Archived post from legacy Decis reporting

Good morning, and Happy Monday.

It was tariffs all the way down in Washington, Ottowa, and Mexico City this weekend as President Trump’s 25% import taxes kicked in, spurring retaliatory measures from Canada and Mexico.

Meanwhile, in addition to attacking close allies, 10% tariffs were also levied against Chinese imports. [More - Bloomberg]

According to some report, in addition to the tarrifs, de minimus entries and duty drawback rules concerning Chinese imports are being suspended. De minimus rules allow small packages from China to enter the US without duty being paid - this is what the entire dropshipping industry, fast fashion, and half of Amazon stores rely on. So imports to the US are interrupted or more expensive.

Meanwhile, duty drawback allows manufacturers to obtain refunds for duty paid on imported parts that are later exported as whole goods. Meanwhile, the profit margin of the exported item goes down.

I’ll leave the Wall Street Journal to sum this up.

Meanwhile, USAID is the first government department that is coming under the full scrutiny of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). USAID was hit by the spending freeze early last week and the Agency’s website went dark on Friday. Musk has vowed to kill the agency that is responsible for distributing billions of dollars of aid and life-saving support to countries worldwide. [More - AlJazeera]

Comment - Why USAID has provoked so much anger is unclear. The agency provides an enormous amount of global good, provides the USA with substantial goodwill and is a key lever of America’s soft power. As it only accounts for 0.2% of the federal budget, it will make almost no dent in the trillions Musk hopes to cut from the government, and America will be weaker for the agency’s demise.

Here are the complete global stability rankings for all countries and territories covered by Decis Intelligence.

