Westinghouse pursues U.S. nuclear expansion after Trump orders, FT reports
President Donald Trump's executive orders, which were published on May 23, directed the government to cut down on regulations and fast-track licences for reactors and power plants to shrink a multi-year process to 18 months.
Dan Sumner, Westinghouse's interim chief executive, told the FT that the company was "uniquely positioned" to deliver the president's agenda because it had an approved reactor design, a viable supply chain, and recent experience of building two of its AP1000 reactors in Georgia.
"There is active engagement with the administration, including key points of interface with the loan programs office, recognizing the importance of financing to the deployment of the model," he told the FT.
Westinghouse did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
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CNN
43 minutes ago
- CNN
US tomato prices could jump as soon as Monday
If tomato prices jump because of new tariffs on the Mexican-grown produce, restaurant owner Teresa Razo says her businesses could go bust. 'I give it three months, and then we go bankrupt,' said Teresa Razo, owner of two Argentine-Italian restaurants in Southern California. On July 14, a nearly three-decade-old US-Mexico trade agreement may give way to 20.9% tariffs on most Mexican tomato imports. That could mean higher prices for Americans at the grocery store, at the pizza parlor — anywhere that uses tomatoes. And for some small businesses, higher prices could close them down entirely. The tomato tariffs are among the latest examples of President Donald Trump's chaotic tariff policy, which has shaken up global trade, left companies uncertain how to plan for the future, and made Americans nervous about where the world's biggest economy could be headed. Field-grown tomatoes cost US shoppers about $1.70 per pound as of May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer tomato prices could rise by about 10% and demand may fall by 5% as a result of these tariffs, according to Timothy Richards, a professor of agribusiness at Arizona State University. The United States is the top market for Mexican tomato exports, according to the US Department of Agriculture. In a June report, the department found that the new tariffs would likely lead to a drop in tomato imports and higher prices. Some US growers say it's about time for the tariffs, which are meant to fight 'dumping,' or the practice of selling cheap exports into a foreign market to undercut homegrown products. The Tomato Suspension Agreement has been in place since 1996, essentially setting a floor for tomato imports. The Commerce Department announced in April it was withdrawing from the agreement because the 'current agreement has failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports,' according to a statement. That, in turn, will result in the 20.9% duties on most Mexican tomato imports. It's an accusation disputed by Walberto Solorio, a Mexican tomato grower and president of the Baja California Agricultural Council, which represents more than 120 tomato growers. Solorio told a CNN producer that small violations by some Mexican producers have not been enough to warrant the collapse of the entire agreement. 'I see it as more of a political issue than a commercial one, not logic or numbers,' Solario said. 'Everything indicates, within reason, that the agreement should prevail and that the agreement has been fulfilled.' Consumers and businesses may feel the pinch. 'Somebody that would dine out three times a week, maybe now they'll do it once or twice because we have to increase our prices,' said Razo, who needs tomatoes for salads and for marinara sauce in pizzas and pastas at her restaurants, Villa Roma in Laguna Hills and Cambalache Grill in Fountain Valley. But some companies will avoid the tariffs because they use US-produced tomatoes. Heinz uses only domestically grown tomatoes for its ketchup products sold in the United States. DiGiornio also states on its website that its frozen pizza sauces are made with California-grown tomatoes. And some small businesses, like Appollonia's Pizza in Los Angeles, might eat the cost of using Mexican tomatoes for its toppings instead of passing it on, according to co-owner Justin De Leon. But not everyone can afford that. Razo is trying to source tomatoes from domestic growers instead, but if she can't find US tomatoes fast enough, she might have to raise menu prices. With often last-minute changes to tariff implementation this year, she's stopped following the news every day for her mental health. She said she'll take a wait-and-see approach with the tariffs before devising a strategy and added that the tariffs have created 'instability' and 'fear.' 'We don't need more of that,' Razo said. 'We already have enough.' Guenther said American tomato growers can produce enough tomatoes year-round, 'thanks to technological advancements and geographic diversity across the United States. Terminating the agreement would still allow Mexican producers to sell tomatoes in America; they'd just have to comply with trade laws.' But Solorio said Mexican imports have been subject to thorough quarterly audits. 