Farmers in Africa that produce some of the world’s most prized coffee are in a scramble to comply with new European Union environmental rules that require them to document the origin of every shipment of beans. The new measure, coming into force at the end of this year, is designed to prevent deforestation driven by agricultural expansion. To comply, farmers …
Read More »Tag Archives: International Trade and World Market
Trump’s Tariffs Bump Into Reality as Economic Strategy Wavers
After weeks of bluster and escalation, President Trump blinked. Then he blinked again. And again. He backed off his threat to fire the Federal Reserve chairman. His Treasury secretary, acutely aware that the S&P 500 was down 10 percent since Mr. Trump was inaugurated, signaled he was looking for an offramp to avoid an intensifying trade war with China. And …
Read More »Trump Team Races to Form Trade Deals After Tariffs Sow Global Chaos
For a president who advertises himself as a paramount deal maker, the next 11 weeks will be a pivotal test, as his advisers race to accomplish what no other administration has done before and reach dozens of individual trade deals with other governments. President Trump has promised big gains for American trade, and officials from Japan, South Korea, India and …
Read More »Both Admired and Resented by Trump, Japan Scrambles to Stay Close
This month in the White House’s Rose Garden, as he held up a placard showing the global wave of tariffs he wanted to impose, President Trump paused to fondly recall a fallen friend. “The prime minister of Japan, Shinzo, was — Shinzo Abe — he was a fantastic man,” Mr. Trump said during the tariff announcement on April 2. “He …
Read More »Trump’s 10% Tariff May Be Less Onerous but Still Raises Prices and Threatens Trade
When Donald J. Trump championed the idea of a 10 percent blanket tariff during the campaign, many people, whether for or against, were taken aback by how radical the idea was. Alarms sounded about higher inflation, lost jobs, slower growth or recession. The prospect seemed so outlandish that most economists and Wall Street analysts who gamed out the possibilities tended …
Read More »How Trump Might Unwittingly Cut Emissions From Online Shopping
Fast-fashion giants like Shein and Temu have been doing booming business in the United States in recent years, in part because of a tariff exemption that’s helped to keep prices low on packages shipped from China. Now, President Trump has ordered the loophole closed as part of new tariffs, starting with packages from China and Hong Kong. It could have …
Read More »Trump’s Tariff Threat for Drug imports Poses Big Political Risks
President Trump’s decision to move a step closer to imposing tariffs on imported medicines poses considerable political risk, because Americans could face higher prices and more shortages of critical drugs. The Trump administration filed a federal notice on Monday saying that it had begun an investigation into whether imports of medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients threaten America’s national security, an effort …
Read More »Trump’s Dilemma: A Trade War That Threatens Every Other Negotiation With China
President Trump came into office sounding as if he were eager to deal with President Xi Jinping of China on the range of issues dividing the world’s two biggest superpowers. He and his aides signaled that they wanted to resolve trade disputes and lower the temperature on Taiwan, curb fentanyl production and get to a deal on TikTok. Perhaps, over …
Read More »Trump Signals Semiconductor Tariffs Are Coming ‘Very Soon’
President Trump is expected to announce further tariffs this week, probably including levies on semiconductors, as he moves forward with a trade investigation related to national security. The move would raise the cost of importing chips, which are a vital component in electronics, cars, toys and other goods. The United States is heavily dependent on semiconductors from Taiwan and elsewhere …
Read More »Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Sperm Whale Teeth and Bones
A South Carolina man pleaded guilty on Thursday to importing sperm whale teeth and bones from four countries and selling them in the United States, federal prosecutors said. The man, Lauren H. DeLoach, 69, of St. Helena Island, S.C., pleaded guilty to Lacey Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act charges for importing and selling sperm whale parts, according to the …
Read More »