White House has raised threat of levies as a means to bolster US economy, ignoring warnings trade wars could derail it
Donald Trump stood firm against warnings that his threatened trade war risks derailing the US economy, claiming his administration could hit foreign cars with tariffs of around 25% within weeks.
Semiconductor chips and drugs are set to face higher duties, Trump told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Deal approved at high court gives company £1.5bn in upfront cash to stave off collapse
Thames Water has won court approval for an emergency debt package worth up to £3bn that should stave off the collapse of Britain’s biggest water company for at least another few months.
London’s high court said on Tuesday that the deal could proceed, after hearing four days of complex arguments earlier this month over whether it should go ahead. The deal will allow the company to avoid special administration, in effect a temporary nationalisation.
Continue reading...Households face greater than expected rise in Ofgem price cap after Europe’s gas storage levels slump, analysts say
Millions of households face a greater than expected increase to their energy bills of about 5% from April after a slump in Europe’s gas storage levels caused market prices to climb, according to analysts.
The average gas and electricity bill for a typical household in Great Britain is expected to rise by £85 from April to £1,823 a year under the energy regulator’s price cap.
Continue reading...London mayor to tell meeting that mobility scheme would benefit young people and economy
Sadiq Khan will tell EU diplomats “Brexit was a mistake” and renew his backing for a youth mobility scheme as he argues strengthened ties with the bloc would help offset Donald Trump’s threatened tariff regime.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the mayor of London will tell delegates that Britain’s withdrawal from the trading bloc “continues to have a negative impact”, and he will promise to make the case for “being bold” in efforts to seek closer alignment.
Continue reading...Exclusive: More than 200 civil society groups say governments have failed to prevent planes from being used to violate international law
More than 200 organisations worldwide have called on nations involved in producing F-35 fighter jets to “immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel” amid fears they have failed to prevent the planes from being used to violate international law.
The letter, signed by 232 civil society organisations, was sent on Monday to government ministers in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the US and the UK as the war in Gaza reached 500 days.
Continue reading...Analysts say address to symposium suggests crackdown on sector may be ending in effort to tackle economic slump
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has told businesses to “show their talent” at a meeting of Chinese industry leaders including the Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, as he attempts to halt an economic slump in the world’s second-largest economy.
Xi met Ma, who was at the centre of a crackdown on the tech industry in recent years, as well as the bosses of the electric carmaker BYD, the battery manufacturer CATL, Tencent, Xiaomi, and the founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei
Continue reading...But business shouldn’t hold its breath for any immediate effect interest rate cuts might have on spending habits – which can take up to nine months
The Reserve Bank is expected to provide “breathing capacity” to households with mortgages by cutting the official cash rate for the first time since the early days of the Covid pandemic.
The market is pricing in a 90% chance of a 25 basis point decrease on Tuesday, according to the ASX’s rate indicator, although several economists have warned they expect the decision to be closer than the odds suggest.
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Continue reading...End of ‘de minimis’ policy for Chinese goods also expected to hit bigger fashion retailers such as Asos and Boohoo
Many UK-based independent sellers on marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon could suffer a significant hit to US sales from planned changes to import rules under Donald Trump, with experts comparing the impact to a second Brexit.
The new rules, which mean all parcels originating or made in China and being sold into the US must pay import duty – of as much as 15% on fashion items – and an additional 10% tariff, are also expected to impact bigger online clothing retailers such as Asos and Boohoo.
Continue reading...Those supporting the deal hope it will raise billions to help poor countries deal with climate breakdown
Brazil has asked the UN to throw out plans for a new levy on global shipping that would raise funds to fight the climate crisis, despite playing host to the next UN climate summit.
The proposed levy on carbon dioxide emissions from shipping will be discussed at a crunch meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that begins on Monday. Those supporting the deal, including the UK, the EU and Japan, are hoping the levy will raise billions of dollars a year, which could be used to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate breakdown.
Continue reading...Uncertainty created by tariffs and contempt for rule of law will deter investment, says top economist
Donald Trump’s tariff threats have made the US “a scary place to invest” and may unleash stagflation, the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has said.
“It risks the worst of all possible worlds: a kind of stagflation,” Stiglitz said in an interview with the Guardian.
Continue reading...Plan for ‘reasonable’ 2.8% rises may prove insufficient, forcing chancellor to find billions in extra funding
Rachel Reeves has been warned public sector unions will demand higher pay increases to compensate for accelerating inflation, heaping pressure on the chancellor to find billions of pounds in extra funding.
The government made recommendations in December for a 2.8% pay rise for teachers, NHS staff and other public sector workers for the financial year beginning in April, saying it was a “reasonable amount” given forecasts for the economy.
