ASX to fall, Wall St slips despite Meta surge
Trump granted a 90-day reprieve to Mexico, America's largest trading partner, while threatening Canada, its second-largest trading partner because Canada outlined a plan to recognise Palestinian statehood.
The president also sent letters to most of the largest global drugmakers – including Merck, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, GSK – demanding Americans get the best drug prices in the world for prescription drugs.
The tariff news took the wind out of a big tech rally powered by Meta Platforms and Microsoft, which briefly topped the $US4 trillion market cap mark. Meta was 11.8 per cent higher shortly after 2pm in New York, lifting its market cap to near $US2 trillion.
Apple and Amazon are set to report quarterly results after the closing bell at 4pm (6am AEST on Friday).
Market highlights
ASX futures are pointing down 50 points or 0.6 per cent to 8653.
All US prices as of near 2pm New York time.
Top stories
Bold PC reform would raise tax for top 500 companies | But the corporate tax rate would be slashed to 20 per cent for small and medium companies under a new Productivity Commission recommendation.
Chanticleer: This Robin Hood company tax proposal is laced with risk | The PC's radical tax plan wants big business to fund lower taxes for small and medium-sized firms, thereby blunting the former's global competitiveness.
| Donald Trump has again relented in imposing higher tariffs on America's largest trading partner, saying more time is needed to reach an agreement.
| The company made the highly unusual move to understand if major investors would reject executive pay plans as it dealt with a backlash.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
14 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Today's News Headlines: Major pro-Palestine protests in Sydney and Melbourne
Australian Jewish groups react to the pro-Palestine protests, search underway for a missing person in New South Wales. Plus, Queensland firefighters join wage dispute action.
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Day was accepted into a prestigious US art school. Then the social media rules changed
He said his accounts did not contain anything controversial: 'Just my art.' Dang, 19, is already a highly accomplished painter and drawer. At age 15 he was a finalist in the Lester Prize Youth Competition, and at 17 he made the shortlist for the Brisbane Portrait Prize Next Gen category. A watercolour painting of a white rabbit won him a prize from US Artist Magazine. His art often portrays family members and friends of different ethnic backgrounds that he met while a student at Brisbane State High School. With his four-year course in Providence commencing in August, Dang now faces the possibility of commencing late, or not at all. Associate Professor Anna Boucher, a University of Sydney expert in immigration policy, said any complexity added to the visa process, such as social media vetting, would slow down an already slow process. 'America has very high backlogs,' she said. Often with backlogs, it was 'simply not enough people in an immigration department compared to the pressures on the system. 'And it's also against the broader context of administrative cuts in the United States.' A spokesperson for the US Consulate General in Sydney said there were many potential students applying in the run-up to the start of the academic school year. 'In every case, consular officers will take the time necessary to ensure an applicant does not pose a risk to the safety and security of the United States and that he or she has credibly established his or her eligibility for the visa sought,' they said. The US State Department website has a guide to visa appointment wait times at all embassies. When this masthead checked, the next available appointment in Sydney for an F visa was in one month's time. Complicating matters for Tianzheng is the fact he is not yet an Australian citizen and had to apply for the F-1 on a Chinese passport. Tianzheng was born in Shanghai and moved to Brisbane with his family in 2018 at the age of 12. In May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US was revoking student visas for Chinese students and would enhance its scrutiny of future applications. However, that directive appeared to be walked back two weeks later when President Trump announced a trade agreement with China. In April, Rhode Island School of Design president Crystal Williams announced in a public letter to the campus community that an international student already enrolled at RISD had had their visa terminated. However, Williams later advised this termination had been reversed. Its website advises: 'In recent weeks, the US federal administration has enacted a series of executive orders and policy changes that may impact the RISD community and our work.' '… We anticipate visa applicants may face more rigorous vetting, which could result in longer processing times including administrative processing delays by the US State Department.' Loading Boucher said it would be unclear if Chinese students hoping to study in the US were being disadvantaged until the data was available. 'For all the crackdown on international students, I think the Trump administration would realise that it would not be rational in terms of the profit losses from the international student market,' she said. In the meantime, Dang is awaiting a final decision on his visa application.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Day was accepted into a prestigious US art school. Then the social media rules changed
He said his accounts did not contain anything controversial: 'Just my art.' Dang, 19, is already a highly accomplished painter and drawer. At age 15 he was a finalist in the Lester Prize Youth Competition, and at 17 he made the shortlist for the Brisbane Portrait Prize Next Gen category. A watercolour painting of a white rabbit won him a prize from US Artist Magazine. His art often portrays family members and friends of different ethnic backgrounds that he met while a student at Brisbane State High School. With his four-year course in Providence commencing in August, Dang now faces the possibility of commencing late, or not at all. Associate Professor Anna Boucher, a University of Sydney expert in immigration policy, said any complexity added to the visa process, such as social media vetting, would slow down an already slow process. 'America has very high backlogs,' she said. Often with backlogs, it was 'simply not enough people in an immigration department compared to the pressures on the system. 'And it's also against the broader context of administrative cuts in the United States.' A spokesperson for the US Consulate General in Sydney said there were many potential students applying in the run-up to the start of the academic school year. 'In every case, consular officers will take the time necessary to ensure an applicant does not pose a risk to the safety and security of the United States and that he or she has credibly established his or her eligibility for the visa sought,' they said. The US State Department website has a guide to visa appointment wait times at all embassies. When this masthead checked, the next available appointment in Sydney for an F visa was in one month's time. Complicating matters for Tianzheng is the fact he is not yet an Australian citizen and had to apply for the F-1 on a Chinese passport. Tianzheng was born in Shanghai and moved to Brisbane with his family in 2018 at the age of 12. In May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US was revoking student visas for Chinese students and would enhance its scrutiny of future applications. However, that directive appeared to be walked back two weeks later when President Trump announced a trade agreement with China. In April, Rhode Island School of Design president Crystal Williams announced in a public letter to the campus community that an international student already enrolled at RISD had had their visa terminated. However, Williams later advised this termination had been reversed. Its website advises: 'In recent weeks, the US federal administration has enacted a series of executive orders and policy changes that may impact the RISD community and our work.' '… We anticipate visa applicants may face more rigorous vetting, which could result in longer processing times including administrative processing delays by the US State Department.' Loading Boucher said it would be unclear if Chinese students hoping to study in the US were being disadvantaged until the data was available. 'For all the crackdown on international students, I think the Trump administration would realise that it would not be rational in terms of the profit losses from the international student market,' she said. In the meantime, Dang is awaiting a final decision on his visa application.
