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Abe Newman

@abenewman.bsky.social
9.7K followers 401 following 1.9K posts

W/Henry Farrell, Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy (Holt 2023/Penguin); Georgetown; This is a private account.

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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Like Humans! So much talk about AI apocalypse but this is the largest shift from investment in labor to capital in modern history. Annual AI capex = GDP of Spain. Imagine spending that on human cancer scientists or mathematician. We would make breakthroughs as well and support humans.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Neo-royals gona Neo-royal… www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The Trump administration is exploring a multibillion-dollar oil deal with Russia that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to the two main US negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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Tobias Harris @tobiasharris.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Update: my review of the book is here. observingjapan.substack.com/p/a-weberian...
observingjapan.substack.com
A Weberian bureaucrat in King Donald's court
What Akazawa Ryōsei reveals about negotiations with the Trump administration
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Definitely! Thanks.
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Baker🇺🇦🌻 @bakerblue.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Recommended-having experienced generations of tech implementation in logistics-“de-skilling”ends worker power..do displaced warehouse workers, Uber drivers, paralegals-programmers become “System Operators”? The last industrial displacement has brought our republic inches from collapse..and this one?
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Francis Wilkinson @franciswilkinson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is a compelling political argument amid mounting worker fears. I wonder if an opposition party somewhere might take note.
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Rebekah Young @rebekahwyoung.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🧵🧵
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
6/I guess the more immediate response is Nvidia could use a media trainer..."in order to save you, they have to hurt you first"...Best tech rollout in history... www.theverge.com/tech/1000140...
theverge.com
Jensen Huang talks about AI and climate change like a supervillain
It’s giving Thanos energy.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
5/The most scariest part of the interview was the hubris of the engineering mindset. Cars, TV, social media, were not just a solution to a problem but redefined society and in doing so created problems. Engineering lens casts a myopic view that misses the crisis. direct.mit.edu/books/monogr...
direct.mit.edu
An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets
In An Engine, Not a Camera, Donald MacKenzie argues that the emergence of modern economic theories of finance affected financial markets in fundamental way
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
4/And what about unsafe products? Answer, firms wont ship unsafe products because of liability laws...🤔 Lets look at how that worked with social media. Took 20 years for product liability laws to kick in. Imagine 20 years of AI agents running lose... www.cnbc.com/2026/08/29/m...
cnbc.com
Meta’s $18 billion settlement puts TikTok and YouTube on notice. Who's next on the firing line?
"Meta is seeking to ensure its competitors will face the same rules," one business professor told CNBC after Meta called on rivals to protect children online.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
3/Second, AI will deskill humans. See the research on student test taking in China. The answer, thats ok, people will lose some 'intellegince" but become 'systems operators'. What does that mean for a teacher in Ohio? papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
The Generative AI Learning Penalty: Evidence from Chinese Secondary Education
Using 30 months of panel data on 26,811 Chinese students in grades 7-12, we study how generative AI affects homework productivity and learning. The data combine
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
2/First, what is the solution to AI risk? Surprise, more compute! AI capex is about 1 trillion/per year i.e. more than Spain's GDP. The kickers is the opportunity costs. Instead of investing in people we invest in machines. This is outsourcing on steroids. www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-r...
pwc.com
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
1/Forget AI existential threat. This is far scarier. Jensen Huang lays out a dystopian future of computer outsourcing, human deskilling, and firm recklessness shrouded in the notion that these firms are unleashing an ayn randian paradise. Take a listen. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Jensen Huang Thinks A.I. Alarmism Has Gone Too Far
Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, does not want you to be afraid of A.I.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
2/ Lavishing attention on Xi/his ballroom, while banning US media. It is a game of personalist rulers and their courts. Welcome to neo-royalism. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
1/Enough with the lectures on great power balancing or spheres of influence. This is something else. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/u...
nytimes.com
In Trump’s White House, China’s Dictator Is Welcome. American Media, Less So.
The showdown over President Trump’s partial media ban played out as he welcomed President Xi Jinping, whose government is ranked among the most repressive in the world.
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Jacqueline L. Hazelton @drjlhazelton.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
@pkrugman.bsky.social talks to Farrell and Newman about weaponized interdependence @himself.bsky.social @abenewman.bsky.social Read the original article direct.mit.edu/isec/article... @belfercenter.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social @intsecurity.bsky.social paulkrugman.substack.com/p/henry-farr...
paulkrugman.substack.com
Henry Farrell and Abe Newman on Weaponized Interdependence
SWIFT, the Strait, and a world of economic confrontation
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
@pkrugman.bsky.social on weaponized interdependence and much else besides @abenewman.bsky.social paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trade-peac...
paulkrugman.substack.com
Trade, Peace and War
Welcome to the dark side of globalization
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
@himself.bsky.social and I got to join @pkrugman.bsky.social in a wide ranging conversation on weaponized interdependence and the lessons of Underground Empire. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/henry-farr...
