Trump Brings Russian Twist Into Trade Fight With India
India Edition
Negotiating tactics aside, India has more to lose from a failed trade deal than the US
Welcome to India Edition, I'm Menaka Doshi. Join me each week for a ringside view of the billionaires, businesses and policy decisions behind India's rise as an emerging economic powerhouse.
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24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Micah Parsons fallout: Jerry Jones' contract tactics with star players once again bites the Cowboys
In recent years, when Dallas Cowboys ownership was trying to negotiate a contract extension with one of the team's star players, an agent in the middle of the process reached a boiling point. Talks were at a difficult standstill, team owner Jerry Jones and son Stephen were renewing efforts to engage the player in a private meeting, and the agent had enough. So they picked up a phone and delivered a message directly to the Joneses. 'Stop trying to talk to my player without me.' Inside the agent community, this has been a familiar story. For years, player representatives have complained behind the scenes about how the Cowboys continue to go about their business in high-stakes negotiations. In drawn out contact talks, the furor has often been a climbing scale, beginning with general annoyance, transitioning to heated or passive-aggressive exchanges. In the worst cases, it has resulted in breaking off talks for long periods of time. Often, the familiar decay in negotiations shared an underlying theme inside the agent community, with representatives alleging that Jerry Jones had a history of attempting to manipulate players into discounted deals. First by isolating them in a face-to-face meeting without an agent present — sometimes under the guise of discussing something other than contract talks — then by pouring honey into their ear about being a lifelong member of the Cowboys, staying part of the Dallas family and sacrificing a little financially to win Super Bowl immorality together. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Sometimes, it was an alleged sideswipe tactic that remained tucked behind a curtain of secrecy, with both sides choosing to keep any rising animus private. Other times, it seeped out in telltale moments that are likely still fresh in the minds of Cowboys fans. Moments like quarterback Dak Prescott repeatedly and publicly putting his agent, Todd France, front and center as the conduit who would complete his last two drawn-out — and sometimes prickly — contract extensions. Or the representatives of former running back Zeke Elliott not only holding him out of training camp in 2019, but moving him to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico so he could train and more easily remain out of direct communications with the Jones family. Those were two of the higher profile instances of star Cowboys players trying to keep their contract negations in the hands of their agents in an effort to realize their full value as players. But there have been others, too. What there hasn't been up to this point, is a star player willing to step out and directly challenge the way Dallas and Jerry do business. That is, until Friday, when edge rusher Micah Parsons laid his lengthy concerns bare on social media, requesting a trade and stating that he no longer wanted to be a part of the Cowboys. Within it, there was one cutting line that has been a siren scream inside the player and agent ranks: 'I no longer want to be held to close door negotiations without my agent present.' That line was a reference to a March meeting between Parsons and Jerry Jones that ultimately left the Cowboys owner feeling as if he had directly negotiated a new extension with his pass rusher. Parsons then went on to spell out some previously untold aspects of that meeting. 'In March I met with Mr. Jones to talk about leadership,' Parsons wrote on social media. 'Somehow the conversation turned into him talk contract with me. Yes I engaged in a back and forth in regards to what I wanted from my contract, but at no point did I believe this was supposed to be a formal negotiation and I informed Mr. Jones afterward my agent would reach out thinking this would get things done. But when my agent reached out and spoke to [senior director of salary cap and player contracts Adam Prasifka] he was told the deal was pretty much already done. My agent of course told him that wasn't the case and also reached out to Stephen Jones. Again the team decided to go silent.' [Get more Cowboys news: Cowboys team feed] Parsons said it was at that point he and his agent, David Mulugheta of Athletes First, made the decision to let the Cowboys reach out when they were ready to do a deal. According to Parsons, 'Up to [Friday], the team has not had a single conversation with my agent about a contract.' For Cowboys fans and the franchise in general, the post by Parsons is an earthquake of significant magnitude. It's the first time a star player has been this expansive about a problem that agents and players have complained about for a while: A penchant to cut agents out of the process and try to cut deals directly with players using tactics or criteria that clearly are meant to create a negotiating advantage for the team. This despite Parsons saying on more than once occasion that he wanted Mulugheta to play a role in negotiating his extension. In the past, Dallas has honored those requests in the midst of bank-breaking talks with the likes of Prescott, Elliott, CeeDee Lamb and others. For reasons that only the Jones family can speak to, it appears they are refusing to honor it with Parsons. It's a reality that Jerry all but said directly in July, when he suggested that he had an agreement in place between himself and Parsons. 'I'm really not going to get into responding to what Micah said I said, or what [Micah] said he said, or what Mulugheta said, or what Stephen said,' Jerry insisted. 'I'm not getting into any of that at all. We're where we are. I sign the check. Period. … Micah, he's confident in himself, he should be, he's extraordinarily bright — I can't emphasize that enough. He's very capable of negotiating anything he wants to negotiate.' In the agent community, that smacks of a my-way-or-the-highway stance. And it's how you get to the point of pushing negotiations off the table completely — only to be replaced with a trade demand. Right now, it appears that's exactly what has transpired inside Dallas. But rather than the end of this story being a record-breaking deal that heals all wounds — as has been the case in so many other acidic contract talks for Jerry Jones and Dallas — it appears the only thing broken is the resolve of Micah Parsons to remain a Cowboy.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The 35% tariff kicked in today on Canadian goods. How big of an impact will it have?
