ASX 200 up 0.5 per cent, adding more than $15b into local portfolios as US President Donald Trump dumps section 899 revenge tax, mulls tariff deadline

Sky News AU

2 days ago

Aussie investors have been buoyed by news the United States' controversial 'revenge tax' will be ditched and Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs deadline could be pushed back, adding more than $15b into local portfolios.
The index was up 0.5 per cent in the first 40 minutes of trading with aluminium producer Alcoa Corporation rising 6.6 per cent, Capstone Copper jumping 6.5 per cent, Pilbara Minerals adding 5.1 per cent and Liontown Resources up five per cent.
Materials stocks are surging on Friday with the sector rising 2.2 per cent, while the telecommunications sector is up 0.9 per cent.
It follows White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying the July 9 deadline for Trump's sweeping tariffs may be extended.
'The deadline is not critical,' Leavitt said of the steep tariffs.
She noted Trump could "simply provide ... countries with (a) deal if they refuse to make us one by the deadline' and set "a reciprocal tariff rate that he believes is advantageous for the United States'.
Pressed on this, Ms Leavitt said: 'Perhaps it could be extended but that's a decision for the president.'
This comes as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called on Republican lawmakers to scrap section 899 – known as the 'revenge tax' - after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers spoke to him directly.
The section 899 in President Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill' would allow the US to implement retaliatory taxes on nations his administration believes unfairly treats US firms – such as tech giants Meta and Alphabet.
On Friday, Bessent posted on X that after months of productive dialogue, a 'joint understanding' among G7 countries would be announced.
Bessent said that under the agreement, the 15 per cent global corporate minimum tax would not apply to US companies under "Pillar 2" of the OECD tax deal.
He added: "We will work cooperatively to implement this agreement across the OECD-G20 Inclusive Framework in coming weeks and months."
Wall Street bounced back on Thursday with the Dow Jones adding 0.9 per cent, the S&P 500 rising 0.8 per cent and the Nasdaq jumping one per cent.
London's FTSE 250 Index soared 0.8 per cent, Germany's DAX was boosted 0.6 per cent and the STOXX Europe 600 finished up 0.1 per cent.
New Zealand's NZX 50 Index is up 0.5 per cent on Friday while Japan's Nikkei 225 has added 1.2 per cent.