Latest news with #US9
AU Financial Review
2 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Trump set to open $14trn US retirement market to crypto investments
New York | Washington | Donald Trump is preparing to open the $US9 trillion ($14 trillion) US retirement market to cryptocurrency investments, gold, and private equity in a move that would spur a radical shift in the way Americans' savings are managed. Trump is expected to sign an executive order as soon as this week that would open up 401k plans to alternative investments beyond traditional stocks and bonds, according to three people who have been briefed on the president's plans. Financial Times
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Copper prices rangebound amid US trade talks, 50pct metal tariff
SINGAPORE: Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange were rangebound on Monday as investors assessed the impact of trade talks between the US and its major partners and a 50 per cent import tariff on the metal. Three-month copper on the LME inched up 0.07 per cent to US9,667.5 per metric ton by 0104 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract on the SHFE fell 0.37 per cent to 78,240 yuan (US10,915.03). US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would impose a 30 per cent tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico from August 1, adding to similar warnings for other countries and leaving them less than three weeks to hammer out framework deals that could lower the threatened tariff rate. This follows a 50 per cent tariff imposed on copper imports, which will also be effective on August 1. "It's uncertain where copper demand will go with all these tariffs. The US has imported quite a lot of copper before the tariff announcement, so we're wondering whether China, as the largest consumer and producer, will stock up some too, as it is crucial to the military and economy," a Shanghai-based metals analyst at a futures company said. Copper inventories in SHFE-monitered warehouses remained low, down 4 per cent on-week at 81,462 tons as of July 11. Meanwhile, China will release trade data for June and for January-June on Monday, which will probably be positive news with the frontloading amid tariff uncertainties, a Beijing-based metals analyst at a futures company said. LME nickel shed 0.55 per cent to US15,115 a ton, aluminium fell 0.54 per cent to US2,589, and tin eased 0.29 per cent to US33,550. SHFE aluminium fell 1.16 per cent to 20,475 yuan a ton, zinc slipped 0.89 per cent to 22,220 yuan, nickel dropped 0.78 per cent to 120,240 yuan, lead eased 0.44 per cent to 17,030 yuan, and tin was down 0.43 per cent at 264,500 yuan.
AU Financial Review
12-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
US budget surplus gets tax returns, import duties boost
Washington | The US government posted a $US258 billion ($406 billion) budget surplus for April, up 23 per cent, or about $US49 billion, from a year earlier, reflecting strong tax receipts in the final month of the tax season and surging collections of import duties, the Treasury Department said. Treasury reported that net customs duties in April totalled $US16 billion, about a $US9 billion increase from the year-earlier period. The increase occurred during a month in which President Donald Trump boosted tariffs on Chinese goods to as much as 145 per cent while slapping at least 10 per cent levies on imports of goods from other countries.
Otago Daily Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Gates to give away most of fortune, slams Musk
Bill Gates has pledged to give away a vast amount of his wealth via his charitable foundation by 2045 and lashed out at Elon Musk, accusing the world's richest man of "killing the world's poorest children" through huge cuts to the US foreign aid budget. The 69-year-old US billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft said he was speeding up his plans to divest $US200 billion ($NZ339 billion) and would close the foundation on December 31 in 2045, years earlier than previously planned. Gates said he believed the money would help achieve several of his goals, such as eradicating diseases like polio and malaria, ending preventable deaths among women and children, and reducing global poverty. His announcement follows moves by governments, including the Trump administration, to slash international aid budgets used to prevent deadly disease and famine. The cuts in the United States have been overseen by Musk, who has publicly bragged about feeding the US Agency for International Development "into the wood chipper," and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Around 80% of USAID programmes are set to be cut; the agency spent $US44 billion worldwide in fiscal 2023. "The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one," Gates told the Financial Times . In an interview with Reuters, Gates warned of a stark reversal to decades of progress in reducing mortality over the next four to six years due to the funding cuts by governments worldwide. "The number of deaths will start going up for the first time ... it's going to be millions more deaths because of the resources." The Gates Foundation's annual budget will reach $US9 billion by 2026 and around $US10 billion annually after that due to the accelerated spending. Gates has warned the White House that his foundation and other philanthropies cannot fill the gaps left by governments. "I think governments will come back to caring about children surviving" over the next 20-year period though, Gates said on Thursday. Gates and Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, once agreed over the role of the wealthy in giving away money to help others, but have since clashed several times. Asked if he had appealed to Musk recently to change course, Gates said it was now up to Congress to decide on the future for US aid spending. "Gates is a huge liar," Musk said in reply to a tweet on his X social media platform that featured an interview with Gates warning about US aid cuts. Musk's spokespeople were not immediately available for comment. Gates said that despite his foundation's deep pockets, progress would not be possible without government support. "There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people," Gates wrote in a post on his website. "It's unclear whether the world's richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people." He praised the response to aid cuts in Africa, where some governments have reallocated budgets, but said that, as an example, polio would not be eradicated without US funding. Gates made the announcement on the foundation's 25th anniversary. He set up the organization with his then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000, and they were later joined by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. 'WHAT MY PARENTS TAUGHT ME' Since inception, the foundation has given away $US100 billion, helping to save millions of lives and backing initiatives like the vaccine group Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It will close after it spends around 99% of Gates' personal fortune, he said. The founders originally expected the foundation to wrap up in the decades after their deaths. Gates, whose fortune is currently valued at around $US108 billion, expects the foundation to spend around $US200 billion by 2045, with the final figure dependent on markets and inflation. The foundation has faced criticism for its outsized power and influence in the field without the requisite accountability, including at the World Health Organisation. Gates himself was also subject to conspiracy theories, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has spoken to Trump several times in recent months, and twice since the president took office on January 20, he told Reuters on Thursday, on the importance of continued investment in global health. "The world does have values. That's what my parents taught me."
Perth Now
05-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
3G Capital to acquire shoemaker Skechers for $US9bn
Skechers is being acquired and taken private by the investment firm 3G Capital. The board of Skechers unanimously approved the $US9 billion ($A14 billion) deal, the companies said on Monday. The offer of $US63 per share represents a premium of 30 per cent to Skechers' 15-day volume-weighted average stock price, the companies said. Skechers shares jumped 25 per cent at the opening bell Monday, to $US61.72. Skechers reported a record $US9 billion in revenue in 2024 with net earnings of $US640 million. China accounts for 15 per cent of Skecher's revenue, according to the data firm FactSet. About 97 per cent of the clothes and shoes purchased in the US are imported, predominantly from Asia, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Using factories overseas has kept labour costs down for US companies but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb price increases due to new tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump's administration. Following completion of the transaction, the company will continue to be led by Skechers chairman and CEO Robert Greenberg and his management team. Its headquarters will remain in Manhattan Beach, California where it was founded more than three decades ago. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter this year.
