The Benefit of Ebbing EVs
William J. Doyle
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
14 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
US inflation accelerated in June as Trump's tariffs start to bite
WASHINGTON — Inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs are pushing up the cost of a range of goods, including furniture, clothing, and large appliances. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, up from an annual increase of 2.4% in May. On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3% from May to June, after rising just 0.1% the previous month. Worsening inflation poses a political challenge for President Donald Trump, who promised during last year's presidential campaign to immediately lower costs. The sharp inflation spike of 2022-2023 was the worst in four decades and soured most Americans on former president Joe Biden's handling of the economy. Higher inflation will also likely heighten the Federal Reserve's reluctance to cut its short-term interest rate, as Trump is loudly demanding. Trump has often insisted in comments on social media that there is 'no inflation' and that as a result, the central bank should swiftly reduce its key interest rate from its current level of 4.3% to around 3%. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation increased 2.9% in June from a year earlier, up from 2.8% in May. On a monthly basis, it picked up 0.2% from May to June. Economists closely watch core prices because they typically provide a better sense of where inflation is headed. The uptick in inflation was driven by a range of higher prices. The cost of gas rose 1% just from May to June, while grocery prices increased 0.35. Appliance prices jumped for the third straight month. Trump has imposed sweeping duties of 10% on all imports, plus 50% levies on steel and aluminum, 30% on goods from China, and 25% on imported cars. Just last week the president threatened to hit the European Union with a new 30% tariff starting Aug. 1. The acceleration in inflation could provide a respite of sorts for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who has come under increasingly heavy fire from the White House for not cutting the benchmark interest rate. Powell and other Fed officials have emphasized that they want to see how the economy evolves as the tariffs take effect before cutting their key short-term rate. The Fed chair has said that the duties could both push up prices and slow the economy, a tricky combination for the central bank since higher costs would typically lead the Fed to hike rates while a weaker economy often spurs it to reduce them. Trump on Monday said that Powell has been 'terrible' and 'doesn't know what the hell he's doing.' The president added that the economy was doing well despite Powell's refusal to reduce rates, but it would be 'nice' if there were rate cuts 'because people would be able to buy housing a lot easier.' Last week, White House officials also attacked Powell for cost overruns on the years-long renovation of two Fed buildings, which are now slated to cost $2.5 billion, roughly one-third more than originally budgeted. While Trump legally can't fire Powell just because he disagrees with his interest rate decisions, the Supreme Court has signaled, he may be able to do so 'for cause,' such as misconduct or mismanagement. Some companies have said they have or plan to raise prices as a result of the tariffs, including Walmart, the world's largest retailer. Automaker Mitsubishi said last month that it was lifting prices by an average of 2.1% in response to the duties, and Nike has said it would implement 'surgical' price hikes to offset tariff costs. But many companies have been able to postpone or avoid price increases, after building up their stockpiles of goods this spring to get ahead of the duties. Other companies may have refrained from lifting prices while they wait to see whether the U.S. is able to reach trade deals with other countries that lower the duties.
Fox News
14 minutes ago
- Fox News
Former NPR host says Obama is 'very scold-y these days,' no longer resonates with base
Former President Barack Obama's recent call for Democrats to "toughen up" sparked a conversation on Monday among CNN pundits about his changing importance to the party. One panelist deemed the comments a "pretty scold-y" lecture from Obama. A panel on CNN's "The Arena with Kasie Hunt" reacted to Obama's comments about Democratic Party disarray, with CNN contributor and former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro arguing that Obama's tone and status in the party have changed dramatically since his time as president. "I'll also say from having read that speech that he gave, he was pretty scold-y. He is very scold-y these days. And he talked a lot about how people are not stepping up and doing their part, and how people have been folding and not really standing up tall. And I just don't think that that goes down very well anymore," she said. "We saw that in the run-up to the election, where he was sort of telling Black men that they needed in solidarity to vote for a Black woman, and I think that that kind of scold-y Obama really doesn't play to the Democratic base anymore," Garcia-Navarro added. As the Democratic Party continues to struggle to chart a new course forward, the 44th president offered a tough love message to the members of his party at a fundraiser on Friday on how to find their way out of the political wilderness. "I think it's going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions," Obama said during the private event in New Jersey, "and it's going to require Democrats to just toughen up." He reportedly went on to tell Democrats to "stop looking for the messiah" and instead rally around the "great candidates running races right now." "Don't tell me you're a Democrat, but you're kind of disappointed right now, so you're not doing anything. No, now is exactly the time that you get in there and do something," Obama added. On Monday, CNN anchor Kasie Hunt noted the irony that Obama "was often treated" like a political messiah himself. Democratic strategist and former Obama adviser David Axelrod weighed in as well during the panel discussion. "I half agree," he said. "I applaud those people, those law firms who had the courage to stand up, universities that are standing up to protect academic freedom. I also am aware that there are responsibilities to the institutions that people are leading that cause those to be difficult questions." Axelrod continued, "So it's not as easy as one might say. That said, there may have been people in that room last night who were there to support the Democratic Party, but had questions about whether they wanted to stick their own neck out, if they were part of a big law firm and so on. And for them, maybe the message was appropriate."
