The President's Daily Brief
May 6th, 2025: Tariffs Spark Worker Protests Across China & IDF Hits Back After Tel Aviv Strike
Tue, 06 May 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Protests erupt across China as workers rage over factory shutdowns, backpay delays, and the mounting impact of the U.S.-China trade war. Later in the show—Pakistan test-launches a ballistic missile amid renewed tensions with India following the deadly April 22 Kashmir attack. Plus, Israel strikes back. IDF warplanes hit Houthi positions in Yemen just one day after a missile landed near Tel Aviv’s main airport. And in today’s Back of the Brief—The Trump administration unveils a new program offering illegal migrants $1,000 to voluntarily self-deport. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Jacked Up Fitness: Go to https://GetJackedUp.com and use code BAKER at checkout to save 10% off your entire purchase DeleteMe: Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you text PDB to 64000. Message and data rates apply Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you text PDB to 64000. Message and data rates apply Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What sparked the recent worker protests in China?
It's Tuesday, the 6th of May. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start things off today in China, where street protests have erupted due to the ongoing trade war with the U.S., with angry workers taking to the streets to demand back pay and to complain about mass factory layoffs.
We'll have those details. And here's a hint. The one thing that Xi Jinping and his Chinese Communist Party fear more than anything else is an unhappy and unruly population. Later in the show, Pakistan makes a show of force, tests launching a ballistic missile, has tensions with India flare after that deadly terror attack in Kashmir. Plus, Israel strikes back.
IDF warplanes hit Houthi targets in Yemen a day after a Houthi missile landed near Tel Aviv's main airport. And in today's Back of the Brief, the Trump administration has a new offer for illegal migrants. Take $1,000 and leave. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
We'll begin with the ongoing fallout from the U.S.-China trade war as the communist regime's export-dependent economy buckles under the weight of the Trump administration's tariffs, prompting Chinese workers to take to the streets and revolt As we've been tracking on the PDB, the financial impact of Trump's 145% tariffs and Beijing's 125% retaliatory tariffs
Chapter 2: How are U.S.-China tariffs affecting Chinese economy?
have been felt swiftly in China Numerous Chinese manufacturers have paused production entirely and shut down operations as they scramble to find new buyers with warehouses filling with unsent goods China's factory activity, meanwhile, has contracted at its fastest pace in 16 months
Now, discontent is spreading among the millions of Chinese workers suffering the brunt of these harsh economic impacts.
Over the past few weeks, thousands of disgruntled workers have poured into the streets from the Hunan province in central China to Inner Mongolia in the north and Sichuan in the south to demand back pay from unpaid wages and to challenge what they call unfair dismissals caused by the wave of factory closures. That's according to a report from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Last week, outside an LED light manufacturing plant near Shanghai, thousands of furious workers chanted against company managers over unpaid wages, while in China's Dao County, hundreds of furious workers gathered outside a sporting goods factory after it abruptly closed its doors without paying employees.
An example of just how desperate the situation is becoming, in the northeast city of Tongliau, construction workers recently climbed onto rooftops and threatened to jump unless they were paid And in the southwest Sichuan province, workers of a company producing flexible circuit boards also say they haven't been paid in months and are having their social security benefits withheld
It's a similar story across the country. A garment exporter in southern China told the Wall Street Journal that they had already been forced to furlough 30% of their workforce after losing three major U.S. clients during the trade war. Another textile manufacturer told the Journal that some Chinese factories are now engaged in unsustainable price wars just to keep their heads above water.
Analysts for the U.S.-based investment bank Goldman Sachs recently estimated that some 16 million jobs across Chinese industries are now at risk, as China's export orders hit their lowest levels since the worst days of the COVID lockdowns. They say China's communication equipment sector is set to be hit hardest, followed by apparel and chemical product manufacturers.
As we touched on earlier on the PDB, major global banks have now cut China's full-year growth forecast to around 4%. That's well below Beijing's official target. The situation is clearly untenable for the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, prompting them to begin quietly exempting a host of US-made products from their 125% retaliatory tariffs.
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Chapter 3: What measures is China taking to mitigate economic fallout from tariffs?
