Latest news with #import tariffs
The Independent
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Key things to know about Trump's ‘massive' trade deal with Japan
Japan agreed a trade deal that would see the US cut import tariffs on automobiles from the East Asian country from 25 per cent to 15 per cent. The deal is a significant boost to the Japanese automobile industry which sends over a quarter of its total exports to the US market. American president Donald Trump described it as the 'largest TRADE DEAL in history' and an 'exciting time for the United States of America'. Here are the key features of the agreement. Japanese investment in US economy The deal commits Japan to investing $550bn in the US economy. Prime minister Shigeru Ishiba confirmed the deal had been struck on Wednesday, just days after his ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered a major loss in a key upper house election. Despite facing calls to step down in the wake of the loss, Mr Ishiba vowed to move forward with the agreement, insisting it didn't compromise Japan's agricultural interests. 'This agreement does not sacrifice Japanese agriculture,' he said, adding that US rice imports would remain within existing quotas. American access to Japanese market The agreement expands market access for American goods like automobiles, rice and other agricultural products. The full terms are still to be made public, however. Mr Ishiba said he would closely review the agreement before releasing it, noting his chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, had made eight trips to Washington since April to negotiate with treasury secretary Scott Bessent and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Stock and currency market reactions Japanese markets reacted positively to the deal, with Nikkei rising two per cent in early trading, led by automakers. Toyota's shares jumped 10 per cent while Honda gained nine per cent. However, Japanese bond futures fell sharply, with the 10-year benchmark dropping 0.92 yen to its lowest since March. The yen initially surged to a near two-week high before falling amid reports of Mr Ishiba's impending resignation. The dollar index fell for the third consecutive day. 'There's some dovishness infecting the market at the moment around the US dollar,' Michael McCarthy, market strategist at Moomoo Australia, said. Criticism from American auto industry The agreement drew criticism from American carmakers who argued that the deal gave preferential treatment to Japanese imports. 'Any deal that charges a lower tariff for Japanese imports with virtually no US content than the tariff imposed on North American-built vehicles… is a bad deal for US industry and US auto workers,' said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council. Tariffs on vehicles made in North America remain at 25 per cent. Exclusion of metals and defence The new agreement does not address the longstanding issue of 50 per cent American tariff on Japanese steel and aluminium. It also excludes provisions related to defence budgets. Mr Trump, however, indicated that Japan could join a proposed US-backed natural gas pipeline project in Alaska. 'They're all set to make that deal now,' he said during brief remarks at the White House. More deals to follow? Mr Trump said that EU trade negotiators would arrive in Washington on Wednesday, signalling momentum for further deals in the coming days. Mr Bessent suggested that the US was open to extending the tariff negotiation deadline of 1 August if progress was made in talks with partners. The US deal with Japan follows months of tension over trade and may help stabilise economic relations between the allies. In 2024, total two-way trade stood at nearly $230bn, with Japan holding a surplus of approximately $70bn. Japan remains the largest foreign investor in the US, with over $2tn in American assets.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Chinese Auto Skirt EU BEV Tariffs To Post Record Sales In Europe
Formerly British brand MG lead the way for Chinese cars in the EU this year, skirting BEV import ... More tariffs by increasing plug-in hybrid and series hybrid sales. Photo:. Higher tariffs on imported Chinese electric cars last year haven't stopped the import surge, with Chinese automakers setting new highs in June for European sales. The EU provisionally imposed import tariffs on Chinese EVs last year to protect their own auto industry from Government-subsidised Chinese EV technology, but omitted combustion and plug-in hybrids from the duties. That omission has been exploited by the Chinese brands, which boosted their EU markets share to 5.5%, and they're growing at a monthly rate of 48%. While Europeans bought 6% fewer cars in the first half of 2025 than they did last year, Chinese brands rose 72%, with MG, BYD, Chery and Geely soaking up nearly 90% of all Chinese sales. EU tariffs on BEVs saw the MG4 slide backwards to be almost within the grasp of Geely's Polestar ... More brand for 2025 