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The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a woman is someone born biologically female, excluding transgender people from the legal definition in a long-running dispute between a feminist group and the Scottish government.Several women’s groups that supported the appeal celebrated outside court and hailed it as a major victory in their effort to protect spaces designated for women.“Everyone knows what sex is and you can’t change it,” said Susan Smith, codirector of For Women Scotland, which brought the case. “It’s common sense, basic common sense and the fact that we have been down a rabbit hole where people have tried to deny science and to deny reality and hopefully this will now see us back to, back to reality.”The ruling brings some clarity in the U.K. to a controversial issue that has roiled politics as women, parents, LGBTQ+ groups, lawmakers, and athletes have debated gender identity rights.Five judges ruled unanimously that the U.K. Equality Act means trans women can be excluded from some single-sex spaces and groups, such as changing rooms, homeless shelters, swimming areas, and medical or counseling services provided only to women.The ruling means that a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes.But Justice Patrick Hodge said its ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment.” Trans rights advocates condemn the judgment The case stems from a 2018 law passed by the Scottish Parliament stating there should be a 50% female representation on the boards of Scottish public bodies. Transgender women with gender recognition certificates were to be included in meeting the quota.“Interpreting ‘sex’ as certificated sex would cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ . . . and, thus, the protected characteristic of sex in an incoherent way,” Hodge said. “It would create heterogeneous groupings.”Hannah Ford, an employment lawyer, said that while the judgment will provide clarity, it would be a setback for transgender rights and there would be “an uphill battle” to ensure workplaces are welcoming places for trans people.“This will be really wounding for the trans community,” Ford told Sky News.Groups that had challenged the Scottish government popped the cork on a bottle of champagne outside the court and sang, “women’s rights are human rights.”“The court has given us the right answer: the protected characteristic of sexmale and femalerefers to reality, not to paperwork,” said Maya Forstater of the group Sex Matters. In 2022, an employment tribunal ruled that she had been the victim of discrimination when she lost out on a job after posting gender-critical views online.The British government welcomed the ruling, saying it would provide clarity and confidence for women.“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government,” it said. Harry Potter author backed legal challenge For Women Scotland had argued that the Scottish officials’ redefinition of woman went beyond Parliament’s powers. But Scottish officials then issued new guidance stating that the definition of woman included someone with a gender recognition certificate.FWS successfully sought to overturn that.“Not tying the definition of sex to its ordinary meaning means that public boards could conceivably comprise of 50% men, and 50% men with certificates, yet still lawfully meet the targets for female representation,” the group’s director Trina Budge said previously.The challenge was rejected by a court in 2022, but the group was granted permission last year to take its case to the Supreme Court.Aidan O’Neill, a lawyer for FWS, told the Supreme Court judgesthree men and two womenthat under the Equality Act “sex” should refer to biological sex and as understood “in ordinary, everyday language.”“Our position is your sex, whether you are a man or a woman or a girl or a boy is determined from conception in utero, even before one’s birth, by one’s body,” he said. “It is an expression of one’s bodily reality. It is an immutable biological state.”The women’s right group counted among its supporters author J.K. Rowling, who reportedly donated tens of thousands of pounds to back its work. The Harry Potter writer has been vocal in arguing that the rights for trans women should not come at the expense of those who are born biologically female.Opponents, including Amnesty International, said excluding transgender people from sex discrimination protections conflicted with human rights laws.Amnesty submitted a brief in court saying it was concerned about the deterioration of the rights for trans people in the U.K. and abroad.“A blanket policy of barring trans women from single-sex services is not a proportionate means to achieve a legitimate aim,” the human rights group said. Brian Melley, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
President Trumps trade wars have officially landed on TikTok. U.S. TikTok users For You Pages are being flooded with videos from Chinese manufacturers urging Americans to bypass sweeping new tariffs by purchasing goods directly from China. So China is doing us a solid over here in the US and allowing us to buy directly and avoid all of the ridiculous tariffs, says one TikTok user in a video posted on Monday. Behind her is a laundry list of Chinese wholesale websites, featuring everything from beauty products to electronics. I dont know about you but that wasnt on my 2025 bingo card. @gdfjkbft Now we can buy directly from China more easily original sound – gdfjkbft In another video, which has racked up over 11.5 million views, a creator claims to sell the same leggings that retail for $100 at Lululemon for just $5 or $6. The materials and the craftsmanship are basically the same because they all come from the same production line, she explains. How do we buy direct. I hate it here, one TikTok user commented beneath the video. Now this is how you do a trade war, another added. @lunasourcingchina Suppliers behind Lululemon!!! #sourcingtips #sourcingagent #yiwuagent #yiwuminigoods #yiwumarkets #Lunasourcingchina #chinasource #lululemon #lululemonaddict #alo #yoga #yogawear #activewear #fashion #leggings #factory#chinashipping #wholesale#shoefactory #leggingfactory #alibaba #directfactory original sound – LunaSourcingChina But if it sounds too good to be true, thats probably because it is. Lululemon has responded to the trend, stating it does not work with the manufacturers identified in the online videos and we urge consumers to be aware of potentially counterfeit products and misinformation, according to The Times. Claiming to manufacture for big-name brands while actually selling knockoffs is a common scam. Experts told The Independent that some of these TikTokers are likely paid by counterfeit operations seeking to exploit the chaos around tariffs and lure U.S. consumers with cheap dupes. Still, many TikTok users have welcomed the videos for revealing luxury fashions often opaque supply chains. China TikTok is so messy rn, one X user posted alongside a thread of these videos. And YES I will be shopping at the Chinese markets for a 25 dollar Birkin Bag, they added. The videos gained traction as President Donald Trump announced a 145% levy on all goods imported from China. While the administration has since stated that smartphones and some electronics would be exempt, the fashion industry remains heavily affected. The U.S. manufactures only about 2% of its own clothing, while China produces roughly two-thirds of the worlds supplyand sent $49 billion in textiles to the U.S. last year alone. The trend has also spilled into real-world behavior. Chinese wholesale marketplace app DHgate soared to the No. 3 spot in the U.S. App Store as of Monday morning, TechCrunch reported. Thats a sharp climb from No. 352 on Friday, April 11, according to data from app intelligence provider Appfigures. While buying direct from China isnt exactly a foolproof work-aroundsince imports are still subject to tariffsone commenter summed up the mood: Trump said, We hold the cards. So China said, We make the cards.