While China has not publicly acknowledged the exemptions, they have reportedly compiled a list of some 131 products that will be granted tariff waivers, amounting to roughly $40 billion in goods or nearly a quarter of all Chinese imports from the U.S.
this year The exemptions cover a range of goods, from pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals to aviation components and critical inputs for electronics manufacturing Since early April, Beijing has also been privately surveying businesses about other potential sectors where tariff waivers might be appropriate.
Analysts say that this quiet approach by the CCP allows China to maintain its hardline message demanding the U.S. back down while easing the economic damage of the trade war domestically. But with protests spreading, the measures may not be enough to quell the public's outrage.
Many human rights observers fear that the CCP could soon violently crack down on the spreading protests, much like they did in 2022 when demonstrations erupted over Chinese President Xi Jinping's lockdown orders. An advisor to the Chinese government recently told the Wall Street Journal, quote, Xi today has the same mentality as Mao.
His bottom line is that no major crisis will be allowed to endanger his hold on power, end quote. Meanwhile, last Thursday, the Chinese Communist Ministry publicly expressed a willingness to engage in direct trade negotiations with the U.S. They qualified that statement, however, by saying that the U.S. must first drop all unilateral tariffs.
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Chapter 4: Are there any potential resolutions to the U.S.-China trade tensions?
That's a demand that isn't likely to be received warmly by the White House. For now, it does not appear that a quick resolution with China is in the cards, even as their domestic economy slumps. All right, coming up after the break, Pakistan test launches a missile as tensions with India rise, and IDF warplanes strike Yemen after a Houthi missile lands near Tel Aviv's airport. I'll be right back.
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Welcome back to the PDB Tensions between India and Pakistan continue to escalate With Islamabad test-firing a surface-to-surface ballistic missile on Saturday Two weeks after the deadly massacre in the disputed Kashmir region Reignited hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors
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Chapter 5: What are the recent developments in India-Pakistan relations?
The missile, part of the Abdali weapon system, has a range of roughly 280 miles and was fired into a designated zone over the Arabian Sea or the deserts in the southwest in keeping with standard military protocol.
According to the Pakistani military, the test was intended to validate operational readiness of, quote, "...key technical parameters, including the missile's advanced navigation system and maneuverability."
Chapter 6: How is Pakistan's missile test linked to tensions with India?
Pakistan President Mzardari and Prime Minister Sharif both issued public congratulations following the launch The timing of the test was unmistakable, frankly The launch comes after the 22 April attack on Indian tourists in the Kashmir region That left 26 dead and triggered one of the sharpest escalations between the nuclear rivals in recent years
New Delhi blames Pakistan-based Islamist terrorists for the attack. That's a claim that Islamabad continues to eject as baseless. But the symbolism of the Abdali missile was not lost on regional observers.
An Islamabad-based security analyst told the Associated Press that the weapon was named after a famed Muslim conqueror of India, adding that it was, quote, critical in the current geopolitical context. Well, not exactly subtle, is it?
The analysts suggested it was no coincidence The launch followed India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty an act that many in Pakistan view as economic warfare given that about a quarter of Pakistan's economy is agriculture-based
New Delhi, for its part, is signaling it's ready to strike back with force Last week, India's Navy carried out anti-ship missile drills to, quote, And according to a former advisor to India's Ministry of External Affairs, public fury over the Kashmir massacre has created space for a, quote, The message from Delhi is clear Patience with Pakistan is wearing thin
As we've been tracking here on the PDB, signs of a military buildup are already visible. Skirmishes along the line of control, which is the de facto border in Kashmir, have flared nightly for over a week. On Saturday, India's military accused Pakistani troops of once again opening fire, prompting what they described as a, quote, proportionate response. Islamabad has yet to confirm the exchange.
Meanwhile, the standoff continues to spill into the economic and diplomatic arenas Over the weekend, India banned all imports from Pakistan, blocked Pakistani flagged vessels from entering its ports, and prohibited Indian ships from docking in Pakistani harbors Postal services between the two countries have also been halted, further fraying already brittle lines of communication With both sides digging in, the prospect of de-escalation is rapidly slipping from view
Okay, moving to the Middle East. The Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory strikes Monday evening on Houthi positions in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. That's just a day after a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed terror group slammed into the grounds of Tel Aviv's international airport.
According to the IDF, approximately 20 fighter jets pounded targets along Yemen's western coastline, including infrastructure at Hodeidah port and a concrete factory in the nearby city of Bajul.
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