Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday responded to a Trump administration official's demands for information about cost overruns for a renovation project at the central bank's Washington headquarters campus, saying the project was large in scope and involved a number of safety upgrades and hazardous materials removals. "As explained on the Board's public website, we take seriously the responsibility to be good stewards of public resources as we fulfill the duties given to us by Congress on behalf of the American people," Powell wrote in his letter to Office of Management and...
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...
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 minutes of the United States Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting on June 17-18 will be released on Wednesday at 6:00 PM GMT. Policymakers decided to keep the benchmark interest rate in the 4.25%-4.5% range, but the revised Summary of Projections (SEP) shows that policymakers project two 25 basis point (bps) rate cuts in 2025. Jerome Powell and co. decided to leave the policy setting unchanged after the June meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at its June meeting. In its policy statement, the US central bank...
US President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariff demand letters on Wednesday (July 9), with levies set to take effect in August on imports from partners that failed to reach agreements with the US. Trump said he would impose 30% tariffs on Algeria, Libya, and Iraq, with 25% duties on products from Brunei and Moldova, and 20% tariffs on goods from the Philippines. These levies are largely in line with the tariffs Trump initially announced in April, although the Iraqi tariff was reduced from 39%, while the Philippines' was increased from 17%. Trump began notifying trading partners...
Indonesia will emphasize its strategic role in global trade—particularly in natural resources as it advances negotiations to reduce a 32% tariff set to be imposed by the US, a government official said on Wednesday. Haryo Limanseto, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto who is leading the negotiation team is scheduled to meet with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and other officials. However, no specific timeframe for the meetings was provided. The 32% tariff...
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...
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to send a single letter to over 150 countries outlining the tariff rate they will face, saying, "It's all going to be the same for everyone, for that...