News Briefs: Japan and US trade deal; Religious freedom win; China wants to talk; US economy still strong

News briefs for today.

Trump judge rules in favor of Christian videographers

A Christian couple who refused to video a same-sex wedding have won their court case, possibly setting another precedent for the nation. With the ruling the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals halted the expanding reach of nondiscrimination laws by ruling that the Christian videographers, videographers in Minnesota who believe in traditional marriage can’t be compelled under the state’s aggressive human rights law to produce videos of same-sex weddings.

READ more on this story HERE.

US and Japan set to sign trade deal

The United States and Japan concluded trade pact negotiations on Aug. 24 that will slash Japanese tariffs on U.S. meat imports by about 80 percent and leave unchanged low U.S. auto import tariffs. Japanese negotiators agreed to give the Trump administration the same tariff reductions on meat imports envisioned under the proposed 12 nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. President Trump withdrew from the deal in January, complaining that the 5,600-page multilateral deal negotiated by his predecessor would encourage more offshoring of American jobs and undercutting of U.S. workers’ wages. With their economy faltering, China wants to talk again

President Trump said China called U.S. officials on Sunday evening and said, “let’s get back to the table,” a day after the White House said the president regretted not escalating tariffs further on Chinese goods. Speaking to reporters at the Group of Seven summit, Trump called the discussions a “very positive development.”

China’s foreign-ministry spokesman said, “… trade disputes between China and the U.S. should be resolved through dialogue,” he said.

The president has clashed with world leaders over the U.S. trade war with China and a host of foreign-policy issues at the summit. He reaffirmed his commitment to a trade war with China over the weekend, and asserted his right to declare a national emergency over the matter.

China’s economy is in freefall, and it has much more to lose with the US in terms of exports than does the American economy.

Communist China escalates response to protesters

Hong Kong police used water cannons for the first time Sunday as pro-democracy protests turned violent after nearly two weeks of relative calm. The 12th consecutive weekend of protests had some of the fiercest skirmishes yet between protesters and police, including one that prompted an officer to fire his gun into the air as a warning.

Economists still hopeful on strength of economy

This week, investors are looking at figures for July consumer spending and another estimate of second-quarter GDP to gauge whether the U.S. can continue outpacing the rest of the world. The U.S. economy outpaces most of its trading partners in terms of economic growth, unemployment, job growth, inflation and manufacturing output. Despite recent market swings, some analysts are still hopeful that lower interest rates and an eventual U.S.-China trade compromise will improve the outlook for the global economy.

–Metro Voice and wire services