Fast Company
15 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Nvidia is set to resume sales of its AI chips to China. Here's who's on the ‘whitelist' of buyers
Chinese firms are scrambling to buy Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence chips, two sources told Reuters, as the company said it planned to resume sales to the mainland days after its CEO met U.S. President Donald Trump. Nvidia's AI chips have been a key focus of U.S. export controls designed to keep the most advanced chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns. The U.S.-listed company has said the curbs would cut its revenue by $15 billion. The world's most valuable firm is filing applications with the U.S. government to resume sales to China of the H20 graphics processing unit (GPU), and expects to get the licences soon, Nvidia said in a statement. 'The U.S. government has assured Nvidia that licences will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,' said the company, whose chief executive, Jensen Huang, is visiting Beijing and set to speak at an event on Wednesday. The White House, which has previously expressed concern that the Chinese military could use AI chips to develop weapons, did not respond to a request for comment. Chinese companies have scrambled to place orders for the chips, which Nvidia would then need to send to the U.S. government for approval, the sources familiar with the matter said. They added that internet giants ByteDance and Tencent are in the process of submitting applications. Central to the process is a 'whitelist' put together by Nvidia for Chinese companies to register for potential purchases, one of the sources said. ByteDance and Tencent did not respond to a request for comment. Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment regarding the 'whitelist'. Nvidia, which has criticised the export curbs the Trump administration imposed in April that stopped it from selling its H20 chip in China, also said it has introduced a new model tailored to meet regulatory rules in the Chinese market. Huang is set for a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday when he attends a supply chain expo. The Nvidia CEO also visited China in April and stressed the importance of the Chinese market. 'The Chinese market is massive, dynamic, and highly innovative, and it's also home to many AI researchers,' Huang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. 'Therefore, it is indeed crucial for American companies to establish roots in the Chinese market.' Nvidia's shares jumped 5% in premarket trading. Rival AI chipmaker AMD, which has forecast a $1.5 billion revenue hit this year due to U.S. export curbs on China, rose more than 3%. 'This is a major catalyst for Nvidia shares, as many had written off the chance of any meaningful revenue coming from China,' said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown. Asked at a regular foreign ministry briefing in Beijing about Nvidia's plans to resume AI chip sales, a spokesperson said, 'China is opposed to the politicisation, instrumentalisation and weaponisation of science, technology and economic and trade issues to maliciously blockade and suppress China.' SUPPLY CHAIN Nvidia has faced increased competition from Chinese tech giant Huawei and other makers of GPUs — the chips used to train artificial intelligence. But Chinese companies, including big tech firms, still crave Nvidia chips for its computing platform known as CUDA. Huang's visit is being closely watched in both China and the United States, where a bipartisan pair of senators last week sent the CEO a letter asking him to abstain from meeting companies working with military or intelligence bodies. The senators also asked Huang to refrain from meeting with entities named on the United States' restricted export list. The move to resume sales of the H20 chips comes amid easing tensions between Washington and Beijing, with China relaxing controls on rare earth exports and the United States allowing chip design software services to restart in China. 'The uncertainties between the U.S. and China remain high and despite a pause in H20's ban, Chinese companies will continue to diversify their options to better protect their supply chain integrity,' said He Hui, research director of semiconductors at Omdia. The H20 chip was developed specifically for the Chinese market after U.S. export curbs imposed on national security grounds in late 2023. The AI chip was Nvidia's most powerful legally available product in China until it was effectively banned by Washington in April. The H20 ban forced Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in inventories, and Huang told the Stratechery podcast that the company also had to walk away from $15 billion in sales. But now, the possibility of new licenses could represent about $15 billion to $20 billion in additional revenue this year, depending on when the approval is granted and how quick the deliveries can ramp back up, said Hargreaves' Britzman. 'There's also a chance Nvidia can reverse some, or all, of the $5.5 billion impairment charge taken in the first quarter, providing a double boost for earnings.' Nvidia also announced the development of a new AI chip designed specifically for China, called the RTX Pro GPU. The company described it as 'fully compliant' with U.S. export controls and suitable for digital twin AI applications in sectors, such as smart factories and logistics. In May, Reuters reported Nvidia was preparing to launch in China a new AI chip, based on the RTX Pro 6000D, at a significantly lower price point than the H20. The graphics processing unit would be part of Nvidia's latest generation Blackwell-architecture AI processors and was expected to be priced well below the H20 for its weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements, sources said. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, or 13% of total sales, based on its latest annual report. Huang has consistently highlighted China as a critical market for Nvidia's growth.
