US President Donald Trump has threatened Latin America's largest economy, Brazil, with a 50% tariff on exports to the US. He also ordered an investigation into alleged unfair trade practices, which could lead to even higher duties. Trump set the August 1 tariff rate, far higher than the 10% duty imposed on Brazil on April 2. Brazil is the United States' 15th-largest trading partner, with total two-way trade amounting to USD 92 billion in 2024, and a rare US trade surplus of USD 7.4 billion. Brazil was one of eight countries mentioned in letters Trump posted on Wednesday, which outlined...
The impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff agenda is likely to be seen in the upcoming second-quarter corporate earnings season, according to analysts at Capital Economics. Despite having largely delayed the implementation of his punishing "reciprocal" levies first unveiled in April, Trump has left a baseline 10% tariff in place, as well as heightened duties on items like steel, aluminum and autos. The effective U.S. tariff has in turn increased compared to its level at the beginning of Trump's second term earlier this year, analysts have suggested. This week, Trump has...
Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 5,000 from the previous week to 227,000 on the first period of July, below market expectations of a 2,000 increase to 235,000. It was the fourth consecutive decline in initial claims to the lowest count in seven weeks, consolidating the view that the US labor market remains relatively robust to high interest rates and economic uncertainty. Still, outstanding unemployment claims rose by 10,000 to 1,965,000, the most since 2021, to solidify concerns that hiring is slowing. Initial claims filed by federal government employees, which have been under...