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E-Commerce
China’s economy expanded at a 5.4% annual pace in January-March, the government said Wednesday, supported by strong exports ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s rapid increases in tariffs on Chinese products.With the trade war clouding the outlook, analysts are forecasting that the world’s second largest economy will slow significantly in coming months, however, as tariffs as high as 145% on U.S. imports from China take effect. Beijing has hit back at the U.S. with 125% tariffs on American exports, while also stressing its determination to keep its own markets open to trade and investment.Chinese leader Xi Jinping is visiting several other Asian countries this week as he makes a case for free trade, presenting China as a source of “stability and certainty” in uncertain times.Xi was visiting Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, while the U.S. announced that a senior State Department official, Sean O’Neill, would be traveling this week to Vietnam’s capital Hanoi and to Ho Chi Minh City, to Cambodia’s Siem Reap, and to Tokyo.China also has been highlighting its focus on trade with countries other than the United States at various trade fairs that are showcasing its vast market and competitiveness as a manufacturing giant.At China’s Canton trade fair, in the southern city of Guangzhou, exporters were emphatic about the need to look beyond selling to Americans.“We need to diversify our market. When the West is dark, the East is bright. The global market is huge,” said Wallace Huang, the export business director of Guangdong Weking Group, which makes rice cookers. “In recent years, our exports to the U.S. have slowly been declining.” The trade factor Exports helped China’s economy expand at a 5% annual rate in 2024 and this year’s official target is about 5%.In the near term, the tariffs will put pressure on China’s economy, but they won’t derail long-run growth, Sheng Laiyun, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters. He noted that China’s exports to the United States have fallen to less than 15% of total exports from more than 19% five years ago.“China’s economic foundation is stable, resilient and has great potential. We have the confidence, ability and confidence to cope with external challenges and achieve our established development goals,” Sheng said.In quarterly terms the economy grew 1.2% in January-March, slowing from 1.6% in the last quarter of 2024.Chinese exports surged more than 12% from a year earlier in March and nearly 6% in U.S. dollar terms in the first quarter, as companies rushed to beat Trump’s tariffs. That has supported robust manufacturing activity in the past several months.China’s industrial production rose 6.5% from a year earlier in the last quarter, led by a nearly 11% increase in output of equipment manufacturing.The strongest growth was in advanced technologies, such as production of battery electric and hybrid vehicles, which jumped 45.4% year-on-year. Output of 3D printers soared almost 45% and of industrial robots surged 26%. Weaker property investment and consumer prices Despite relatively fast growth by global standards, the Chinese economy has struggled to regain momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic as downturn in the property market has pushed unemployment higher, leaving families wary about spending.Consumer prices fell 0.1% in the first quarter, suggesting that demand is not keeping up with supply for many industries. Investment in real estate also remained weak, falling nearly 10% from a year earlier despite government efforts to spur more lending for housing purchases.The tariffs crisis looms as another massive blow at a time when Beijing is striving to get businesses to invest and hire more workers and to persuade Chinese consumers to spend more. The outlook Both private and public sector economists have remained cautious about what to expect, given how Trump has kept switching his stance on the details of his trade war.“Given the events over the past two weeks, it is extremely difficult to predict how the U.S. and China tariffs on each other might evolve,” Tao Wang and other UBS economists said in a report.The International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank have stuck with more optimistic forecasts of about 4.6% growth this year.After taking office, Trump first ordered a 10% increase in tariffs on imports from China. He later raised that to 20%. Now, China is facing 145% tariffs on most of its exports to the United States.UBS estimates that the tariffs, if they remain roughly as they are, could cause China’s exports to the United States to fall by two-thirds in coming months and that its global exports could fall by 10% in dollar value. It cut its forecast for economic growth this year to 3.4% from an earlier 4%. It expects growth to slow to 3% in 2026.China has stepped up efforts to spur more consumer spending and private sector investment over the past seven months, doubling down on subsidies for auto and appliance trade-ins and channeling more funding for housing and other cash strapped industries. AP researchers Yu Bing and Shihuan Chen contributed. Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
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