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The gold price was on the rise this week, breaking through US$3,400 per ounce once again.

It’s been pushed higher by US dollar weakness, as well as Federal Reserve turmoil.

President Donald Trump has been pressuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates for months, and on Monday (August 25) the situation developed further when Trump posted a letter on his social media platform Truth Social. In it, he said he was removing Lisa Cook from her position on the central bank’s board of governors due to allegations of mortgage fraud.

Cook, who has been voting to hold rates steady, was due to serve until 2038; she has now filed a lawsuit asking for Trump’s order to be declared ‘unlawful and void.’

The move has spurred questions about whether Trump can actually fire her — while the Federal Reserve Act doesn’t allow him to remove Fed officials at will, he can do so ‘for cause.’

For its part, the Fed has said it will abide by any court decision.

The situation is still developing, and gold market watchers are keeping a close eye on how it plays out. The yellow metal tends to fare better when interest rates are low, and some experts believe that a rate cut from the Fed could kick off its next move higher

The Fed’s next meeting is scheduled to run from September 16 to 17. Expectations are high that it will cut rates at that time, even though the latest data shows that its preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, was up 2.6 percent year-on-year in July.

Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, saw a rise of 2.9 percent.

Bullet briefing — US drafts new critical minerals list, uranium miners make cuts

US drafts new critical minerals list

The US Department of the Interior has released a new draft critical minerals list, and the recommended additions include silver, as well as potash, silicon, copper, rhenium and lead.

Silver’s potential inclusion is turning heads in the mining community as market participants assess the potential impact for the metal. The critical minerals list is designed to guide federal strategy, investment and permitting deals as the US works to lock down supply of key commodities, meaning that silver-focused companies could see benefits such as tax breaks and faster timelines.

In total, the draft list has 54 minerals, with 50 included based on results from an economic effects assessment. Three were selected on the back of a qualitative evaluation, and zirconium is there because of the potential for a single point of failure in the US supply chain.

The list was set up after a 2017 executive order from Trump and is updated every three years.

It’s worth noting that silver and the other recommended additions aren’t officially critical minerals yet — the draft critical minerals list was posted for public comment on Tuesday (August 26), and feedback will be accepted for 30 days. It’s also worth noting that two commodities may be stripped of their critical mineral status — arsenic and tellurium have been recommended for removal.

Critical minerals lists vary from country to country based on individual needs, although in many cases they have similarities. In January 2024, a group of silver industry participants, including many major miners, sent a letter to Canada’s energy and natural resources minister proposing that silver be included in the nation’s critical minerals list; to date, it has not been added.

Uranium miners cut production guidance

Sweden’s government has proposed the removal of the country’s ban on uranium mining as it looks to reduce its reliance on imports of the energy fuel.

Uranium mining has been banned in Sweden since 2018, but the country has six operating reactors and generates around one-third of its power from nuclear energy.

The ban is set to be removed on January 1, 2026, and comes as nations increasingly look to nuclear power to fill their energy needs. It also comes amid supply questions — although demand is rising and prices are out of a years-long slump, miners have been slow to ramp back up post-Fukushima.

Just last week, Kazatomprom said it was lowering its 2026 production target compared to earlier estimates, cutting about 8 million pounds. Although the company sees stability in long-term uranium prices and strong sector fundamentals, it isn’t prepared to return to 100 percent levels.

Cameco (TSX:CCO,NYSE:CCJ) made a similar statement this week, saying its 2025 output will be impacted by delays in transitioning the Saskatchewan-based McArthur River mine to new mining areas. Production will be 4 million to 5 million pounds lower, although there is a chance for Cigar Lake to partially offset that loss.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Statistics Canada released its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figures on Friday (August 29). The data showed that the Canadian economy shrank 0.4 percent in the second quarter and declined 1.6 percent on an annualized basis. The decrease comes following first-quarter gains of 0.5 percent and a 2 percent annualized increase.

Much of the decrease was attributed to a 7.5 percent drop in exports compared to Q1. Canadian exports had risen 1.4 percent in the first three months of the year as US companies increased imports to get ahead of incoming tariffs.Excluding the lower costs at the pumps, CPI remained steady at 2.5 percent, the same increase as May and June.

On an industry level, new monthly data for June shows that the resource sector grew by 0.1 percent after two months of declines, primarily driven by a 2.6 percent gain in the oil and gas subsector, with oil sands extraction rising 6.4 percent over May. However, gains were offset by a 9.7 percent monthly decline in support activities for the resource sector, its largest drop in five years, led by reduced rigging and drilling activities.

South of the border, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis released its second estimate for Q2 real GDP on Thursday (August 28). The data shows that US GDP grew by 3.3 percent during the quarter, 0.3 percent higher than its advance estimate.

According to the agency, the figure reflects a decrease in imports and an increase in consumer spending. The GDP’s upward momentum was tempered by a 13.8 percent decrease in private domestic investment, marking the most significant decline since 2020, during the pandemic.

The growth follows a 0.5 percent decrease in the first quarter of 2025, which saw a significant rise in imports.

This week also saw US President Donald Trump attempt to remove US Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook. Trump justified the decision based on Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte’s claim that Cook claimed primary residence in two mortgage applications submitted weeks apart in 2021. She was confirmed to the Fed Board of Governors in May 2022.

Cook is fighting the move in court, with her lawyer stating that Trump’s unsubstantiated allegation of an event prior to Cook’s confirmation does not meet the ’cause’ required by the Federal Reserve Act to remove a governor. By the end of the day on Friday, the judge hearing the case did not reach a decision on whether to issue a temporary restraining order that would allow Cook to remain in her role during the case.

Pulte has previously made similar allegations against other prominent Democrats, including California Senator Adam Schiff, a vocal critic of Trump, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who oversaw a civil suit against Trump that resulted in a US$500 million award.

Trump has been eager to reshape the Federal Reserve Board and has hinted that he would like to replace Chairman Jerome Powell before his term ends in 2026. Trump believes the Fed has not been acting quickly enough to lower interest rates and stimulate the economy.

Markets and commodities react

Canadian equity markets were largely unfazed by Canada’s weak GDP data. In fact, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) set a new record on Friday, closing the week up 1.73 percent to 28,564.45. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) did even better, climbing 5.36 percent to finish Friday at 829.57. The CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) fell 0.45 percent on Friday following the StatsCan release, but gained 4.17 percent overall during the week to 166.9.

US equity markets also posted gains this week, but fell from record highs on Friday following a selloff of tech stocks. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) was up 1.19 percent to 6,460.25, while the Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) rose 0.99 percent to 23,415.42. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) gained 1.32 percent on the week to 45,631.73.

The gold price gained 3.19 percent this week on expectations of a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve, reaching US$3,448.15 per ounce by 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday. Silver ended the week with a larger gain of 4.2 percent, nearly crossing the US$40 per ounce mark in morning trading before settling at US$39.74 per ounce.

Copper also saw some upward movement, gaining 1.1 percent to US$4.59 per pound. The S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) commodities index posted an increase of 1.3 percent by close on Friday, finishing at 549.70.

Top Canadian mining stocks this week

How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.

Stocks data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market caps greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Trifecta Gold (TSXV:TG)

Weekly gain: 117.24 percent
Market cap: C$23.77 million
Share price: C$0.63

Trifecta Gold is a gold exploration company focused on a portfolio of 11 properties in the Tombstone gold belt in the Yukon, Canada.

Its most advanced is its flagship Mt. Hinton gold-silver project, located near Hecla Mining’s (NYSE:HL) Keno Hill silver mine. The company’s project page indicates that vein float samples collected in January 2023 show grades of up to 273 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold.

The company has also been advancing exploration work at its Rye property, which hosts a gold-bismuth soil anomaly, as well as several gold-rich veins.

Shares in Trifecta rose this week alongside news on Thursday that the company had commenced its inaugural drill program at Rye, completing 970 meters across three holes. The announcement reported that the first hole intersected a high density of sheeted quartz veins.

The company said preliminary rock samples collected from the site earlier in 2025 returned multiple assays with greater than 5 g/t gold, including one highlight with 21.1 g/t gold and 8,550 parts per million (ppm) bismuth.

2. Consolidated Lithium Metals (TSXV:CLM)

Weekly gain: 100 percent
Market cap: C$13.98 million
Share price: C$0.04

Consolidated Lithium is an exploration and development company working to advance a portfolio of hard rock lithium projects in Quebéc, Canada.

Its most advanced asset is the Vallée lithium project, a 75/25 joint venture between Consolidated and Sayona Mining (ASX:SAY,OTCQB:SYAXF). The project is located in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt adjacent to and along strike of Sayona’s and Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ:PLL) North American Lithium mining operation. According to the company’s project page, the Vallée property hosts multiple lithium-bearing pegmatites over a 1 kilometer strike length.

Consolidated announced on Wednesday (August 27) that it signed a letter of intent with the Government of Quebéc-owned Soquem to earn an 80 percent interest in the Kwyjibo rare earth project, located in the Côte-Nord region of the province.

Under the terms of the letter, Consolidated can earn up to an 80 percent interest in the project through two phases, in return for a combination of cash payments, shares in Consolidated and project investments.

A 2017 preliminary economic assessment for Kwyjibo reports project economics including an after-tax net present value of C$373.9 million and an internal rate of return of 17.8 percent, with a payback period of 3.6 years.

3. Electric Metals (TSXV:EML)

Weekly gain: 68.75 percent
Market cap: C$44.34 million
Share price: C$0.27

Electric Metals is a mineral development company focused on advancing its flagship North Star manganese project in Minnesota, US. According to the company, the asset is North America’s highest-grade manganese resource. It plans to produce high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate for lithium-ion batteries.

The most recent news from Electric Metals was released on Tuesday, when it announced a preliminary economic assessment for the project. The assessment demonstrated a base-case after-tax net present value of US$1.39 billion, with an internal rate of return of 43.5 percent and a payback period of 23 months. and suggested an average annual after-tax cash flow of US$249.6 million.

The report also included an updated mineral resource estimate with an indicated resource of 7.6 million metric tons of ore grading 19.07 percent manganese, 22.33 percent iron and 30.94 percent silicon, and an inferred resource of 3.73 million metric tons of ore grading 17.04 percent manganese, 19.04 percent iron and 30.03 percent silicon.

4. Sage Potash (TSXV:SAGE)

Weekly gain: 58.33 percent
Market cap: C$31.93 million
Share price: C$0.38

Sage Potash is a potash exploration company currently working to advance its portfolio of mineral holdings in Utah’s Paradox Basin in the US.

Historic oil and gas exploration in the basin dating back a century discovered the potential for the potash beds, but they were too deep for mining methods at the time. Sage has since confirmed their presence through its own exploration.

In a revised technical report from February 2023, the company reported an inferred mineral resource estimate of up to 159.3 million metric tons of in-place sylvinite from the upper potash bed and up to 120.2 million metric tons of sylvinite from the lower potash bed.

On August 14, Sage announced that Stockwell Day had joined the company board. Day served several ministerial roles for the Canadian government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, including as President of the Treasury Board and Minister of International Trade.

This was followed by news on Wednesday that Day had been granted 600,000 stock options at an exercise price of C$0.30 per share and would remain valid for a period of five years.

Sage’s share price spiked earlier this week after the US Government added potash in its draft of an updated list of critical minerals.

5. Kincora Copper (TSXV:KCC)

Weekly gain: 58.33 percent
Market cap: C$24.8 million
Share price: C$0.095

Kincora Copper is an exploration company operating under a project generator model and partnering with other companies to advance its portfolio, including copper-gold projects in the Macquarie Arc of New South Wales, Australia.

Among them is the Northern Junee-Narromine Belt (NJNB) land package, which is covered by a May 2024 earn-in agreement that could see AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU,JSE:ANG) earn up to an 80 percent interest in the Nyngan and Nevertire licenses through AU$50 million in exploration expenditures or AU$25 million for exploration and the completion of a pre-feasibility study.

Kincora secured a second agreement with AngloGold Ashanti in April for the Nyngan South, Nevertire South and Mulla licenses with similar terms, bringing the total exploration funding to AU$100 million.

On Monday (August 25), Kincora announced results from the first drilling program at the Nyngan project, noting that assays support the potential for porphyry copper and epithermal gold, and that it saw ‘encouraging results at particularly shallow depths’ from drill targets identified by a ground gravity survey earlier this year.

Additionally, Kincora said that drilling is ongoing at the Nevertire South and Nevertire projects, with the initial program planned for seven holes and 2,150 meters.

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?

The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.

How many mining companies are listed on the TSX and TSXV?

As of May 2025, there were 1,565 companies listed on the TSXV, 910 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,899 companies, with 181 of those being mining companies.

Together, the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.

The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.

These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.

Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.

Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

It’s been a busy week for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s marketing team.

The restaurant chain announced a rebrand and new logo last week, faced widespread criticism from social media users, including President Donald Trump, and proceeded to walk back its plan to change the logo.

In that span of time, the company lost and regained almost $100 million in market value, bringing it about back to where it started. The stock gained 8% on Wednesday.

The Cracker Barrel saga is just the latest example of a consumer-facing company making big branding decisions, then pulling back after alienating its customer base.

“It’s very tricky to be a brand for everyone today,” Carreen Winters, president of reputation at the global public relations firm MikeWorldWide, said in an interview. “Legacy brands are particularly tricky, because you have to figure out what is cherished and authentic from the old and marry it with the new.

“In Cracker Barrel’s case, they’re trying to attract a new, younger customer [which] is no longer sufficient,” she continued. “You need to actually think about all of your stakeholders and how they will react, respond, feel about what you’re doing or the direction you’re taking. And you need to be sure that what you’re doing is consistent with shared values.”

Rebranding failures are not a new phenomenon. One of the most famous marketing blunders of all time happened in 1985 when the Coca-Cola company introduced “New Coke” with a new formula. After a firestorm of outrage from its customers, the company returned to its classic formula a few months later.

But social media has made backlash from consumers faster and more widespread, meaning businesses are usually quicker to walk back on their branding failures.

In 2010, retailer Gap ditched its decades-old blue box logo for a more minimalist design. It faced intense backlash on social media through thousands of engagements and, within less than a week, the company said it was reverting to its original logo.

More recently in May, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its streaming platform would undergo another name change, after switching from HBO to HBO Max to Max and then back again to HBO Max.

Major rebrands don’t always go awry. For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken successfully rebranded to KFC in 1991. Its customers already used the acronym and the rebrand signified that the restaurant chain offers more than just fried chicken.

Dunkin’ Donuts also successfully underwent its name change to Dunkin’ in 2019. It did face some criticism from its loyal customers at the time, but Winters said today the “Dunkin’” name and branding are widely accepted over its original name.

“Dunkin’ rebranded in accordance with the behavior that the customer created,” she said. “It aligned with their strategy of being more than Donuts and really building their coffee business.”

