Category Archives: US economy

Trump announces 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum

Posted on by

Modified US duties will be enforced ‘without exceptions’, said president, in controversial bid to boost economy

Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum on Monday, ramping up his controversial bid to boost the US economy by hiking taxes on imports from overseas.

The modified US duties will be enforced “without exceptions or exemptions”, the president declared, dashing the hopes of countries that hoped to avoid them.

Continue reading...

Key payment systems ‘under siege’ by Trump administration, experts warn

Posted on by

Ex-treasury secretaries caution against administration’s subversion of checks and balances, specifically Musk

A group of five former US treasury secretaries are warning that the Trump administration has put the country’s key payment systems “under siege” and is undermining the checks and balances of the federal government.

The secretaries warned that the administration has compromised roles historically given to nonpartisan career civil servants and have replaced them with “political actors”, according to a New York Times op-ed published on Monday. The secretaries specifically called into question Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, and the appointees that Musk has installed within agencies, including the treasury department.

Continue reading...

Trump to announce 25% aluminum and steel tariffs in latest trade escalation

Posted on by

US president accused of ‘shifting goalposts’ by premier of Ontario for adding further tariffs on top of existing metal duties

Donald Trump has said he will announce new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the US on Monday that would affect “everybody’, including its largest trading partners Canada and Mexico, in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.

The US president, speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, also said he would announce reciprocal tariffs – raising US tariff rates to match those of trading partners – on Tuesday or Wednesday, which would take effect “almost immediately”. “And very simply, it’s, if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said of the reciprocal tariff plan.

Continue reading...

Fury in Mexico over Trump’s ‘slanderous’ claim of cartel links

Posted on by

President Sheinbaum and politicians across the spectrum condemn accusation, which follows imposition of US tariffs

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has hit back at Donald Trump’s “slanderous” claim that her government had joined forces with drug bosses, amid anger and incredulity at the US president’s attack on the leaders of Latin America’s second biggest economy.

Trump made the claim on Saturday as he announced 25% tariffs against Mexico that the US said were a response to illegal immigration and the “intolerable alliance” between drug trafficking organisations and Mexico’s government, which had allegedly offered safe haven to “dangerous cartels”.

Continue reading...

AstraZeneca cancels £450m Liverpool investment, blaming UK government funding cuts – business live

Posted on by

Pharmaceutical company says that it will not go ahead with investment at Speke, near Liverpool

Donald Trump’s White House will invoke emergency powers to introduce tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Reuters reports:

Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump was expected to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the legal basis for the tariffs, declaring a national emergency over fentanyl overdoses that killed nearly 75,000 Americans in 2023 and illegal immigration.

The statute enacted in 1977 and modified after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 gives the president broad powers to impose economic sanctions in a crisis.

Continue reading...

Fed holds interest rates steady amid uncertainty over Trump’s impact on economy

Posted on by

President has made clear he wants rates to fall as benchmark interest rate now sits at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%

Federal Reserve officials decided on Wednesday to hold interest rates steady as uncertainty over Donald Trump’s impact on the US economy looms and inflation remains above the central bank’s target levels.

This is the first time Fed policymakers have met since the president, who has made clear he wants rates to fall, returned to the White House. The benchmark interest rate now sits at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

Continue reading...

Ontario leader warns of ‘pain’ for US if Trump imposes tariffs on Canada

Posted on by

Premier of most populous province says rhetoric clouds trade relationship worth hundreds of billions of dollars

The United States will “feel pain” if Donald Trump doesn’t back down from his threat to impose steep tariffs on its northern neighbour, the leader of Canada’s most populous province has warned.

After a tumultuous week that left Canadian leaders flailing for a coherent national response to Trump’s provocations – including the suggestion that the US would annex its closest ally – the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told the Guardian: “We will never be for sale.”

Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves heads to China to build bridges, but a new golden era of relations is impossible

Posted on by

Seeking business partners post-Brexit is sound policy, but even in these darker geopolitical times the UK will ultimately side with the US

Rachel Reeves will fly with a delegation of City grandees to China this week as Labour seeks closer economic links with Beijing as part of its quest for growth.

With the outlook increasingly rocky at home after a run of soft economic data, the chancellor is sorely in need of a positive story to tell.

Continue reading...

Justin Trudeau promises Trump that Canada will increase border surveillance

Posted on by

Canadian PM dines with Trump, who vowed tariffs unless country stops migrants and drugs from entering US

Justin Trudeau promised Donald Trump that Canada would increase surveillance over the long undefended joint border, a senior Canadian official said on Sunday. The Canadian prime minister flew to Florida on Friday to have dinner with the US president-elect, who has promised to slap tariffs on Canadian imports unless Ottawa prevents undocumented people and drugs from crossing the frontier.

Canada sends 75% of all goods and services exports to the United States and tariffs would badly hurt the economy.

Continue reading...

Trump threat of 100% tariffs against Brics nations raises trade war fears

Posted on by

President-elect threatens retaliation if emerging economies create new currency to rival US dollar

Fears of a global trade war have risen after Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on countries in the Brics group if they create a new currency to rival the US dollar.

Writing on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday, Trump declared that he would also act if they supported another currency to replace the dollar.

