Latest news with #U.S.Treasury
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Weekly Review: Gold prices fall as investors turn away from safe-haven assets
CHENNAI: Gold prices have recently declined, marking their second consecutive weekly loss, as global investors increasingly shift focus away from traditional safe-haven assets. The weakening demand for gold comes amid a broader surge in risk appetite, buoyed by rising equity markets, easing geopolitical tensions, and firming expectations of a stable macroeconomic environment. In India, the precious metal prices have eased this week, offering a potential buying opportunity. On June 28, the price for 22‑carat gold fell by about Rs55 per gram from the previous day—now around Rs. 8,930 per gram—while 24‑carat gold was Rs. 9,742 per gram. Over the last ten days, 22‑carat prices have dropped from Rs. 9,265 on June 19 to Rs. 8,930 on June 28—a fall of roughly Rs. 335. Similarly, 24‑carat gold fell from Rs. 10,108 to Rs. 9,742—a Rs. 366 decline. This downward trend reflects a broader global correction, driven by easing geopolitical tensions (such as the Israel‑Iran ceasefire), a stronger dollar, and rising U.S. Treasury yields reducing the appeal of non‑yielding assets like gold . In MCX futures, domestic prices dropped about Rs. 1,630 per 10 g this week amid reduced safe‑haven demand. For buyers, this dip may be a good chance to purchase jewelry or invest—but it's wise to monitor global trends, interest rates, and inflation data for future movements. Spot gold dropped by approximately 1.2% to around $3,288 per ounce, while US August futures fell by 1.7%, closing the week with a nearly 3% decline. This drop reflects investor preference for higher-yielding or growth-oriented assets, with the Nasdaq hitting fresh record highs—signaling a strong risk-on sentiment in the market. Gold's earlier rally, which saw prices touching historic highs earlier this year, has also prompted technical profit-taking, accelerating the recent sell-off.
Ammon
an hour ago
- Business
- Ammon
Trump cuts off US trade talks with Canada
Ammon News - U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada on Friday over its tax targeting U.S. technology firms, saying that it was a "blatant attack" and that he would set a new tariff rate on Canadian goods within the next week. The move plunges U.S.-Canada relations back into chaos after a period of relative calm that included a cordial G7 meeting in mid-June where Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to wrap up a new economic agreement within 30 days. It also came just hours after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck an upbeat tone on trade, touting progress had been made with China on reviving the flow of critical minerals for the U.S. The often-chaotic rollout of Trump's import levies since his return to office this year has frequently whipsawed financial markets, and have begun to weigh on consumer spending, the bedrock of the U.S. economy. U.S. stocks were briefly batted lower by his broadside against Canada, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq managed to close out the week at record highs. The tax is 3% of the digital services revenue a firm takes in from Canadian users above $20 million in a calendar year, and payments will be retroactive to 2022. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media platform, called the tax "a direct and blatant attack on our country" and said Canada was a "very difficult country to TRADE with." "Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. "We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven-day period." Reuters
The Mainichi
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Mainichi
Japan wrestling with US tariff talks as July deadline looms
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- Japanese and U.S. tariff negotiators agreed Friday to continue talks in pursuit of a deal that will be beneficial to both countries, but significant differences apparently remain in areas such as Washington's treatment of its key Asian ally's automotive industry. Japan's government said its top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held talks in Washington, with each side reaffirming its position during "fruitful" discussions on trade expansion, nontariff measures and economic security cooperation. Akazawa, however, did not meet the press following the tariff meeting as he had done after his previous six with U.S. Cabinet members. He was also hoping to hold another separate meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, but the Japanese government stopped short of saying whether one was arranged. The meeting between Akazawa and Lutnick, which lasted about an hour, took place as U.S. President Donald Trump and his trade team increasingly suggest they could give trading partners that are currently negotiating more time for talks beyond early July, when the administration's 90-day pause on so-called reciprocal tariffs is set to expire. Bessent said Friday that the Trump administration could complete negotiations with key trading partners by Sept. 1. In a Fox Business interview, Bessent said, "I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day" if the United States can make "10 or 12" deals among its 18 highest-priority trading partners and seal "another important 20 relationships" with new agreements. Japan is among the group of 18 trading partners, also including the European Union, India and South Korea, with which the Trump administration has prioritized making deals. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also said at a press briefing on Thursday that the 90-day pause for negotiations could be extended. On Friday, when asked what he might do with the suspension, set to expire July 9, Trump said, "We can do whatever we want. We could extend it. We could make it shorter." "I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: 'Congratulations, you're paying 25 percent,'" he added during a press conference at the White House. Akazawa arrived in Washington on Thursday for his seventh round of ministerial meetings on tariffs. His visit through Saturday comes after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump failed to strike a deal last week when they met on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada. The 90-day pause applies only to country-specific tariffs under Trump's reciprocal scheme, covering about 60 trading partners that have notable trade surpluses with the United States. It does not affect his baseline duty of 10 percent, targeting imports globally. Japan is facing an additional country-specific tariff of 14 percent, for a total rate of 24 percent. However, the Trump administration's additional tariffs targeting the automotive industry, which are not subject to the pause, have been a particular concern for Japan. The administration raised the tariff rate on imported passenger vehicles by 25 percentage points to 27.5 percent in early April, a measure that has already severely impacted the industry in Japan.