She also mentioned IHOP as an example of a brand that has been able to freshen up its look and stay relevant in culture. She said IHOP’s change has been an “evolution, not a revolution.”

Beth LaGuardia Cooper, chief marketing officer at Advantage, The Authority Company, added during an interview that Starbucks had subtle changes to its logo over time, which allowed it to hold the base of its identity close.

While some social media users disliked Cracker Barrel’s new branding simply because they said it lacked substance and was too “sterile” or “soulless,” others, especially conservatives, claimed the new logo leaned into “wokeness” and diversity efforts.

Cracker Barrel is widely considered a classic American restaurant chain. It began in Tennessee in 1969 and its branding evokes Southern charm and nostalgia for its consumer base.

Eric Schiffer, chairman of the firm Reputation Management Consultants, said the new branding, without the iconic “Uncle Herschel” figure, suggested to conservatives that having a white man featured on the logo was wrong or politically incorrect.

He said that pushback represents a larger trend where conservatives are feeling under attack by diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

“I think the perspective of conservatives is, don’t ruin Cracker Barrel with the Bud Light meets Jaguar marketing playbook,” said Schiffer, adding that those brands “attempted to disrupt positively and what they did was they nuked brand sentiment and shareholder confidence.”

In November, Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover announced a rebrand that removed its “leaper” big cat imagery from its logo and changed the brand’s font. Its new promotional materials included brightly dressed models, but no cars. The brand faced significant pushback, including tens of thousands of responses on social media.

Elon Musk criticized the company on X at the time, asking Jaguar’s official account: “Do you sell cars?”

Earlier this month, Trump piped in with his insults, calling Jaguar’s ad campaign “stupid” and “seriously WOKE.”

The Telegraph reported in May that Jaguar was searching for a new advertising agency after the public backlash.

Similarly, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light faced heavy criticism from conservatives in 2023 after a collaboration between the beer brand and social influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who is transgender.

“If you’re trying to be a tough, male-focused, football fan-oriented beer, the last thing you want to do is put the wrong spokesperson in front of the brand,” Schiffer said. “It will turn off that audience and it allows competitors to capture that market share.”

“The throughline in all of this is, don’t rip apart and disrespect audiences that brought you to the dance,” Schiffer said. “Find a way, if you’re going to want to expand, do it in a way that doesn’t cut at the core of what the brand stands for — and in the process, create cognitive dissonance and blow up market cap.”

Branding experts told CNBC that at the end of the day, people are talking about Cracker Barrel, which is a win for the company by itself.

“Everybody loves a comeback in America,” LaGuardia Cooper said. “So I would root for them to make this happen, make something good out of it.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

The de minimis exemption, an obscure trade law provision that has simultaneously fueled and eroded businesses across the globe, officially came to an end on Friday following an executive order by President Donald Trump.

For nearly a decade, shipments valued under $800 were allowed to enter the country virtually duty free and with less oversight. Now, those shipments from the likes of Tapestry, Lululemon and just about any other retailer with an online presence will be tariffed and processed in the same way that larger packages are handled.

In May, Trump ended the exemption for goods coming from China and Hong Kong, and on July 30 he expanded the rollback to all countries, calling it a “catastrophic loophole” that’s been used to evade tariffs and get “unsafe or below-market” products into the U.S.

The de minimis exemption had previously been slated to end in July 2027 as part of sweeping legislation passed by Congress, but Trump’s executive order eliminated the provision much sooner, giving businesses, customs officials and postal services less time to prepare.

“The ending of that under-$800-per-person-per-day rule, from a global perspective, is about to probably cause a bit of pandemonium,” said Lynlee Brown, a partner in the global trade division at accounting firm EY. “There’s a financial implication, there’s an operational implication, and then there’s pure compliance, right? Like, these have all been informal entries. No one’s really looked at them.”

Already, the sudden change has snarled supply chains from France to Singapore and led post offices across the world to temporarily suspend shipments to the U.S. so they can ensure their systems are updated and able to comply with the new regulations.

It’s forced businesses both large and small to rethink not just their supply chains, but their overall business models, because of the impact the change could have on their bottom lines — setting off a panic in board rooms across the country, logistics experts said.

“Obviously it’s a big change for operating models for companies, not just the Sheins and the Temus, but for companies that have historically had e-com and brick-and-mortar stores,” Brown said.

The change also means consumers, already are under pressure from persistent inflation and high interest rates, could now see even higher prices on a wide range of goods, from Colombian bathing suits to specialty ramen subscription boxes shipped straight from Japan.

The end of de minimis could cost U.S. consumers at least $10.9 billion, or $136 per family, according to a 2025 paper by Pablo Fajgelbaum and Amit Khandelwal for the National Bureau of Economic Research. The research found low-income and minority consumers would feeling the biggest impact as they rely more on the cheaper, imported purchases.

Popularized by Chinese e-tailers Shein and Temu, use of the de minimis exemption has exploded in the last decade, ballooning from 134 million shipments in 2015 to over 1.36 billion in 2024. Prior to the recent change to limit its use, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it was processing over 4 million de minimis shipments into the country each day.

A 2023 House report found more than 60% of de minimis shipments in 2021 came from China, but because the packages require less information than larger containers, very little information is known about their origins and the types of goods they contain. That opacity is one of the key reasons why both former President Joe Biden and Trump sought to curtail or end the exemption.

Both administrations have said the exemption was overused and abused and that it’s made it difficult for CBP officials to target and block illegal or unsafe shipments coming into the U.S. because the packages aren’t subject to the same level of scrutiny as larger containers.

“We didn’t have any compliance information … on those shipments, and then that is where the danger of drugs and whatnot being in those shipments” comes in, said Irina Vaysfeld, a principal in KPMG’s trade and customs practice.

The Biden administration particularly focused on how the exemption allowed goods made with forced labor to make it into the country in violation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act. Meanwhile, Trump has said the exemption has been used to ship fentanyl and other synthetic opioids into the U.S. In a fact sheet published on July 30, the White House said 90% of all cargo seizures in fiscal 2024, including 98% of narcotics seizures and 97% of intellectual property rights seizures, originated as de minimis shipments.

Across the globe, it’s common for countries to allow low-value shipments to be imported duty-free as a means to streamline and facilitate global trade, but typically, it’s for packages valued around $200, not $800, said EY’s Brown.

Until 2016, the U.S.’s threshold for low-value shipments was also $200, but it was changed to $800 when Congress passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which sought to benefit businesses, U.S. consumers and the overall U.S. economy, according to the Congressional Research Service. It said higher thresholds provide a “significant economic benefit” to both business and shoppers and thus, the overall economy.

While well-intentioned, the law came with unintended consequences, said Brown.

The “rise in value, from $200 to $800, just made it kind of like a free for all to say, OK, everything come in,” she said.

Eventually companies designed supply chains around the exemption: They set up bonded warehouses, where duties can be deferred prior to export, in places like Canada and Mexico and then imported goods in bulk to those regions before sending them across the border one by one, duty free, as customer orders rolled in, said Brown.

“Companies have really laid out their supply chain in a very specific way [around de minimis] and that’s really the crux of the issue,” said KPMG’s Vaysfeld. “The way that the supply chain has been laid out now may need to change.”

Until the rise of Shein and Temu, the de minimis exemption was rarely discussed in retail circles. Soon, the e-commerce behemoths began facing widespread criticism for their use of what many called a loophole.

