The Latest: US import taxes hit levels not seen in nearly 100 years

Independent

3 days ago

President Donald Trump began levying higher import taxes on goods from nearly 100 other nations on Thursday, just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats begins to create visible damage to the U.S. economy. These taxes, reaching a level not seen in the U.S. in almost 100 years, will have Americans paying an average of 18.3% more for imported products, the highest rate since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center.
Despite the immediate impact, the Trump White House is confident businesses will ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the U.S. economy as a manufacturing power.
Here's the Latest:
The White House says the president will sign an order that could change the composition of 401(k) plans, letting them invest in cryptocurrencies, private equity funds, real estate and other digital assets previously seen as too risky for everyday Americans approaching retirement.
The order asks the Labor Department to examine and update its guidance and asks other agencies to determine whether regulatory changes are needed to allow such investments.
Crypto can be extremely volatile, while private equity, real estate investment trusts and certain digital assets have often been for more sophisticated investors without immediate liquidity needs. It's unclear how adding such investments would affect management fees, which have been trending downward as more 401(k) holders invest in index funds.
Trump wants Census to ignore some people, despite the 14th Amendment
Trump's Truth Social post directing the Census Bureau to stop counting people seen as living in the country illegally fits his pattern of trying to reshape basic measures of how U.S. society is faring, whether they be monthly jobs figures or how congressional districts are drawn going into the 2026 midterm elections.
But there could be legal challenges to reshaping the census, which guides the distribution of $2.8 trillion in federal funds to the states for roads, health care and other programs.
The US Supreme Court effectively blocked Trump from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The 14th Amendment says that 'the whole number of persons in each state' should be counted for the numbers used for apportionment, the process of allocating congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the states based on population.
Ultra-processed foods make up a big portion of Americans' diet, CDC finds
About 55% of Americans get more than half their calories from ultra-processed foods, those super-tasty, energy-dense foods typically full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, according to a new federal report.
Nutrition research has shown for years that ultra-processed foods make up a big chunk of the U.S. diet, especially for kids and teens. For the first time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed those high levels of consumption, using dietary data collected from August 2021 to August 2023. For kids through age 18, it was nearly 62%.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blames chronic diseases on such foods, saying 'we're poisoning ourselves.' Many studies have correlated this diet with obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but they haven't been able to prove they directly cause these chronic health problems.
▶ Read more about the CDC report on U.S. ultra-processed food consumption
Indiana governor not yet on board with mid-decade redistricting in state
Republican Gov. Mike Braun said in a television interview Thursday that he plans to discuss with Vice President JD Vance whether Indiana would redraw its congressional districts.
'I'm going to be listening to JD today and our two leaders of the legislature as well, and we're going to have that discussion,' Braun said on Fox News.
Braun pointed to the Republican-led states of 'Missouri, Ohio, Texas and maybe other states' that are looking to redistrict but said that 'here, I think we're going to look at it logically and do what makes sense.'
Trump expected to honor Purple Heart recipients at White House
A group that represents recipients of the military medals honoring service members wounded or killed during enemy action says representatives are at the White House Thursday for a 'historic tribute event' being hosted by Trump.
The National Purple Heart Honor Mission says medal recipients from conflicts including the Korean War, Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom will be available for interviews following a late afternoon event with Trump.
The White House hasn't publicly given specifics on the event, other than that Trump is giving a speech. National Purple Heart Day is marked annually on August 7.
Trump meeting with Putin would hinge on Putin agreeing to meet Zelenskyy
The U.S. president is open to meeting with Putin as soon as next week but such a meeting would not happen if the Russian leader does not agree to meet with Zelenskyy, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said no location for a Trump-Putin meeting had been determined Thursday morning, and the U.S. still expects to impose secondary sanctions against Russia on Friday.
Trump plans to sign order to stop banks from banning customers based on politics
The White House says Trump on Thursday will sign an order to ensure that federal agencies 'do not promote activities and practices' that enable banks to restrict their services based on political and religious beliefs.
The president has said that JPMorganChase and Bank of America rejected his deposits and that his supporters have been denied banking services.
The order says that financial regulators will remove 'reputational risk' as a criteria for assessing account holders and that cases of discrimination can be referred to the Justice Department, and that the Treasury Department will develop a strategy to prevent the debanking of people due to politics.
Analyst: Employers are reluctant to expand — or reduce — their payrolls
While layoffs remain low by historical standards, there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor market this year.
Last week, the government reported that U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000 expected. Worse, revisions to the May and June jobs figures shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
'The 'no hire/no fire' theme in the labor market remains firmly intact,' analysts for Jeffries wrote in a note to clients.
Intel's stock tumbles after Trump says its CEO must resign
