Trump's feud with central bank continues over interest rates
Mr Trump has repeatedly called on the Fed to reduce rates immediately, claiming its chairman Jerome Powell is bad for the economy.
Republicans are now questioning Mr Powell's handling of the renovation of Fed buildings, which have gone over budget by millions of dollars.
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The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Nebraska Republican faces heckles and boos at town hall over Trump cuts and Epstein
A Republican congressman from Nebraska faced boos, chants of 'vote him out' and questions about the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation files. In what could be a preview of what Republicans up for re-election in the 2026 congressional midterms might face, Mike Flood was consistently heckled throughout the town hall. He also faced questions about immigration, cuts to Medicaid, and Donald Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a July employment report that was worse than expected and job growth numbers that were revised downward by 285,000 for the two previous months. Flood claimed he supports releasing the Epstein case files as well as the effort to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein's convicted, longtime associate – in front of Congress. 'I don't know what the situation was with [McEntarfer]. Neither do you,' Flood said. 'I don't know. I don't know. 'I can tell you – I've been an employer for a lot of years, and there's always two sides to every story, and I don't know what that side was. I will say this, though, if all that person did was get the data out there, if all that – and I don't know that's the case – but if that's all they did, I would not have fired her.' Nebraska's Democratic party had encouraged voters to attend the town hall in the state's capital of Lincoln. In response to a question about the budget bill championed by Trump that cut Medicaid by a historic $1tn, Flood responded: 'I truly believe that this bill will allow America to experience growth, that it will allow our communities to thrive, that it will spark our economy, that it will help farmers and ranchers, that it will take care of the vulnerable. And more than anything, I truly believe this bill protects Medicaid for the future.' He then dismissed calls to 'tax the rich', claiming they create jobs. 'From my standpoint, when I say I protected Medicaid, I feel like it,' Flood said. 'If you have a vulnerable loved one that's on Medicaid, and they find it's harder to continue their services, to get their free healthcare, and they clearly need it, that was not what I voted for. 'If we have to make tweaks to the implementation to make sure that those who truly need it get it and it is not a burden to their caregiver or them, then we need to make those tweaks.' Those who attended Flood's town hall jeered and criticized him vociferously, including by saying he supported fascism. 'Fascists don't hold town halls with open question-and-answer series,' Flood replied. Flood was first elected in 2022 and won a second term in November. He succeeded Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican incumbent who resigned after a felony conviction for lying to federal authorities about an illegal campaign donation from a foreign national.
Reuters
20 minutes ago
- Reuters
US trade deficit narrows to $60.2 billion in June
Aug 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June on a sharp drop in consumer goods imports, the latest evidence of the imprint on global commerce President Donald Trump is making with sweeping tariffs on imported goods. The overall trade gap narrowed 16.0% in June to $60.2 billion, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday. Days after reporting that the goods trade deficit tumbled 10.8% to its lowest since September 2023, the government said the full deficit including services also was its narrowest since September 2023. Exports of goods and services totaled $277.3 billion, down from more than $278 billion in May, while total imports were $337.5 billion, down from $350.3 billion. The diminished trade deficit contributed heavily to the rebound in U.S. gross domestic product during the second quarter, reported last week, reversing a drag in the first quarter when imports had surged as consumers and businesses front-loaded purchases to beat the imposition of Trump's tariffs. The economy in the second quarter expanded at a 3.0% annualized rate after contracting at a 0.5% rate in the first three months of the year, but the headline figure masked underlying indications that activity was weakening. Last week Trump, ahead of a self-imposed deadline of August 1, issued a barrage of notices informing scores of trading partners of higher import taxes set to be imposed on their goods exports to the U.S. With tariff rates ranging from 10% to 41% on imports to the U.S. set to kick in on August 7, the Budget Lab at Yale now estimates the average overall U.S. tariff rate has shot up to 18.3%, the highest since 1934, from between 2% and 3% before Trump returned to the White House in January.
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Canada's trade deficit widened to C$5.9 billion in June
OTTAWA, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Canada's merchandise trade deficit widened in June to C$5.9 billion ($4.24 billion) as imports grew faster than exports due to a one-time high-value oil equipment import, data showed on Tuesday. The deficit observed in June is the second highest on record after the deficit dipped to its largest in history n April to C$7.6 billion. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted the trade deficit to widen to C$6.3 billion in June from a downwardly revised C$5.5 billion in May. Total imports were up 1.4% in June to C$67.6 billion from a drop of 1.6% in the prior month, Statistics Canada said, adding that excluding the one-time product import which was from the U.S. for an offshore oil project, total imports were down 1.9% in June. Canada's total exports grew 0.9% in June to C$61.74 billion following an increase of 2% in May, its second consecutive increase, Statscan said, led primarily by an increase in value of crude oil exports which saw an increase in prices in June due to tensions in the Middle East. In volume terms, however, exports were down 0.4% in June. The U.S. President Donald Trump cranked up the tariffs on Canada to 35% from this month from 25% on goods which were non-compliant with a free trade deal. Canada is also struggling with a slew of sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles. This has chewed into its massive trade balance with the U.S. as exporters drove away from what the world's biggest market in Canada's backyard to other regions from Europe and Middle East to as far as the Indo-Pacific. Exports to the U.S. in June, however, increased by 3.1% in June, due to crude oil shipments. But on a year-over-year basis, exports to the U.S. were still 12.5% lower when compared with the same period a year ago. After reaching a record high in May, exports to countries other than the United States were down 4.1% in June, representing the first decline since February, Statscan said. The increase in total imports in June was mainly led by a 2.6% increase in imports from the U.S. due to the import of a module for an offshore oil project, the statistics agency said. This was the first increase in imports after three consecutive monthly decreases, data showed.
