INTERVIEW – PETER MORICI – economist and business professor at the University of Maryland and a columnist. @pmorici1

TOPICS:

ECONOMY

>> MORICI: Trump’s Birthday Gift to America: A Booming Economy

TARIFFS

>> Canada hits $13 billion of US goods with new tariffs (CNN) — Canada has retaliated against US steel and aluminum tariffs by slapping its own penalties on American exports. The Canadian government confirmed Sunday that it has imposed tariffs on US exports worth 16.6 billion Canadian dollars ($12.5 billion). More than 40 US steel products attract tariffs of 25%. A tax of 10% has been levied on over 80 other American items including toffee, maple syrup, coffee beans and strawberry jam. The response from Canada is designed to be proportional, with the new taxes being based on the amount of steel and aluminum shipped last year from Canada to the United States. US steel tariffs, which went into effect on June 1, are expected to be particularly painful for Canada. It was the largest exporter of steel to the United States by value last year, according to Wood Mackenzie.

>> Puzder: Trump’s trade critics are wrong — His tariffs could bring major benefits to America http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/07/02/trumps-trade-critics-are-wrong-his-tariffs-could-bring-major-benefits-to-america.html

SOCIALISTS

OCASIO-CORTEZ THE NEW SOCIALIST POLITICAL CELEBRITY:

> ‘Girl from the Bronx’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat high-ranking Democrat Joe Crowley, faces questions over her ‘working class’ background after it’s revealed she grew up in a wealthy suburb north of New York City