Intel's shares are tumbling before Thursday's opening as traders react to a Trump social media post that said 'The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately.'
'There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!' Trump posted.
The president reacted after Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over CEO Lip-Bu Tan's investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army.
▶ Read more on Trump's pressure on Intel Corp.
A modest rise in filings for jobless benefits, despite tariffs uncertainty
Jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 2 rose by 7,000 to 226,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday, slightly more than the 219,000 new applications that economists had forecast.
The report is the first government labor market data release since Trump fired the head of the agency that tallies the monthly jobs numbers after a grim July jobs report that sent financial markets spiraling downward. It suggests employers are still retaining workers despite economic uncertainty related to U.S. trade policy.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 500 to 220,750. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of July 26 jumped by 38,000 to 1.97 million, the highest level since November of 2021.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine — and Europe — must have seats at the table
A meeting between Putin and Trump on the war would be a departure from the Biden administration's policy of 'nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine' — a key demand from Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said he planned calls with European leaders Thursday to discuss the latest developments amid a flurry of diplomatic activity.
European countries must also be involved in finding a solution to the war on their own continent, he said on Telegram.
'Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side. It is time to end the war,' he added.
Vladimir Putin says he wants to meet directly with Trump next week
The Russian president said Thursday that the United Arab Emirates might serve them as a meeting site. He spoke on the eve of a White House deadline for Moscow to show progress toward ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine.
Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov had earlier brushed aside the possibility of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joining the summit, something the White House had said Trump was ready to consider. Putin has spurned Zelenskyy's previous offers of a meeting to clinch a breakthrough.
'We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive,' Ushakov said, adding that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff's suggestion of a meeting including Ukraine's leader 'was not specifically discussed.'
World stock markets mostly climb
Market reaction to Trump's tariffs has been scant. In early European trading, Germany's DAX rose 0.9% to 24,137.51. In Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.8% to 7,693.36, while Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to 9,138.96.
The future for Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%, and S&P 500 edged 0.5% higher. In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.7% to 41,059.15.
More than 60 countries and the European Union face tariff rates of 10% or higher
Products from the EU, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh are taxed at 20%. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50%, to go into effect later this month.
Trump has used tariff threats to exert political pressure
Trump has directly tied Brazil's 50% tariff on many imported goods to the trial of his embattled ally, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest. And the White House has placed the tariff rate on U.S. imports from Canada at 35%, saying Canada had failed to 'do more to arrest, seize, detain or otherwise intercept ... traffickers, criminals at large, and illicit drugs.'
Trump says he will change the Census counts to exclude immigrants in the US illegally
Trump posted on Truth Social that he has 'instructed' the Commerce Department to change the way the Census Bureau operates.
The president says it will be based on 'modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,' an indication that he might try to inject his politics into survey work that measures everything from child poverty to business operations.
Trump stressed that as part of the changes, people in 'our Country illegally' will be excluded from Census counts.
Tariffs to affect more than half of Indian exports to the US
American consumers and businesses buy pharmaceutical drugs, precious stones, and textiles and apparel from India, among other goods. The U.S. ran a $45.8 billion trade deficit in goods with India last year, meaning America imported more from India than it exported, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A top body of Indian exporters said Thursday the latest U.S. tariffs will impact nearly 55% of the country's outbound shipments to America and lead to exporters losing long-standing clients.
'Absorbing this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable. Margins are already thin,' S.C. Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said in a statement.
Trump move Trump to discuss vaccines Thursday, talks up Operation Warp Speed against COVID
The president was asked about his top health official, Robert Kennedy Jr., announcing plans to pull $500 million in vaccine development and said he plans a meeting to discuss vaccines.
'We're gonna look at that. We're talking about it,' Trump said of the funding cuts.
He also praised his first-term effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, Operation Warp Speed. He said that push was 'considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country, but added, 'That was now a long time ago. And we're on to other things.'
Trump said of Thursday's planned meeting: 'We're looking for other answers to other problems, to other sicknesses and diseases.'
Trump says he plans to put a 100% tariff on computer chips
The president said Wednesday that he will impose a 100% tariff on computer chips, likely raising the cost of electronics, autos, household appliances and other goods deemed essential for the digital age.
Trump said companies that make computer chips in the U.S. would be spared the import tax.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortage of computer chips increased the price of autos and contributed to an uptick in overall inflation.