paulkrugman.substack.com
Henry Farrell and Abe Newman on Weaponized Interdependence
SWIFT, the Strait, and a world of economic confrontation
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Adept@Life @adeptatlife.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
“The Trump administration is destroying the bureaucracy in favor of some corrupt, neo-royalist husk of an apparatus that mostly posts memes and occasionally deploys the 82nd Airborne to extract rents.”
danieldrezner.substack.com
The Devolution of the Policy Planning Staff
A career dream dies of shame and embarrassment.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
James I calling. He would like his divine right speech back. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
5/And so as we take stock on 25 years, it is more urgent than ever that policy-makers develop a set of norms and constraints on weaponizing the world economy or we are all likely to suffer the fallout. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
foreignaffairs.com
The Weaponized World Economy
When Washington announced a “framework deal” with China in June, it marked a silent shifting of gears in the global political economy. This was not the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s imagi...
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
4/But the tools are increasingly being used with a hubris that has ignited a dangerous spiral. Rather than seeking to address globally recognized problems, they are more often used for the parochial interests of neo-royalist leaders and their insider cliques. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
3/From Bush to Obama to Trump to Biden, each administration built out from the next as they faced one crisis after another -- terrorism, proliferation, AI. Far from any coherent plan, it was bureaucracies stumbling through the fog of war. direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
direct.mit.edu
Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion
Abstract. Liberals claim that globalization has led to fragmentation and decentralized networks of power relations. This does not explain how states increasingly “weaponize interdependence” by leverag...
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
2/ In the wake of the attack, agencies scrambled to figure out how they could respond. And they discovered a set of maps: key hubs in the global economy that the US could control. SWIFT/fiberoptic cables/dollar clearing. @himself.bsky.social www.amazon.com/Underground-...
amazon.com
Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy: Farrell, Henry, Newman, Abraham: 9781250840554: Amazon.com: Books
Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy [Farrell, Henry, Newman, Abraham] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World...
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
1/As @pkrugman.bsky.social says, Weaponized Interdependence is now everywhere. But where did it come from? US-China is all over the news, but its origins go back 25 years. 9/11 transformed the world and we are still grappling with its repercussions. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/weaponized...
paulkrugman.substack.com
Weaponized Interdependence
Who has the power in a trading world?
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
or as @abenewman.bsky.social and I used to say, #weaponizedinterdependence is happening. And I wish to fuck it was not.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
2/To limit escalation/miscalculation, we urgently need more work on the underpinning markets as well as the dynamics of strategic interaction as per Paul’s substack. @himself.bsky.social and I also have something cooking with @yelingtan.bsky.social out soon. direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
direct.mit.edu
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
1/ When @himself.bsky.social and I wrote weaponized interdependence, it tried to explain how global politics has been transformed AND a warning. As @pkrugman.bsky.social deftly explains, WI is now everywhere and policy-makers have largely ignored the warning. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/weaponized...
paulkrugman.substack.com
Weaponized Interdependence
Who has the power in a trading world?
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Lauri Snellman @laurijosnellman.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
The Divine Right of Kings and their oligarch retainers? 😝 #NoKings www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
reframed in my and @abenewman.bsky.social terms - what happens when weaponized interdependence direct.mit.edu/isec/article... hits hegemonic enshittification? www.wired.com/story/enshit...
direct.mit.edu
Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion
Abstract. Liberals claim that globalization has led to fragmentation and decentralized networks of power relations. This does not explain how states increasingly “weaponize interdependence” by leverag...
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Weaponizing information flows has consequences. New in @isq-jrnl.bsky.social w/ @gbeaumier.bsky.social and Rong Qin on how new vulnerabilities are linked to data restrictions. Data sovereignty has increasingly shifted from a commercial to national security issue.
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Guillaume Beaumier @gbeaumier.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
What explains the growing closure of digital ecosystems? In a new article with @abenewman.bsky.social and Rong Qin, we show that states are more willing to prohibit information flows when they perceive a risk that these flows could be weaponized by foreign adversaries🧵
academic.oup.com
The Politics of Information in an Age of Weaponized Interdependence
Abstract. Global communication flows increasingly face efforts to renationalize information control, most visibly through data localization rules requiring
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Thanks Alex!
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Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
"The Janus Face of the Liberal International Information Order: When Global Institutions Are Self-Undermining" by @himself.bsky.social & @abenewman.bsky.social in @iojournal.bsky.social (2021) #SummerReading
cambridge.org
The Janus Face of the Liberal International Information Order: When Global Institutions Are Self-Undermining | International Organization | Cambridge Core
The Janus Face of the Liberal International Information Order: When Global Institutions Are Self-Undermining - Volume 75 Issue 2
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
One of the best lenses for understanding int'l politics today is Weaponized Interdependence by @himself.bsky.social @abenewman.bsky.social. Its value lies in its transposability—the ability to grasp parallel developments in finance, satellites, and semiconductors. 2/x direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
direct.mit.edu
Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion
Abstract. Liberals claim that globalization has led to fragmentation and decentralized networks of power relations. This does not explain how states increasingly “weaponize interdependence” by leverag...