In 2023, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a report on Shein and Temu and said the two companies were “likely responsible for more than 30 percent of all packages shipped to the United States daily under the de minimis provision, and likely nearly half of all de minimis shipments to the U.S. from China.”

The revelation sparked widespread consternation among retail executives, lobbyists and government officials who said the companies’ use of the exemption was unfair competition.

However, behind closed doors, companies large and small began mimicking the same model after realizing how it could reduce the steep costs that come along with selling goods online.

Direct-to-consumer companies that only have online presences have relied on it more heavily, so much so that their businesses may not work without it, said Vaysfeld.

“Some of the companies we’ve spoken to, they’ve modeled out, if the tariffs continue for one year, for two years, how does that impact their profitability, and they know how long they can last,” said Vaysfeld. “These aren’t the huge companies, right? These are the smaller companies … Depending on what country they’re sourcing from or where they’re manufacturing, it could really impact their profitability that they can’t stay in business for the long term.”

While smaller, digital companies are more exposed, “pretty much most companies that you can think of” had been using the exemption in some form before it ended, said Vaysfeld.

Take Coach and Kate Spade’s parent company Tapestry: About 13% to 14% of the company’s sales were previously covered under de minimis and will now be subject to a 30% tariff, according to an estimate by equity research firm Barclays.

On the company’s earnings call earlier this month, Chief Financial Officer Scott Roe said tariffs will hit its profits by a total of $160 million this year, including the impact of the end of de minimis. That amounts to about 2.3% of margin headwind, he said.

Shares of the company fell nearly 16% the day that Tapestry reported the profit hit.

In a statement, Roe said Tapestry used de minimis to help support its strong online business, adding it is a practice that “many companies with sophisticated supply chains have been doing for years.”

To help offset its termination, he said Tapestry is looking for ways to reduce costs and is leaning on its manufacturing footprint across many different countries.

Canadian retailer Lululemon is another company that uses de minimis, according to Wells Fargo. Last week, the bank cut its price target on the company’s stock from $225 to $205, citing the end of de minimis. In the note, Wells Fargo analyst Ike Boruchow said the equity research firm sees a potential 90 cent to $1.10 headwind to Lululemon’s earnings per share from the de minimis elimination.

Lululemon declined to comment, citing the company’s quiet period ahead of its reporting earnings.

The National Retail Federation, the industry’s largest trade organization, has not taken a position in favor of or against the exemption. It has members who both supported and opposed the policy, said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at NRF.

Retailers of all sizes, including independent sellers with digital storefronts, have used the approach as “a convenient way to get products to the consumer” for less, Gold said.

“Their costs are going to go up and those costs could be passed on to the consumer at the end of the day,” Gold said.

The most acute impact of the end of de minimis is expected to be felt on online marketplaces where millions of small businesses sell goods like Etsy, eBay and Shopify and used de minimis to defray costs when sending online orders from other parts of the globe to the U.S.

American shoppers have gotten used to buying artwork, coffee mugs, T-shirts and other items from merchants outside the country without paying duties. With that tariff exemption gone, consumers could face higher costs and a more limited selection of items to choose from.

Etsy, eBay and some other retailers sought to defend the loophole prior to its removal, submitting public comments on proposed de minimis regulation by the CBP. An eBay public policy executive said the company was concerned that restrictions to de minimis “would impose significant burdens on American consumers and importers.”

Etsy’s head of public policy, Jeffrey Zubricki, said the artisan marketplace supports “smart U.S. de minimis reform,” but that it was wary of changes that could “disproportionately affect small American sellers.”

“These exemptions are a powerful tool that help small creators, artisans and makers participate in and navigate cross-border trade,” Zubricki wrote in a March letter to CBP.

An Etsy spokesperson declined to comment on the policy change. Etsy CFO Lanny Baker said at a Bernstein conference in May that transactions between U.S. buyers and European sellers comprise about 25% of the company’s gross merchandise sales.

EBay didn’t immediately provide a comment in response to a request from CNBC. The company warned in its latest earnings report that the end of de minimis outside of China could impact its guidance, though CEO Jamie Iannone told CNBC in July that he believes eBay is generally “well suited” to navigate the shifting trade environment.

Some eBay and Etsy sellers based in the UK, Canada and other countries are temporarily closing off their businesses to the U.S. as they work out a plan to navigate the higher tariffs. Blair Nadeau, who owns a Canadian bridal accessories company, was forced to take that step this week.

“This is devastating on so many levels and millions of small businesses worldwide are now having their careers, passions and livelihoods threatened,” Nadeau wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “Just this past hour I have had to turn away two U.S. customers and it broke my heart.”

Nadeau sells her bespoke wedding veils, jewelry and hair adornments through her own website and on Etsy, where 70% of her customer base is in the U.S. The de minimis provision had been a “lifeline” for many Canadian businesses to get their products in the hands of American consumers, Nadeau said in an interview.

“This is really hitting me,” Nadeau said. “It’s like all of a sudden 70% of your salary has been removed overnight.”

In the absence of de minimis, online merchants are faced with either paying import charges upfront and potentially passing those costs on to shoppers through price hikes, or shipping products “delivery duty unpaid,” in which case it’s the customer’s responsibility to pay any duties upon arrival.

Alexandra Birchmore, an artist based in the Cotswolds region of England, said she expects to raise the price of her oil paintings on Etsy by 10% as a result of paying the duties upfront.

“At the moment every small business forum I am on is in chaos about this,” Birchmore said. “It looks to me to be a disaster where no one benefits.”

The disruption could end up being a boon for the likes of Amazon and Walmart. U.S. consumers may turn to major retailers if they face steeper prices elsewhere, as well as potential shipping delays due to backlogs or other issues at the border.

Amazon, in particular, has already proven resilient after the U.S. axed the de minimis provision for shipments from China and Hong Kong in May. The company’s sales increased 13% in the three-month period that ended June 30, compared with 10% growth in the prior quarter. Amazon’s unit sales grew 12%, an acceleration from the first quarter.

Both Amazon and Walmart have fulfillment operations in the U.S. that allow overseas businesses to ship items in bulk and store them in the companies’ warehouses before they’re dispatched to shoppers. Shein and Temu largely eschewed the model in the past in favor of the de minimis exception, but they’ve since moved to open more warehouses in the U.S. in the wake of rising tariffs.

Since the exemption ended on Chinese imports in May, the impact on Shein and Temu has been swift. Temu was forced to change its business model in the U.S. and stop shipping products to American consumers from Chinese factories.

The end of de minimis, as well as Trump’s new tariffs on Chinese imports, also forced Temu to raise prices, reign in its aggressive online advertising push and adjust which goods were available to American shoppers.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Temu has resumed shipping goods to the U.S. from Chinese factories and will also increase its advertising spend following what it called a “truce” between Washington and Beijing.

Temu didn’t return a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Shein has been forced to raise prices and daily active users on both platforms in the U.S. have fallen since the de minimis loophole was closed, CNBC previously reported. Temu’s U.S. daily active users plunged 52% in May versus March, while Shein’s were down 25%, according to data shared with CNBC by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

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Europe’s powerhouse trio, the U.K., France, and Germany (E3), on Thursday initiated the process to reimpose sweeping sanctions against Iran over its ‘significant non-compliance’ with international nuclear agreements. 

At 9 am EST, they submitted a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council, Panama’s Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba, notifying him of their intent to trigger the snapback sanctions mechanism enshrined under the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The action comes after months of warnings from European leaders, and years of calls from the U.S. dating back to the first Trump administration in 2018, flagging that Tehran was in violation of nuclear agreements made under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – though Iran’s record of non-compliance did not initiate until 2019 per findings by international nuclear watchdogs. 