Yomiuri Shimbun
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Deal with Beijing Will Speed China's Export of Minerals to the US, Treasury Secretary Says
BANGKOK (AP) — Washington and Beijing have signed a trade agreement that will make it easier for American firms to obtain magnets and rare earth minerals from China that are critical to manufacturing and microchip production, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday. The agreement comes after China retaliated against steep import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese goods and moved to slow export of rare earth minerals and magnets much-needed by U.S. industrial interests. Bessent said on Fox Business Network's 'Mornings with Maria' that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping 'had a phone call' previously 'and then our teams met in London, ironed this out, and I am confident now that we, as agreed, the magnets will flow.' 'Part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the U.S.,' Bessent said. 'They formed the core of a lot of our industrial base. They were not flowing as fast as previously agreed.' His comments follow President Donald Trump announcing two weeks earlier an agreement with China that he said would ease exportation of magnets and rare earth minerals That pact cleared the way for the trade talks to continue. The U.S. has previously suspended some sales to China of critical U.S. technologies like components used for jet engines and semiconductors. It has also agreed to stop trying to revoke visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. Bessent added of critical mineral exports: 'What we're seeing here is a de-escalation.' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV that the deal was signed earlier this week. China's Commerce Ministry said Friday that the two sides had 'further confirmed the details of the framework,' when responding to a question about if China was to speed up exports of rare earths to the U.S. and if the U.S. was to remove some restrictions on China. 'China will, in accordance with the law, review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items. In turn, the United States will lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China,' the ministry said. Initial talks in Geneva in early May led both sides to postpone massive tariff hikes that were threatening to freeze much trade between the two countries. Later talks in London set a framework for negotiations and the deal mentioned by Trump appeared to formalize that agreement — setting the stage for Bessent's comments on Friday. In London, export controls of the minerals eclipsed tariffs in the trade negotiations after China in April imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements, per a Chinese law that applies to all exports, not just those bound for the U.S. market. With the permitting process taking 45 days, the new requirement has caused a pause in shipments, threatening to disrupt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S., meanwhile, took restrictive measures on exports of high tech to China. By the latest agreement, China does not remove the permitting requirement on rare earths but retains the flexibility to dial up or down the approval process as needed. Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, said Beijing has only tightened its overall policy on rare earths but has the discretion on how to implement it. 'That's the Chinese style,' she said. 'If all goes well, permit happens. If things go in a wrong direction, like U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, permits gone with wind.' China also has taken steps recently on the fentanyl issue, announcing last week that it would designate two more substances as precursor chemicals for fentanyl, making them subject to production, transport and export regulations. Trump has demanded that Beijing do more to stop the flow of such precursor ingredients to Mexican drug cartels, which use them to make fentanyl for sale in the U.S. He imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese imports over the fentanyl issue, the biggest part of current 30% across-the-board taxes on Chinese goods. The agreement struck in May in Geneva called for both sides to scale back punitive tariff hikes imposed as Trump escalated his trade war and sharply raised import duties. Some higher tariffs, such as those imposed by Washington related to the trade in fentanyl and duties on aluminum and steel, remain in place. The rapidly shifting policies are taking a toll on both of the world's two largest economies. The U.S. economy contracted at a 0.5% annual pace from January through March, partly because imports surged as companies and households rushed to buy foreign goods before Trump could impose tariffs on them. In China, factory profits sank more than 9% from a year earlier in May, with automakers suffering a large share of that drop. They fell more than 1% year-on-year in January-May. Trump and other U.S. officials have indicated they expect to reach trade deals with many other countries, including India. 'We're going to have deal after deal after deal,' Lutnick said.
Kyodo News
7 hours ago
- Business
- Kyodo News
Japan, U.S. agree to continue tariff talks as July deadline looms
KYODO NEWS - 5 hours ago - 04:47 | All, Japan, World Japanese and U.S. negotiators agreed Friday to continue talks toward a tariff deal that will be beneficial to both countries. Japan's government said its top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held talks in Washington, with each side reaffirming its position during "fruitful" discussions on trade expansion, nontariff measures and economic security cooperation. The meeting between Akazawa and Lutnick, which lasted about an hour, took place as U.S. President Donald Trump and his trade team increasingly suggest they could give trading partners now in talks with Washington more time to negotiate beyond early July, when his administration's 90-day pause on so-called reciprocal tariffs is set to expire. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the Trump administration could complete negotiations with key trading partners by Sept. 1. In a Fox Business interview, Bessent said, "I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labor Day" if the United States can make "10 or 12" deals among its 18 highest-priority trading partners and seal "another important 20 relationships" with new agreements. Japan is among the 18 trading partners, also including the European Union, India and South Korea, with which the Trump administration has prioritized making deals. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also said at a press briefing on Thursday that the 90-day pause that Trump put in place to facilitate negotiations could be extended. On Friday, when asked what he might do with the suspension, set to expire July 9, Trump said, "We can do whatever we want. We could extend it. We could make it shorter." "I'd like to make it shorter. I'd like to just send letters out to everybody: 'Congratulations, you're paying 25 percent,'" he added during a press conference at the White House. The Japanese negotiator arrived in Washington on Thursday for his seventh round of ministerial meetings on tariffs with the United States. He could also hold talks later Friday with Bessent. Akazawa's visit through Saturday comes after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump failed to strike a deal on tariffs last week when they met bilaterally on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Canada. The 90-day pause applies only to country-specific tariffs under Trump's reciprocal scheme, covering about 60 trading partners that have notable trade surpluses with the United States. It does not affect his baseline duty of 10 percent, targeting imports from all parts of the world. Japan is facing an additional country-specific tariff of 14 percent, for a total rate of 24 percent. But the Trump administration's additional tariffs targeting the automotive industry, which are not subject to the pause, have been a particular concern for Japan. The administration raised the tariff rate on imported passenger vehicles by 25 percentage points to 27.5 percent in early April, and the move is already hitting the industry hard. Related coverage: U.S. State Secretary Rubio's 1st visit to Japan eyed for July Trump could extend 90-day tariff pause in July, White House says Japan reiterates that higher U.S. auto tariffs are unacceptable
