Trump says July 9 trade deal date is not fixed
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said his July 9 trade deadline was not a fixed date, telling reporters at the White House that it could be sooner or later than that date, when wider US tariffs are set to be re-imposed if deals are not reached.
"We can do whatever we want. We could extend it. We could make it shorter. I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: Congratulations, you're paying 25%," he told reporters at the White House.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier said trade deals could be done by Labor Day.
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Bangkok Post
8 hours ago
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Americans cash out on gold as Asian investors bulk up
Americans who once snapped up gold bars and coins are offloading the assets while their Asian counterparts show no letup in buying, a sign that investors on opposite sides of the world have different outlooks on the global economy. The divergence suggests US residents who stash bars and coins at home or in safe deposit boxes — akin to stock market day traders — are more at ease about President Donald Trump's tariffs, rising government debt and geopolitical tensions. And, they're ready to cash in after the metal's stunning rally over the past two years. These American retail investors are bucking broader market trends in which more wealthy investors continue to aggressively buy the safe-haven asset, as do sovereign funds and central banks. Meanwhile, Asian gold buyers are eschewing jewellery for bars and coins. 'A lot of the retail investors (in the US) tend to be Republican-leaning. And whatever we say about the policy of tariffs, they like the idea of how Trump's doing,' said Philip Newman, managing director at the research consultancy Metals Focus Ltd. 'So from their point of view, there's less reason to buy gold.' The US market is so awash with bars and coins that some precious metals dealers have slashed their premiums to the lowest in six years to spur sales. And when investors sell, they're now looking at paying dealers a fee to offload gold. The bullion dealer Money Metals Exchange currently charges buyers of one-ounce American Eagle gold coins $20 over spot prices, compared with $175 four years ago. And sellers now need to pay about $20 for the online exchange to take the metal, whereas in 2021 they would have received an extra $121 for selling. The glut has led to a collapse in sales of newly minted bullion products, with the US Mint's American Eagle gold coins — a proxy for retail demand — tumbling more than 70% in May from the prior year. The demand for gold bars and coins has been falling for the past three years in North America and Western Europe while rising everywhere else in the world, with last year marking the biggest divergence on record in data going back to 2014, according to Metals Focus. That gap continued into the first quarter of 2025, driven predominately by the selloff in the US market, according to the consultancy. Meanwhile, demand for bars and coins rose 3% in the Asia-Pacific region in the first quarter, with the Chinese market registering a 12% year-on-year increase, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council. South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia all posted gains of more than 30%. Initial worries of China and Asia getting hit the hardest by Trump's tariffs led to 'super strong' demand for gold in the region, said Kenny Hu, a commodity strategist at Citigroup. Concerns about local currency depreciation also means gold remains the go-to asset for Asian investors who played a key role in the metal's rally since 2024. Investors in Southeast Asia lacking other options have started recognising gold as a strategic asset, said Brian Lan, managing director of GoldSilver Central, a Singapore-based precious metals dealer. 'Southeast Asians who have memories of the war understand that gold is a form of insurance during periods of uncertainty,' he said. In the US, profit taking is part of the equation given gold's stunning climb — up 59% since the beginning of 2024 to $3,274.33 an ounce on Friday. But Wall Street banks are split over whether the rally has ended. Goldman Sachs reaffirmed a $4,000 forecast by next year and Morgan Stanley expects $3,800 by the end of this year, while Citigroup sees prices dipping below $3,000 next year. 'When there's fear, they own more gold and less risk assets,' said Hu of Citigroup. 'And now maybe they're thinking things are actually fine. Tariffs are not that bad. Things will get negotiated out. Geopolitics eventually will de-escalate and US growth may be not that bad.'
Bangkok Post
9 hours ago
- Bangkok Post
Trump says July 9 trade deal date is not fixed
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said his July 9 trade deadline was not a fixed date, telling reporters at the White House that it could be sooner or later than that date, when wider US tariffs are set to be re-imposed if deals are not reached. "We can do whatever we want. We could extend it. We could make it shorter. I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: Congratulations, you're paying 25%," he told reporters at the White House. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier said trade deals could be done by Labor Day.
Bangkok Post
11 hours ago
- Bangkok Post
Rwanda and DR Congo sign peace deal in US
WASHINGTON - Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace agreement on Friday in Washington to end fighting that has killed thousands, with the two countries pledging to pull back support for guerrillas — and President Donald Trump boasting of securing mineral wealth. 'Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity,' Trump said as he welcomed the two nations' foreign ministers to the White House. 'This is a wonderful day.' The agreement comes after the M23, an ethnic Tutsi rebel force linked to Rwanda, sprinted across the mineral-rich east of the DRC this year, seizing vast territory including the key city of Goma. The deal — negotiated through Qatar since before Trump took office — does not explicitly address the gains of the M23 in the area torn by decades of on-off war but calls for Rwanda to end 'defensive measures' it has taken. Rwanda has denied directly supporting the M23 but has demanded an end to another armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The agreement calls for the 'neutralisation' of the FDLR, with Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe saying the 'irreversible and verifiable end to state support' to the Hutu militants should be the 'first order of business.' The process would be 'accompanied by a lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures,' Nduhungirehe said at a signing ceremony at the State Department. But he added: 'We must acknowledge that there is a great deal of uncertainty in our region, and beyond, because many previous agreements have not been implemented.' His Congolese counterpart, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, highlighted the agreement's call for respecting state sovereignty. 'It offers a rare chance to turn the page, not just with words but with real change on the ground. Some wounds will heal, but they will never fully disappear,' she said. The agreement also sets up a joint security coordination body to monitor progress and calls vaguely for a 'regional economic integration framework' within three months. Trump takes credit Trump has trumpeted the diplomacy that led to the deal, and started his White House event by bringing up a journalist who said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking to reporters earlier Friday, Trump said the United States will be able to secure 'a lot of mineral rights from the Congo.' The DRC has enormous mineral reserves that include lithium and cobalt, vital in electric vehicles and other advanced technologies, with US rival China now a key player in securing the resources. Trump said he had been unfamiliar with the conflict as he appeared to allude to the horrors of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, in which hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Tutsis, were killed in just 100 days. 'I'm a little out of my league on that one because I didn't know too much about it. I knew one thing — they were going at it for many years with machetes,' Trump said. The agreement drew wide but not universal praise. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the deal 'a significant step towards de-escalation, peace and stability' in the eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region. 'I urge the parties to honour in full the commitments they have undertaken in the Peace Agreement… including the cessation of hostilities and all other agreed measures,' Guterres said in a statement. The landmark agreement was also praised by the chairman of the African Union Commission. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who witnessed the signing of the deal in Washington, 'welcomed this significant milestone and commended all efforts aimed at advancing peace, stability, & reconciliation in the region,' a statement said. But Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the DRC's epidemic of sexual violence in war, voiced alarm about the agreement, saying it effectively benefited Rwanda and the United States. The deal 'would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimising the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace,' he said in a statement ahead of the signing. Physicians for Human Rights, which has worked in the DRC, welcomed the de-escalation but said the agreement had 'major omissions', including accountability for rights violations.
