch sites, and cut off supply routes for Iranian weapons. The

The Iranian regime, of course, denies ever sending weapons to the Houthis, but UN inspectors have repeatedly traced the hardware back to Iran. As we've been tracking here on the PDB, the U.S. launched its air campaign on the 15th of March and has so far conducted more than 350 strikes targeting Houthi missile sites, drone production facilities, and command infrastructure.

The effort is part of a broader push to neutralize Houthi capabilities and restore freedom of navigation in one of the world's most vital shipping corridors. The Houthis have framed their attacks on Red Sea shipping as retaliation for Israel's military campaign in Gaza following Hamas's 7 October 2023 terror attacks.

Since the strikes began, Houthi forces have continued launching drones and missiles near the USS Harry Truman and have resumed attacks on Israeli territory. In response, President Trump ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to reposition from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East, recently arriving in the Gulf of Oman.

CENTCOM reveals that the Vincent Strike Group, equipped with the military's most advanced stealth fighter, the F-35C, helicopter squadrons and logistical assets, marks a significant boost in American firepower in the region. It's expected to remain deployed for several more weeks.

National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told the Wall Street Journal, quote, Ultimately, security in the Red Sea is the responsibility of our partners in the region, and we're working closely with them to ensure shipping in those waterways remains safe and open far into the future, end quote.

Analysts say the proposed ground operation could achieve what airstrikes alone have not, dismantling hardened Houthi positions embedded deep within Yemen's coastal terrain. But, as you might suspect, the risks are considerable. American officials acknowledge that a renewed offensive could fracture the country's fragile peace, such as it is, and reignite Yemen's civil war, further, of course, destabilizing the region.

The last major ground campaign, launched by a Saudi-Emirati coalition, produced a brutal humanitarian crisis. Senior Houthi figure Mohammed Ali al-Houthi publicly dismissed the reports of a ground offensive, claiming U.S. strikes have failed to blunt the terror group's momentum and vowing any ground incursion would, quote, meet the same fate.

Whether the Yemeni militias will move forward with the assault remains to be seen. But with Houthi missile sites degraded and American naval power now massed in the region, the strategic window to act does appear to be open.

Okay, shifting to France. The country is reeling from a series of coordinated assaults on its prison system, including automatic weapons fire, arson, and threats against officers that officials say represent a defiant response to the intensifying crackdown by the government on cocaine trafficking.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office has opened a sweeping national investigation into the attacks, which hit prisons across multiple cities over the weekend and into Monday. France's domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, is assisting in the probe in a clear indication of the seriousness with which officials view what they're now calling symbolic strikes on the state itself.

The Justice Minister confirmed the incidents on Tuesday and announced he would travel to Toulon, where 15 bullet holes were found in the main gate of the city's prison following an attack involving a Kalashnikov-style rifle. That's according to prison staff union FO Justice. In a post on X, the Justice Minister wrote, "...attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons, ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons."

He added, quote, the French Republic is facing up to the problem of drug trafficking and is taking measures that will massively disrupt the criminal networks, end quote.

The scale and coordination of the attacks have stunned French authorities. Interior officials have long warned of rising narco-violence fueled by South American cocaine imports, but few anticipated such a direct assault on the penal system. In the first 11 months of 2024, France seized a record 47 tons of cocaine, more than double the amount intercepted in all of 2023.

What was once a Marseille-centric drug trade has metastasized into smaller towns and rural corridors, igniting a wave of gang-related violence. The interior minister referred to the surge in cocaine imports as a, quote, white tsunami that's transformed France's criminal landscape. A French security official told AFP that the prison attacks were, quote, clearly linked to the anti-drug gang strategy, noting they appeared to be highly organized and deliberately timed.

Among the targeted sites were facilities in Villepinte, Ex-Louines, Nancy and Marseille. In Villepinte, arsonists torched three vehicles, two belonging to prison staff, and left behind a fuel canister. CCTV footage captured two masked individuals setting the blaze before fleeing the scene. Nearby, in Ex-Louines, two more vehicles were burned and the main gate of a prison surveillance unit was damaged. On

On Monday, similar fires were reported at a staff training center and another prison near Paris. In Nancy, the violence spilled into civilian life when a corrections officer was reportedly threatened at their residence. In Marseille, officials say they thwarted an attempted arson attack.

The letters DDPF, interpreted by some French media as standing for French Prisoners' Rights, were found spray-painted at multiple scenes. While officials have not confirmed the existence of any such militant group, the recurring symbolism is believed to have influenced the prosecutor's office decision to seize jurisdiction from other organized crime prosecutors.

The violence comes as lawmakers finalize a sweeping anti-drug bill that would create a national office to prosecute organized crime and expand law enforcement surveillance and investigatory powers over narcotics networks. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, Caribbean leaders warn that Haiti's government is on the brink as armed gangs move to seize control. We'll have those details next.

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In today's Back of the Brief, we return to our coverage of the ongoing upheaval in Haiti as a new report warns that the country's fragile transitional government could soon be overthrown by violent gangs. The 15-member Caribbean Community Regional Bloc, known as CARICOM, sounded the alarm on late Sunday, saying that the coalition of criminal gangs that have been terrorizing much of the country for the better part of the year may be planning to seize power for themselves.

The armed gangs reportedly plan to target a Kenyan-led UN-backed security support force, which deployed to Haiti last June. That's been struggling to contain the rampant violence.

The report stresses that such a move by the gangs, which control a staggering 85% of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, risks exasperating an already dire humanitarian crisis. It notes that more than 1 million Haitians have been displaced over the past year, and nearly 60,000 people have been forced to flee their homes over the past month alone.

For more than a year, human rights observers have reported mass killings throughout the country and the widespread extortion of civilians by gang leaders.

In a statement from CARICOM, Caribbean leaders condemned recent threats by gang leaders to compel a change in governance as, quote, completely unacceptable, and said that they're in consultation with Haiti and its international partners to urgently provide further security assistance, though they didn't actually specify what form it would take. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce also responded to the reports, quote,

saying, quote, the U.S. supports the statement by CARICOM condemning any actions to destabilize Haiti's transitional presidential council, end quote. Well, there you go. That should do it.

As a reminder, the situation in Haiti has grown increasingly chaotic and violent since a gang uprising in March of 2024 forced the country's prime minister into exile. Armed groups have since run wild across the country, launching brazen attacks on critical infrastructure, including prisons, police stations, and the capital's international airport.

A transitional government was set up in the aftermath of the gang uprising, consisting of a rotating body of presidential council members. But they've proved to be rather toothless, and when I say rather toothless, I mean toothless, having little success in reigning in the gangs, even with the help of the UN Security Mission.

As we've been tracking on the PDB, the civilian population has essentially lost all patience with the transitional government, and thousands of protesters have been taking to the streets in recent weeks to demand more aggressive action against the gangs. But there seems to be little that the transitional government can do to improve the situation.

Despite the chaos, Caribbean leaders still expressed hope that the transitional government can maintain some semblance of order until February 2026, when the country is hoping to hold new elections to return constitutional authority to Haiti. But with the gangs continuing to press their advantage, Haiti's government, well, frankly, may soon run out of time.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, the 16th of April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And of course, to listen to the show ad-free, well, you can do that, and you can do it very easily. And just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed.

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