Germany Upgrades First-Quarter Growth on Manufacturing Strength Ahead of Tariffs
Germany's economic growth at the start of the year was faster than previously reported, as exports and manufacturing jumped on the back of U.S. firms stockpiling goods ahead of President Trump's tariffs.
Gross domestic product rose 0.4% in the first quarter, more than the 0.2% previously estimated and the fastest rate since the third quarter of 2022, according to German statistics agency Destatis on Friday. Growth in the final quarter of 2024 was down by 0.2%.
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CBS News
16 minutes ago
- CBS News
Senate forges ahead with tight timeline to approve Trump's "big beautiful bill"
Washington — The Senate is forging ahead this week on President Trump's "one big beautiful bill," facing a tight, self-imposed deadline to get the legislation to his desk ahead of the July 4 holiday. "It's going to be a busy month — we have a lot to get done," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor Monday, adding that the upper chamber's "biggest focus" will be on getting the president's agenda passed. In a razor-thin vote last month, the House passed the legislation, which addresses the president's tax, defense and energy priorities. The vote came after weeks of intraparty disagreement over a number of provisions, like Medicaid restrictions. That bill has now made its way to the Senate, where some of the same tensions exist — and new dynamics have begun to take shape. Thune, a South Dakota Republican, outlined to reporters Monday that the process is underway, saying "I think we're on track — I hope, at least — to be able to produce something that we can pass through the Senate, send back to the House, have them pass and put on the president's desk by the Fourth of July." But Thune can only afford to lose three Republican votes on the bill, with all Democrats expected to vote against it. A handful of Senate Republicans have already expressed opposition to the House-passed bill. GOP leaders will be focused on uniting the conference around the bill, and possible changes, in the days ahead. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 2, 2025. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images The majority leader acknowledged the delicate balance on Monday, telling reporters that the Senate bill will "have to be tracked fairly closely, obviously, with the House bill," citing its "fragile majority." Thune said the House "struck a very delicate balance in getting it passed in the House in the first place." "But there are some things that senators want, you know, added to the bill, or, you know, things that we would do slightly differently," Thune said. Meanwhile, the president took an active role in the process as the Senate returned to Washington from recess on Monday. He met with Thune and spoke with a handful of key Senate Republicans, including Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Josh Hawley of Missouri, who have expressed opposition to some of the bill's components. Johnson, along with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, has been among the leading voices in the upper chamber calling for deeper spending cuts in the bill, which aims at present to cut $1.5 trillion, while also advocating for separating a debt ceiling increase from the legislation. The Wisconsin Republican said he had a "very respectful conversation" with Mr. Trump, telling reporters that he and the president "by and large share the same goal," but have a "difference in opinion in terms of how to do it." Paul has pledged to oppose the bill due to its debt ceiling increase. Mr. Trump again called out the Kentucky Republican on Truth Social on Tuesday, saying Paul "votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas." Beyond concern about spending cuts, other Senate Republicans have voiced concern for Medicaid restrictions, including Hawley. The Missouri Republican told reporters Monday that the president told him when they spoke that there should be "no Medicaid benefit cuts," adding that he told Mr. Trump that they are "singing from the same hymnbook." But Hawley remains concerned about changes to provider taxes and copay requirements in the legislation. The president also weighed in on Truth Social on Monday, urging Senate Republicans to work quickly on the bill. "With the Senate coming back to Washington today, I call on all of my Republican friends in the Senate and House to work as fast as they can to get this Bill to MY DESK before the Fourth of JULY," Mr. Trump wrote. Further complicating matters, the Senate also has to contend with strict limits on the reconciliation process, which governs the legislation. Though the process allows the Senate to bypass a 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation, it also comes with its own hurdles. Under what's known as the Byrd rule, all provisions in the legislation must have direct budgetary consequences. And senators may challenge any portion of the bill that they say doesn't deal with taxes, spending or the debt limit and ask the Senate parliamentarian to resolve the dispute. Thune said "Byrd conversations" have been going on for the last week and would continue this week and next. And when asked whether Senate Republicans would rule out overruling the parliamentarian, he told reporters "we're not going there." and contributed to this report.
