BuSINESS
F RIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019::L ATIMES.COM/BUSINESS
C
DOW 2 6,583.42▼280.85 S&P 5002,953.56 26.82▼ NASDAQ8,111.12 64.30▼ GOLD$1,420.90 5.20▼ OIL$53.95 4.63▼ EURO$1.1082▼ .0003 U.S. T-NOTE(10-yr.)1.89% 0.13▼President
Trump
would prefer
that you
think he’s
working
tirelessly to
protect
Americans
from soaring
drug prices.
His administration
announced this week it
wants to create a system
that allows people to legally
access lower-cost prescrip-
tion meds from Canada.
“For too long American
patients have been paying
exorbitantly high prices for
prescription drugs that are
made available to other
countries at lower prices,”
said Health and Human
Services Secretary Alex
Azar.
He called this “the next
important step” in the
administration’s efforts to
“put American patients
first.”
OK, two things.
First, this is a good idea,
one that’s been championed
by Democrats for years.
This “next important step”
from Trump is him embrac-
ing the left’s common-sense
policy goals because his own
proposals have gotten no-
where.
Second, who does he
think he’s kidding?
Until this week, Trump
has advocated not giving
Americans access to
cheaper drugs from abroad
but forcing other countries
to raise their own pharma-
ceutical prices.
In May 2018, Trump
issued a “blueprint” for
lowering drug prices. It said
that “other countries use
socialized healthcare to
command unfairly low
Trump’s
Canada
flip-flop
on drug
prices
DAVID LAZARUS
[SeeLazarus,C6]WASHINGTON — Barely one
month after agreeing to a ceasefire
in his trade war with China, Presi-
dent Trump on Thursday loaded up
the tariffs again in a surprise an-
nouncement that he would slap 10%
duties on an additional $300 billion
worth of Chinese goods starting
Sept. 1.
In a series of tweets, Trump sug-
gested he was taking the step in re-
sponse to the slow-moving trade ne-
gotiations, which resumed this
week, and China’s lack of action. He
accused President Xi Jinping of not
following through on agreements to
purchase American farm products
and to end the sale of the opioid
drug fentanyl to the United States.
“I think he wants to make a deal
but frankly he’s not going fast
enough,” Trump said of Xi, speak-
ing to reporters on the White House
South Lawn later Thursday.
The threat of renewed escala-
tion of tariffs comes as the Federal
Reserve and many economists have
become increasingly concerned
that trade tensions are undermin-
ing business confidence and could
do serious damage to the American
economy. If Trump carries out histhreat, retail executives say, U.S.
consumers will end up footing a
good chunk of the tariff bill in the
form of higher prices, probably right
before Christmas.
Previous rounds of tariffs in-
volved many machinery and com-
ponents from China, but the new
10% tariffs would hit a host of con-
sumer goods — cellphones, com-
puters, shoes and apparel.
“Go into a Target, look under a
Walmart roof, it’s everything,” said
Matt Priest, president of the
Footwear Distributors and Retail-
ers of America. Shoe importers had
not been caught in previous rounds
of tariffs, but would not escape the
upcoming one. Nearly 70% of
footwear that Americans buy are
imported from China, he said.
In part because of such concerns
stemming from trade uncertain-
ties, the Fed on Wednesday made
its first interest rate cut in more
than a decade.
“Weak global growth and trade
tensions are having an effect on the
U.S. economy,” Fed Chairman
Jerome H. Powell said Wednesday.
“You see weak investment. You see
weak manufacturing.”
Moments after the president’s
tweets, the Dow Jones industrial av-
erage erasedLONG BEACHis one of the main ports of entry for good from China. Trump’s announced tariffs would target many consumer goods.Mark RalstonAFP/Getty ImagesAs trade talks slow, Trump
to slap new tariffs on China
News causes 600-point market swing amid fears of undermining economy
MOMENTSafter President Trump tweeted about tariffs, the
Dow Jones industrial average erased all of its 300-point gain.Drew AngererGetty ImagesBy Don Lee and Eli Stokols[SeeTariffs,C4]People affected by the
Equifax data breach
shouldn’t opt for free credit
monitoring instead of a cash
payout some experts say —
contradicting what U.S.
regulators are encouraging.
Under a settlement
between the credit rating
firm and the Federal Trade
Commission, consumers
whose information was ex-
posed can submit a claim for
as much as $125 or up to 10
years of free credit monitor-
ing. The 2017 Equifax breach
exposed personal informa-
tion of 147 million people, in-
cluding 15 million Califor-
nians.
Because so many peoplehave filed claims for the
cash, the payout is expected
to be far less than $125 per
person — perhaps less than
$10. That’s because, out of
the overall $700-million set-
tlement, “the pot of money
that pays for that part of the
settlement is $31 million,”
Robert Schoshinski, an as-
sistant director at the FTC,
wrote in a blog post Wednes-
day.
“If you haven’t submitted
your claim yet, think about
opting for the free credit
monitoring instead,”
Schoshinski wrote.
“Frankly, the free credit
monitoring is worth a lot
more — the market value
would be hundreds of dol-
lars a year.” People who have
already chosen the cash op-
tion will be contacted and
given a chance to change
their minds, he added.
But some experts said
consumers can obtain free
credit monitoring from vari-
ous sources and that a better
approach is to use a creditTake Equifax cash or credit monitoring?
BECAUSEso many people have filed claims for the money from Equifax, the pay-
out is expected to be far less than $125 per person — perhaps less than $10.Mike StewartAssociated PressChoosing the money
in data breach beats a
service available for
free, many experts say.
But FTC disagrees.
By James F. Peltz[SeeEquifax,C6]The rising demand for
scripted shows on streaming
services is having an effect in
adecidedly un-Hollywood
area of Los Angeles: the
neighborhood of Pacoima.
West Hollywood-based
Quixote Studios — a major
provider of facilities, trailers
and equipment for the en-
tertainment industry — on
Thursday unveiled its new
$30-million facility that will
provide much-needed stage
space for major shoots.
The project, which sits on
a10-acre space next to a
mobile home park on Glen-
oaks Boulevard in the north-
ern San Fernando Valley,
boasts five soundstages to-
taling 75,000 square feet,
20,000 square feet of office
space and a cafe for filmmak-
ers and crew members.
It has already attracted
some high-profile business.
The first show to shoot there
will be Amazon Studios’
“Them: Covenant,” a horror
anthology series whose exe-
Pacoima
studio
facility
unveiled
The streaming gold
rush brings a major
project to a decidedly
un-Hollywood area.
By Ryan Faughnder[SeePacoima, C4]