According to a U.K. official on Thursday, the decision to enforce snapback sanctions, which is expected to have severe consequences for Iran’s already flagging economy, was not a decision that was made ‘lightly.’

The official confirmed that there has been ‘very intense diplomacy’ over the last ’12-months, 6-months, 6-weeks’ that ultimately led to this decision – including three major factors like Tehran’s uranium stockpile levels, its operating of advanced centrifuges and its refusal to adhere to international inspection regulations – all of which are dictated under the JCPOA.

The official confirmed that in May Iran was found to have roughly 20,000 lbs of enriched uranium, including 900 lbs of near-weapons grade highly enriched uranium (HEU) – which is 45 times higher than the JCPOA limit of under 660 lbs of enriched uranium.

‘Iran is the only non-nuclear weapons state producing highly enriched uranium,’ the official said, adding that those stockpiles remain unaccounted for. 

Thursday’s actions mean that by the end of the 30-day period all 15 members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which includes Russia and China, could be legally bound to reimpose sanctions on Iran. 

But in speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there is ‘still time’ for Iran to prevent the sanctions from taking hold. 

‘Iran will have to comply,’ IAEA Director General Raffael Grossi said. ‘I think there is a possibility. I’m not naively optimistic, but at the same time, there is no reason why we should not [have] a good outcome.’

The E3 and the U.S. have made clear there are specific steps that Tehran needs to do in order to avoid snapback sanctions, including giving the IAEA full access to all Iranian nuclear sites, direct negotiations with Washington, and accounting for roughly 900 lbs of highly enriched uranium (HEU).

But Grossi also noted that it would be ‘almost impossible’ for Iran to get to a point of compliance with the JCPOA due to too many technical advances. 

Questions over the location of the HEU, which is estimated to be enough to make 10 nuclear warheads, mounted after the U.S. levied direct strikes at Iran’s nuclear program in June. Reports suggested that in the days leading up to the strikes, Iran may have moved and hidden some of its uranium based on satellite imagery that showed convoys leaving the Fordow and Isfahan nuclear sites.

But on Wednesday, Grossi countered these concerns and said the IAEA had no evidence that the uranium has been moved to a secret location. 

Though the stockpile of HEU is still not officially accounted for as the IAEA has not been granted access to Iran’s top nuclear sites – though Grossi said he anticipated that access to come shortly as inspectors on Wednesday visited the Bushehr nuclear power plant after being re-granted access in Iran. 

When asked by reporters whether Iran was taking immediate action to begin meeting the E3 demands and avoid sanctions, Grossi said, ‘point blank…no.’

‘Our work hasn’t started. We are not yet where I would like us to be – I will not hide this,’ he said. ‘But at the same time I am a diplomat, I am always working towards peace.’

Iran has threatened to retaliate if the sanctions are implemented, though how it will do so remains unclear.

Tehran in recent years has strengthened ties with powerful allies like Russia and China, who have rejected calls for snapback sanctions.

But even though Russia and China sit on the U.N. Security Council with veto powers, they will not be able to unilaterally stop the sanctions from going through.

In an unprecedented move in 2015, the sanctions mechanism was written in a way that reversed standard council procedure, which would traditionally require all five permanent members to approve of any action, meaning that just one veto could block the action.

In the case of snapback sanctions on Iran, every permanent member, which includes the U.S., France, U.K., China and Russia, must veto the push to reimpose sanctions.

This means that, despite opposition from Russia and China, they cannot block the sanctions, as they have increasingly done when it comes to other security council actions in recent years – leading to what some have argued is a paralyzed state in the U.N.’s highest body.

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Newly declassified documents have stated that former President Barack Obama was present for key meetings with his top intelligence and national security officials that led to critical steps in the opening of the Trump–Russia investigation.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have declassified new documents related to the origins of the original Trump–Russia probe at the FBI — known inside the bureau as ‘Crossfire Hurricane.’

Trump has accused Obama of being the ‘ringleader’ of the Russiagate narrative — an allegation vehemently denied by the former president.

‘Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,’ Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a July statement. ‘But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one.’ 

‘These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,’ Obama’s spokesman continued. ‘Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.’ 

He added: ‘These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.’

Here’s a look at the known key meetings the former president attended and was reportedly made aware of: 

Aug. 3, 2016

On Aug. 3, 2016, then-CIA Director John Brennan reportedly briefed then-President Obama on intelligence that then-Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton allegedly was stirring up a plan to tie Trump to Russia.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also were reportedly present for the briefing.

Brennan’s notes from that briefing were declassified in 2020 by John Ratcliffe, who, at the time, was serving as director of National Intelligence. Ratcliffe is now the director of the CIA. 

Fox News Digital, at the time, exclusively reported on those notes.

‘We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from (REDACTED),’ Brennan notes read. ‘CITE (summarizing) alleged approved by Hillary Clinton a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.’ 

The notes state ‘on 28 of July.’ In the margin, Brennan writes ‘POTUS,’ but that section of the notes is redacted.

‘Any evidence of collaboration between Trump campaign + Russia,’ the notes read.

The remainder of the notes are redacted, except in the margins, which reads:  ‘JC,’ ‘Denis,’ and ‘Susan.’

The notes don’t spell out the full names but ‘JC’ could be referring to then-FBI Director James Comey or former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. ‘Susan’ could refer to National Security Adviser Susan Rice. And ‘Denis’ could possibly refer to then-Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough.

The meeting came just days after the FBI, July 31, 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign. It was opened by then-Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.

Days after that briefing, the CIA properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to Comey and Strzok, with the subject line: ‘Crossfire Hurricane.’

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which stated: ‘The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate.’

‘Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,’ the memo continued. ‘An exchange (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.’

But days before the Aug. 3, 2016, briefing, and before the July 31, 2016, opening of the Crossfire Hurricane probe, foreign sources allegedly connected to left-wing billionaire George Soros were emailing about the FBI opening a probe into the salacious Trump–Russia narrative. 

That information came from emails dated July 25, 2016, to July 27, 2016, contained in the newly declassified appendix of Special Counsel John Durham’s report.

The appendix reveals that the foreign sources were allegedly tied to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

The appendix said that Russian government actors in 2016 reportedly hacked emails from the Open Society Foundations, formerly known as the Soros Foundation.

‘Two of the apparently hacked emails appear to have originated from the Open Society Foundations,’ the appendix states, noting that the purported author of these emails was Leonard Benardo, who was the regional director for Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations.

‘During the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated…technical structures… in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications,’ Benardo reportedly wrote in an email, per the appendix. 

‘The media analysis on the DNC hacking appears solid …. Julie (Clinton Campaign Advisor) says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-convention bounce,’ Benardo allegedly wrote, per the appendix. ‘Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire.’

Another email reportedly from Benardo on July 27, 2016, states: ‘HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton) approved Julie’s idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections.’

‘This should distract people from her own missing email, especially if the affair goes to the Olympic level,’ Benardo reportedly continued, per the annex. ‘The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue. Say something like a critical infrastructure threat for the election to feel manic since both POTUS and VPOTUS have acknowledge the fact IC would speed up searching for evidence that is regrettably still unavailable.’ 

Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s Trump–Russia investigation, was opened just several days later, on July 31, 2016. And Brennan briefed Obama just days after that.

It is unclear if the Benardo emails were part of the Aug. 3, 2016, briefing.