With the signing of an executive order, U.S. President Donald Trump upped Canada's tariff rate to 35 per cent, effective at 12:01 a.m. today. That's a 10 per cent increase on the 25 per cent rate that has been in effect on Canadian goods headed south of the border since March, and is a blanket tariff that will apply to Canadian products across the board. However, that doesn't paint the whole picture. A very small number of Canadian products will be subjected to the 35 per cent tariff. That's because the tariffs don't apply to all goods that are subject to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the existing free trade deal governing trade between the three countries. Those products can keep going across the border free of tariffs. Most of the goods Canada exports to the U.S. are covered by CUSMA. The Bank of Canada said in its monetary policy report released Wednesday that an estimated 95 per cent of stuff sent south of the border qualifies under that agreement. That means the new, higher 35 per cent rate will be felt by a small fraction of exports that are not CUSMA-compliant, which likely includes a broad array of products across all sectors, according to experts. "[CUSMA] is the one thing that is ensuring normalcy in trade flows in much of the economy," said Eric Miller, president and CEO of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group. "And so the maintenance of that exemption was absolutely crucial." WATCH | Trump increases tariff on Canada to 35%, White House says: There's no simple list of items that are CUSMA-compliant, because products are certified on a case-by-case basis, based on a number of complicated factors. In order to get the exemption, a certain amount of the product needs to be made in Canada, with Canadian inputs. Take the example of a steak versus that of a screwdriver. If a cow is born, raised, slaughtered and prepared in Alberta, then the steak — the end product — is clearly Canadian and would be shielded under CUSMA, says Miller. But a typical screwdriver is made of metal, along with plastic or rubber for the handle. The manufacturer would have to make sure that enough of the materials come from Canada, Mexico or the U.S. That amount is usually about 60 per cent, according to lawyer Daniel Kiselbach, a managing partner at Miller Thompson LLP. WATCH | What we know — and what's still unclear — after tariffs hiked on Canadian goods: Then, you have to make sure you're adding value to those parts and converting them to a finished product before shipping it out. In the case of the screwdriver, you're taking the raw materials and making them into a new, finished item, so that would meet the bar. Overall, anything harvested or mined is usually CUSMA-compliant, Kiselbach said. Anything manufactured or produced in Canada gets more complicated. Electronics and machinery, in particular, are product types that tend to have a harder time getting CUSMA certification. On top of that, the certification process can be challenging, requiring records showing where all a product's components come from, and it is costly. "[Businesses] don't necessarily understand what the rules are telling them," Miller said. "It's almost like cryptography or something." For that reason, Miller says some businesses have simply not acquired CUSMA certification in the past — something that's changing now that the rates are so much higher. WATCH | Is Canada-U.S. free trade dead?: While the fraction of companies that don't qualify for the free trade exemption might be small, Miller says the impact of the new rate should not be overlooked. Many of those who will be hit by the Saturday tariff increase will be small- to medium-sized businesses that rely on components that are made in countries outside of Canada — and can't easily replace them with materials sourced elsewhere. "If you are used to sourcing a particular input from China for the last 10 years, it's not so easy to go and say, 'Now I'm going to buy that good somewhere else,'" Miller said. "They can't easily change and they can't meet the rules, so they have to pay 35 per cent. And for them, going from 25 per cent to 35 per cent is pretty devastating," Miller. Kiselbach says 35 per cent tariffs might be higher than some companies' profit margins, meaning they'd be losing money on each item they sell at the current rate. Sectoral tariffs still in play The 35 per cent rate also has no bearing on the rates Trump has set for specific sectors. Those include a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum, as well as 25 per cent on cars and auto parts, both of which had already been in effect. A new, 50 per cent tariff on some copper products, including copper pipes and wiring, also went into effect today. The Trump administration made carveouts for copper input materials such as ores, concentrates and cathodes, which is providing the industry some relief. And while the sector-specific rates are largely not new, the impact of these steep rates on important sectors cannot be ignored, said Alan Arcand, chief economist with the trade association Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. "These are very important industries for Canada," Arcand said. "These are tariff rates that are just not … sustainable for these industries. So that's really the rub of the issue right now." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
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Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report
President Donald Trump has removed the head of the agency that produces monthly jobs figures for the US after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported. Mr Trump, in a post on his social media platform, alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labour Statistics, who was appointed by former president Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence for the charge. 'I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,' Mr Trump said on Truth Social. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.' Mr Trump later posted: 'In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' The charge that the data was faked threatens to undercut the political legitimacy of the US government's economic data, which has long been seen as the 'gold standard' of economic measurement globally. Economists and Wall Street investors have long accepted the data as free from political bias. After Mr Trump's initial post, labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on X that Ms McEntarfer was no longer leading the bureau and that William Wiatrowski, the deputy commissioner, would serve as the acting director. 'I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS,' Ms Chavez-DeRemer said. Friday's jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated. The report suggested that the economy has sharply weakened during Mr Trump's tenure, a pattern consistent with a slowdown in economic growth during the first half of the year and an increase in inflation during June that appeared to reflect the price pressures created by the president's tariffs. 'What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger,' Democratic senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a Friday speech. Ms McEntarfer was nominated by Mr Biden in 2023 and became the commissioner of the Bureau of Labour Statistics in January 2024. Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but since they are political appointees can be fired. The commissioner is the only political appointee of the agency, which has hundreds of career civil servants. The Senate confirmed Ms McEntarfer to her post 86-8, with now vice president JD Vance among the yea votes. Mr Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just 19,000 from a previously revised 125,000, and for June they were cut to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%. 'No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers,' Mr Trump wrote. 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes.' Mr Trump has not always been so suspicious of the monthly jobs report and responded enthusiastically after the initial May figures came out on June 6 when it was initially reported that the economy added 139,000 jobs. 'GREAT JOB NUMBERS, STOCK MARKET UP BIG!' Mr Trump posted at the time. That estimate was later revised down to 125,000 jobs, prior to the most-recent revision down to just 19,000. The monthly employment report is one of the most closely-watched pieces of government economic data and can cause sharp swings in financial markets. The disappointing figure sent US market indexes about 1.5% lower Friday. Sign in to access your portfolio
