The US has signaled it will not relax its August 1 deadline for higher tariffs against the European Union as the bloc struggles to reach a deal on time. Over the weekend, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he was confident a trade deal with the EU could be reached, but cautioned that the deadline for the 30% base tariffs was fixed. "That's a tight deadline, so on August 1, the new tariffs will go into effect," Lutnick said Sunday on CBS News when asked about his EU tariff deadline. He did hint that negotiations could continue beyond that date, stating: "These are the two largest...
The Trump administration confirmed Wednesday morning that the base tariff on products imported into the U.S. from China remains at 145%, after a previously released fact sheet caused confusion in Asian hours. The White House, in a fact sheet on critical minerals released Tuesday afternoon Washington time (early Wednesday in Asia) included language that said China "now faces tariffs of up to 245% on imports into the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions." That language was picked up by some Asian media outlets and Asia-based market analysts who, in the overnight Washington...
Retail Sales in the United States (US) rose by 1.4% in March to $734.9 billion, the US Census Bureau announced on Wednesday. This reading followed the 0.2% increase recorded in February and came in slightly better than the market expectation for an increase 1.3%. On a yearly basis, Retail Sales were up 4.6%. "Total sales for the January 2025 through March 2025 period were up 4.1% from the same period," the press release read. "Retail trade sales were up 1.4% from February 2025, and up 4.6% from last year." Source: FXStreet
British inflation slowed to its weakest in three months in March and other measures watched by the Bank of England cooled too, but higher bills and employer costs will pressure prices soon against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. Inflation slowed to an annual rate of 2.6% in March from 2.8% in February, below expectations of 2.7% in a BoE forecast and a Reuters poll of economists. A price drop for computer games and falling fuel prices helped bring down the headline rate although the prices of clothes rose strongly after a surprise fall in February, the Office for...
The Trump administration is planning to use ongoing tariff negotiations to pressure U.S. trading partners to limit their transactions with China, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the discussions. The report added that the Trump administration wants to use negotiations with more than 70 countries to get them to ban China from shipping products through their countries and to bar Chinese companies from setting up business there to avoid U.S. tariffs. (Newsmaker) Source: FXstreet
As China imposes export controls on rare earth elements, the U.S. would be unable to fill a potential shortfall, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies — and this could threaten Washington's military capabilities. Amid U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating tariffs on China, Beijing earlier this month imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and magnets used in defense, energy and automotive technologies. The new restrictions — which encompass the medium and heavy rare earth elements samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium...
China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI increased to 49.7 in June 2025 from May's 49.5, matching market expectations while marking the third consecutive month of contraction in factory activity.
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Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
Russia unleashed a renewed attack on Ukraine, targeting the country's central and western regions with drone and missiles as Kyiv's allies pledged increased air defense protection to help shield the...