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Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Countries push for last-minute deals as Thursday tariff deadline looms
An array of trade crosscurrents continued in Tuesday afternoon. There has been a push for last-minute deals, continued fuzziness on previously announced trade commitments—and an indication from President Trump that a deal to delay tariffs on China is "close." It all comes as global importers brace for the Thursday morning deadline. That's when President Trump promises to implement a central plank of his trade agenda: a tiered approach to "reciprocal" tariffs from 10% to 50%. Meanwhile, talks continued on varied fronts. For example, the Swiss president announced she would fly to Washington to try to win last-minute concessions. She added Tuesday that "the aim is to present a more attractive offer to the United States" to avert a 39% tariff on goods from her nation. Meanwhile India faces a divergent situation, with Trump telling CNBC Tuesday morning "we settled on 25% [tariffs], but I think I am going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours." India has slammed Trump's threats as unjustified and has seen its chances of a deal dwindle with top aides for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reportedly traveling this week — but not to the US but instead to Moscow. It's part of flurry of last minute moves and a message from Trump that he's full-speed ahead with no plans to delay a tariff increase starting Thursday. For rolling updates on tariffs, check out our liveblog > He even teased during the CNBC appearance that he probably won't run for president again, but that he'd like to, in part because, in his view, "people love the tariffs." (Trump is, of course, barred by the Constitution from running for a third term, but he's often floated the idea.) Switzerland and India are two countries currently on the outside looking in but even nations that recently struck a trade deal continued to try and prepare for the tariff piece to take effect. Japan's top trade negotiator is also reportedly due in Washington, D.C. this week for talks to ensure that a plan proceeds to cut auto tariffs to 15%. Likewise, talks with the EU continue as negotiators there are reportedly still pushing for exemptions, such as on wine and spirits. Trump also weighed in Tuesday morning on talks with China. Markets are closely watching for any signs of an agreement to delay a tariff snapback scheduled for Aug. 12, with Trump saying, "We're getting very close to a deal." Trump also suggested it was likely that "at some point in the not too distant future" he would meet with President Xi Jinping. The president also added that new sector-specific tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals are likely and that at least those pharmaceutical tariffs could be announced "within the next week or so." Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet New details for some nations — and a focus on India and Switzerland There is also some new clarity on some technical details around how the new tariff landscape will likely work beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday. US customs officials this week offered additional technical guidance in a new document about how it'll handle some tariff exemptions. The news there may give some select importers a short-term breather. But with a full tally, according to Bloomberg Economics, the average US tariff rate is now expected to rise to 15.2% if duties go forward as planned. That's a jump from current rates of 13.3% and another jump from the 2.3% duties seen in 2024 before Trump took office. That overall landscape set to be in effect Thursday will cover nearly every country on the globe. It also comes after Trump and his team set "bespoke" rates largely based on the trade deficit, with many of America's top trading partners seeing a key new standard of 15% tariff, while others will see higher rates. Read more: 5 ways to tariff-proof your finances Countries from the European Union to South Korea to Japan also struck deals at that 15% rate, but open questions remain. Other Asian countries have struck deals in the 19%-20% range. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recently said on CBS that the published rates included many agreements, "some of these deals are announced, some are not," with other nations simply being dictated tariffs based on the level of the trade deficit. Switzerland is one nation for which the US has dictated tariffs. Its delegation will be in Washington on Tuesday, set to push for lower rates. But on Tuesday morning, Trump suggested that it would be an uphill climb and that a recent call with the country didn't go well because "they essentially pay no tariffs," even as talks are clearly set to continue there. As for India, any immediate offramp appears unlikely because of that nation's connections with Russia and Russian oil. A note Tuesday from Capital Economics suggested that India could, in theory, offer concessions to diversify its energy sources, "but we doubt that India would make a wholehearted effort to wean itself off Russian oil [as it could upset relations and] it would not play well to be seen caving to Trump's demands." At the same time, reports from Bloomberg and the Times of India revealed that two top aides to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are traveling not to the US but to Russia in the coming days and weeks— even amid Trump's ever-escalating threats. Trump on Tuesday morning suggested talks are on ice for now and will be complicated when they resume, adding that "the sticking point with India is that tariffs are too high." This story has been updated with additional developments. Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Election 2028 is on — Democrats see opportunity and a wide open primary
The big field in the race for the 2028 presidential sweepstakes is already off and running. Two of the top Democrats vying for the job are former Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). The election of either one would address the urgency of putting a woman in the White House for the first time. Harris's decision not to run for governor in her home state of California indicates she will make another White House run. But that's not the only sign that the Democratic stampede towards 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has started. Democratic presidential wannabes have already made treks to early primary states like South Carolina and New Hampshire. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has already raised $1.6 million dollars for his leadership PAC. Why has the Democratic presidential primary pursuit started so early? Donald Trump's failed imperial presidency has raised the stakes and the Democratic field is wide open. A Democratic House majority after next year's midterms would slow down Trump's excesses but only a new Democratic president in 2029 can undo the damage. Trump's approval ratings are deep underwater and inflation is sky-high. The 2028 GOP nominee will inherit his weak standing and a troubled economy if the president follows through with his reckless handling of the nation's economy. First-half GDP growth was anemic and job creation cratered in the last few months. Trump's only response was to kill the messenger of the bad news. The 2028 MAGA nominee will bear the same economic burden from an unpopular president that Harris inherited in 2024. Democrats smell blood in the water. Even with Harris' inevitable entry into the 2028 race, there is no strong favorite to win her party's nod. A June survey of Democratic voters by Emerson College indicated that she is simply one of three candidates in the field ranging between 10 and 15 percent of the vote, along with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Last November just after Election Day, another Emerson poll showed the former vice president far ahead of the rest of the pack, with 37 percent support. The difference between the two surveys demonstrates the fluid nature of the race and the fragility of Harris's support. The former vice president only had 107 days to start and run her presidential campaign which is virtually impossible to do. But she failed to break new ground and separate herself from the unpopular incumbent during her brief effort. Will she be more aggressive in 2028? She needs to do much more than to call for a return to the status quo before Trump 2.0. The former veep must be bold especially on economic issues. Bold prescriptions for the nation's economic woes include trust busting for Big Tech and the mammoth grocery chain cartels. Does Harris have it in her to blaze a new trail for her party? She got off to a good start last week on ' The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.' She said that she needed a vacation from a 'broken' political system, at least for now. The establishment Democrat also criticized the parts of the establishment that she believed capitulated to Trump. I'm sure that Paramount, which owns CBS, caught that remark. The avatar of the progressive movement, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will not run in 2028. He lost his presidential bids in 2016 and 2020, but he received millions of votes and had a profound impact on the ideological direction of the Democratic Party. Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and Ocasio-Cortez can fill the void with the base left by Sanders if she runs for president. She is a proud Democratic Socialist and a Democratic Socialist won the party's primary in New York City. Another one is mounting a strong primary challenge to the mayor in Minneapolis. Democratic Socialism isn't big in the must-win suburbs in the battleground Electoral College states. But there are lots of them in the big cities that contribute heavily to the Democratic presidential primary vote. Ocasio-Cortez strongly supported the successful primary campaign of Zohran Mamdani in the Big Apple. But a Mamdani loss to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent in November, could take some of the sheen off her presidential profile. Mamdani may have to back off on some of the statements he made in the past, and Ocasio-Cortez may have the same problem if she runs for the nation's highest office. She has supported controversial proposals like Medicare For All during her brief career, but nothing as radical as the things that Donald Trump has actually done in office. A national survey for The Economist last month demonstrated majority support for universal health care compared to little support for Trump's big bad budget bill. Ocasio-Cortez is only 35 years old. Her ascent into the national political pantheon is as much generational as it is ideological. A new generation of young Democrats will demand their place in the sun from the aging baby boomers, like me, who temporarily hold sway in the party. She's a street fighter from New York, like Trump, but she goes to war for progressive ideals instead of outmoded and antiquated policies. The energy within her party is generated on Main Street, not on the boulevards of Washington. She and her mentor Sanders drew enormous crowds during their town hall meetings in crimson red Republican congressional districts across the nation. My party needs to tap her energy and enthusiasm to recover and prosper. Her reputation as a burr in the butt for the Democratic D.C. establishment would serve her well and capitalize on voter hatred for Washington. Most Americans believe the system is terrible and are looking for bold and dramatic change. They got it in a perverse way from Trump. Now it's up to Harris, Ocasio-Cortez and the other Democratic contestants to deliver their own versions of progressive fundamental reform.
USA Today
13 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump plans drug tariffs of up to 250%
President Donald Trump threatened to levy tariffs of up to 250% on pharmaceuticals imported into the United States. The president told CNBC on Aug. 5 that he plans to announce new tariffs "within the next week or so" on imports of pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports. He said he plans to launch a smaller tariff on drug imports before increasing the duties over 12 to 18 months to a maximum amount. Trump would start with an "initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals," he said. "But in one year, one-and-a-half years maximum, it's going to go to 150%, and then it's going to go to 250%, because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country." He said other nations "make a fortune" on pharmaceuticals, citing drugs imported from China and Ireland. Trump has said several times in recent months that there could be trade actions for the pharmaceutical industry, which has globalized since the 1990s with a drug supply chain that stretches from Europe to China and India. In July, Trump said his administration planned pharmaceutical-specific tariffs of up to 200%, though drug companies would have time to establish U.S.-based drug manufacturing. In April, Trump said he planned to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals made overseas, a move he said would prompt drug companies to move their operations to the U.S. On July 31, Trump sent letters to 17 drug companies urging them to lower U.S. drug prices by Sept. 29 to "most favored nation" amounts paid by other nations. In the letters, Trump urged drug companies to adopt such pricing on drug for Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income residents. He also requested drug companies lower U.S. prices to the same levels charged in Europe and elsewhere for newly-launched drugs for people on Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance plans. Trump also urged drug companies to lower pharmaceutical prices for U.S. consumers and businesses that directly purchase from drug companies. "Make no mistake: a collaborative effort towards achieving global pricing parity would be the most effective path for companies, the government and American patients," Trump said in the letters. "But if you refuse to step up, we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices."
