US imposes tariffs on one-kilo gold bars, FT reports
The letter - dated July 31 - said one-kilo and 100 ounce gold bars should be classified under a customs code subject to levels, according to the newspaper, which added that the move could impact Switzerland, the world's largest refining hub.
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- Telegraph
Trump tells Goldman Sachs boss to stick to DJing
Donald Trump told the boss of Goldman Sachs to 'focus on being a DJ' after the Wall Street bank warned that the US president's tariff campaign threatened the American economy. In a social media outburst, Mr Trump said David Solomon should 'not bother running a major financial institution' as he defended his series of duties on trading partners. The US president claimed 'trillions of dollars are being taken in on tariffs', which he insisted 'have not caused inflation' as official data showed consumer prices rose less than expected last month. His comments came after economists at Goldman Sachs issued a note on Monday warning that American companies had so far swallowed the impact of tariffs but would slowly pass on cost increases to consumers. Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: 'It has been proven, that even at this late stage, Tariffs have not caused Inflation, or any other problems for America, other than massive amounts of CASH pouring into our Treasury's coffers. 'Also, it has been shown that, for the most part, Consumers aren't even paying these Tariffs, it is mostly Companies and Governments, many of them Foreign, picking up the tabs. 'But David Solomon and Goldman Sachs refuse to give credit where credit is due. They made a bad prediction a long time ago on both the Market repercussion and the Tariffs themselves, and they were wrong, just like they are wrong about so much else. 'I think that David should go out and get himself a new Economist or, maybe, he ought to just focus on being a DJ, and not bother running a major Financial Institution.' Mr Solomon previously moonlighted as a disc jockey under the moniker DJ D-Sol. In 2022 he played at Lollapalooza, the four-day music festival in Chicago, alongside acts including Metallica, Dua Lipa and Green Day. However, he gave up his DJing hobby in 2023 after he attracted criticism following a downturn in profits at Goldman. Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the Trump post. In a separate post on Tuesday, Mr Trump threatened to sue the chairman of the US Federal Reserve hours after official data showed inflation steady at 2.7pc. The US president said he was considering allowing a 'major lawsuit' against Jerome Powell over his handling of the renovation of some of the central bank's buildings. He blamed the Fed chairman for 'the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed buildings'. He wrote on Truth Social: 'Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!' Tensions escalated between the two men in July when Mr Trump visited the 'very expensive' renovation work at the US central bank. In footage broadcast live, Mr Powell openly disagreed with the US president after he declared new figures had 'just come out' suggesting the cost of renovating some buildings at the Fed had climbed from $2.7bn to $3.1bn (£2bn to £2.3bn). His attempt to blind side the Fed chairman backfired when Mr Powell issued a stern rebuttal, as he quickly identified that the White House had included works previously done to another building several years earlier. Mr Trump on Thursday also attacked the Fed chairman for being 'too late' to cut interest rates, which he said had done 'incalculable' damage to the American economy. The latest update in the row came as official figures showed US inflation rose at a slower pace than expected last month. The US consumer prices index was 2.7pc in June, according to figures by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) – better than analyst expectations of 2.8pc. Mr Trump recently became embroiled in a row with the BLS, sacking its top statistician earlier this month after official data showed a sharp slowdown in the US jobs market. The president claimed that Erika McEntarfer had 'rigged' jobs data 'in order to make a great Republican success look less stellar'. Mr Trump on Tuesday nominated EJ Antoni, an economist from the Heritage Foundation, a Right-wing think tank, to take over the post. Just hours after his appointment, Mr Antoni said he would suspend monthly publication of the jobs data and move to quarterly statistics claiming that there were concerns over the accuracy of the data. He told Fox Business: 'How on earth are businesses supposed to plan – or how is the Fed supposed to conduct monetary policy – when they don't know how many jobs are being added or lost in our economy? It's a serious problem that needs to be fixed immediately. 'Major decision-makers from Wall Street to DC rely on these numbers, and a lack of confidence in the data has far-reaching consequences.'