'We have complied with the minimum reference prices, with the reports, with the border quality inspections,' he said. De Leon said Appollonia's Pizzeria uses Mexican tomatoes for its fresh tomato toppings, while its sauce is made with California tomatoes. He changes where he buys his tomatoes from to get the best in-season produce year-round, switching from California to Mexico tomatoes depending on the season. Tariffs on key ingredients like cheese are already costing him more and can be just another headache in a stressful business. 'I just hope it comes to an end soon,' De Leon said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
World's first $4 trillion company unruffled by Trump tariff threat
WASHINGTON − U.S. tech companies will survive President Donald Trump's tariffs, just like they have survived previous disruptions to the market, Jensen Huang, CEO of the world's most valuable corporation, said in an interview, stressing the importance of ramping up American production of computer chips. "Nobody likes disruptions and no one likes abrupt changes, but these settlements will − President Trump will settle these deals and countries will reorganize and resettle, and we'll work through it,' Huang told USA TODAY. Huang leads advanced chip-maker NVIDIA, which this week became the first company to reach a stock market value of $4 trillion, making it worth more than better-known tech rivals like Apple and Microsoft. He met with Trump at the White House on July 10 where, he said, the president was jubilant over NVIDIA's milestone. More: Nvidia becomes first company to reach $4 trillion market cap. What are the top 5? As Trump negotiates with China and other top trading partners, Huang's business sits dead center at the intersection of potentially costly United States tariffs, a boom in artificial intelligence – and the computer chips that power it. The California-based company makes advanced chips, which are then mass-produced by companies like the Taiwan-based TSMC that would be heavily affected by a possible Trump tariff on semiconductor imports. But Huang showed no signs of panic. Tariffs, taxes and all kinds of rules and regulations were in place long before he founded NVIDIA, said Huang. And if Trump moves ahead with steep semiconductor tariffs, it will be no different. More: Nvidia becomes first company to reach $4 trillion market cap. What are the top 5? "Every single year there were rules and taxes and tariffs and policies and regulations, and we survived," Huang said. "I have every confidence that the world is going to survive this, companies will survive this and whatever it turns out to be, we'll make the best of it." NVIDIA became the first publicly-traded company to reach a $4 trillion market value this week. It has gained 22% in value this year alone during an artificial intelligence boom. Huang's own net worth, which Forbes estimates to be $143.6 billion, makes him one of the richest men in the world. More: Is that product really made in the USA? FTC cracks down on deceptive claims Huang's July 10 meeting with Trump was his fifth in almost as many months, and he sat down with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the next day. In an interview with USA TODAY on July 11, Huang said he "absolutely" believes America needs to produce more semiconductors. Trade wars: Trump keeps pushing on trade with tariff on copper imports; pharmaceuticals are next "Absolutely. I believe President Trump's vision, his bold vision to manufacture in the United States, it's great for our industries, it's great for our society," he said. Huang, who was born in Taiwan and educated in the U.S., said that while manufacturing has economic and national security benefits − it also has health and social benefits. "We've lost a lot of manufacturing capability and skills, which is really great for skilled craft and people that work with their hands and build things. We want to celebrate that. We want to bring that back to the United States. It's very important to national security, industrial security, supply chain resilience," he said. Trump referenced NVIDIA's record stock price on social media in a July 10 post promoting his tariffs ahead of his meeting with Huang. More: Nvidia reaches historic $4 trillion valuation, leads Wall Street's AI charge Huang told USA TODAY that Trump said in their meeting that he was proud of the valuation. "He spent a lot of time congratulating me and telling everybody all around him what a great achievement it was," Huang said. They also discussed ways to help American tech companies maintain their competitive edge in the transition to AI and ways to bring skilled manufacturing back to America. He said NVIDIA is making supercomputers in Texas and packaging them in Arizona. Huang will be in China next week. He said he talked to Trump about the trip but they did not discuss trade negotiations between the two countries and did not know when a final agreement could come to fruition. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NVIDIA, the first $4 trillion company, isn't afraid of Trump tariffs Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Blame New York Democrats — not Washington — for new state budget crisis