Nov. 10, 2016

Then-President Obama invited then-President-elect Donald Trump to the White House just two days after the 2016 presidential election.

During that meeting, Obama warned Trump against hiring Michael Flynn to serve as his White House national security adviser. 

Flynn, a critic of the Obama administration, had been fired as head of military intelligence by Obama in 2014.

Trump tapped Flynn for the post anyway, but Flynn resigned less than a month into his tenure after reports that he had misled then-Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn ended up being a key figure in the early days of Russiagate.

As part of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements in his FBI interview regarding his talks with Kislyak. Flynn was charged with lying to federal investigators about whether he had talked to Kislyak about limiting the Russian government’s response to Obama’s sanctions for election meddling.

His plea deal involved his full cooperation with investigators in the special counsel’s office.

But FBI agents did not actually believe that Flynn intentionally lied about his talks with Kislyak.

In 2020, the Justice Department dropped its case against Flynn, shortly after internal memos were released that raised serious questions about the nature of the investigation that led to the guilty plea for lying to the FBI. 

Those documents showed how agents discussed their motivations for interviewing him in the Russia probe — questioning whether they wanted to ‘get him to lie’ so he’d be fired or prosecuted, or get him to admit wrongdoing. Flynn allies howled over the revelations, arguing that he was essentially set up in a perjury trap.

Declassified notes showed agents considered various options in the run-up to their fateful January 2017 interview with Flynn, including getting Flynn ‘to admit to breaking the Logan Act’ when he spoke to Kislyak during the presidential transition period.

‘What is our goal?’ one of the notes read. ‘Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?’

Another note read, ‘If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to DOJ + have them decide.’ 

The memo appeared to weigh the pros and cons of pursuing those different paths, while cautioning: ‘If we’re seen as playing games, WH (White House) will be furious.’

Flynn’s communications with Kislyak in December 2016 had been picked up in wiretapped discussions, apparently unbeknownst to him. The FBI agents in January 2017 questioned him on the communications and later used his answers to form the basis for the false-statement charge and his guilty plea.

Flynn had moved to withdraw his guilty plea for lying to the FBI in the Russia probe, citing ‘bad faith’ by the government. That court filing came just days after the Justice Department reversed course to recommend up to six months of prison time in his case, alleging he was not fully cooperating or accepting responsibility for his actions.

The case had been plodding through the court system with no resolution ever since his original plea, even amid speculation about whether Trump himself could extend a pardon.

Trump, in May 2020, said Flynn was a target of the Obama administration and called the investigation into his former national security adviser treasonous.

‘They’re human scum,’ Trump said. ‘It’s treason.’

Dec. 9, 2016

Current Director of National Intelligence Gabbard recently declassified documents claiming that the Obama administration ‘manufactured and politicized intelligence’ to allegedly create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election, despite information from the intelligence community stating otherwise.

Documents revealed that in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the intelligence community consistently assessed that Russia was ‘probably not trying…to influence the election by using cyber means.’

One instance was Dec. 7, 2016, weeks after the election. 

Then-Director of National Intelligence Clapper’s talking points stated: ‘Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. presidential election outcome.’

Fox News Digital obtained a declassified copy of the Presidential Daily Brief, which was prepared by the Department of Homeland Security, with reporting from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI, National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, State Department and open sources, for Obama, dated Dec. 8, 2016.

‘We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure,’ the Presidential Daily Brief stated. ‘Russian Government-affiliated actors most likely compromised an Illinois voter registration database and unsuccessfully attempted the same in other states.’

But the brief stated that it was ‘highly unlikely’ the effort ‘would have resulted in altering any state’s official vote result.’

‘Criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes,’ it stated. 

The brief noted that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed that any Russian activities ‘probably were intended to cause psychological effects, such as undermining the credibility of the election process and candidates.’ 

The brief stated that cyber criminals ‘tried to steal data and to interrupt election processes by targeting election infrastructure, but these actions did not achieve a notable disruptive effect.’

Fox News Digital obtained declassified, but redacted, communications from the FBI on the Presidential Daily Brief, stating that it ‘should not go forward until the FBI’ had shared its ‘concerns.’

Those communications revealed that the FBI allegedly drafted a ‘dissent’ to the original Presidential Daily Brief. 

The communications revealed that the brief was expected to be published Dec. 9, 2016, the following day, but later communications revealed that Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ‘based on some new guidance,’ decided to ‘push back publication’ of the Presidential Daily Brief. 

‘It will not run tomorrow and is not likely to run until next week,’ wrote the deputy director of the Presidential Daily Brief at Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose name is redacted. 

The following day, Dec. 9, 2016, a meeting convened in the White House Situation Room, with the subject line starting: ‘Summary of Conclusions for PC Meeting on a Sensitive Topic (REDACTED.)’

The meeting included top officials in the National Security Council, Clapper, Brennan, Rice, then-Secretary of State John Kerry, Lynch, then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, among others, to discuss Russia.

The declassified meeting record, obtained by Fox News Digital, revealed that principals ‘agreed to recommend sanctioning of certain members of the Russian military intelligence and foreign intelligence chains of command responsible for cyber operations as a response to cyber activity that attempted to influence or interfere with U.S. elections, if such activity meets the requirements’ from an executive order that demanded the blocking of property belonging to people engaged in cyber activities.

After the meeting, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Clapper’s executive assistant reportedly emailed intelligence community leaders tasking them to create a new intelligence community assessment ‘per the president’s request,’ that detailed the ‘tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.’

‘ODNI will lead this effort with participation from CIA, FBI, NSA, and DHS,’ the record states.

Later, Obama officials allegedly ‘leaked false statements to media outlets’ claiming that ‘Russia has attempted through cyber means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election.’

By Jan. 6, 2017, a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ‘directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months.’ 

Jan. 5, 2017

Then-President Obama held an Oval Office meeting Jan. 5, 2017, with then-FBI Director James Comey, then-National Security Adviser Susan Rice, then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-Vice President Joe Biden.

During that meeting, Comey reportedly suggested to Obama that the National Security Council might not want to pass ‘sensitive information related to Russia’ to then-incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

On Jan. 20, 2017, the day Trump was first inaugurated, Rice sent herself an email documenting the Jan. 5, 2017, Oval Office meeting. That email was declassified by former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell in 2020.

During that meeting, Comey provided guidance on how law enforcement needed to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race.

Comey reportedly told Obama he was proceeding with the Trump–Russia probe ‘by the book,’ and went on to discuss concerns about Flynn’s known conversation with Kilsyak.

Rice, in her email to self, wrote: ‘From a national security perspective, Comey said he does have some concerns that incoming NSA Flynn is speaking frequently with Russian Ambassador (Sergey) Kislyak. Comey said that could be an issue as it relates to sharing sensitive information. President Obama asked if Comey was saying that the NSC should not pass sensitive information related to Russia to Flynn.’

Rice then wrote, ‘Comey replied, ‘potentially.’ He added that he has no indication thus far that Flynn has passed classified information to Kislyak, but he noted that ‘the level of communication is unusual.’’

When the email was declassified in 2020, a representative for Rice told Fox News Digital that ‘no discussion of law enforcement matters or investigations took place, despite accusations to the contrary.’ 

The spokeswoman also insisted the Obama administration did not change the way it briefed Flynn, saying Rice briefed Flynn for more than 12 hours on four separate occasions during the transition.

‘Ambassador Rice did not alter the way she briefed Michael Flynn on Russia as a result of Director Comey’s response,’ Rice representative Erin Pelton said.