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39 minutes ago
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India and Brazil to collaborate on digital payment systems
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... India and Brazil will collaborate on their digital payment systems, according to a report by The India Times. The collaboration emerged from a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held over the phone last week. The call was set amid growing antagonism from the United States toward its trade partners. Both India and Brazil are targeted by the highest of Trump's tariffs. No further specifics are available at the time of writing, but any collaboration could end up representing a gargantuan number of digital payment transactions. Both countries have launched their instant payment systems and enjoyed significant uptake. India's system, dubbed Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has a reported 350 million users, while Pix, Brazil's equivalent, has 140 million. The Atlantic Council, these figures represent 25% and 65% of each country's population, respectively. According to a statement provided to Reuters, the office of the Brazilian President said: 'The leaders discussed the international economic scenario and the imposition of unilateral tariffs. Brazil and India are, to date, the two countries most affected.' Prime Minister Modi's office is quoted saying that 'the two leaders exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest.' Digital payments are becoming a meaningful component of geopolitics, as can be seen by the push towards stablecoin solutions worldwide. Governments are increasingly recognizing the significance of digital payment systems, leading to a renewed push by administrations around the world to take an official stance on the concept. In particular, there's a recognition that the growing influence of stablecoins could jeopardize the status of the U.S. dollar globally and ultimately undermine the West-dominated global financial system. More broadly, the popularity of private stablecoins could undermine government control of their monetary systems. These concerns have led countries such as the United States to bring stablecoins within their jurisdiction and use them as leverage to preserve the status quo rather than threaten it. On the other hand, it has led other countries to accelerate their stablecoin projects tied to local currencies. European Institutions have also raised the alarm over the dangers of being 'left behind'. Last month, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a report warning that without a strategic response, 'European monetary sovereignty and financial stability could erode.' This month, it was widely reported that China is softening its attitude toward stablecoins in response to the growing influence of USD-based stablecoins such as Tether. After visiting Brazil last month, Prime Minister Modi is next set to visit China for the first time in over seven years. Watch: How to buy things with Bitcoin title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
A driver faces up to $110,000 in fines for speeding on a Swiss street. But he can afford it
The driver was clocked going 27 kilometers per hour (17 mph) over the speed limit on a street in the Swiss city of Lausanne, and now he's facing up to 90,000 Swiss francs (over $110,000) in fines as a result. But he can afford it. Why the eye-popping penalty? Because the speedster, a repeat offender, is one of Switzerland's wealthiest people, and the Vaud canton, or region, serves up fines based on factors like income, fortune or general family financial situation. The Swiss are not alone. Germany, France, Austria and the Nordic countries all issue punishments based on a person's wealth. The recent fine isn't even a record in Switzerland. In 2010, a millionaire Ferrari driver got a ticket equal to about $290,000 for speeding in the eastern canton of St. Gallen. Back then, the Swiss safety group Road Cross said rich drivers had been lightly punished until voters approved penal law overhaul three years earlier that let judges hand down fines based on personal income and wealth for misdemeanors like speeding and drunk driving. Under today's rules, an indigent person might spend a night in jail instead of a fine, while the wealthiest in the rich Alpine country could be on the hook for tens of thousands. A court in the Swiss canton of Vaud recently ruled that the tycoon must pay 10,000 Swiss francs ($12,300) up front and could be forced to pay the rest — 80,000 more — if he's caught for a similar roadway infraction over the next three years. Switzerland's '24 Heures' newspaper first reported the case and said the man, who was not identified, was a French citizen listed by Swiss economic weekly Bilan among the 300 richest people in Switzerland — with a fortune in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The daily reported that an automated police radar photographed the offender driving at 77 kilometers per hour (48 mph) in a 50 kph (31 mph) zone on a Lausanne street. A quick-calculating prosecutor tallied the maximum fine the driver faced under the law, the report said. Vincent Derouand, a spokesperson for the Vaud public prosecutors office, said the defendant didn't contest the decision, which was handed down in June for the infraction nearly a year ago — in August 2024. The Vaud criminal code sets a maximum financial penalty based on the "personal and economic situation of the offender at the time of the ruling' — notably taking into account issues like income, fortune, lifestyle and family financial needs. The newspaper reported that he had already been caught for a similar speeding infraction eight years ago, and also paid 10,000 Swiss francs in penalty and faced another 60,000 if another infraction had taken place within the following two years. In Switzerland, penalties for speeding can even catch up with the cops: One officer was fined for racing at nearly twice the speed limit through Geneva streets back in 2016 while chasing thieves who had blown up a bank teller machine.