The federal tax and spending changes signed by President Donald Trump on July 4 will have significant implications for New York. The most immediate: to reveal Albany's short-sighted fiscal decisions and long-ignored abuses — something criticisms of the changes conceal. The state spending deal reached in May by Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative Democrats hiked outlays by 9.3%, three times faster than inflation. A big part of that growth was in Medicaid, the joint state-federal program ostensibly for the poor and disabled whose enrollment has roughly tripled since 2000. Today it and related programs cover a majority of New York City residents. In the last budget, Hochul and the Legislature hiked Medicaid spending by $6.2 billion (16%). That helped the state juice more federal money from the program, but it also painted a bulls-eye for DC fiscal hawks concerned about the $36 trillion national debt. Federal aid and borrowing aside, New York state government this year will spend $18 billion more than it would have if it had kept pace with the consumer price index since 2018. This profligacy was built on assumptions that New York's tax receipts would keep going up. That's more of a gamble than ever, because the state is more reliant than ever on a relatively small group of high earners who pay significantly higher state income-tax rates — and could pay no state income tax if they moved to a growing number of places outside New York. And it requires ignoring the signs of tax-base erosion that New York has already suffered since its 2021 tax hikes made the top combined state-local income-tax rates in New York City the nation's highest. Albany's bet that the good times would continue culminated in rosy revenue forecasts issued in February. But those outlooks stopped being worth the paper they were written on in April, after Trump's tariffs doused markets in uncertainty. Albany nonetheless marched ahead. The state's lethargic Republicans, fearful of upsetting various special interests, didn't much rock the boat. Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! The first dose of reality came in June, after state budget officials slashed their economic growth forecasts. They estimated that tax receipts will be about $4 billion, starting next year, lower than previously expected. That, along with newly agreed-upon spending increases, means Hochul must address a $7 billion mismatch between revenues and faster-growing expenses in the budget she presents in January (a gap that gets wider each year). While turbulence in federal trade policy jostled markets, that overreliance on volatile tax receipts meant the state was facing a fiscal crunch even before Congress acted. This was the first of two bad bets by Albany. The second was that Congress would keep ignoring the bloat and distortions in New York's health-care apparatus. As the Empire Center's Bill Hammond has diligently chronicled, New York for a decade used a little-known provision in the Affordable Care Act to get federal taxpayers to pick up virtually the entire cost of a no-premium health-care system known as the Essential Plan. Originally created in part to cover immigrants who were ineligible for Medicaid, it now covers about 1.4 million New Yorkers, many of whom are well above the traditional Medicaid eligibility level. The eligibility threshold is so high that one health-care union appears to have jettisoned some of its lower-paid members from their union health coverage to sign up on the taxpayer-funded Essential Plan instead. The federal rules were so generous that the state wound up accumulating almost $10 billion in Essential Plan reserves because Washington sent Albany more than it could spend. Congress, under both parties, failed to do anything about it. Albany officials ultimately used a portion of the windfall to boost payment rates, subsidizing other parts of the health-care system. The GOP bill has cut off some, but not all, of that federal money. That will force the state to consider long-prevented reforms that address the high cost of both care and insurance coverage in the Empire State. New York in many respects is getting off easy: Its generation-long scam of taxing hospitals and health-care providers, then overpaying them to compensate and pulling down extra federal Medicaid cash in the process, will largely continue. Calls for a special legislative session, and demands for higher taxes, are inevitable. But the reasonably good health of the state's reserve funds (which Hochul has diligently guarded) means there's no real need for immediate action. Instead, Hochul needs to start making the case for the overdue structural reforms that would help Albany live within its means — and worry less about Washington. Ken Girardin is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
