South Korea Weighs Painful Concessions to Avert Trump's Tariffs
Finance Minister Koo Yoon-cheol and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo will meet their US counterparts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in a so-called '2+2' format in Washington, Koo told reporters Tuesday.
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Brazil's WEG expects to mitigate most impacts from Trump tariffs
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian motor maker WEG said on Thursday it expects to offset most of the impact from the 50% tariff U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose on Brazilian goods partly by adjusting some export routes. Analysts have cited WEG - whose motors are used in vehicles, wind turbines and power transmission lines - among the most exposed firms to the steep tariffs, which are due to take effect on August 1. The company on Wednesday reported lower-than-expected second-quarter results, noting that geopolitical uncertainties have limited long-term visibility and led some clients to postpone investment decisions for large projects. Chief Financial Officer Andre Rodrigues suggested on Thursday the firm could use its Brazilian operations to supply countries such as Mexico and India, whose products would in turn meet U.S. demand. "The execution may take a few months, but once the change is implemented, we expect to be able to mitigate most of these impacts," he told a call with analysts, though warning the move would also depend on the levies Trump imposes on other nations. WEG has plants in over a dozen countries, including the United States and Mexico, and has touted its global presence and broad product portfolio as factors that might help shield it from the tariffs' impacts. Rodrigues said that products made in Brazil currently account for less than a third of WEG's U.S. sales. He noted that the effects on WEG's second-quarter results of the 10% tariff Trump had initially imposed in April were small, saying that the firm made some price adjustments in the U.S. to offset the impact of those levies. "Looking ahead, at this point it's not possible to have a firm stance, given the many uncertainties and volatility in the trade structures being discussed," Rodrigues added. "But if the current situation persists, WEG does have an action plan."
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Average long-term US mortgage rate eases to 6.74%, keeping home loan borrowing costs elevated
The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage eased this week, offering little relief for prospective homebuyers facing record-high home prices. The long-term rate slipped to 6.74% from 6.75% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.78%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased. The average rate dropped to 5.87% from 5.92% last week. A year ago, it was 6.07%, Freddie Mac said. Shop Top Mortgage Rates Personalized rates in minutes A quicker path to financial freedom Your Path to Homeownership Elevated mortgage rates have been weighing on the U.S. housing market, which has been in a sales slump going back to 2022, when rates started to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes, which sank to their lowest level in nearly 30 years in 2024, have remained sluggish this year as rising home prices and stubbornly high mortgage rates have made homeownership financially untenable for many Americans. Elevated mortgage rates are also discouraging many homeowners from selling because they locked in mortgage rates when they were much lower. Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors' expectations for the economy and inflation. The main barometer is the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.41% at midday Thursday, down from 4.40% late Wednesday, following the latest signals that the U.S. economy seems to be holding up OK despite all the pressures on it from tariffs and elsewhere. Yields have moved higher for most of this month as traders bet that the Fed will hold its key short-term interest rate steady at its upcoming meeting next week, despite President Donald Trump demanding that the Fed to lower rates. A less independent Fed could mean lower short-term rates, which influence the interest consumers pay on credit cards and auto loans, but it could have the opposite effect on the longer-term bond yields that influence the rates on home loans. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained relatively close to its high so far this year of just above 7%, set in mid-January. The 30-year rate's low point this year was in early April when it briefly dipped to 6.62%.
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NCAA basketball tournament expansion growing more unlikely this season due to 'logistics'
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Any expansion of the NCAA basketball tournaments is growing more unlikely for this upcoming season, according to executives in the sport. During a speaking engagement at the National Press Club on Thursday, NCAA president Charlie Baker confirmed comments earlier this week from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips that any expansion of the men's and women's tournaments would be 'tough' to do for 2025-26. 'I think that's a reasonable statement,' Baker said. He pointed to the "logistics" involved with any expansion. The NCAA basketball selection committees — responsible for making any expansion decision — met earlier this month where committee members learned that expansion, if approved, would most likely start in 2026-27, multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting told Yahoo Sports. The comments from Baker and Phillips further advance that notion. However, during an hour-long address to the National Press Club, Baker continued to speak in favor of expanding the tournament to 72 or 76 teams to grant access to more worthy participants, such as those left on the bubble. 'There are every year some really good teams that don't get to the tournament for a bunch of reasons,' Baker told the crowd. 'One of the reasons is we have 32 automatic qualifiers (for conference champions). I love that and think it's great and never want that to change, but that means there's only 36 slots left for everybody else. 'I don't buy the idea that some of the teams that currently get left out aren't good. I think they are. And I think that sucks,' he continued. For more than a year now, college administrators have been seriously exploring adding four or eight teams to the 68-team field, a move that likely requires the addition of another 'First Four' site. Baker pushed back against suggestions that additional revenue from TV partners is behind the NCAA and conferences' desire to expand. It is not a 'big moneymaker,' he said, and the association would only want to cover the costs of expansion with any additional revenue. The NCAA has been in negotiations with the networks, Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS, for months now. Last month, Baker told Yahoo Sports that the organization has held 'good conversations' with those partners and that any decisions for 2025-26 would need to be made by 'the middle of August.' 'The big challenge is the logistical one,' Baker said Thursday from D.C. 'The tournament has to start after conference championships are over and the selection (show) happens like two hours after the last championship ends. And (the tournament) has to finish by the Tuesday before the Masters. There's not a lot of room there.' That hasn't slowed his support for expansion. In fact, Baker mentioned recent bubble teams left out of the field like St. John's and Indiana State. 'They should have been in,' he said. Expansion is 'a way to preserve the AQs and real Cinderellas, but it's also to make sure some of the 65 best teams in the country who get left out because of the 32 AQs find their way in,' he said. Baker addressed another looming issue: athlete eligibility standards. On Thursday, as he spoke to the press club, the NCAA announced a proposed legislation change to Division II eligibility rules. The proposal would grant athletes five years to play five seasons (five-in-five) instead of the current four seasons-over-five years standard. Such a change in Division I is on the 'backburner' while the NCAA adopts a new governance model, something expected next month from the NCAA DI Board of Directors. 'I would assume at some point (five-in-five) will come up again. I don't know if we'll land there or not,' Baker said of the five-in-five eligibility proposal for Division I.
