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Category: Economics

Trump’s tariffs will tip America into recession, warns JP Morgan

Trump’s tariffs will tip America into recession, warns JP Morgan

The Telegraph reports: Donald Trump’s tariffs will tip the world’s largest economy into recession, America’s biggest investment bank has warned. Investment bank JP Morgan has torn up its growth forecasts for the US, after global stocks tumbled and wiped more than $5 trillion (£3.8 trillion) off America’s most valuable companies in only two days. The investment bank downgraded US growth by 1.6 percentage points for this year, while predicting far higher unemployment that could leave nearly 2m additional Americans jobless….

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Americans were souring on Trump’s economic plans even before tariff bloodbath

Americans were souring on Trump’s economic plans even before tariff bloodbath

The Wall Street Journal reports: Americans elected Donald Trump with a favorable opinion of his economic plans. But his expansive push for tariffs has helped turn that confidence into skepticism, a new Wall Street Journal poll finds. Tepid support for tariffs through the past year has become disapproval, with 54% of voters opposing Trump’s levies on imported goods, 12 points more than those who support his plans. Three quarters of voters say that tariffs will raise prices on the things…

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As financial meltdown plays out, the Trump family’s cash registers ring

As financial meltdown plays out, the Trump family’s cash registers ring

The New York Times reports: The financial market meltdown was underway when President Trump boarded Air Force One on his way to Florida on Thursday for a doubleheader of sorts: a Saudi-backed golf tournament at his family’s Miami resort and a weekend of fund-raisers attracting hundreds of donors to his Palm Beach club. It was a fresh reminder that in his second term, Mr. Trump has continued to find ways to drive business to his family-owned real-estate ventures, a practice…

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Listening to no one else, Trump is ‘at the peak of just not giving a f— anymore,’ says White House official

Listening to no one else, Trump is ‘at the peak of just not giving a f— anymore,’ says White House official

The Washington Post reports: After deliberations [on determining tariff rates] that went late into Tuesday, Trump didn’t decide on the final plan until about 1 p.m. Wednesday — less than three hours ahead of his Rose Garden announcement. Inside and outside the White House, advisers say Trump is unbowed even as the world reels from the biggest increase in trade hostilities in a century. They say Trump is unperturbed by negative headlines or criticism from foreign leaders. He is determined…

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House Republican, Rep. Don Bacon, moves to rein in tariff powers

House Republican, Rep. Don Bacon, moves to rein in tariff powers

Politico reports: Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon said he plans to introduce a companion bill to the bipartisan Senate legislation aimed at reclaiming Congress’ authority over tariffs, becoming the first House Republican to openly challenge the powers President Donald Trump is using to launch a massive global trade war. Bacon confirmed his plans to POLITICO on Friday as market losses continued to pile up and rattle Republicans on Capitol Hill. The Senate bill introduced Thursday by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and…

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Sen. Ted Cruz warns Trump tariffs could be ‘terrible for America’

Sen. Ted Cruz warns Trump tariffs could be ‘terrible for America’

Politico reports: Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz is warning about major risks for the American economy and its automotive industry thanks to President Donald Trump’s trade war, saying it could result in the biggest tax hike in a “long, long time.” “I’m seeing a lot of Republican cheerleaders reflexively defending what the White House is doing,” Cruz said on his podcast Friday, but cautioned the administration’s latest actions could “hurt jobs and hurt America.” Cruz added he is “not a…

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‘Oligarchy’: Trump exempts big oil donors from tariffs as EV and battery factories are being canceled

‘Oligarchy’: Trump exempts big oil donors from tariffs as EV and battery factories are being canceled

The Guardian reports: The sweeping package of tariffs unveiled by Donald Trump on Wednesday includes an exemption for the energy sector, which is a clear sign of the president’s fealty to his big oil donors over the American people, advocates say. Trump’s new 10% universal tariffs – which are higher for many major economies – are wreaking havoc on the global economy and are expected to increase consumer prices in the US. But the levies will not apply to many…

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Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, top insurer warns

Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, top insurer warns

The Guardian reports: The climate crisis is on track to destroy capitalism, a top insurer has warned, with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the financial sector unable to operate. The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks, said Günther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies. He said that without insurance, which is already being pulled in…

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Wall Street reels as Trump’s tariffs plan sinks markets, but he’s ‘not listening to anyone or anything’

