Canada rescinds digital services tax in a bid to advance trade talks with US
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump will resume trade negotiations with a view towards agreeing on a deal by July 21, 2025, the ministry said.
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Straits Times
36 minutes ago
- Straits Times
What's that smell? Trump unveils new fragrances with his name as the brand
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The fragrances come in a black box with gold lettering for men and a red box with gold lettering for women. WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump is adding fragrances to the growing list of merchandise that bear his name, raising fresh questions about his use of the presidential bully pulpit to hawk products that enrich him and his family. The former New York real estate tycoon, who moved back into the White House in January for his second term, announced this week that a new Trump-branded cologne for men and perfume for women were available for purchase. 'Trump Fragrances are here. They're called 'Victory 45-47' because they're all about Winning, Strength and Success,' he wrote on his Truth Social account on June 30. Mr Trump, a Republican, served as the 45th US president from 2017-2021 and became the country's 47th president with his 2024 win. The fragrances come in a black box with gold lettering for men and a red box with gold lettering for women. The fragrance containers look like mini statues of Mr Trump. Reaction was swift online, with critics accusing the president of corruption. 'There's never been, and I don't think in American history, someone who's stealing so much in plain sight - grifting and graft,' US senator Mark Warner of Virginia said in a video shared on X. Senator Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, noted Mr Trump was advertising the fragrances while Republicans sought to reduce Medicare benefits for low-income Americans in his budget Bill. 'Senate Democrats are fighting to prevent President Trump from kicking 17 million people off their health care, and he's promoting his line of fragrances,' Mr Welch said on X. The White House declined to comment about the criticism. The scents are the most recent products that the Trump family has unveiled. In June, his family business licensed its name to launch a US Mobile service and a US$499 (S$635) smartphone . The phone was promoted as sleek and gold, Mr Trump's preferred colour. The president has said he put his business interests in a trust managed by his children to avoid conflicts of interest, but income from such business ventures will eventually enrich the president, who sits atop the series of Trump family firms. Mr Trump receives income from licensing deals, crypto projects, golf clubs and other ventures. He has also hawked gold sneakers and a 'God bless the USA Bible.' REUTERS
CNA
43 minutes ago
- CNA
US Senate approves divisive Trump spending Bill
WASHINGTON: The Republican-led United States Senate approved President Donald Trump's mammoth domestic policy Bill on Tuesday (Jul 1) by the narrowest of margins, despite misgivings over delivering deep welfare cuts and another US$3 trillion in national debt. Republican leaders had struggled to corral support during a record 24-hour "vote-a-rama" amendment session on the Senate floor, as Democrats offered dozens of challenges to the most divisive aspects of the package. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune was able to turn around wavering moderates to deliver a 50-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. The sprawling text now heads to the House of Representatives, where it faces unified Democratic opposition and multiple Republicans balking at the budget-busting costs, as well as slashed health care and food aid programmes for poor Americans. Trump's Bill proposes a US$4.5 trillion extension of his first term tax cuts, contentiously offset with US$1.2 trillion in savings mainly targeting the Medicaid health insurance program, as well as federal food aid. The health care cuts could see an estimated 12 million low-income and disabled Americans lose coverage. The package also rolls back billions of dollars in green energy tax credits while providing a US$350 billion infusion for border security and Trump's mass migrant deportation program. The president made clear that the goal remains to get the Bill through the House in the coming days and sign it into law by Friday's Jul 4 Independence Day holiday. "It's going to get in, it's going to pass, and we're going to be very happy," Trump told reporters ahead of the vote. "UTTER SHAME" Polls show the Bill is among the most unpopular ever considered, and Democrats hope to leverage public anger ahead of the 2026 midterm elections when they aim to retake the House. Backed by extensive independent analysis, they say the Bill's tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social safety net programs for the poorest Americans. "Today, Senate Republicans betrayed the American people and covered the Senate in utter shame," said Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democratic minority. "In one fell swoop, Republicans passed the biggest tax break for billionaires ever seen - paid for by ripping away health care for millions of people and taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids." A handful of senators in the Republican majority had threatened to upset the apple cart, voicing concerns that the Bill would add more than US$3.3 trillion to the nation's already yawning budget deficits over a decade. The most high-profile opposition came in the shape of tech billionaire and estranged former Trump aide Elon Musk, who balked at the Bill's debt implications and stripping of clean energy subsidies. A furious Trump on Tuesday said he would consider deporting Musk - whose electric car company Tesla gives him extensive interests in green energy - and ending federal funds for his companies. "Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa," Trump posted on social media. FOCUS ON HOUSE Although the House of Representatives has already passed its own version of the Bill, it will have to come back to the lower chamber for a final rubber stamp before it reaches Trump's desk. House Republicans were watching anxiously from the sidelines to see if their Senate colleagues would adopt changes that would be hard for Speaker Mike Johnson to sell to his lawmakers. Fiscal hawks in the lower chamber are furious at what they say is US$651 billion of extra deficit spending in the Senate's tweaks. A House vote could come as early as Wednesday but even with full attendance, House Republicans can only afford to lose three votes. "The House will work quickly to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill that enacts President Trump's full America First agenda by the Fourth of July," Johnson said after the vote.
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Chipmakers win bigger tax credit under bill passed by Senate
[WASHINGTON] Sweeping tax legislation passed by the Senate on Tuesday (Jul 1) would make it cheaper for semiconductor manufacturers to build plants in the US, delivering a win to chipmakers and boosting US efforts to expand the industry domestically. Companies such as Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Micron Technology will be eligible for an investment tax credit of 35 per cent if they break ground on new plants before an existing 2026 deadline. That's a jump from the existing 25 per cent and tops an increase to 30 per cent envisioned in a draft proposal. The semiconductor manufacturing provision was tucked into a nearly 900-page bill that represents the heart of US President Donald Trump's economic agenda. House lawmakers are now set to take up the legislation with a goal of sending it to Trump for his signature by Jul 4. Increases to the credit would sweeten a key incentive created under the 2022 Chips and Science Act, a bipartisan law signed by president Joe Biden. The programme also includes US$39 billion in grants and as much as US$75 billion in loans for manufacturing projects, designed to boost the American semiconductor industry after decades of production shifting to Asia. The tax credit, which is not capped, was already likely to be costlier than those other forms of subsidies – a function of how much investment the Chips Act has spurred. In almost every case, it will account for the greatest share of incentives going to any one company, including those that did not win grant awards. Major beneficiaries of the grant programme include Intel, TSMC, Micron and Samsung Electronics. Trump earlier this year called for repealing the Chips Act, but lawmakers in both parties have shown little desire to eliminate subsidies that provide high-paying jobs in their districts, in a sector seen as critical to national security. The Commerce Department, meanwhile, has continued to implement the grant programme, while urging larger investments and reworking the terms of awards that took months to negotiate. So far, the Trump administration has secured increases in promised investment from TSMC, Micron and GlobalFoundries, which the White House has touted as evidence that Trump's policies are working. None of those included additional Chips Act grants beyond what had already been finalised or proposed. Still, more company spending on projects very likely means more foregone government revenue in the form of tax credits – a number that would grow if the Senate bill becomes law. Companies that commence projects by the end of next year can continue to claim credits for continuous construction after that date – a policy aimed at getting sites started while recognising that chip factories take years to build. BLOOMBERG
