Category: National

(WASHINGTON) — A Republican president-elect pledges support for expansive tariffs as a means of protecting U.S. businesses and hamstringing global competitors.

That description may conjure up former President Donald Trump, but it also applies to Herbert Hoover, who led the country nearly a century ago during the onset of the Great Depression.

Within months of the stock market crash, Hoover signed into law the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, a 1930 measure that increased tariffs for a broad swathe of imported goods. In response, several countries imposed retaliatory tariffs and trade plummeted. Many economists view the measure as a factor that exacerbated the nation’s economic downturn.

“A whole generation of Republicans and Democrats after World War II was very much conditioned against tariff hikes because of the experience of the 1930s. Now we have a new generation of leaders who are much more willing to pull the trigger on higher tariffs,” Douglas Irwin, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College and author of “Peddling Protectionism: Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression,” told ABC News.

Here’s what to know about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, its economic impact, and what its legacy means for tariffs promised by Trump, according to experts.

What is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act?

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act arrived at a moment of economic crisis.

As the stock market wobbled and financial panic took hold, Congress negotiated a set of tariff increases that initially aimed to protect U.S. farmers from foreign competition but ultimately extended to a wide range of manufactured goods.

The measure is named after its key supporters in Congress: Republican Sen. Reed Smoot of Utah and Republican Rep. Willis Hawley of Oregon. It passed the Senate by a narrow margin of 44 to 42, and sailed through the House of Representatives by a vote of 264 to 147. Hoover signed Smoot-Hawley into law in June 1930.

For products already facing tariffs, the law, on average, raised the import tax from 40% to nearly 60%, making for an increase of roughly 20 percentage points, Kris Mitchener, a professor of economics at Santa Clara University who studies Smoot-Hawley, told ABC News. It also significantly expanded the number of goods subject to a tariff, he added.

“It culminated in a more or less complete rewrite of the tariff schedule,” Mitchener said, referring to the nation’s tariff code.

What happened after Smoot-Hawley took effect, and did it cause the Great Depression?

The Smoot-Hawley tariffs set off a near-immediate trade war, in which several foreign nations responded to tariffs by slapping U.S. imports with taxes of their own.

For instance, Canada placed tariffs on 16 products that accounted for roughly a third of U.S. exports, according to a working paper co-authored by Mitchener in 2021. France and Spain both slapped taxes on imported American automobiles, a major U.S. industry.

“America’s trade partners responded by targeting U.S. exports,” Mitchener said. “The most important declines were in the products that were targeted.”

As a result, trading partners suffered reduced output, but so did the United States, Michener said.

The trade slowdown weakened the economy and exacerbated the nation’s economic downturn, experts said. However, the Great Depression had taken hold before the effects of Smoot-Hawley, ruling it out as a cause of the crisis, they added.

“Smoot-Hawley impacted the U.S. economy at a vulnerable moment,” Irwin said.

What could the legacy of Smoot-Hawley mean for Trump’s tariff proposals?

Smoot-Hawley cast a shadow over tariff policy for decades, Irwin said. “It gave tariffs a bad name,” he added.

For decades, prominent members of both major parties focused on the risks posed by tariffs, occasionally citing Smoot-Hawley, Irwin said.

“The Smoot-Hawley tariff ignited an international trade war and helped sink our country into the Great Depression,” then-president Ronald Reagan said during a radio address in 1986.

The measure also played a key role in shifting tariff authority from Congress toward the executive branch, since lawmakers sought a speedy way to roll back the tariffs, experts said.

In 1934, the Reciprocal Tariffs Act gave the president the power to increase or reduce tariff levels by up to 50%. A series of subsequent laws helped shift additional tariff authority to the president.

“Now, Congress doesn’t have much to do with setting tariffs,” Irwin said.

On the campaign trail, Trump said he could enact tariffs without support from Congress. He is largely accurate in his description of the wide latitude enjoyed by the president in setting and implementing some tariffs, experts previously told ABC News.

“Trump is using the delegated powers to pass tariffs,” Irwin said. “That’s completing the circle of Smoot-Hawley in some sense.”

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(NEW YORK) — Texas has the potential to become a major producer of green hydrogen due to its existing energy infrastructure, according to researchers.

That infrastructure is making Texas a “valuable case study” in decarbonizing states that currently produce a high volume of fossil fuels, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found.

The Lone Star State already has an operational infrastructure for green hydrogen – a clean energy source made through electrolysis, a process that involves splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen without producing harmful carbon emissions – according to Michael McElroy, a professor of environmental studies at Harvard University and author of the study. Green hydrogen has the potential to decarbonize up to 25% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“Hydrogen itself could be a really important component to a green transition,” Jessika Trancik, a professor of energy systems for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved with the study, told ABC News.

