Tag Archives: trade wars

Bloomberg News reports: The World Trade Organization undercut the main justification for President Donald Trump’s trade war against China, saying that American tariffs on Chinese goods violate international rules. Washington has imposed levies on $400 billion in Chinese exports. The panel said in its report “that the United States had not met its burden of demonstrating that the measures are …

The Guardian reports: Canada has announced that it will retaliate dollar for dollar – to the tune of C$3.6bn – after the US announced a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminum. Donald Trump announced the new aluminum tariffs on Thursday at a campaign stop at a Whirlpool appliance plant in Ohio, accusing Canada of taking advantage of its trade relationship with …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump promised in an all-caps tweet Friday to provide additional bailout funding to American farmers if necessary, as questions arise over whether China’s purchases of agricultural products will fall short of what it pledged in the recently signed trade deal. The bailout was created by the Trump administration as a way to try to calm …

Bloomberg reports: The White House acknowledged what many economists considered obvious through much of last year: President Donald Trump’s trade stance depressed economic growth and business investment. “Uncertainty generated by trade negotiations dampened investment,” Trump chief economist Tomas Philipson told reporters in a briefing on the annual Economic Report of the President released on Thursday. The admission contrasted with Trump’s …

Axios reports: Chief financial officers are bracing for an economic slowdown this year, according to Deloitte’s quarterly survey of nearly 150 executives at top North American companies. Multiple surveys showed plunging optimism among top executives last year, thanks largely to trade war uncertainty. Deloitte’s survey is a signal that skittishness continues to curb companies’ hiring and spending plans this year, …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump plans to ink the “phase one” trade deal with China at the White House on Jan. 15.  The president said “high level representatives of China” will attend the signing. Trump added that he will travel to Beijing “at a later date” to start talks toward a second piece of the trade pact. The White House …

MarketWatch reports: President Donald Trump’s strategy to use import tariffs to protect and boost U.S. manufacturers backfired and led to job losses and higher prices, according to a Federal Reserve study released this week. “We find that the 2018 tariffs are associated with relative reductions in manufacturing employment and relative increases in producer prices,” concluded Fed economists Aaron Flaaen and …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. and China have reached a preliminary agreement in their long-running trade war, President Trump and China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said in separate statements Friday. Mr. Trump tweeted that the two sides had agreed “to a very large Phase One Deal with China,” adding that the 25% tariffs on Chinese imports …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump revved up his global trade war on two fronts Monday, announcing tariffs on industrial metals from Brazil and Argentina while eyeing tariffs of up to 100 percent on a number of French imports. The administration said the moves were necessary because U.S. trading partners were acting unfairly to disadvantage both the country’s traditional economic …

Axios reports: President Trump tweeted Monday that he will restore steel and aluminum tariffs against Brazil and Argentina due to their currency devaluations. Trump’s tweets show that he is not afraid to open a potential new front in his ongoing global trade war even as the 2020 presidential election approaches — and also touched on his antagonism with the Federal …

Bloomberg reports: Dollar Tree Inc. shares fell the most intraday since 2012 after the budget retailer trimmed its outlook on 2019 profit, saying tariffs on Chinese imports are driving up costs. Dollar Tree’s decline has erased much of its year-to-date gain. Dollar Tree’s downward revision shows the risk that the ongoing U.S.-China trade war poses for retailers — especially value-based …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump on Sunday welcomed a “cash” payout to American farmers before the Thanksgiving Day holiday that he attributed to China tariffs, but that money actually is part of a U.S. government aid package. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday it will begin making a second round of 2019 trade aid payments to U.S. farmers …

Wisconsin’s WHBY reports: The number of farms seeking bankruptcy protection grew 24% over the last year, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation analysis of recent federal court data. The analysis found farm bankruptcies are rising fastest in the Northwest. “We’ve seen low crop prices, low livestock prices for a number of years now,” said chief economist John Newton. “On …

Agence France-Presse reports: The United States imposed tariffs on a record $7.5-billion worth of European Union goods on Friday, despite threats of retaliation, with Airbus, French wine and Scottish whiskies among the high-profile targets. The tariffs, which took effect just after midnight in Washington (0401 GMT), came after talks between European officials and US trade representatives failed to win a …

ABC News reports: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned of a coming tariff hike if China does not finalize the specifics of a newly negotiated partial trade deal announced by President Donald Trump last week. The tariffs on 15% of $160 billion worth of Chinese goods impacting consumer electronics– cellphones, laptops, toys–would go into effect by Dec. 15. It was previously …

The Hill reports: President Trump will impose 25-percent tariffs on certain E.U. agricultural exports and 10-percent tariffs on European-brand aircraft on Oct. 18, the White House announced Wednesday. A senior administration official told reporters during Wednesday briefing that the full list of European goods subject to tariffs will be released as soon as this evening by the White House Office …

MarketWatch reports: Manufacturing contracted for a second consecutive month in September, falling to lowest its level of activity in a decade, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The group’s production manufacturing index slid to 47.8, down from 49.1 percent in August. Any reading below 50 percent indicates contraction. Trade was one of the main factors weighing down manufacturing. …

Bloomberg Business reports: China hawks in Trump’s administration want Beijing to quit subsidizing strategic industries, yet that hasn’t deterred the White House from doling out billions in aid to American farmers, who have become more dependent on government money than they’ve been in years. At $28 billion so far, the farm rescue is more than twice as expensive as the …

Axios reports: Imports of American products to China dropped to $10.3 billion in August, down 22% from the same month last year. Chinese exports to the U.S. also plummeted to $44.4 billion in August, down 16%. China’s trade surplus with the U.S. shrunk to $31.3 billion in August, down $27 billion from a year prior. Both sides of the escalating …

Via press release from a corn farming advocacy group: As harvest approaches after an extremely difficult year for agriculture, many Nebraska corn farmers are outraged by the Trump administration’s lack of support for the American farmer. President Trump’s administration continues to erode the Renewable Fuel Standards by granting 31 unjustified refinery waivers, destroying demand for corn and ultimately choosing to …