Trump still has to sell the spending bill to the public, says Evercore's Sarah Bianci
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CNBC
2 hours ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Trump's tariff letters set the heart racing, but don't seem to promise anything new
Paramours wanting to court each other have, through the decades, moved on from courtly love letters to raunchy Instagram DMs. But some form of that epistolary tradition remains today in the stately realm of politics. U.S. President Donald Trump revealed Monday that he had written letters to the leaders of 12 countries, informing them of new tariff rates due to begin on Aug. 1. Upon first reading, the letter is enough to send the heart racing. It contains bold emotional declarations ("You will never be disappointed with The United States of America"), big double-digit numbers (between 25% and 40%, depending on the recipient) and a veiled threat should desire not be reciprocated ("These tariffs may be modified … depending on our relationship with your Country"). But if we take a step back, it appears that he letters' purpose might not be that different from the table of "reciprocal" tariffs Trump hoisted up at the White House's Rose Garden in April. The letters threaten stiff tariffs that will kick in on a certain date (or as certain as any deadline from the White House can be), unless countries negotiate with the U.S. for a trade deal. Even the tariff numbers aren't that far from what was initially revealed. In other words, the letters might just be a restaging of April's events. "If you go through the details, I don't even know if anybody understands the difference between what was announced today, what was there previously, and if it will actually be implemented, and which companies it actually impacts," Trivariate Research CEO Adam Parker said Monday on CNBC's "Closing Bell." Trump on Sunday, in response to whether the deadline for tariffs will be changing, said, "They're going to be tariffs. The tariffs are going to be the tariffs." In the same way, a tariff is a tariff is a tariff, whether in a racy letter, stated on a big chart, or even sent in an Instagram DM. Steep tariffs on 14 countries. The White House sent letters to leaders of several countries announcing blanket tariffs ranging from 25% to 40% starting Aug. 1. Notably, U.S. imports from Japan and South Korea face a 25% duty. U.S. markets fall on stiff tariffs. All major U.S. indexes ended in the red in their worst day in almost a month. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.44%. Oil and gas stocks fell after the OPEC+ alliance on Saturday agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase. Tesla loses more than $68 billion in value. Shares of the electric vehicle maker tumbled 6.8% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Saturday he was forming a new U.S. political party. Investors are worried about Musk heading deeper into politics. Samsung Electronics forecasts a 56% fall in profits. Second-quarter operating profit is expected to come in around 4.6 trillion Korean won ($3.3 billion), a steep decline from 10.44 trillion won a year ago. The firm's estimate is even lower than analyst expectations. [PRO] Safe spots in the Chinese market. While the China technology story hasn't changed enough to warrant major changes to portfolios, analysts are encouraging investors to be more conservative as they gear up for the second half. This Chinese jeweler is using traditional techniques to challenge Cartier — and it's starting in Singapore Laopu Gold opened its first overseas store in Singapore on June 21, just outside the Marina Bay Sands casino. During the first two weekends, wait times stretched from one to two hours, according to an employee. The Chinese jeweler has excited investors with its surging China sales — up 166% to 9.8 billion yuan ($1.37 billion) in 2024, according to its annual report. The company's shares have skyrocketed by well over 2,000% since its public offering price of HK$40.50 in Hong Kong in June 2024.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Americans Are Spending More on Luxe Jewelry While Decreasing Spending on Other Goods: Report
Maybe diamonds really are forever. A new Citigroup report found that despite a broader slowdown in U.S. luxury spending, affluent consumers are showing a marked preference for fine jewelry, CNBC reported. More from Robb Report Fancy Colored Diamond Prices Have Skyrocketed 205% Since 2005: Report One of the First Fully Blockchain-Certified High Jewelry Collections Is Here How Art Deco Style Continues to Influence Modern Jewelry Designs Based on credit card transaction data from more than 10 million U.S. cardholders, Citi found that while overall spending on high-end goods declined in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, jewelry sales have surged. Luxury spending in May 2025 dipped just 1.7 percent year over year, following much sharper drops of 6.8 percent in April and 8.5 percent in March. Amid this decline, jewelry performed stunningly, exceeding the sales of other upscale categories like handbags and ready-to-wear. According to Citigroup's analysis, luxury jewelry spending increased 10.1 percent in May compared to a year earlier, continuing a monthly growth trend that began in September 2024. Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet told CNBC that fine jewelry's surge can be credited to its perceived investment value and sentimental quality. 'When you have $3,000 to spend on luxury, you know, are you going to buy a piece of jewelry or a handbag for the same price?' he said. 'Perhaps the piece of jewelry gives you superior intrinsic value given the precious metals content and superior emotional value and meaning.' Chauvet also noted that coveted jewelers like Cartier have raised prices by less than 5 percent since the start of the year despite the cost of gold appreciating by over 25 percent, further incentivizing high-end jewelry purchases. Handbag brands, however, have increased prices as much as 30 percent to 40 percent since the pandemic with little to no tangible product improvements, according to Chauvet. Even though some top-tier jewelry brands lost 2.7 percent of their clientele, the consumers who remained spent 11.7 percent more on average. Jewelry was also the only product type to see an increase in individual customers as well as increases in average spend by customer. Meanwhile, luxury brands in other sectors, such as Hermès, saw a 0.2 percent increase in consumer spending since 2024. Chauvet also attributes the general decline of consumer spending, despite fine jewelry's success, to various political and economic factors in the country. Namely, the weak U.S. dollar, impending resumption of tariffs on global trade, and oil prices amid the Iran-Israel conflict all greatly effect how American consumers are spending their money and where. Click here to read the full article. Sign in to access your portfolio
Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
NYC Mayor Adams says Andrew Cuomo is pushing him to drop out of race to maximize chances against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani
New York City Mayor Adams said Monday that ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo is privately urging him to drop out of November's mayoral election, as their moderate wing of the party scrambles to find a way to maximize their chances of beating Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. In a morning appearance on CNBC, Adams said he has no intention of heeding Cuomo's call — arguing the former governor's the one who should end his campaign so he can take on Mamdani, a democratic socialist, in the Nov. 4 contest. 'I said, Andrew: 'Are you that level of arrogance?'' Adams said, describing a recent conversation in which he alleged Cuomo encouraged him to drop out. 'I'm the sitting mayor, I'm the sitting mayor of the City of New York and you expect for me to step aside when you just lost to Zohran by 12 points?' The mayor, who often claims he doesn't discuss private conversations, continued: 'They heard your message and you lost. Now let a fresh set of legs that has produced for this city [run the race].' Sources familiar with the matter told the Daily News that the Cuomo camp's outreach to Adams' team has centered on a proposal to commission an independent poll testing each of them in head-to-head general election matchups against Mamdani. The idea, the sources said, would be that whoever between Cuomo and Adams performed best in such a scenario would stay in the race, while the other would drop out and endorse the remaining candidate. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi declined to comment on private conversations, but confirmed the ex-governor favors running a poll to determine who should be the anti-Mamdani candidate. Specifically, Azzopardi said Cuomo wants to run that poll in September. Azzopardi also took a shot at Adams, calling him 'anathema to Democrats and unelectable.' 'We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams,' Azzopardi said. 'This is the time to put aside the usual political selfishness and agree to do what is truly best for all New Yorkers … We call on other candidates to do the same.' There have been no major polls of the general election yet, but some early surveys show Cuomo edging out Adams. That includes an American Pulse poll released last week that found Mamdani winning the race with 35% of the vote, while Cuomo finished second, holding 29%. In that survey, Adams finished fourth with 14%, behind Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa's 16%. Adams, who dropped out of the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary this spring, is running for reelection on an independent line in November. Facing record low approval ratings and fundraising struggles amid continued fallout from his federal corruption indictment, Adams' bid for reelection is widely seen as an uphill battle. But Frank Carone, Adams' longtime confidant who helps lead his reelection campaign, argued the mayor has a long runway to turn the political tides before November and signaled his team isn't interested in the Cuomo camp's independent poll proposal. 'To suggest a 'poll' four months ahead of the election should have any significance is ridiculous,' Carone told The News. Though he lost the Democratic primary, Cuomo's name will also appear on November's ballot on an independent line no matter what, as the deadline has passed to remove it. Cuomo hasn't definitively said yet whether he's going to mount a genuine general election effort. His team says he continues to consider his options after his stunning primary loss against Mamdani, who defeated him by a 56%-44% margin. As the Democratic nominee, Mamdani holds a big advantage in November, given that registered Democrats vastly outnumber other voters in the city. He ran a primary campaign centered on proposals to increase taxes on the wealthy, freeze the rent for stabilized tenants, drastically expand subsidized childcare and make public buses free. Cuomo, Adams and other moderate forces in New York, including business leaders, have sought to blunt Mamdani's momentum by portraying him as too left-leaning, arguing his policy platform is unrealistic and slamming his criticism of Israel's war in Gaza. As they share similar moderate bases of support, Cuomo and Adams would likely hamper each other's chances if they both actively campaign in November's contest. Responding to Monday's back-and-forth between Cuomo and Adams, Mamdani spokesman Andrew Epstein noted his candidate received more than 545,000 votes in the Democratic primary, the most of any mayoral hopeful in 36 years. 'In the coming months, Zohran looks forward to growing this coalition and reaching new voters with his vision for an affordable New York City,' he said. Former New York Gov. David Paterson, who endorsed Cuomo's mayoral run, was the latest moderate Democrat to come out Monday in favor of local business and civic communities lining up behind one independent candidate in pursuit of beating Mamdani. But Paterson declined to say whether Cuomo or Adams should be that candidate. 'Help us put together a search and an understanding of which one of these candidates not only would win the election, but could govern the city,' Paterson said at a press conference in Midtown held with right-wing radio host Sid Rosenberg and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis. In addition to Adams and potentially Cuomo, Sliwa — who netted nearly 30% of the vote in the 2021 mayoral election — is the Republican candidate in the November race. Attorney Jim Walden is also running on an independent ballot line. 'I'm not dropping out no matter who talks to me,' Sliwa said Monday, adding he hasn't heard from either the Cuomo or Adams camps about coalescing behind one candidate. Some on the right have urged President Trump to offer Sliwa a federal job to get him out of the mayoral race in order to shore up support for Adams, whose friendly relationship with Trump has endeared him to Republicans. Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, told The News he wouldn't be interested if Trump made such an offer. 'Politely, I would say: Mr. President, I am only interested in one job and that's being mayor,' he said. Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual and professional misconduct accusations, has largely stayed out of the public spotlight since his primary loss. His team continues to maintain the ex-gov remains a prolific potential candidate in the November showdown. In making that case, his team has noted Cuomo received 24,000 more votes in last month's election than Adams did in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary he won.
