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 Beginning the 3-nation tour on a high note : China's President Xi Jinping called on Monday for stronger ties with Vietnam on trade and supply chains amid disruptions caused by U.S. tariffs, as he attended the signing in Hanoi of dozens of cooperation agreements between the two communist-run nations. The visit, planned for weeks and part of a wider trip in Southeast Asia, comes as Beijing faces 145% U.S. duties, while Vietnam is negotiating a reduction of threatened U.S. tariffs of 46% that would otherwise apply in July after a global moratorium expires. "The two sides should strengthen cooperation in production and supply chains," Xi said in an article in Nhandan, the newspaper of Vietnam's Communist Party, posted ahead of his arrival on Monday. He also urged more trade and stronger ties with Hanoi on artificial intelligence and the green economy. After he met Vietnam's top leader, To Lam, the two countries signed dozens of cooperation agreements, including deals...

 

  The Trade Wars continue ... The Chinese government has told the country's domestic airlines to stop accepting deliveries of Boeing jets as a trade war between the world's two largest economies escalates, Bloomberg News reports. China is also instructing its carriers to stop buying airline parts and other components from U.S. companies, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the situation.  Boeing declined to comment. The aviation giant's shares fell $2.59, or 1.6%, to $156.74 in morning trading. The order to stop accepting Boeing jets comes after China boosted its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%. That matches the level of tariffs that President Trump has placed on Chinese imports, although those taxes can rise as high as 145% for some products. China's tariffs would have more than doubled the price of U.S.-made aircraft and parts, making the cost unaffordable, Bloomberg reported. Boeing is scheduled to ship about 10 737 Max aircraft to Chin...

  Trade Wars: The Imperialists Strike Back ! President Donald Trump is set to impose an astounding 104% in levies across all Chinese imports on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday. This comes on top of Chinese tariffs that were in place prior to Trump’s second term. China was already set to see tariffs increase by 34% on Wednesday as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs package. But the president tacked on another 50% after Beijing didn’t back off its promise to impose 34% retaliatory tariffs on US goods by noon Tuesday, adding an additional 84% in duties. Earlier Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it “firmly opposes” the additional 50% tariffs on Chinese imports, calling it “a mistake upon a mistake.” The ministry vowed to escalate its retaliation on US exports. US stocks, which soared Tuesday morning, began moving lower off Leavitt’s comments . By 3 p.m. ET the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were all in negative territory. “Countries li...

It might not happen , but the fact they're trying? Good on 'em.

Let's face it: Nick Young and JaVale McGee were talented Even-Stevens at best, and they we not going to help the Wizards with their most important objective: getting John Wall to re-sign with the team after his rookie contract expires. Depending on who you ask, the team either broke even or righted the ship a bit . Me? I'm just happy that they won last night.

Apparently the interchangeable parts from the Clippers hold more value than the interchangeable parts from the Lakers .

Why shouldn't coach Larry Brown trade half the team ? The "they're still a new franchise" fragrance is starting to wear off. I just find it interesting that Michael Jordan had a chance to get Tyson Chandler when he (Jordan) was in D.C. and he passed. Is this a runabout way of saying he made a mistake?

I'll save time and answer that question first: because there's no garauntee that LeBron James will stay when his contract's up, and none of the prized free agents want to be stuck in Cleveland while James signs a big deal in a major market like New York . Let's look at the recent list of free agent transactions (I don't count trades because only a few players have a say in the deal): Ron Artest goes with Lakers (making one of Kobe Bryant's most tenacious opponents a teammate); Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva sign with Detriot (GM Joe Dumars' attempt to justify seasons worth of questionable moves); After flirting with the Trailblazers, Hedo Tukoglu leans toward Toronto (adding some shooting to a team that has big man Chris Bosh and swing man Shawn Marion); Trevor Ariza looks toward the Rockets (making up for even thinking he had leverage against the Lakers); and Rasheed Wallace says he's headed to Boston ('nuff said). Of all of these moves, Charle...

Jason Kidd could head to the Knicks . Yao Ming's foot injury is serious ... ... and things don't look good for Tracy McGrady either . And here's what an (anonymous) veteran international player had to say about the 2009 #5 pick : "Rubio isn't very quick, isn't very strong, and isn't a very good shooter," says the player, who was a record-setting point guard for a mid-Division I college. "What he can do is play hard, see the floor, deliver the ball, be totally unselfish, and make terrific decisions."

And here's the most significant bad news for the Cavs: With Shaq stationed in the paint, there'll be precious little room for LeBron's powerhouse drives. In fact, the presence of Shaq will mostly limit LBJ's offense to the least efficient aspect of his game -- his jump-shooting. Also, if Shaq is such a desirable player, why did Miami trade him 16 months ago, and why is Phoenix so willing to deal him now? In sum, since it's virtually inconceivable that even with Shaq the Cavs can total more than the 66 wins they posted last season, this trade is exclusively geared to enable Cleveland to beat Orlando in the playoffs. Amen ; this trade certainly wasn't for wins: Cleveland had home court advantage for the entire Eastern Conference. If the Cavs did this just to beat Orlando, they may get their wish; but now they're going to have to deal with the non-Orlando teams who have players that will wear Shaq down. And if you see stories about how James has been reduced to...

The Bucks and Spurs make the first move , swapping Richard Jefferson for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto.