Saturday Mornings International News Review: China’s Tariff Dodging, a Shrinking U.S. Footprint in Indonesia, and Japan’s ‘Human Fridges’

🌍On MoneyFM 89.3’s International News Review, Steve Okun joins Saturday Mornings Show host Glenn van Zutphen to unpack a week where geopolitics, economics, and climate reality collided in ways that will shape the Indo‑Pacific for decades. We begin with a striking revelation from Washington: dozens of countries helped China dodge Trump‑era tariffs, according to new U.S. findings. Steve explains how transhipment networks, shell companies, and friendly ports enabled China to blunt one of America’s biggest trade weapons and what this means for global supply chains and U.S.–China competition. Then to Indonesia, where the U.S. decision to close its consulate in Medan is raising eyebrows. Steve breaks down why this move may undermine America’s Indo‑Pacific strategy, weaken its presence in a critical energy and shipping corridor, and open the door wider for China. We also look at a sobering economic milestone: the U.S. Treasury now spends US$3 billion every day on interest payments a fiscal warning light with global implications. And finally, Japan’s surreal but very real response to its recent extreme heatwave: “human fridges”... cooling pods deployed in public spaces as heatstroke cases surge past 53,000.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.