Politics and views in the United States

The U.S. and Canada enact steep tariffs on each other. Chemical industry lobbyists are now overseeing environmental and safety agencies and the Postal Service moves to restrict mail-in ballots.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Inflation has come down a little bit, but if those prices haven't come down, it's because of the tariffs.

Because tariffs have been put in place and essentially kept prices higher than they otherwise would have been.

Georgia Tech economics professor Tibor Buschetti says import taxes are raising the cost of school supplies. 25 states are suing the administration over the levies.

Data from the Groundwork Collaborative finds an average new lunchbox now costs nearly $20, up a quarter in two years.

President Donald Trump is putting new 50% tariffs on Canada, and Prime Minister Mark Carney says retaliatory levies will hit after Labor Day.

Around 5% of Canadian exports will be taxed by the U.S., and Carney says his country will put tariffs on nearly $30 billion worth of goods.

Even as consumers pay more, economic growth has slowed in the last year and a half.

But while campaigning for the GOP in Ohio, Vice President J.D.

Vance claimed U.S. factory construction is making a significant comeback.

Under President Trump's leadership, factory construction employment has exploded.

We've added 83,000 factory construction jobs just since Inauguration Day.

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, factory construction and investment peaked under President Joe Biden because of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.

Meanwhile, federal data shows factory construction spending is down more than a fifth from last year, while there are fewer manufacturing jobs now than when Trump returned to office.

A new investigation from the nonprofit Right to Know found more than two dozen chemical industry lobbyists are running key parts of federal environmental and safety agencies despite pushback from people in farm country.

And Stacey Malkin with the group points out the U.S. Supreme Court stripped people of the right to sue the maker of the weed killer roundup if they get cancer after using the product.

Malkin says the court and the executive branch are moving in the same direction.

While they're giving favors like new PFAS pesticides and dicambas and the glyphosate executive order, they're also making significant cuts to the government's capacity to conduct science for chemical assessment.

It's been three and a half years since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.

There were no immediate injuries, but the spill put hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air and leaked hazardous chemicals into the water.

Jess Kennard lives in East Palestine and helped found the non-profit RailWatch.

Kennard says in spite of inaction, people haven't given up on their demands for rail safety legislation.

Community voices lead to change, not only in the community, but it's grassroots to global.

What happened in my community in East Palestine?

We're changing the game with rail safety.

Two months before the midterms, the U.S. Postal Service has released new restrictions on mail-in ballots.

They're in line with a Trump executive order demanding states submit a list of eligible citizens before allowing absentee ballots.

Federal courts have blocked that order, repeatedly ruling the White House can't interfere with voting.

So the new Postal Service rule may not have any impact, but the administration and election watchdogs are headed to court.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.