On President Trump’s proclaimed “Liberation Day” in April, when he announced the tariffs that have upended global trade, he vowed that “jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country.” The imposition of taxes on imports, the president promised, “will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers,” leading to lower prices for Americans. Not surprisingly, Mr. Trump tried on Monday to portray the $12 billion in emergency relief for farmers as a victory, another piece of evidence — at least to him — that his decision to impose the highest tariffs on American imports since 1930 are working, or will soon.

In recent weeks, he has promised to use the tariff income flowing into the country to cut a government check of $2,000 for every taxpayer (“not including high income people!” he exclaimed on Truth Social in November). Last week, he declared at a cabinet meeting that “at some point in the not too distant future, you wouldn’t even have income tax to pay.”

The world reacted with alarm this year when Beijing introduced waves of export controls on rare earths, the minerals vital to the manufacturing of everything from cars to advanced electronics. For Japan, the experience felt like déjà vu.

China maintains a near monopoly on the supply of the metals. Japan learned that the hard way in 2010 when China effectively cut it off during a territorial dispute between the countries. Tokyo has since quietly stitched together a supply chain that is considerably less dependent on China. For Japan, that is an important hedge to political risk, as a recent flare-up in tensions between the nations underscores.

As the United States and other nations scramble to secure rare earths outside China and build up their domestic supplies, Japan’s experience provides lessons in how it can be done, according to interviews with current and former government officials, business executives and industry experts in Japan.

“The urgency of the rare-earths situation is just now dawning on the United States and Europe,” said Naoki Kobayashi, an official working in the minerals division of Japan’s trade ministry. “For Japan, this painful lesson came 15 years ago,” he said.

President Trump has said he believes it will take the United States about a year to secure ample rare-earth supplies. But Japan is a case study in how hard it is to pull out of China’s grip — especially its extremely cost competitive rare-earth processing facilities. Experts say such an effort requires both sustained government support and international collaboration.

New York is where the algorithm dies. Ours is a city supremely confident in its status as the center of the universe. It is singular, as are its often prickly inhabitants, scrappers and squabblers whose biggest secret may be that we’re actually kind (if not necessarily nice), who’ll give a fumbling stranger a swipe on the subway without breaking stride, and whose wild ambitions and daily struggles make this heaving, bursting-at-the-seams city the most exciting place to live — and eat.

Our favorite new restaurants are wholly true to New York. Let others have their wide-open spaces, their palatial boredom. These spots — all opened in the past year and a half and listed here in alphabetical order — make small, even cramped rooms feel expansive. Their chefs, like the New Yorkers they serve, have roots around the country and the world. They came here to cook for us. How lucky we are. LIGAYA MISHAN

By Hank Shteamer

Dec. 5, 2025

In a year that saw the deaths of two leading drummers, Jack DeJohnette and Al Foster, other drummers both young and old — including Billy Hart, Kassa Overall, Joe Farnsworth and Marcus Gilmore, the M.V.P. of 2025 — shone as elite bandleaders. The trend was just one indicator of the way jazz is constantly renewing via an ongoing intergenerational conversation.

Despite appearing on dozens of recordings with major bandleaders throughout a two-decade career, Marcus Gilmore had never released an album under his own name until this one. The drumming is typically breathtaking; even more impressive is the sturdiness and freshness of the collective vision. Striking voices like Morgan Guerin’s swooping EWI (electronic wind instrument) and Emmanuel Michael’s stealthily mind-melting guitar combine to set a new benchmark for stylish, listener-friendly virtuosity.