Indonesian's exports up 11.29% y/y in June
Indonesian exporters in recent months have brought forward their shipments to the United States ahead of the latest deadline set by President Donald Trump for tariff negotiations.
Indonesia emerged as one of the earliest countries to strike a deal with Washington to lower the U.S. tariff to 19%, from a previously threatened level of 32%, ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline.
In the negotiations, Jakarta agreed to eliminate most tariffs affecting U.S. industrial and agricultural products and to buy more American goods.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order saying the new tariff rates will be implemented in seven days.
Southeast Asia's largest economy booked a $4.11 billion surplus in June, higher than the poll's forecast of $3.45 billion but down slightly from $4.30 billion in May.
June imports were worth $19.33 billion, up 4.28% from a year earlier.
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The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump officials scramble to justify firing of economic statistician – as critics say ‘scary' move is a sign of ‘authoritiarianism'
Members of Donald Trump's team scrambled to provide coherent explanations for the sudden firing of a top official at the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Sunday as Friday's firing resonated throughout Washington and left the White House open to criticism of Trump's 'authoritarian' leanings. The US president directed the firing of Erika McEntarfer on Friday after a jobs report showed private companies adding just 73,000 positions in July, a drop from projections and a further sign that the Trump economy is stalling in the face of growing uncertainty around the president's tariff agenda. McEntarfer's firing was immediately denounced by her Trump-appointed predecessor and numerous others in Washington. Republicans on the Hill struggled to defend it, while members of Donald Trump's team insisted in interviews that the president and the nation needed what he called 'reliable' numbers. Trump accused McEntarfer of cooking the numbers on Kamala Harris's behalf during the 2024 election, and now working to make him look bad, a notion even the president's own advisers wouldn't echo directly. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House economic council, led the efforts to defend the president's decision-making on Sunday. He was joined by Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative. Hassett directly contradicted the president during his interview on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream; he argued that it was the formula by which the BLS determined job market gains — not malicious activity by McEntarfer — which needed to be addressed. Pointing to a letter from McEntarfer's predecessors, Bream asked Hassett: 'They're saying it's not good to cast aspersions on what's being done because it's a formula. It's used the same way every single time. So are you saying maybe the formulas, the calculations need to change?' 'That's right. 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A number of McEntarfer's predecessors and other top officialst at the BLS fired back in a statement from a group called the 'Friends of the BLS': 'The President seeks to blame someone for unwelcome economic news.' The president's critics said that the firing and unsupported explanation meant that future figures released by the agency would be thrown into question and was an example of Trump desiring ability to dictate the creation of phony statistics. 'This is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism,' warned Larry Summers, former director of the White House economic council under Biden (and Hassett's predecessor), on ABC's This Week. 'This is really scary stuff, and it can hardly be surprising that when the rule of law is in a bit question that there's a big uncertainty premium in the markets.' He went on to argue that Trump's battering of Fed Chair Jerome Powell followed in a similar vein, and was behind much of the uncertainty curbing U.S. investments on Wall Street. 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Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
ALEX BRUMMER: Bank under populist siege
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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Most Gulf markets fall on weak earnings, US economic worries
Aug 3 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday hit by lacklustre earnings, while a cooling U.S. labor market clouded the Federal Reserve's policy outlook as investors scrutinized recent U.S. tariff decisions. U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on U.S. imports from dozens of countries that failed to reach trade deals with Washington by his August 1 deadline. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab dropped 0.8%, hit by a 1.2% decline by oil behemoth Saudi Aramco ( opens new tab ahead of its earnings announcement on Tuesday. Jabal Omar Development ( opens new tab slid 5.4%, after posting a second-quarter loss. The developer - which runs the Jabal Omar complex of hotels and property near Mecca's Grand Mosque - was hit by reduced hotel revenues and a 106 million riyal ($28.26 million) property impairment charge, which lowered gross profit. Among other losers, Saudi Basic Industries Corp ( opens new tab - 70% owned by Saudi Aramco - retreated 1.2%, after reporting a second-quarter loss. The chemical firm attributed its losses to 3.78 billion riyals in impairment charges and provisions related to a cracker closure in the UK in line with a portfolio review to reduce costs and improve profitability. Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - fell $2 a barrel on Friday due to jitters over a potential production hike by OPEC and its allies, while a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report fed worries about demand. Eight OPEC+ countries meeting on Sunday have agreed to raise oil output in September by 548,000 barrels per day, Reuters reported citing two OPEC+ sources while the meeting was still under way. Elsewhere, Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co ( opens new tab plunged 10% - its biggest intraday fall since its listing in December 2022 - following an 18% drop in quarterly profit. In Qatar, the index (.QSI), opens new tab fell 0.8%, with Qatar Islamic Bank ( opens new tab losing 1.8%. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab added 0.2%, helped by a 3.2% rise in tobacco monopoly Eastern Company ( opens new tab. ($1 = 3.7511 riyals)