🇦🇫 Afghanistan is Critically Unstable

🇦🇱 Albania is Weak

🇩🇿 Algeria is Weak

🇦🇩 Andorra is Stable

🇦🇴 Angola is Stable

🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda is Stable

🇦🇷 Argentina is Weak

🇦🇲 Armenia is Weak

🇦🇺 Australia is Stable

🇦🇹 Austria is Weak

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan is Weak

🇧🇭 Bahrain is Weak

🇧🇩 Bangladesh is Weak

🇧🇧 Barbados is Stable

🇧🇾 Belarus is Unstable

🇧🇪 Belgium is Stable

🇧🇿 Belize is Weak

🇧🇯 Benin is Weak

🇧🇹 Bhutan is Stable

🇧🇴 Bolivia is Weak

🇧🇦 Bosnia And Herzegovina is Stable

🇧🇼 Botswana is Stable

🇧🇷 Brazil is Weak

🇧🇳 Brunei is Stable

🇧🇫 Burkina Faso is Unstable

🇧🇮 Burundi is Weak

🇰🇭 Cambodia is Weak

🇨🇲 Cameroon is Unstable

🇨🇦 Canada is Stable

🇨🇻 Cape Verde is Stable

🇨🇫 Central African Republic is Unstable

🇹🇩 Chad is Unstable

🇨🇱 Chile is Weak

🇨🇳 China is Stable

🇨🇴 Colombia is Weak

🇰🇲 Comoros is Weak

🇨🇷 Costa Rica is Stable

🇭🇷 Croatia is Weak

🇨🇺 Cuba is Weak

🇨🇾 Cyprus is Stable

🇨🇿 Czech Republic is Stable

🇨🇩 Democratic Republic Of The Congo is Unstable

🇩🇰 Denmark is Stable

🇩🇯 Djibouti is Weak

🇩🇲 Dominica is Weak

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic is Stable

🇹🇱 East Timor is Weak

🇪🇨 Ecuador is Weak

🇪🇬 Egypt is Weak

🇸🇻 El Salvador is Weak

🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea is Unstable

🇪🇷 Eritrea is Unstable

🇪🇪 Estonia is Stable

🇸🇿 Eswatini is Weak

🇪🇹 Ethiopia is Weak

🇫🇲 Federated States of Micronesia is Stable

🇫🇯 Fiji is Weak

🇫🇮 Finland is Stable

🇫🇷 France is Weak

🇬🇦 Gabon is Unstable

🇬🇪 Georgia is Weak

🇩🇪 Germany is Weak

🇬🇭 Ghana is Stable

🇬🇷 Greece is Stable

🇬🇩 Grenada is Stable

🇬🇹 Guatemala is Weak

🇬🇳 Guinea is Unstable

🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau is Unstable

🇬🇾 Guyana is Weak

🇭🇹 Haiti is Critically Unstable

🇭🇳 Honduras is Unstable

🇭🇺 Hungary is Weak

🇮🇸 Iceland is Stable

🇮🇳 India is Stable

🇮🇩 Indonesia is Weak

🇮🇷 Iran is Unstable

🇮🇶 Iraq is Weak

🇮🇪 Ireland is Stable

🇮🇱 Israel is Weak

🇮🇹 Italy is Weak

🇨🇮 Ivory Coast is Weak

🇯🇲 Jamaica is Weak

🇯🇵 Japan is Stable

🇯🇴 Jordan is Stable

🇰🇿 Kazakhstan is Stable

🇰🇪 Kenya is Weak

🇰🇮 Kiribati is Weak

🇰🇼 Kuwait is Stable

🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan is Weak

🇱🇦 Laos is Weak

🇱🇻 Latvia is Stable

🇱🇧 Lebanon is Unstable

🇱🇸 Lesotho is Weak

🇱🇷 Liberia is Weak

🇱🇾 Libya is Unstable

🇱🇮 Liechtenstein is Stable

🇱🇹 Lithuania is Stable

🇱🇺 Luxembourg is Stable

🇲🇰 Macedonia is Weak

🇲🇬 Madagascar is Weak

🇲🇼 Malawi is Weak

🇲🇾 Malaysia is Stable

🇲🇻 Maldives is Stable

🇲🇱 Mali is Unstable

🇲🇹 Malta is Stable

🇲🇭 Marshall Islands is Weak

🇲🇷 Mauritania is Weak

🇲🇺 Mauritius is Stable

🇲🇽 Mexico is Weak

🇲🇩 Moldova is Weak

🇲🇨 Monaco is Stable

🇲🇳 Mongolia is Stable

🇲🇪 Montenegro is Weak

🇲🇦 Morocco is Weak

🇲🇿 Mozambique is Unstable

🇲🇲 Myanmar is Unstable

🇳🇦 Namibia is Weak

🇳🇷 Nauru is Weak

🇳🇵 Nepal is Weak

🇳🇱 Netherlands is Stable

🇳🇿 New Zealand is Stable

🇳🇮 Nicaragua is Unstable

🇳🇪 Niger is Unstable

🇳🇬 Nigeria is Unstable

🇰🇵 North Korea is Critically Unstable

🇳🇴 Norway is Stable

🇴🇲 Oman is Weak

🇵🇰 Pakistan is Weak

🇵🇼 Palau is Stable

🇵🇦 Panama is Weak

🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea is Weak

🇵🇾 Paraguay is Weak

🇵🇪 Peru is Weak

🇵🇭 Philippines is Weak

🇵🇱 Poland is Stable

🇵🇹 Portugal is Stable

🇶🇦 Qatar is Stable

🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo is Weak

🇷🇴 Romania is Weak

🇷🇺 Russia is Weak

🇷🇼 Rwanda is Stable

🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis is Stable

🇱🇨 Saint Lucia is Weak

🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is Stable

🇼🇸 Samoa is Weak

🇸🇲 San Marino is Weak

🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe is Stable

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia is Weak

🇸🇳 Senegal is Stable

🇷🇸 Serbia is Weak

🇸🇱 Sierra Leone is Weak

🇸🇬 Singapore is Stable

🇸🇰 Slovakia is Weak

🇸🇮 Slovenia is Stable

🇸🇧 Solomon Islands is Stable

🇸🇴 Somalia is Unstable

🇿🇦 South Africa is Weak

🇰🇷 South Korea is Weak

🇸🇸 South Sudan is Critically Unstable

🇪🇸 Spain is Stable

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka is Weak

🇸🇩 Sudan is Critically Unstable

🇸🇷 Suriname is Weak

🇸🇪 Sweden is Stable

🇨🇭 Switzerland is Stable

🇸🇾 Syria is Critically Unstable

🇹🇼 Taiwan is Weak

🇹🇯 Tajikistan is Weak

🇹🇿 Tanzania is Stable

🇹🇭 Thailand is Stable

🇧🇸 The Bahamas is Stable

🇬🇲 The Gambia is Stable

🇹🇬 Togo is Weak

🇹🇴 Tonga is Stable

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago is Weak

🇹🇳 Tunisia is Weak

🇹🇷 Turkey is Weak

🇹🇲 Turkmenistan is Weak

🇹🇻 Tuvalu is Stable

🇺🇬 Uganda is Weak

🇺🇦 Ukraine is Unstable

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates is Stable

🇬🇧 United Kingdom is Stable

🇺🇸 United States Of America is Stable

🇺🇾 Uruguay is Stable

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan is Stable

🇻🇺 Vanuatu is Weak

🇻🇪 Venezuela is Critically Unstable

🇻🇳 Vietnam is Stable

🇪🇭 Western Sahara is Unstable

🇾🇪 Yemen is Critically Unstable

🇿🇲 Zambia is Weak

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe is Unstable

Carpe tomorrow!