Cleveland-Cliffs Loves Trump Tariffs, Puts Up 'For Sale' Sign
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Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump gets tariffs; Americans get price hikes
By David Gaffen and Marleen Kaesebier (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump is getting his tariffs. Companies are making it clear how they intend to deal with it - passing them on to American consumers. Throughout the spring, big retailers and consumer product makers warned that levies on imported goods would squeeze their operations, forcing them to choose between lower earnings and passing on higher costs to customers. In the case of Procter & Gamble and others, it is both of those things. On Tuesday, the packaging giant, which makes household basics spanning from Bounty paper towel to Tide detergent, issued a sour outlook for 2025 and sent a message to big retailers like Walmart that it would have to raise prices on some U.S. goods from next week. This challenge facing companies in coming quarters will likely feed through to everyday consumers. P&G said it would raise prices on about a quarter of its products in the U.S. to help offset the cost of new tariffs. Price hikes are in the mid-single digits across categories, a spokesperson for the company said. While U.S. stock indexes have soared to record highs this year, built on massive investment in technology shares, many consumer bellwethers have struggled. Since Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, P&G shares have declined 19%; Nestle is down 20%; Kimberly-Clark has lost 11%, and PepsiCo is off nearly 7%, while the benchmark S&P 500 stock index has gained more than 13%. Consumer goods, food and drink companies have struggled with lackluster sales since the pandemic, as shoppers have balked at increasingly expensive name-brand packaged food. Nestle said last week that consumers in North America remained wary of paying more at the cash register. More price hikes will deepen investor worries about how big brands are navigating the combined challenge of thrifty consumers and hefty costs created by Trump's trade war. "You're going to see companies like Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy forced to pass price increases to consumers," said Bill George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic and executive education fellow at Harvard Business School. "Main Street has yet to see the fallout from increased tariffs - and they're going to go higher." Between July 16 and 25, companies in the Reuters global tariff tracker said they expected to lose a combined $7.1 billion to $8.3 billion for the full year. GM, Ford and other carmakers have absorbed the cost of tariffs - totaling billions of dollars - so far. Many companies shipped more goods and raw materials into the U.S. before tariffs hit. Economists and analysts reckon that hoarding has helped some delay hiking prices until later in the year and explains why tariffs have not yet shown up in U.S. inflation data. Andrew Wilson, International Chamber of Commerce deputy secretary general, estimates inflation will be felt once companies have run down inventory, but that might not be until the fourth quarter or first quarter of next year. Others like Ray Ban-maker EssilorLuxottica have already hiked prices. Swiss watch and jewelry maker Swatch increased prices by about 5% after Trump announced tariffs in April with "zero impact" on sales, CEO Nick Hayek told Reuters recently. High-end brands like Tissot watches are less price sensitive to increases. Customers wanting to splash out on an expensive watch might also buy abroad when travelling where taxes are lower, he said. "You cannot do this with cars. You cannot do this with machines. But you can do this with watches. So it's not so problematic for us," he said. Sign in to access your portfolio
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump, China trade talks move closer to extending tariff truce
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration and Chinese officials appear to be moving toward extending a 90-day tariff truce the two sides struck in May, but President Donald Trump still has not signed off on it. Momentum to extend the truce, in which both countries held off on imposing massive, triple-digit tariffs on imports on one another, came as a result of two days of U.S.-China talks in Stockholm. "We're going to talk to the president about whether that's something that he wants to do," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Trump's top trade official, told reporters in Stockholm. "It's certainly something that's been under discussion." More: Trump's trade talks intensify with tariff deadline fast approaching Trump expressed optimism about the latest round of discussions between his economic team and Chinese officials as he returned to the White House from Scotland aboard Air Force One. "They're going to brief me tomorrow. We'll either approve it or not," Trump said, referring to an extension of the truce. China's top trade negotiator Li Chenggang said that both countries agreed to push for an extension of the trade truce, without specifying when or for how long. In May, the Trump administration and China agreed to slash tariffs for 90 days in a push to de-escalate a trade war between the world's two largest economies while the two sides continued to negotiate a long-term agreement. However, a long-term deal between the United States and China still hasn't come together ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline when Trump was preparing to impose higher tariffs on goods from nearly 180 countries. Under the truce in May, the United States reduced 125% reciprocal tariffs imposed on Chinese imports by 115% to a 10% baseline tariff, which matches the tariffs the Trump administration imposed on other countries. Trump's 20% tariffs slapped on China over fentanyl production remained in effect, meaning the U.S. tariffs on China totaled 30% overall. In turn, the Chinese government agreed to reduce its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports for 90 days from 125% to 10%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who participated in the trade talks in Stockholm, said he believes the Chinese were "surprised" by the magnitude of Trump's recently announced trade deals with Japan and the European Union. More: President Trump announces 'massive' Japan trade deal with 15% tariff "They're never compliant, but I think they were in more of a mood for a wide-ranging discussion," Bessent said, calling the tone of the talks "constructive." Bessent said Trump's team conveyed the need for the United States to improve the trade balance with China in areas such as rare earth minerals, semiconductors and medicines. "We reiterated to them: We don't want to decouple. We just need to de-risk with certain industries," Bessent said. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
The Hill
17 minutes ago
- The Hill
US, China to continue talks on tariffs truce
Officials from Beijing and Washington on Tuesday agreed to continue talks on extending tariff rates under an established 90-day truce. China's top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, discussed the progress during a press conference in Sweden, where officials have held talks for the past two days. 'The Chinese and U.S. economic and trade teams will maintain active communication, exchange views on economic and trade issues in a timely manner, and continue to promote the stable and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations,' Li told reporters, according to Reuters. U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer provided a positive report from negotiations, noting that President Trump will ultimately have the final say over a further tariff truce extension. 'We'll report back to him the process we had here,' Greer told reporters, according to Reuters. 'We had constructive meetings for sure, to go back with the positive report. But the extension of the pause, he'll decide.' He added that the conversation was candid and in-depth on both sides, notes Bloomberg. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the current agreement could be extended out to 90 days. He told reporters Tuesday remaining issues were 'small' according to Bloomberg, noting President Trump would be briefed on concerns by Wednesday. Chinese leaders have said that they want a deal that is mutually beneficial while Trump has weighed the option of visiting Beijing to discuss a more permanent rate in person with President Xi Jinping. On Monday, Trump said he was not seeking a 'summit' with Jinping but would be open to discussion of talks if they were initiated from the other side. 'The Fake News is reporting that I am SEEKING a 'Summit' with President Xi of China. This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything! I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended,' the president wrote in a Truth Social post. 'Otherwise, no interest! Thank you for your attention to this matter.'