In addition, Texas has an established demand for hydrogen and already has ample renewable electricity resources, the PNAS study found. For example, Texas is the highest producer of wind power in the U.S., generating 26% of the country’s wind-sourced energy, according to state officials. It also has ample solar resources, according to Trancik.

“Texas is very well situated in terms of its renewable resources,” Trancik said, adding that they’re “very extensive and high quality” and include an existing infrastructure that could easily also incorporate green hydrogen production.

Upon winning the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden vowed to make green hydrogen more accessible as part of his clean energy plan, promising that the U.S. would be able to access green hydrogen at the same cost as conventional hydrogen within a decade.

By 2030, Texas could produce more than 50 million tons of green hydrogen at a cost at about $1.50 per kilogram, the PNAS study found. That low production cost will result from integrating the water electrolysis process with the existing renewable electricity grid, according to the study, and will also enhance grid reliability and “significantly” influence decarbonization in the state.

It would also position Texas to become a major supplier of green hydrogen for both domestic and international needs, the PNAS study found. Hydrogen demand is expected to “grow at a moderate, steady pace” over the next six years and then accelerate significantly, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Additionally, the cost of producing hydrogen from renewable electricity could fall 30% by 2030 due to the declining costs of renewables and the upscaling of hydrogen production, according to the International Energy Agency.

Green hydrogen is forecast to meet global energy needs that will not be easily satisfied by battery, wind or solar power, Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin’s Energy Institute, told ABC News in 2021. Batteries, for example, currently can take up a lot of space and also weigh a lot, making their use an issue for air travel and long-haul trucking. Hydrogen, by contrast, doesn’t include those challenges and also stores better long-term.

In addition, the infrastructure to transport green hydrogen – which needs to pressurized – is already in place, whether it be through pipelines, shipping or trucking, Nemet said. In Texas, a lot of the required infrastructure that will next be built will be for storage, Trancik said.

Hydrogen City, an integrated green hydrogen production hub located in southern Texas near the Port of Corpus Christi, is already producing about 280,000 metric tons of green hydrogen per year. But green hydrogen alone won’t be enough to meet anticipated future green energy demands, according to Trancik.

It will take “different clusters or combinations of technologies” to combat climate change on all fronts, which is where energies like green hydrogen and nuclear come in, Trancik said. “There’s a lot of efforts to try to grow that industry and take it in new, innovative directions.”

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(LOS ANGELES) — Less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden and criticized his prosecution as a “miscarriage of justice,” prosecutors in special counsel David Weiss’ office defended the integrity of their work in a court filing and fiercely rebutted the president’s allegation that their charges were motivated by politics.

“In total, eleven different [federal] judges appointed by six different presidents, including his father, considered and rejected the defendant’s claims, including his claims for selective and vindictive prosecution,” wrote prosecutor Leo Wise in a ten-page filing Monday.

President Biden on Sunday issued a blanket pardoned to his son, who earlier this year was convicted earlier on federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to tax-related charges, and was due to be sentenced in both cases later this month.

In Monday’s filing, prosecutors urged the federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax case in California not to dismiss his indictment, and instead close the docket — which would allow the record to continue to exist.

“The government does not challenge that the defendant has been the recipient of an act of mercy. But that does not mean the grand jury’s decision to charge him, based on a finding of probable cause, should be wiped away as if it never occurred,” Wise wrote. “It also does not mean that his charges should be wiped away because the defendant falsely claimed that the charges were the result of some improper motive.”

Mark Osler, an expert in presidential pardons at the University of St. Thomas, said Weiss’ overture raises “a technical issue — either way, the case goes away — but an important one.”

“[Prosecutors] want the indictment to remain on the record,” he told ABC News.

Without directly addressing President Biden’s criticism of the case as selective and unfair, the filing highlighted how Hunter Biden’s lawyers made “every conceivable argument” to dismiss the case and failed to provide evidence that prosecution was vindictive.

“The court similarly found his vindictive prosecution claims unmoored from any evidence or even a coherent theory as to vindictiveness,” the filing said. “And there was none and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case. The defendant made similar baseless accusations in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Those claims were also rejected.”

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(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein has been taken back to New York City’s Bellevue Hospital for “emergent treatment due to an alarming blood test result that requires immediate medical attention,” his attorney, Imran Ansari, said in a statement.

“It is expected that he will remain there until his condition stabilizes,” Ansari said.

The disgraced film producer is being held at Rikers Island while he awaits a new trial on sexual assault charges.