Wall Street reels as Trump’s tariffs plan sinks markets, but he’s ‘not listening to anyone or anything’

The Wall Street Journal reports: Rob Citrone couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The 60-year-old hedge-fund manager watched from his Orlando, Fla., home as President Trump walked into the White House’s Rose Garden and announced his sweeping plan to impose tariffs on the rest of the world. Citrone knew more levies on imported goods were coming—the White House had stuck to this message for months—and so he’d placed a series of wagers against U.S., European and Chinese stocks, betting they…

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The fatal flaw in Trump’s trade war

The fatal flaw in Trump’s trade war

Victoria Guida writes: President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime will completely transform America’s economic relationship with the rest of the world, all in the name of revitalizing domestic manufacturing. And yet, many businesses won’t be rushing to shift their supply chains to U.S. shores. For all the detail in Trump’s Wednesday announcement, his endgame is still shrouded in confusion. That’s lethal for long-term investment, making confident planning all but impossible. “If you want stuff being put in the ground, you…

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Trump’s new tariff math looks a lot like ChatGPT’s — ‘extraordinary nonsense’

Trump’s new tariff math looks a lot like ChatGPT’s — ‘extraordinary nonsense’

The Verge reports: When President Donald Trump began yesterday’s announcement of the White House’s latest trade policy brandishing a novelty-sized cardboard sign labeled “Reciprocal Tariffs,” the immediate and nearly unanimous response was bafflement. Trump slapped a 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports into the US, including from uninhabited islands, plus absurdly high rates on specific countries, supposedly based on “tariffs charged to the USA” — which didn’t match up to other, non-cardboard-sign-based estimates. Stock markets have plummeted and consumers…

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Macron calls on EU companies to freeze investments in America

Macron calls on EU companies to freeze investments in America

Politico reports: French President Emmanuel Macron wants EU businesses to stop investing in America in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s massive tariffs. “It is important that future investments, the investments announced over the last few weeks, should be put on hold for some time until we have clarified things with the United States of America,” Macron said on Thursday as he hosted a meeting with representatives of the sectors impacted and the government at the Elysée palace. “What message…

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Investors flee U.S. stocks as markets react sharply to Trump’s tariff plan

Investors flee U.S. stocks as markets react sharply to Trump’s tariff plan

NBC News reports: Global markets reacted sharply and swiftly after President Donald Trump revealed his much-anticipated tariff plans Wednesday, with investors fleeing U.S. stock indexes and companies that rely on global supply chains seeing their stocks plummet. S&P 500 futures, which indicate where it will likely open on Thursday, plunged 3.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures sold off by more than 4.3%, and Dow futures slid about 1,000 points or 2.3%. Those indices just endured their worst quarter in years in large…

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No ‘winner’ in Trump tariffs: Expect ‘pure chaos’ in the auto industry, analyst warns

No ‘winner’ in Trump tariffs: Expect ‘pure chaos’ in the auto industry, analyst warns

Investor’s Business Daily reports: A day after auto stocks broadly declined, the sector lost more ground Friday. The threat that President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all foreign-made vehicles could “send the auto industry into pure chaos,” and boost the average price of cars between $5,000 and $15,500, according to an analyst. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives on Friday said, after talking to auto industry players from around the world over the prior 24 hours, that the tariffs will add…

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Trade war explodes across world as it did in the 1930s

Trade war explodes across world as it did in the 1930s

The Wall Street Journal reports: Barriers to open trade are rising across the world at a pace unseen in decades, a cascade of protectionism that harks back to the isolationist fervor that swept the globe in the 1930s and worsened the Great Depression. It isn’t just President Trump’s extensive new tariffs, which have set off a barrage of retaliatory measures across Europe, China and Canada targeting hundreds of U.S. goods. Even before Trump retook the White House, many countries were…

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Consumer confidence sinks to 4-year low and it’s no secret why: Trump tariffs and trade wars

Consumer confidence sinks to 4-year low and it’s no secret why: Trump tariffs and trade wars

MarketWatch reports: Consumers and businesses have grown very anxious about President Donald Trump’s trade wars — and they have increasing doubts about the future of the economy if the White House stays on the current path. The latest signal of angst: The long-running survey of consumer confidence fell to a more than four-year low of 92.9 this month, from 100.1 in February, the Conference Board said Tuesday. That’s the fourth decline in a row and the lowest reading since January…

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