PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 14th, 2025: Chinese Factories Halt And Ports Jammed In Trade War Fallout & Russian Missile Attacks Rocks Ukraine
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Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start things off with signs of trouble at China's largest commercial ports. Factories are going quiet and goods are piling up, all likely fallout from President Trump's new tariffs.

Later in the show, Russia marks Palm Sunday with a missile strike. That's not a traditional way to celebrate Palm Sunday. With a missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, killing at least 30 and signaling President Putin, well, has zero interest in peace.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The impact of the escalating U.S.-China tariffs war is already being felt, not just in the markets or financial circles, but on the ground at China's largest export hubs.

In Shanghai and Guangdong, two of the country's most critical ports for foreign trade, operations have essentially slowed to a crawl. Radio Free Asia is reporting that by Thursday of last week, virtually no cargo ships were bound for the U.S. Where ships once departed in constant rotation, now stacks of unshipped containers are sitting idle, missing the critical 9th of April deadline set by President Trump's new 125% tariff announcement.

Shanghai's terminals, ports that just days ago were bustling with activity, came to an abrupt halt, according to Chinese media outlet Kaixin. Earlier in the week, nearly half the vessels at those docks were headed for American shores. But now?

Well, it's silence. Similar scenes are unfolding in Shenzhen at the Yantian Terminal in Guangdong, one of the busiest and most important export gateways in all of China. This region is basically the heart of the country's trade engine. It churns out electronics, machinery, textiles, and more. An export businessman there said the slowdown is visible and dramatic.

and the bottleneck apparently doesn't stop at the water's edge. Warehouses are filled with unsent goods mostly intended for U.S. buyers. Factory floors in China's top exporting provinces have reportedly ground to a standstill, and many workers are now sitting idle, uncertain about their futures.

According to the New York Times, some garment factories that primarily ship to the U.S. have already shut down temporarily. Others are scrambling to reroute goods to alternative markets or find new customers inside China itself. Factory managers are, of course, anxious, some facing last-minute cancellations from U.S. buyers, others wondering if their slim profit margins will survive this latest round of disruption.

As we reported this morning, the administration carved out temporary exemptions for key products like smartphones and hard drives and other electronics. That gives American tech firms and consumers some short-term relief, but President Trump has made it clear that those goods aren't off the hook permanently. They'll simply be reassigned to a different tariff schedule and category at some point in the future.

Bottom line, if the point of the tariffs is to exert pressure and cause disruption inside China, well, then it appears that the mission is accomplished or being accomplished. Goods are piling up in Chinese ports and factory production is slowing. But with supply chains so deeply intertwined, the ripple effects obviously won't stop at the Pacific.

The real question now is how long both sides are willing to endure the pain. And as with most trade wars, well, okay, frankly, as with most wars, it's all a matter of who blinks first. All right, coming up next, at least 30 people are dead in Russia's latest missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy. I'll have those details when we come back.

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Again, that's simple. Just text PDB to 989-898 to claim your free information kit right now. Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. Russia unleashed a deadly missile bombardment on the heart of the Ukrainian city of Sumy over the weekend as people gathered for Palm Sunday celebrations, provoking international outrage and leaving many questioning the Trump administration's approach to peace talks with Russian President Putin.

Two ballistic missiles hit the city around 10.15 a.m. on Sunday as civilians were attending morning church services, killing at least 34 people and wounding at least 117 in the deadliest strike on Ukraine this year. One of the missiles ripped through a university building while the other detonated over a bustling street. Ukrainian officials said that cluster munitions were used in the attack in order to kill as many people as possible, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Two children were among the scores of people killed, with another 15 children wounded by the attack. Images from the scene show bombed-out buildings, shells of burned-out cars, and dozens of black body bags lining the side of the road.

Ukrainian President Zelensky issued a fiery condemnation of the strike, saying, quote, "...only filthy scum can act like this, taking the lives of ordinary people. Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and is dragging out this war," end quote. Zelensky called for a swift global response to the attack, adding, "...without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible. Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs. We need to treat Russia as a terrorist deserves," end quote.

Now, the strike on Sumy was the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week. It followed a deadly 4th of April missile strike on Zelensky's hometown, which killed 20 people, including nine children.

International condemnation of the attack was swift, with Ukraine's European allies calling for new sanctions against Moscow. Khachakalis, the European Union's foreign policy chief, called it a "horrific example" of Russia intensifying attacks while Ukraine has accepted an unconditional ceasefire. French President Emmanuel Macron said Putin has once again shown a "blatant disregard for human lives."

international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump, and said that the US and European allies must move to immediately impose strong measures to force Russia into a ceasefire. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed that sentiment, saying he was "appalled" and that "Putin must now agree to a full and immediate ceasefire without conditions."

Yeah, that'll happen. The EU's ambassador to Ukraine called it a "war crime" as did leaders in Lithuania and Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Merz said the attack showed it was naive to engage with Putin, who was clearly taking Western diplomatic overtures as a sign of weakness. He suggested it was time to start supplying Ukraine with Taurus long-range missiles in coordination with European allies to help Kyiv counter Russia's continued aggression.

We should note, Russia's strikes came just two days after US envoy Steve Witkopf met with Putin to discuss peace prospects. Given the timing, Poland's foreign minister said Putin was clearly mocking the goodwill of the Trump administration, demonstrating that he has no real interest in pursuing peace negotiations. Leaders across Europe implored the Trump administration to take a more hardline approach against Russia.

and members of the Trump administration offered similar condemnations, with retired U.S. General Keith Kellogg, the special envoy for Ukraine, accusing Russia of violating, quote, any line of decency by brazenly targeting civilians. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a horrifying and, quote, tragic reminder of why President Trump and his administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war, end quote.

Now, President Trump raised eyebrows with his reaction. The president called the attack, quote, terrible, but said, quote, I was told they made a mistake, but I think it's a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, offered a flimsy justification for the strike, claiming that they were targeting a meeting of Ukrainian military officers and that their attacks are aimed exclusively at military and near-military targets. The Russian Ministry of Defense went as far as blaming leaders in Kyiv for the carnage, accusing the Ukrainian military of using their population as human shields by holding meetings in densely populated areas.

But Ukraine's Minister for Foreign Affairs hit back, noting that since Russia and Ukraine agreed to a limited pause on strikes on energy infrastructure in late March, Moscow has launched almost 70 missiles, 2,200 exploding drones, and 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, mostly targeting civilian infrastructure.

The latest strikes come as Kyiv warns that Moscow is building up forces for a fresh spring offensive to improve its negotiating hand in ongoing peace talks.

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Monday, 14th 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, just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by simply visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.

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