Weinstein has been diagnosed with illnesses including leukemia, according to his associates.

Weinstein is suing New York City and its Department of Correction, alleging negligence and failure to provide adequate care.

Ansari said Weinstein “has been suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island.”

Weinstein’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, said the “mistreatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

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(NEW SWEDEN, Maine) — Authorities are pleading with the public to help them find a Maine teenager who has been missing for months.

The FBI is offering a reward up to $15,000 for information leading to Stefanie Damron’s safe return, or the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in her disappearance, FBI Boston’s Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Milka said at a news conference Monday.

“Any detail, no matter how small, could be helpful,” she said.

Stefanie was last seen walking out of her house and into the woods behind her home on Sept. 23, 2024, according to Maine State Police. She was reported missing the next day.

Stefanie was 13 at the time she disappeared; she’s now 14.

Her family is desperately looking for answers, Milka said. They live in New Sweden in northern Maine, about 20 miles from the Canadian border.

Stefanie had a history of running away, police noted.

“This behavior has not been uncommon for Stefanie, which is why I think the family waited a little bit of time” before calling police, Maine State Police Maj. Scott Gosselin said at the news conference.

But “since she hasn’t turned up, we slowly ratcheted up all the investigative resources,” he said.

Police have spent hundreds of hours investigating, including a neighborhood canvas and video search, but there have been no credible sightings, Gosselin said.

Stefanie, who was homeschooled, didn’t take any electronic devices with her and she has no apparent history of mental health concerns, police said.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Maine State Police at 1-800-824-2261 or 207-532-5400, or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

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(NEW YORK) — Closing arguments began Monday in the trial of Daniel Penny over the May 2023 subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely.

Penny, a 25-year-old former Marine, put Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, in a six-minute-long chokehold after Neely boarded a subway car acting erratically, according to police. Neely entered a subway car on an uptown F train at the Second Avenue stop, and was described by witnesses as yelling and moving erratically when Penny put Neely in a chokehold, officials said.

Penny is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in Neely’s death. He pleaded not guilty.

He faces up to 15 years in prison if he’s convicted of manslaughter. There is no minimum sentence.

The proceedings began late so the defense could fix two audio exhibits. The prosecutors alleged the defense had “willy nilly edited” the audio and “taken out what they don’t like.” Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said it would be misleading for the jury to hear an edited excerpt.

The judge agreed, and the defense recut the exhibits, so jurors were clear they were hearing edited portions.

The delay means the jury will likely not begin deliberations until Tuesday. If necessary, the judge asked jurors to consider continuing their deliberations Wednesday, when the trial did not sit.

The defense’s closing arguments

The defense attorney, Steven Raiser, asked jurors in closing arguments to imagine they were on the train that day, conjuring the scene with sound effects of closing doors, a train pulling out of a station and police body camera footage of passengers saying Neely “scared the living daylights out of everybody.”

A “violent and desperate” Jordan Neely entered the uptown F train on May 1, 2023, “filled with rage and not afraid of any consequences,” causing passengers to be “frozen with fear” before Daniel Penny “acted to save those people,” a defense attorney said Monday during closing arguments at Penny’s manslaughter and negligent homicide trial.

In its summation, the defense challenged the prosecution’s assertion that Penny held Neely in a chokehold for “way too long,” and did not let go for almost six minutes. Raiser said Penny did not intend to kill Neely but did not let go because Neely was fighting back.

“Of course, he didn’t. He had to remain in place out of fear that Neely would break free,” Raiser said.

The city’s medical examiner concluded Penny’s chokehold killed Neely. The defense argued Neely died from a genetic condition and the synthetic marijuana found in his system.

Defense attorney Steve Raiser argued that Penny “was not applying a textbook Marine blood choke because his purpose was not to render Mr. Neely unconscious,” Raiser said. Raiser said Penny applied a chokehold “in a less aggressive manner,” reflecting his character.

“He could have squeezed Mr. Neely to unconsciousness,” Raiser said. “Instead, he laid with him on the dirty subway floor while the smell of uncleanliness…and feces enveloped him.”

The defense summation included an image of the two men on the subway floor: “It’s basic human instinct to grab at the arm choking you. You don’t see that here because Danny’s not choking him,” Raiser said.

Raiser argued Penny was not applying pressure on Neely’s neck in the hold’s final 51 seconds and the whole case represented a rush to judgment: “This was not a chokehold death,” Raiser said. “They failed to prove their case, period.”

