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Asian Economies Brace for Trump Tariffs: Citigroup

Asian Economies Brace for Trump Tariffs: Citigroup

Bloomberg6 days ago
Asian economies may be less impacted by US President Donald Trump's sectoral tariffs on copper, but will be preparing for broader repercussions if tariffs are levied on semiconductors and pharma, according to Citigroup Global Markets Head of EM Economics Johanna Chua. (Source: Bloomberg)
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Trump Says Indonesian Goods to Face 19% Tariff Under Trade Pact
Trump Says Indonesian Goods to Face 19% Tariff Under Trade Pact

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump Says Indonesian Goods to Face 19% Tariff Under Trade Pact

(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump said he reached a deal with Indonesia that will see goods from the country face a 19% tariff, while US exports will not be taxed. 'They are paying 19 percent and we are not paying anything,' Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House. 'We are going to have full access to Indonesia.' Trump has sent tariff letters over the last week to multiple trading partners, increasing pressure on negotiators ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for higher duties to take effect. A pact with Indonesia, which was threatened with a 32% tariff, would be the first struck with a country targeted by one of those messages to reduce their rate. Trump announced the accord earlier on social media, without providing any specifics. He said he dealt directly with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to finalize the deal. Indonesia is preparing a joint statement with the US that will detail additional information, including non-tariff measures and commercial agreements, Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Secretary Susiwijono Moegiarso said in a text message late Tuesday in Jakarta. Indonesia's top negotiator Minister Airlangga Hartarto last week met with US officials, including Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to hash out an improved deal. Southeast Asia's largest economy had earlier proposed near-zero tariffs on about 70% of US imports, as well as business deals in critical minerals, energy, agriculture and defense, but that failed to convince Trump to lower the levy on Indonesian goods from the 32% rate he first set back in April. Markets have been in wait-and-see mode on Trump's trade proclamations, given he has changed rates and deadlines multiple times since he announced country-by-country tariffs on April 2 and then quickly paused them. The iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF rose as much as 0.7% Tuesday morning New York time after Trump's post, while the S&P 500 was little changed. An agreement with Indonesia would be the fourth trade framework Trump has announced with foreign governments, after Vietnam and the UK. The US and China also reached a tariff truce that includes the planned resumption of critical minerals and technology trade between the world's two largest economies. The pacts have thus far fallen short of full-fledged trade deals, with many details left to be negotiated later. Trump provided no paper to back up last week's claim of a deal with Vietnam. The country's leadership was caught off guard by Trump's declaration that Hanoi agreed to a 20% tariff, and the Vietnamese government is still seeking to lower the rate, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump has kept foreign governments and investors on edge about his tariff agenda, with partners rushing to avoid higher import taxes and markets facing yet another dose of uncertainty. The US president indicated Monday he preferred to stick with the levies in his letters, saying, 'I really don't want deals. I just want the paper to get sent.' The president also said he was willing to continue talks with major economies, including the European Union. Trump over the last week unleashed a barrage of tariff demand letters, informing other economies of new duties set to begin Aug. 1 if they cannot negotiate better terms with the US. The letters extended what was initially a July 9 deadline for another three weeks, setting off another frantic dash of negotiations. The slew of tariff threats from Trump have prompted economies to broaden trade ties beyond the US; Indonesia reached a tentative economic agreement with the EU over the weekend. 'There is quite a level of frustration with these deals and more talk about exploring those other options, to include Europe,' said Erin Murphy, senior fellow on emerging Asia economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Southeast Asian nations — loathe to choose between the US and China — have long been caught in the middle of economic and political battles between the two superpowers. While Vietnam is is said to be further along in trade negotiations with the US, Thailand is in ongoing talks and mulling how to reduce US duties without giving away too much and stoking domestic unrest. Philippine officials also are pushing to secure a pact ahead of the new deadline, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. set to visit Washington later this month in an effort to reduce or eliminate Trump's planned 20% tariff on the island nation. —With assistance from Grace Sihombing and Claire Jiao. ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk's, promises xAI
Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk's, promises xAI

The Verge

time20 minutes ago

  • The Verge

Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk's, promises xAI

xAI has offered a couple more fixes for 'issues' with its Grok AI chatbot, promising it will no longer name itself 'Hitler' or base its responses on searches for what xAI head Elon Musk has said. According to an X post earlier today, the chatbot's latest update sets new instructions that its responses 'must stem from your independent analysis, not from any stated beliefs of past Grok, Elon Musk, or xAI. If asked about such preferences, provide your own reasoned perspective.' The changes follow more than a week of controversy for Grok. In recent days, multiple reports showed that when asked its opinion about hot-button topics like Israel and Palestine, immigration, and abortion, the chatbot first searched for Musk's opinion on the matter before responding. In its Tuesday post, xAI said that the reason for this was that when asked about its views, 'the model reasons that as an AI it doesn't have an opinion but knowing it was Grok 4 by xAI searches to see what xAI or Elon Musk might have said on a topic to align itself with the company.' The company also addressed another controversy from over the weekend, in which Grok 4 Heavy, the chatbot's $300 per month subscription product, responded that its surname was 'Hitler.' In the company's statement, xAI said that it was due to media headlines responding to yet an earlier incident: Grok going off the rails in a multi-day series of tirades where it denigrated Jews and praised Hitler. (It also posted graphic sexual threats against a user.) Since Grok doesn't have a surname, said xAI, it 'searches the internet leading to undesirable results, such as when its searches picked up a viral meme where it called itself 'MechaHitler.'' The new instructions should prevent this, according to the company. Grok's antisemitism isn't limited to the recent past — in May, the chatbot went viral for casting doubt on Holocaust death tolls. But its responses escalated dramatically this month after a set of changes to its system prompts, including that it should 'assume subjective viewpoints sourced from the media are biased' and that its response 'should not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated.' The 'politically incorrect' instruction was briefly removed before being re-added in recent days. During the livestream release event for Grok 4 last week, Musk said he's been 'at times kind of worried' about AI's intelligence far surpassing that of humans, and whether it will be 'bad or good for humanity.' 'I think it'll be good, most likely it'll be good,' Musk said. 'But I've somewhat reconciled myself to the fact that even if it wasn't going to be good, I'd at least like to be alive to see it happen.' Now, xAI says that after rolling out these latest updates, the company is 'actively monitoring and will implement further adjustments as needed.'

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