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
4/US strategy seems to be kneecap self, while poking the bear. Throw in weakening alliances and depleting missile stocks as a kicker. www.foreign.senate.gov/press/dem/re...
foreign.senate.gov
Ranking Member Shaheen, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic Members Publish Major Report Warning President Trump Has Weakened U.S. in Competition with China Ahead of His Travel to Beijing | ...
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic members of the Senate...
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
3/At the same time, US coercion in tech sector (AI/Chips) is escalating Chinese efforts for indigenous innovation. See new piece w/@yelingtan.bsky.social @himself.bsky.social and Mark Dallas. academic.oup.com/isq/article/...
academic.oup.com
Driven to Self-Reliance: Technological Interdependence and the Chinese Innovation Ecosystem
Abstract. States face a dilemma on how to balance gains from technological advancement with the risks of dependence. Technology is central to government ob
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
2/On the one hand, there is an effort to shrink the University sector in the US just as China is ramping up spending. See data on grants, foreign PhD students leaving, academic budgets in crisis. www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...
insidehighered.com
Campus Cuts Hit Even Wealthy Institutions
Multiple campuses laid off employees last month to plug budget gaps created by the loss of federal research funds, declining enrollment, shrinking state support and more.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
1/A case of self-harm in two acts. US drops R&D lead to China threatening its economic future and national security. asia.nikkei.com/business/sci...
asia.nikkei.com
China overtakes US to lead global R&D spending, hitting $615bn
Corporate, university expenditures for 2024 include computers, electronics
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
4/What might this look like globally? Perhaps more historical fiction than science fiction. Stacie Goddard and I lay out an emerging neo-royalist order: an international system run by personalist leaders and their courts to extract material and status resources. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
3/And of course this Big Read in today's @financialtimes.com also pairs well. The point is not improving societies but extraction. www.ft.com/content/2472...
ft.com
America’s new oligarchy
Under Trump an ultra-wealthy clique has infiltrated government, raising concerns about democratic integrity
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
2/Like this: Instead of working to bring peace or fulfill a social contract, Tech Billionaires look to build safe rooms at the scale of a small country. For whom? Their families. www.ft.com/content/0e9c...
ft.com
The Argentine ranch where tech CEOs plan to ride out the apocalypse
Drawn by wild landscapes and an eccentric president, executives are building a refuge
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
1/@himself.bsky.social and Dan Wang out did themselves! Living in Dick's world indeed. There are also so many pieces in todays @financialtimes.com that further confirm their thesis. www.ft.com/content/bdcf...
ft.com
Does Silicon Valley dream of Philip K Dick?
His 1960s science-fiction visions are a guide to our age of erratic billionaires, wild space fantasies and glitchy, invasive technology
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Danielle Myles @dmyles.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I spoke with @abenewman.bsky.social about how the US started weaponising control of international networks in the wake of 9/11 and how globalisation laid the foundations for economic coercion we see today. Watch the Economic Security Watch's podcast here: www.fdiintelligence.com/video/ed0d7a...
fdiintelligence.com
Economic Security Watch podcast | The weaponisation of globalisation
Political scientist Abraham Newman on the genesis and future of modern-day economic statecraft
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Great conversation with @financialtimes.com Economic Security Watch on the weaponization of interdependence in the global economy. One key takeaway: weaponized interdependence is proliferating and governments and business need to be ready. www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2qo...
youtube.com
Weaponised interdependence: How the US, China and AI are rewriting economic statecraft
YouTube video by fDi Intelligence
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Lauri Snellman @laurijosnellman.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Oh no, the French press is already calling Bolsanaro's son "the heir". Fits well into @abenewman.bsky.social 's account of neo-monarchism. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
New in EW magazine. Time for Europe to recognize that the rules of the global game have changed. To navigate, it takes political vision as much as any new economic resources. www.ewmagazine.nl/buitenland/a...
ewmagazine.nl
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Following Charles II precedent, Trump lends pardon power to corporations. Neo-royalism anyone... www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
Trump Extends Pardons to Companies, Echoing a 17th Century King
The president is the first in modern US history to issue clemency to businesses, with nine so far in his second term.
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Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Lots of eyes on Canada but Brazil tariff just as bonkers. US going after a trade surplus country because of its internet content regulation and its bank payment system. This is not about manufacturing jobs but political dominance. www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2026...
www1.folha.uol.com.br
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