The Hill
19 minutes ago
- The Hill
US job openings rose unexpectedly in April, a sign the American labor market remains resilient
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in April, showing that the labor market remains resilient in the face of uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump's trade wars. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in April, up from 7.2 million in March. Economists had expected opening to drift down to 7.1 million. But the number of Americans quitting their job — a sign of confidence in their prospects — fell, and layoffs ticked higher. Openings remain high by historical standards but have dropped sharply since peaking at 12.1 million in March 2022, when the economy was still roaring back COVID-19 lockdowns. The American job market has remained strong in the face of high interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 to fight a resurgence of inflation. The economic outlook is uncertain, largely because of Trump's economic policies — huge taxes on imports, purges of federal workers and the deportation of immigrants working in the United States illegally. The Labor Department is expected to report Friday that employers added 130,000 jobs last month, down from 177,000 in March. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at a low 4.2%, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘The president is obsessed': Trump fixates on Xi call amid faltering trade talks
President Donald Trump thinks a call with China's leader Xi Jinping will help reset souring trade talks. But even if that conversation happens this week, as the White House said is 'likely,' it's doubtful to be the breakthrough Trump is hoping for. 'The president is obsessed with having a call with Xi,' said one person familiar with the trade talks, convinced he can personally hash out deep-seated divisions between the world's two largest economies mano a mano with Xi. That conviction belies the difficult position the U.S. is in as it tries to pressure China to fundamentally reorder their nearly $600 billion trade relationship, without doing lasting political damage at home. And it renews questions about what Trump's endgame is in a trade war with China that is increasingly turning into a game of chicken. The person familiar with the trade talks, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about their private conversations, said the administration is under 'a lot of pressure' because of China's block on critical minerals, crucial components for everything from auto and electronics manufacturing to munitions production. 'I don't think Xi is too interested in exporting any more rare earths or magnets to the United States, he's made his position clear,' the person added, though they predicted there's a 'good likelihood' Xi would take the call to at least hear Trump out. 'The president has some leverage, and the question is when he's ready to impose maximum pressure on the Chinese government.' A former Trump official close to the White House, granted anonymity to candidly discuss the president's strategy, said: 'Trump feels like a call between principles is a way to cut through a lot of this noise, and get right to the heart of the matter." Other outside observers remain skeptical Trump will actually be able to get Xi on the phone. Since the start of the president's second term, White House officials have been publicly promising a call between the leaders is imminent. Trump even tried to suggest through oblique comments in April that the two had spoken since Trump's inauguration. 'Beijing has a sharp nose for weakness, and for all his bravado, Trump is signaling eagerness — even desperation — to cut a direct deal with Xi,' said Daniel Russel, who was assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Obama administration. 'That only stiffens Beijing's resolve.' The Chinese government has also been shaken by Trump's public spectacles in the Oval Office — including high-profile meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa — which has made it wary of leader-level diplomacy. 'The PRC sees President Trump as unpredictable, which poses risks reputationally for President Xi,' said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan in the Biden administration. 'It's not usual practice for PRC diplomats to put the leader at risk of a potentially embarrassing or unpredictable encounter.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that the leaders would 'likely talk this week,' echoing a prediction National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett made Sunday. But a White House official, granted anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes conversations, said a call has yet to be scheduled. Asked about a potential call during a press briefing on Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian replied, "I have no information to share on that." The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a query about it. But a statement from China's Commerce Ministry on Monday accusing the U.S. of 'stirring up new economic and trade frictions' suggests they aren't in a conciliatory mood. It's just part of the finger pointing that's ensued since Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reached an agreement with their Chinese counterparts in early May to lower tensions in a trade war that has threatened to capsize both economies. The deal brought U.S. tariffs on China down from a floor of 145 percent to 30 percent, while Beijing slashed levies on U.S. imports to 10 percent and promised to lift barriers on critical mineral exports. The deal gave both sides a 90-day deadline to launch a new dialogue on a broader trade deal to address U.S. grievances about Chinese trade practices. But since then, miscommunication and conflicting expectations have ground new talks to a halt — before they even started. The Trump administration has accused the Chinese government of slow-walking its restart of shipments of critical minerals and rare earth magnets. 'When they agreed in Geneva to remove their tariff and their countermeasures, they removed the tariff like we did. But some of the countermeasures, they've slowed on,' Greer said on CNBC on Friday. Automakers have started to warn that impending shortages of rare earth magnets could force them to halt production and shutter factories in a matter of weeks. The magnets are critical to auto construction, from transmissions and fuel pumps to steering sensors and airbag actuators. The two countries also remain stalled on the issue that ostensibly caused Trump to launch the trade war in the first place — fentanyl. China has offered two proposals to the White House, including one in February after Trump imposed his initial 10 percent tariff on China, Canada and Mexico. 'Everyone agrees that for any additional progress to happen on tariffs, the gateway is fentanyl,' said a business official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. But the U.S. has been unresponsive to the fentanyl offers, which were described as being intentionally designed by China to provoke a discussion about what is feasible for China to stem the flow of the precursors that Mexican cartels use to make the highly addictive drug. Many Trump administration officials remain skeptical of China and whether it will follow through with any agreement on fentanyl — underscoring the distrust some officials feel about negotiations with Beijing. The Chinese government, for its part, has been angered by U.S. moves to limit U.S. exports for key Chinese industries, like semiconductors and aircraft, citing national security concerns. Less than 24 hours after the Geneva announcement, the Commerce Department issued a warning to U.S. companies discouraging them from using chips made by the Chinese tele-computing giant Huawei, suggesting that using those chips would risk violating U.S. export control laws. That caught Chinese officials by surprise, according to one business official granted anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. 'The Chinese side seems to legitimately believe that there was going to be this sort of 90 day sort of stay of new actions, and that, you know, there might be some, some small things that happened, but nothing totally earth shattering,' said the official. The U.S. has also angered China with new moves targeting Chinese students studying in the U.S. 'The U.S. unilaterally keeps stirring up new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations, and not only does it not reflect on itself, but also hits the other side with a backhanded accusation that the Chinese side violates the consensus, which is a serious deviation from the facts,' a Chinese Commerce Ministry official said Monday. Trump's expectation that a call with Xi can reboot U.S.-China trade talks on those issues and render substantive results defies the diplomatic and policymaking protocols of China's ruling Chinese Communist Party. 'Trump is a deal maker. Xi Jinping is not a deal maker — he's a Party guy at the top of an administrative superstructure,' said Harry Broadman, a former assistant U.S. trade representative in the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. 'I cannot imagine that Xi would get into specifics — at most they might agree on certain principles but that's not likely to satisfy Trump.' There's also a risk that a call between the two leaders could backfire for Trump by undermining longer term trade negotiations with China. 'Elevating talks to the leader level might remove the ability to put together the kind of deeper and bigger deal that ultimately requires more consideration and time, so jumping to the leader level can be risky,' said former NSC official Doshi. But the former Trump official dismissed the idea that there are major downsides to pushing for a Trump-Xi conversation. 'From the U.S. perspective, what's the big downside to the call? You ask for it. If they don't do it, it's like, 'well, you know, we're trying, they're not even trying,'' the former official said. 'And if they do it, maybe we get some progress.'