During the trial

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Penny went “way too far,” holding Neely around the neck for nearly six minutes, past the point when he posed a threat. About 30 seconds after Penny put Neely in the chokehold, the train arrived at the next station and many passengers left the train car, according to court filings.

Footage of the interaction between Penny and Neely, which began about 2 minutes after the incident started, captures Penny holding Neely for about 4 minutes and 57 seconds on a relatively empty train with a couple of passengers nearby.

Prosecutors argue that Penny should have known that his minutes-long chokehold was turning fatal.

Witness accounts of Neely’s behavior that day differ.

In court filings, some passengers described their fear. One passenger said they “have encountered many things, but nothing that put fear into me like that.” Another said Neely was making “half-lunge movements” and coming within a “half a foot of people,” according to court filings.

Other passengers on the train that day said they didn’t feel threatened — one “wasn’t really worried about what was going on” and another called it “like another day typically in New York. That’s what I’m used to seeing. I wasn’t really looking at it if I was going to be threatened or anything to that nature, but it was a little different because, you know, you don’t really hear anybody saying anything like that.”

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(WELCHES, Ore.) — A man has been arrested and charged with murder after his estranged wife was found dead in the Oregon wilderness.

Michel Fournier, 71, was taken into custody Friday on second-degree murder charges. He is now being held without bail, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

Earlier Friday, Susan Lane-Fournier was found deceased in Welches, a remote part of Clackamas County, after a multi-day search. An autopsy ruled her manner of death as homicide, according to authorities.

Lane-Fournier, 61, had been reported missing one week earlier, on Nov. 22, after failing to show up at work, according to officials.

She was also known as “Phoenix,” the sheriff’s office said.

Officials previously said she was believed to have been in the wooded area hiking with her two dogs.

The two dogs, which had also been considered missing, were also found dead on Saturday, the sheriff’s office said.

Weeks before she disappeared, according to The Oregonian, Lane-Fournier filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The two had been married for 12 years.

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(AMSTERDAM) — Two Delta flight attendants were removed from their flight after failing a breathalyzer test in Amsterdam, officials said.

The crew members were scheduled to fly to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when they failed the breathalyzer test on Friday, according to the airline and Dutch police.

Dutch police said airline personnel are not allowed to drink alcohol 10 hours before a flight. The police’s Aviation Surveillance Team regularly conducts breathalyzers among airline crew.

One flight attendant was fined 1,900 euros for being seven times over the allowed alcohol limit and another attendant on the same flight was fined 275 euros, according to Dutch police.

“Delta’s alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have no tolerance for violation,” Delta Air Lines said in a statement. “The employees were removed from their scheduled duties, and the flight departed as scheduled.”

A flight attendant from another airline was fined 1,800 euros for being 6.5 times over the limit.

ABC News’ Felix Franz contributed to this report.

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(BOULDER, Colo.) — Progress is being made in the investigation into the unsolved murder of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, those briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

JonBenét was killed in her home in Boulder, Colorado, in December 1996.

In the last years, a multi-disciplinary team of experts has been assembled to go through the remaining evidence and apply the most modern scientific and cold-case techniques to try to solve the crime, the sources said. The team has consulted with top experts in their fields, the sources said.

It remains to be seen whether there will ever be enough provable information and evidence to support charges.

On the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey woke up to find their daughter missing and a handwritten ransom note left on the stairs. Hours later, John Ramsey discovered his daughter dead in their basement.

JonBenet’s autopsy determined she was sexually assaulted and strangled, and her skull was fractured. Unknown DNA was found under her fingernails and in her underwear.

John Ramsey believes new DNA technology could aid police in re-investigating JonBenét’s murder.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Lake effect snow is slamming the Great Lakes, with seven states from Wisconsin to New York under snow alerts on Monday.

So far, snow totals have reached 58 inches in Copenhagen, New York; 30 inches in Erie, Pennsylvania; 27 inches in Ashtabula, Ohio; and 42 inches in Gaylord, Michigan.

In Orchard Park, New York — home to the Buffalo Bills — the lake effect snow total has reached 26 inches so far.

The Bills played through the snow on their home turf on Sunday, beating the San Francisco 49ers 35-10.

A lake effect snow warning is in effect from Jamestown, New York, to Erie to Cleveland, where some areas could see additional 6 to 20 inches of snow.

In Syracuse, New York, 4 to 7 inches of snow is forecast over the next 24 hours.

In Michigan, a winter storm warning is in effect as intense lake effect snow bands continue to pound the western part of the state.

Up to 1 foot of snow is forecast for northern Indiana and five inches of snow is expected for northern Wisconsin.

The heaviest lake effect snow should be done by Tuesday morning for most of the Great Lakes.

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