sales. Photo: Sjoerd van. The Chinese BEV assault has been blunted (dropping from 48% of the nation's sales in June 2024 to just 36%) though, and so has its combustion-only effort, which fell from 38% to 23% of sales. The slack was taken up by plug-in hybrids, which boomed from 4% to 22%, and series hybrids grew from 5% to 15%. BYD sells the most PHEVs of the Chinese brands, with the Seal U selling more than 6000 of the 14,522 total PHEV sales from China. The Chinese BEV assault on Europe was hit so hard that MG's MG 4 held onto its Chinese BEV sales lead with only 2664 sales, just holding off the Geely-owned, Chinese-built Polestar 4 (2385) and Polestar 2 (2363) models, which have a more Europe-facing history. Shanghai-based, Government-owned MG Motor saw its sales slump in June, hamstrung by tariffs on its mainstay, the fully electric MG4. The MG4 saw a 72% decline over the pre-tariff levels of June 2024. The overall monthly result saw it post 25,027 sales, which was strong enough to remain ahead of the growing BYD, which leapt ahead by 303% to 14,968 sales. Chery finally introduced its eponymous brand in Europe, sitting alongside its Jaecoo and Omoda brands, and trailed home its compatriots with 8860 sales.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Copper-Laden Ships Race to Reach US Ahead of Trump's 50% Tariffs
(Bloomberg) -- At least four ships carrying copper are trying to reach US ports before August to get ahead of planned import tariffs on the metal. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom How San Jose's Mayor Is Working to Build an AI Capital The shipments represent the final scramble by merchants to cash in on a lucrative arbitrage trade that has upended the global copper market since US President Donald Trump first floated the idea of copper tariffs. The urgency to secure imports increased in the past two weeks after Trump announced the levy would be 50% starting Aug. 1. Bulk carrier Kiating left Australia's Townsville port last Wednesday carrying 8,000 metric tons of refined cargo and is destined to reach Hawaii by July 30, according to shipping data provider Kpler. The firm can't identify who owns the cargo, but it said two other recent US-bound shipments from the port contained copper from Glencore Plc's Mount Isa Mines. Port data show that the Kiating was originally scheduled to land in New Orleans, but changed its destination to Hawaii after Trump's announcement — cutting its likely voyage time by almost 20 days. Even so, the cargo owner will be in a race against time to register the metal with the local customs office once the vessel arrives. 'It's hard to say how efficient clearance will be in Hawaii, given that it's such an atypical destination for this cargo,' said Ben Ayre, lead dry-bulk shipping analyst at Kpler. In Latin America, three vessels brimming with Chilean copper are also rushing to get to US ports. Cargo ship Louise Auerbach is near Colombia's Buenaventura port and en route for a July 28 arrival at Tampa, Florida, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and people with knowledge of the voyage. The BBC Norway is in Panama and the BBC Campana is anchored off northern Chile's coast, according to the latest shipping data. The vessels are among the last batch of copper cargoes whose owners are betting they can clear US customs just before the tariff bites. For reference, the difference between arriving ahead of the levy and having to pay it would be more than $70 million on a typical bulk carrier cargo of 15,000 tons. The voyage from northern Chile to southern US takes 10 to 15 days. To boost the chances of landing before the tariffs, shippers can attempt to clear customs for the entire cargo at their first US port of call. They can also pay for preferential spots in the lineups, turning what can be days of waiting into just hours. With copper prices surging in the US, traders including Glencore, Mercuria Energy Group, Trafigura Group, Hartree Partners LP and IXM SA have shipped huge volumes to US ports since Trump ordered the Commerce Secretary in February to consider tariffs as part of an probe into the impact of foreign copper on the US. The tariff trade allowed those firms to capture profits that industry veterans say are the biggest they've ever seen. A 50% copper tariff is double what many analysts and traders expected, and prices in New York surged even more after Trump's July 8 tariff announcement, creating even bigger potential profits for traders who can get vessels to America in time. With copper trading at close to $9,900 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, a 50% levy would mean US buyers need to pay a further $4,950 to customs authorities to import copper into the country. Nominally, traders stand to make nearly as much in profit if they can import the metal before the tariffs land in less than two weeks. Traders are still awaiting key details about the tariffs, particularly whether there will be a grace period for cargoes that are already on the water — as there have been when similar levies were imposed on aluminum and steel. US front-month copper futures are now trading at a record premium over LME prices, with gap reaching about $2,750 a ton on Wednesday. That's about 28% above the price in London. The metal fell 0.4% on the LME to $9,853 a ton as of 10:15 a.m. in Shanghai. --With assistance from Thomas Biesheuvel, Alaric Nightingale, Alex Newman and Martin Ritchie. Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Copper-Laden Ships Race to Reach US Ahead of Trump's 50% Tariffs
