President Trump’s rapidly escalating trade war with China has resulted in eye-watering tariffs on products exchanged between the countries and scrambled prospects for many global businesses that depend on the trade. And there is no end in sight. The Trump administration has been waiting for the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to call Mr. Trump personally, but Beijing appears wary of …
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Bessent Takes Tricky Center Stage as Trade Wars Roil U.S. Economy
The traditional gathering of former Treasury secretaries to welcome a newly minted one into the fold is usually a lighthearted and pleasant affair. But when the group convened this month, on President Trump’s “Liberation Day,” the tone was strikingly serious. The dinner, organized by former Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, took place at a moment of tumult for the U.S. …
Read More »‘This is Not Normal’: Trump’s Tariffs Upend the Bond Market
The bedrock of the financial system trembled on Friday, with government bond yields rising sharply as the chaotic rollout of tariffs shook investors’ faith in the pivotal role played by the United States in the financial system. U.S. government bonds, known as Treasuries because they are issued by the U.S. Treasury, are backed by the full faith of the American …
Read More »What to Know About Who Pays the Higher Costs of Trump’s Tariffs
President Trump’s latest tariffs are about to become an unavoidable and expensive reality for American businesses and for people who rely on foreign goods. Shoppers buying clothes from retailers in China might soon pay more than twice as much, now that a special exemption for lower value imports is disappearing. And companies involved in international trade must now make even …
Read More »New Pact Would Require Ships to Cut Emissions or Pay a Fee
Amid the turmoil over global trade, countries around the world reached a remarkable, though modest, agreement Friday to reduce the climate pollution that comes from shipping those goods worldwide — with what is essentially a tax, no less. A draft accord reached in London under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, would require every ship …
Read More »As Trump Upends Global Trade, Europe Sees an Opportunity
President Trump has big ambitions for the global trading system and is using tariffs to try to rip it down and rebuild it. But the European Union is taking action after action to make sure the continent is at the center of whatever world comes next. As one of the globe’s biggest and most open economies, the E.U. has a …
Read More »The ‘China Shock’ Offers a Lesson. It Isn’t the One Trump Has Learned.
When Congress voted to normalize trade relations with China at the beginning of this century, U.S. manufacturers braced for a stream of cheap goods to begin flowing into U.S. ports. Instead, they got a flood. Imports from China nearly tripled from 1999 to 2005, and American factories, with their higher wages and stricter safety standards, couldn’t compete. The “China shock,” …
Read More »Challenge to Trump’s Tariffs Funded by Groups Linked to Charles Koch and Leonard Leo
Among those opposed to President Trump’s tariffs on imports from China: a legal group funded by some of the biggest names in conservative politics. Last week, a Florida business owner challenged the Trump administration’s moves in court, arguing that her company, Simplified, which makes notebooks and planners, was harmed by the dramatic trade war with China that has only deteriorated …
Read More »Trump’s Tariffs Could Impact Apparel Companies That Make Clothing in the U.S.
On the open 15th floor of a loft building in Midtown Manhattan, about a dozen skilled workers make their way through piles of pants, stitching each piece together with focus and precision. Some of the items are designed by Outlier, a fashion brand that produces its smaller runs and experimental products with the garment district’s ecosystem of contract manufacturers. It’s …
Read More »Trump’s Tariff Fight With China Poses New Threat to US Farmers
After China unveiled steep retaliatory tariffs on American exports on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a sharp and somewhat surprising response: “So what?” The question underscored the Trump administration’s argument that America has the upper hand in a trade war with China given how reliant its economy is on exports to the United States. The United States buys far …
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