SUMMARY: A Texas bill proposes requiring warning labels on popular snack foods containing 44 specific ingredients like food dyes, bleached flour, and certain oils. Affected products include candies such as Skittles and M\&M’s, chips like Doritos and Ruffles, and drinks like Gatorade and Mountain Dew. The initiative aligns with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again campaign, aiming for greater transparency. Though these ingredients are legal in the U.S., many are banned in other countries. Health experts say warning labels could reduce risks linked to ultraprocessed foods, which constitute over half of Americans’ calorie intake. Food industry groups oppose the bill, citing economic concerns and the bill’s broad scope. If passed, the law could prompt nationwide labeling due to Texas’s large market.

These popular snack foods could soon require warning labels in US

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by Ashley Murray, Virginia Mercury
June 4, 2025

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s tariffs would decrease the deficit over the next decade but overall shrink the U.S. economy and raise costs for consumers, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released Wednesday.

Tariffs are paid to the U.S. government by domestic companies and purchasers who buy goods from abroad.

The nonpartisan CBO found that tariffs would reduce the nation’s primary deficit by $2.5 trillion from now until 2035, plus an additional $500 million saved from avoiding even more mounting interest payments on the U.S. debt.

But the office also found that tariffs would slow down the U.S. economy over the same time, in part by affecting behavior in the private sector.

For example, businesses may pull back from investment and growth when faced with higher costs. The CBO, the official financial scorekeeper for Congress, estimates that Trump’s tariffs, as they stand now, would lower the U.S. gross domestic product, or the total value of a country’s goods and services, on average by 0.6% per year through 2035. 

In addition to increasing costs on supplies and other assets businesses use in production, the tariffs are expected to raise prices on consumer goods in the next couple years. The CBO projects the price index used to measure personal consumption will be 0.9% higher by the end of 2026.

While lower-income households spend a higher percentage of their income on consumer goods, the CBO projects that prices will increase the most on goods like home appliances and vehicles more likely to be purchased by higher earners.

The eight-page analysis only takes into account the effects of Trump’s tariffs as of May 13. These include the following taxes calculated on the value of imports: a baseline 10% on goods from most countries; a base of 30% on all goods from China and Hong Kong; 25% on most foreign vehicles and auto parts; 25% on steel and aluminum; and 25% on certain goods from Canada and Mexico.

The CBO released the figures in response to a request from U.S. Senate Democrats wanting to know the cost of the administration’s import taxes.

The report did not take into account any tariff changes after May 13, including Trump’s doubling to 50% the import taxes on steel and aluminum. The report also did not factor in changes that could result from a May 29 trade court decision striking down most of Trump’s tariffs — though an appeals court swiftly left them in place while the case plays out. 

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.

The post Trump tariffs would lower deficit but slow U.S. economic growth, nonpartisan CBO finds appeared first on virginiamercury.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This content presents a factual and balanced analysis of the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, drawing from a nonpartisan source, the Congressional Budget Office. It acknowledges both positive (reduction in deficit) and negative (economic slowdown, higher consumer prices) consequences without using charged language or taking a partisan stance. The presentation of information is neutral and focused on economic data, appealing to a general audience without evident political lean.

SUMMARY: The Winchester Greens community in Chesterfield is expanding affordable housing to address Richmond’s growing housing crisis. Greta Harris, president of the Better Housing Coalition, emphasizes that affordability affects not only low-income households but all socioeconomic groups. Income needed to buy a home in the region has doubled from \$60,000 to \$120,000. Alongside the National Housing Project Network, Harris supports several developments aimed at first-time buyers and low-income earners. Mayor Danny Avula calls housing Richmond’s biggest crisis and stresses collaboration among experts to create policies and investments that build more affordable housing, essential for community well-being and opportunity.

Richmond affordable housing developments expand amid rapidly rising costs

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