Continue reading...Resolution Foundation report says failure to reform has ‘slowly recreated the issues that undid the poll tax’
Britain’s poorest households are paying an increasing share of their income on council tax, according to new analysis that likened it to the poll tax that contributed to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher.
The poorest fifth of households paid 4.8% of their income on council tax in England, Wales and Scotland and on domestic rates in Northern Ireland in the 2020-21 financial year, up from 2.9% in 2002-3, according to research by the Resolution Foundation.
Continue reading...Impending tax rises from autumn budget fuel collapse in sentiment and rising redundancy intentions, surveys show
UK employers are preparing for the biggest redundancy round in a decade amid collapsing business confidence as firms brace for tax increases from April that Rachel Reeves announced in her autumn budget.
In a fresh blow for the chancellor, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which represents human resources professionals, said a survey of 2,000 employers showed redundancy intentions at their highest level in 10 years, barring the Covid pandemic.
Continue reading...Demonstrations across the US against tycoon’s ties to Trump highlight potential risks to firm’s reputation and sales
Protesters gathered outside Tesla dealerships across the US on Saturday in response to Elon Musk’s efforts to shred government spending under the president, Donald Trump.
Groups of demonstrators up to 100-strong gathered outside the electric carmaker’s showrooms in cities including New York, Seattle, Kansas City and across California. Organisers said the protests took place in dozens of locations.
Continue reading...GMB says 60 workers have been targeted, with disciplinary action increasing significantly, but company denies claims
Amazon has been accused of targeting 60 trade union members with disciplinary action after narrowly defeating a recognition vote at its Coventry warehouse last summer.
The GMB trade union said all 60 workers were involved in action at the warehouse – where it has about 700 members out of a workforce of at least 1,500 – that culminated in a ballot on formal recognition in July last year that failed by only a handful of votes.
Continue reading...President has begun slashing federal workforce while hobbling labor watchdogs NLRB and EEOC
As a presidential candidate last fall, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to battle for US workers, but ever since he returned to the White House, he has taken a surprisingly large number of anti-worker actions, labor experts say. Some of those moves, among them hobbling the National Labor Relations Board, will help Trump’s billionaire business friends, most notably Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
In his first few weeks back in office, Trump fired the acting chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), leaving the US’s top labor watchdog without a quorum to enforce laws that protect workers’ right to unionize. Trump has designated Musk, a vehemently anti-union billionaire, to launch an all-out war against the federal bureaucracy and workforce, and Trump and Musk have essentially treated the country’s 2 million-plus federal employees as if they were disposable.
Continue reading...Defense and tech firms – including Musk’s own – await potential contracts as Doge decimates US agencies
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has vowed to oversee a radical hollowing out of government agencies, asserting this week that some should be “deleted entirely” as he defunds public programs and lays off federal workers. While the immense cuts are framed as a means of removing waste, they may also become a boon to private companies – including Musk’s own businesses – that the government increasingly relies on for many of its key initiatives.
Musk and his allies in the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), the unofficial committee acting as the operations arm of his cost-cutting efforts, have targeted a range of major government departments. They have moved to close the United States Agency for International Development, slashed the Department of Education and taken over the General Services Administration that controls federal IT structures. Doge staffers have also gained access to the treasury department, as well as set their sights on the Department of Defense, energy department, Environmental Protection Agency and at least a dozen others.
Continue reading...US president’s announcement prompts government to publish green paper weeks ahead of schedule
The government has rushed forward plans for a £2.5bn investment in the UK steel industry after Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminium into the US.
The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will publish a green paper entitled Plan for Steel on Sunday – several weeks before schedule – in a sign of how Trump’s tariffs are sending shock waves through a UK government desperate to kickstart economic growth.
Continue reading...Maker of ChatGPT rebuffs consortium led by Tesla owner and rejects ‘latest attempt to disrupt his competition’
OpenAI on Friday rejected a $97.4bn bid from a consortium led by billionaire Elon Musk for the ChatGPT maker, saying the startup is not for sale.
The unsolicited approach is Musk’s latest attempt to block the startup he co-founded with CEO Sam Altman – but later left – from becoming a for-profit firm, as it looks to secure more capital and stay ahead in the AI race.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Independent investigation in 2023 upheld five allegations against Carlo D’Amario, the Guardian understands
From her 1975 “gay cowboys” T-shirt to pioneering catwalk collections that challenged gender norms, the late Vivienne Westwood has long been heralded as an LGBT+ icon.
But the fashion house she built over five decades faces serious questions about whether the late designer’s values have endured, after allegations about homophobic bullying by its chief executive, Carlo D’Amario, were upheld by an independent investigation, the Guardian understands.
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