Continue reading...

Mexican president claims ‘no potential tariff war’ with US after call with Trump

Posted on by

Sheinbaum says she had cooperative talks with president-elect who threatened 25% tariff against Mexico on Tuesday

Claudia Sheinbaum has said her “very kind” phone conversation with Donald Trump, in which they discussed immigration and fentanyl, means “there will not be a potential tariff war” between the US and Mexico.

The president of Mexico spoke to reporters on Thursday following Trump’s threat earlier in the week to apply a 25% tariff against Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff against China, when he takes office in January if the countries did not stop all illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into the US.

Continue reading...

Trump’s tariff threat sets stage for bitter global trade war

Posted on by

Trade experts hail ‘new era of protectionism’ with targeted countries retaliating with their own tariffs

Donald Trump’s threat to impose steep tariffs on goods imported into the US has set the stage for a bitter global trade war, according to trade experts and economists, with consumers and companies warned to brace for steep costs.

The president-elect announced on Monday night that he intends to hit Canada, Mexico and China with tariffs on all their exports to the US – until they reduce migration and the flow of drugs into the country.

Continue reading...

Ireland prices corporation tax loss from Trump policies at €10bn

Posted on by

Figure costed for three multinationals repatriating to US after nomination for commerce secretary hits out at Ireland’s tax regime

Ireland’s prime minister has said the country could lose €10bn (£8.35bn) in corporate tax if just three US multinationals were repatriated to America under a hostile Donald Trump administration.

His remarks come just days after Trump nominated the Wall Street investor Howard Lutnick to lead the Department of Commerce with direct responsibility for trade.

Continue reading...

Fed chair says he will not resign even if pressured by Trump as interest rate cut

Posted on by

Trump has been a persistent critic of the Fed, which lowered rates for the second time in a row as inflation continues to ease

US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said he would not resign if he received any pressure from Donald Trump’s new administration to step down as the central bank lowered interest rates by a quarter-point Tuesday afternoon.

Trump has been a persistent critic of the Fed and its independence, calling its officials “boneheads” in his last administration and arguing that he should have a role in setting interest rates.

Continue reading...

Inflation pain helped secure Trump win but his policies mean higher prices

Posted on by

Markets expect his policy package to harm trade and growth but reduce business taxes

Higher share prices. A stronger dollar. A less rapid pace of interest rate cuts. The financial market reaction to Donald Trump’s return to the White House was swift and predictable.

The man who will become his country’s 47th president has made no secret of what he plans to do: cut taxes, impose heavy tariffs on imported goods, place curbs on migration, and slash red tape.

Continue reading...

Harris edges out Trump on key economic questions, new poll shows

Posted on by

Poll shows more voters support US vice-president’s tax and housing policies compared with the Republican nominee

Donald Trump has lost his advantage over Kamala Harris on who is best qualified to manage the economy, new polls suggest.

With millions of voters already casting early ballots for the presidency ahead of election day on 5 November, a fresh Associated Press/NORC poll says Harris, the Democratic nominee, has taken a slight lead when it comes to some key economic questions that concern middle-class voters.

Continue reading...

Biden’s economic legacy could decide the presidential race in Scranton

Posted on by

The politically split Pennsylvania town shows why the race is so close – and it’s unclear whether the president’s legacy will be enough to carry Harris over the line

From the north, motorists pull into Scranton via the Joseph R Biden Jr Expressway. Cutting through the scenic Pocono Mountains, now at the start of autumn color season, they are greeted with a towering, electric billboard, blaring an encapsulating – if divisive – message to this working-class town: “Democrats for Trump,” it reads. “Economy,” it continues, with a green checked box next to the word.

The sign in Biden’s hometown is the perfect fall 2024 welcome mat in this crucial swing state filled with voters whose economic anxiety or satisfaction will decide next month’s election.

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris’s economic policy slate more popular than Trump’s – poll

Posted on by

Exclusive: Harris Poll for Guardian finds Democrat put forward four of top five most popular economic proposals

Kamala Harris’s economic policies proved far more popular than Donald Trump’s plans in a blind test of their proposals.

Four of the top five most popular proposals were from the Democratic candidate’s campaign, according to a new Harris Poll conducted exclusively for the Guardian.

Continue reading...

Stock markets hit record highs after news of a fall in US inflation

Posted on by

S&P 500 index of major US companies registers near 100% gain on year ago amid expectation of interest rate cuts

A fall in US inflation expected to pave the way for further cuts in interest rates pushed stock markets to record highs on Friday.

Ending a week of gains that began when the Chinese authorities approved a huge economic stimulus package, the S&P 500 index of major US companies soared above 5,750 to register a near 100% gain on a year ago.

Continue reading...

Harris says cost of living ‘still too high’ as she lays out economic agenda

Posted on by

Democratic presidential nominee fleshed out economic vision for middle class and small businesses

Millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet, Kamala Harris has said, as the Democratic presidential candidate fleshed out the economic agenda she hopes to adopt in the White House.

Conceding that the cost of living in America “is still just too high”, the vice-president argued this was true “long before” the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the global economy, and she took office with the president, Joe Biden.

Continue reading...