‘President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the intelligence and law enforcement communities ‘by the book,” Rice emailed to herself. ‘The president stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book.’

The email also appeared to reflect Obama’s guidance on sharing sensitive information with both the Russians and the incoming Trump administration.

Rice wrote that Obama said, ‘He wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.’

Rice wrote: ‘The president asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would.’

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Foxit, a major PDF software company founded in China, removed any mention of its various U.S. government customers from its website after Fox News Digital began asking questions about its government ties and Chinese connections.

The company develops PDF software for reading, editing and signing documents, with customers ranging from businesses to U.S. agencies. Foxit was founded in 2001 in Fuzhou, China, by Eugene Xiong. Its parent company — Fujian Foxit Software Development Joint Stock Co., Ltd. — is traded on the Shanghai stock market and oversees a U.S. subsidiary based in Fremont, Calif.

Until Fox News Digital began pressing Foxit on its background, the company’s website touted clients across the federal government — from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and State Department to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. courts and the Department of Transportation.

But following Fox News Digital’s request for comment, Foxit scrubbed any mention of U.S. government customers from its site. The company did not respond to questions.

Over the course of reporting, multiple agencies confirmed they had either removed Foxit products or no longer maintained active contracts with Foxit’s U.S. subsidiary. 

An MDA spokesperson said Foxit had been used on an isolated network ‘not connected to any operational missile defense system’ but is ‘no longer in any MDA system.’ The spokesperson did not say when Foxit had been removed from its systems but added that the team behind the initial decision to use the software is no longer with the agency, and that an updated review of all software is underway. 

A State Department source said small Foxit contracts had existed in the past but were terminated, though did not clarify when.

Before the website purge, Foxit even published ‘case studies’ on work with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the FDA. A DHS source, however, told Fox News Digital that Foxit is now ‘specifically identified and listed on our prohibited software list.’

The FDA handles trade secrets, sensitive clinical trial data and even biodefense-related health information. The agency did not return a request for comment on whether it is still using Foxit. 

The Department of Justice likewise confirmed Foxit was removed from its networks last year after a security review.

Other agencies, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the National Institutes of Health, acknowledged receiving questions from Fox News Digital but did not confirm current usage.

Foxit is difficult to track in publicly available records: government purchases may be logged under distributors, integrators or resellers rather than the company itself.

Fox News Digital identified dozens of solicitation requests — documents federal agencies issue when seeking bids for goods and services — that specifically mentioned Foxit software, from the Army, Navy, NIH, NASA, the Defense Department and the General Services Administration. Which of those turned into finalized contracts is unclear.

One known Foxit contract with OSD expired in 2023.

On its U.S. website, Foxit emphasizes its California headquarters and ‘global’ reach, without mention of its Chinese listing. On its Chinese-language site, however, Foxit highlights clients such as the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Intellectual Property Office, and the National Standards Committee. In 2023, it announced a partnership with China Media Group, which operates under the Chinese Communist Party’s Publicity Department.

Its Chinese website lists offices in Fuzhou, Beijing, Nanjing and Hefei. 

U.S. agencies typically contract through the California-based Foxit Software Inc., not the Chinese parent, allowing Foxit to present itself as a U.S.-based company. Still, Foxit’s parent company remains subject to Chinese law — including the 2017 National Intelligence Law, which compels companies to assist Chinese intelligence if requested. 

One analyst questioned whether the corporate separateness could fully insulate the U.S. subsidiary from the interests of the Chinese parent. 

‘It sounds especially similar to the TikTok argument. We’re doing everything here, all the data is located here, we have TikTok USA. We’re a Singaporean company, we have no relations with the Chinese mainland – outside of our corporate structure, which is almost wholly owned by a Chinese based company,’ said Joel Thayer, a Washington-based tech and telecommunications attorney.

‘Chinese companies are masters of concealing their intentions through corporate filings and corporate infrastructure,’ he said.

Foxit counts Idax.ai as its subsidiary, a company specifically tailored to redact sensitive documents. ‘The company’s AI-powered solutions are aimed at professionals across various industries, including healthcare, finance, real estate, law, and government,’ according to a branded content release in NY Weekly.

Fox News Digital could not determine whether Idax has been used by government agencies.

Foxit claims to have 750 million users and over 425,000 clients around the world, with business centers not just in the U.S. and China but Japan, Europe and Australia, with plans to expand into Russia, Brazil and India. 

 Critics warn that even seemingly routine data could be of intelligence value.

‘Even if Foxit isn’t being used for secret documents, the information the company could potentially glean would be invaluable to the CCP,’ said Thayer. 

‘You are basically banking on it that the platform isn’t behind the veil, collecting an immense amount of data about what contracts and services are being provided to our government,’ he said.

Foxit originally positioned itself as a cheaper alternative to Adobe Acrobat. But China tech watchers warn the discount may come with hidden risks.

‘That’s invaluable information for any of our adversaries – how much money a contract is worth, what services are being rendered, what technologies are they looking at, what are they hiring people to do, what the government is looking into… competitors would kill for that information,’ Thayer said. 

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The nominee President Donald Trump tapped to serve as ambassador to a United Nations office charged with overseeing global aviation standards has a checkered tax history and background donating to Democrats and political opponents of the president, a Fox News Digital review of the nominee’s public records found. 

The White House and Trump allies, however, have doubled down in support of the nominee, saying he will assist the administration in ‘ushering in the Golden Age of aviation.’ 

Jeffrey Anderson was tapped to lead the International Civil Aviation Organization in July, when the White House published a list of nominations to fill various roles, from the International Civil Aviation Organization ambassadorship to director of the Mint to membership with the National Labor Relations Board. Anderson is a U.S. Navy veteran who worked as a commercial airline captain for more than 34 years, retiring from that role earlier in 2025, according to his LinkedIn. 

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a U.N. office based in Montreal that is charged with overseeing international aviation standards, including issues related to safety, navigation and environmental protection. The role had sat vacant for the past three years, when the former ambassador, pilot Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, stepped down in 2022. 

Sullenberger gained widespread applause in 2009, when the US Airways pilot landed Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after a bird strike disabled both engines — an event known as the ‘Miracle on the Hudson.’

Anderson is a former Delta Air Lines pilot whose nomination drew ire from the Air Line Pilots Association, a union that represents nearly 80,000 pilots across the U.S. and Canada, arguing his ‘only’ qualification was supporting an effort to raise the mandatory pilot retirement age. 

The union opposes increasing the mandatory retirement from 65 years of age to 67, arguing it ‘would leave the United States as an outlier in the global aviation space and create chaos on pilot labor, and international and domestic flight operations,’ the group’s statement in July read.

Fox News Digital took a look back at Anderson’s political campaign contributions and found he donated to a handful of Democratic candidates often hostile to Trump and his policies. 

He also made a handful of small dollar donations to Republican Nikki Haley during the 2024 campaign cycle, when the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. ran against Trump, whom she slammed as ‘unhinged’ while on the campaign trail before dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump as the GOP nominee for president. 

Anderson contributed at least $200 to Haley during the month of February 2024, when Haley and Trump were the only GOP candidates left in the primary race, according to four small dollar donations recorded by the Federal Election Commission. 

The former pilot also donated to Shawn Harris, the former Democratic opponent who tried to unseat Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in the 2024 cycle. The $100 donation was made in September 2024 through ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s massive fundraising arm, and earmarked for the Democratic candidate who ultimately failed to oust Greene. 

Harris’ campaign included slamming Trump and characterizing him as a politician who acts as a ‘king’ and threatens democracy. 