(Bloomberg) -- At least four ships carrying copper are trying to reach US ports before August to get ahead of planned import tariffs on the metal. Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US How San Jose's Mayor Is Working to Build an AI Capital The shipments represent the final scramble by merchants to cash in on a lucrative arbitrage trade that has upended the global copper market since US President Donald Trump first floated the idea of copper tariffs. The urgency to secure imports increased in the past two weeks after Trump announced the levy would be 50% starting Aug. 1. Bulk carrier Kiating left Australia's Townsville port last Wednesday carrying 8,000 metric tons of refined cargo and is destined to reach Hawaii by July 30, according to shipping data provider Kpler. The firm can't identify who owns the cargo, but it said two other recent US-bound shipments from the port contained copper from Glencore Plc's Mount Isa Mines. Port data show that the Kiating was originally scheduled to land in New Orleans, but changed its destination to Hawaii after Trump's announcement — cutting its likely voyage time by almost 20 days. Even so, the cargo owner will be in a race against time to register the metal with the local customs office once the vessel arrives. 'It's hard to say how efficient clearance will be in Hawaii, given that it's such an atypical destination for this cargo,' said Ben Ayre, lead dry-bulk shipping analyst at Kpler. In Latin America, three vessels brimming with Chilean copper are also rushing to get to US ports. Cargo ship Louise Auerbach is near Colombia's Buenaventura port and en route for a July 28 arrival at Tampa, Florida, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and people with knowledge of the voyage. The BBC Norway is in Panama and the BBC Campana is anchored off northern Chile's coast, according to the latest shipping data. The vessels are among the last batch of copper cargoes whose owners are betting they can clear US customs just before the tariff bites. For reference, the difference between arriving ahead of the levy and having to pay it would be more than $70 million on a typical bulk carrier cargo of 15,000 tons. The voyage from northern Chile to southern US takes 10 to 15 days. To boost the chances of landing before the tariffs, shippers can attempt to clear customs for the entire cargo at their first US port of call. They can also pay for preferential spots in the lineups, turning what can be days of waiting into just hours. With copper prices surging in the US, traders including Glencore, Mercuria Energy Group, Trafigura Group, Hartree Partners LP and IXM SA have shipped huge volumes to US ports since Trump ordered the Commerce Secretary in February to consider tariffs as part of an probe into the impact of foreign copper on the US. The tariff trade allowed those firms to capture profits that industry veterans say are the biggest they've ever seen. A 50% copper tariff is double what many analysts and traders expected, and prices in New York surged even more after Trump's July 8 tariff announcement, creating even bigger potential profits for traders who can get vessels to America in time. With copper trading at about $9,900 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, a 50% levy would mean US buyers need to pay a further $4,950 to customs authorities to import copper into the country. Nominally, traders stand to make nearly as much in profit if they can import the metal before the tariffs land in less than two weeks. Traders are still awaiting key details about the tariffs, particularly whether there will be a grace period for cargoes that are already on the water — as there have been when similar levies were imposed on aluminum and steel. --With assistance from Thomas Biesheuvel, Alaric Nightingale and Alex Newman. Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Copper-Laden Ships Race to Reach US Ahead of Trump's 50% Tariffs
By , Julian Luk, James Attwood, and Archie Hunter Save At least four ships carrying copper are trying to reach US ports before August to get ahead of planned import tariffs on the metal. The shipments represent the final scramble by merchants to cash in on a lucrative arbitrage trade that has upended the global copper market since US President Donald Trump first floated the idea of copper tariffs. The urgency to secure imports increased in the past two weeks after Trump announced the levy would be 50% starting Aug. 1.