Anderson’s political donations to Democrats stretch back years, including in 2017 when he donated to Democrats, such as former House candidate Dan Ward in Virginia and former Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon — both of whom received $250 contributions from Anderson that year, according to election records. 

Both Democrats had slammed Trump and his policies across his first administration, including DeFazio declaring after the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol that: ‘Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy, national security and the safety of all Americans. He must be removed from office immediately.’ 

The former Delta pilot has also landed in hot water over unpaid taxes, Fox News Digital found. IRS records show Anderson and his wife had over $426,000 in unpaid federal taxes across seven years from 2013 to 2019, raising concerns that his financial responsibility. The taxes were related to a ‘small business,’ according to the forms. 

‘Jeffrey Anderson isn’t a Trump Republican at all; he’s a liberal sleeper who slipped through the cracks of PPO (Presidential Personnel Office),’ a former Trump official told Fox Digital of Anderson’s political donations and tax history. 

When approached for comment on the previous donations and tax issues, Anderson told Fox News Digital that at ‘the very least, some of your information is factually incorrect or tendered well out of context.’ Anderson did not respond when asked for additional details on what was ‘factually incorrect.’

‘At the very least, some of your information is factually incorrect or tendered well out of context. I am fully supportive of President Trump and his America First agenda. I have been fully vetted by the White House and appreciate the approval of the President, House Aviation Chair Troy Nehls and House T&I Chair Sam Graves, among others. I look forward to advancing American interests as the next Permanent Representative to ICAO,’ he wrote in a direct message on LinkedIn to Fox Digital in August, while adding that Trump is seeking to ‘move effectively forward in a space negligently left vacant by Biden.’

When asked about Anderson’s tax history and donations to Democrats and Trump opponents, a White House official told Fox Digital: ‘Jeffrey Alderson is highly qualified to serve as America’s ambassador to the ICAO, and he is a great choice to represent the President’s America First foreign policy agenda in the international aviation community.’

Fox News Digital additionally reached out to the State Department, which helps manage the vetting of potential ambassador nominees, for comment and was directed the White House’s statement. 

The former pilot himself also floated a run for political office more than a decade ago in Georgia as a Democrat, according to a local Georgia news report that called him ‘prospective Democratic Congressional candidate Jeff Anderson.’ In an opinion piece published that same year, titled ‘The sinking Democratic Party in Georgia is bad news for everyone,’ Anderson was described as a ‘a 2010 Independent candidate for the U.S. House in Georgia’s 11th District.’ 

While old social media posts on X show Anderson celebrated former President Biden’s 2012 DNC speech at the time as ‘wonderful American message: major concepts, not petty; Democratic, but not commercially political.’ While other tweets targeted the NRA and celebrated how Anderson ‘politely but firmly faced’ NRA representatives and gun manufacturers on ‘sensible policy ideals’ back in 2023, according to a review of the X account @JeffAndersonPAI that ceased activity back in 2014.  

In addition to the White House defending Anderson’s nomination, Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, who serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, told Fox Digital that Anderson will help usher in ‘the Golden Age of aviation’ under the Trump administration. 

‘As Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, I have complete confidence in Jeffrey Anderson to serve as ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),’ Nehls said in comment to Fox Digital in August. ‘Mr. Anderson served as a naval aviator and has more than three decades of experience as a pilot for Delta. He is, without a doubt, qualified to represent the United States of America at ICAO, where his first-hand experience with the aviation industry will play a crucial role in advancing President Trump’s mission of ushering in the Golden Age of aviation.’

A board member of a pilots group called Experienced Pilots Advancing Aviation Safety, added that he fully backs Anderson’s nomination, citing his honesty and credentials as an airline captain. The Experienced Pilots Advancing Aviation Safety, which endorsed Anderson’s nomination, also advocates raising the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots, arguing experienced pilots lead to safer skies and can mentor the next generation instead of ‘forced retirements of America’s most experienced aviators,’ according to its website. 

‘I feel 100% confident in Captain Anderson’s honesty and professional credentials. Having flown aircraft around the world in international operations for the past 40 years in the Marine Corps and Delta Airlines, and my working with and in association with ICAO and IATA, I feel Jeff would be a perfect fit for this position as it seems the president of the United States does also,’ the board member told Fox Digital in emailed comment earlier in August. 

International aviation rules currently prohibit airline pilots older than 65 from flying. Global airline groups such as the International Air Transport Association has called on the ICAO to consider raising the international pilot retirement age to 67. The UN General Assembly will convene on Sept. 23, with the ICAO expected to consider the proposal, Reuters reported on Thursday. 

Anderson’s nomination was sent to the Senate in July, and was then referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. The nomination is currently awaiting final confirmation proceedings. 

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A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who posted his resignation letter on social media used the term ‘pregnant people’ and capped off his missive by including ‘he/his/him’ pronouns after his name.

‘I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business,’ Dr. Demetre Daskalakis wrote in the lengthy post on X.

Daskalakis accused President Donald Trump’s administration of attempting ‘to erase transgender populations.’

‘For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision,’ he wrote.

The inclusion of pronouns and the term ‘pregnant people’ caught people’s attention.

‘This resignation is a huge win for the Trump administration and the American people. We don’t need anyone who can’t understand basic biology working at the CDC,’ noted Jeremy Redfern, communications director for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.

Karol Markowicz tweeted, ‘No one who uses ‘pregnant people’ should work at the CDC. This isn’t hard.’ 

Responding to Markowicz’s post, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote, ‘Example of how ‘trusting the science’ really means following the political science and perpetuating the prevailing narrative…’ He added, ‘Embracing evidence-based medicine should be the bare minimum for working at the CDC…’

Daskalakis suggested that the Department of Health and Human Services is on a ‘dangerous’ path.

‘I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health,’ he wrote.

‘I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States,’ Daskalakis concluded at the end of his message.

Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment on Thursday.

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Bipartisan anger is brewing over the drama that unfolded at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), with the top members of the Senate’s healthcare panel forming a united front in the midst of the turmoil.

Senate Healthcare, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., and the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., dove head first into the issues stemming from the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, which spurred a string of departures from the agency.

Monarez was abruptly fired from her position by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), less than a month after being confirmed by the Senate. Her removal, which her lawyers rejected, appeared to stem from disagreements over vaccines with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a vaccine skeptic.

Cassidy was the deciding vote during Kennedy’s confirmation hearing earlier this year.

Monarez has since refused to leave the post, with her lawyers arguing that she had neither resigned nor been fired and had not received notification from the president of her removal.

Following news of her ouster, a string of top officials at the CDC announced their resignations, too, including National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Daniel Jernigan, Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Demetre Daskalakis and Director of Public Health Data, Science, Technology Jennifer Layden.

In response to their resignations, Cassidy demanded that the federal government’s vaccine advisory panel, which was filled with Kennedy’s handpicked replacements after he recently booted the original panel members, postpone its scheduled meeting in September.

His demand marks the second time this year that Cassidy called on the panel to halt its meeting, a move that directly bucks Kennedy’s and President Donald Trump’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda. 

Cassidy argued Thursday that there were ‘serious allegations made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] meeting.’

‘These decisions directly impact children’s health, and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted,’ Cassidy said. ‘If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.’

Daskalakis posted his reason for resigning on X, where he charged that he was ‘unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.’

Meanwhile, Sanders demanded a congressional investigation be opened into the Trump administration’s decision to fire Monarez.

‘We need leaders at the CDC and HHS who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science, not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation,’ Sanders said Thursday.

HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.  

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