Trump honoured by UAE as country announces $1.4 trillion investment
The president of the United Arab Emirates announced plans to invest $1.4 trillion in the US over the next ten years during a visit by President Trump, who was given the UAE's Order of Zayed.
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Qatar Tribune
2 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
US, EU seal trade deal with 15% tariff on most imports
Agencies American and European Union officials released a bare-bones account Thursday of the trade deal they reached last month and that includes a 15% U.S. tariff on most imports from the bloc, including autos, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber. Still, they left blank key areas such as wine and spirits as well as steel and indicated that talks would continue on those and a slew of other important sectors. The two sides said the document was only 'a first step in a process that can be further expanded to cover additional areas.' They are dealing with the vast range of goods traded between the two economies in what is the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world, involving $2 trillion in annual trans-Atlantic business. The 3 1/2-page text represents a political commitment and is not legally binding. It contrasts with the typical format for trade agreements, which can be hundreds of pages long and carry legal force. The key provisions are the 15% tariff on most EU goods, a zero rate on U.S. cars and other industrial goods exported to the 27-member EU, and a range of exceptions to the 15% rate for aircraft and aircraft parts, generic pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients, with other sectors to be added for goods crucial to each other's economies. Those goods would face lower tariffs from before President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught. 'The EU has agreed to open its $20 Trillion market,' Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said on social media platform X. 'The second largest in the world behind the great USA.' He said the deal was 'a major win for American workers, US industries, and our national security. Tariffs should be one of America's favorite words.' European officials have had to defend the deal against dismay from businesses and member governments at the higher tariffs and criticism that the EU gave away too much. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sold the deal as granting quick relief from the even higher U.S. tariff on EU cars of 27.5% and as opening the way for further negotiations that could exclude more goods from the 15% tariffs. The deal provides that the lower tariff on cars would apply retroactively from Aug. 1 if the EU can introduce legislation to implement its part of the deal by then, which EU officials say they will do. 'Faced with a challenging situation, we have delivered for our member states and industry and restored clarity and coherence to transatlantic trade,' von der Leyen said. 'This is not the end of the process.' The chief EU trade negotiator, Maros Sefcovic, echoed those sentiments. 'The alternative was a trade war with sky high tariffs ... it builds confidence. It brings stability,' he said. Economists say higher tariffs slow economic growth and will be reflected in higher consumer category of goods not excluded from tariffs on EU goods was wine and spirits, which had enjoyed zero tariffs on both ends since a 1997 trade deal. Sefcovic, said EU officials had not won an exemption 'yet' but hoped to in future talks and that 'doors are not closed forever' on that issue. That means American distillers face zero tariffs in Europe the short term, but also the possibility of EU retaliation down the line, said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. 'Without a permanent return to zero-for-zero tariffs on spirits, American distillers do not have the certainty to plan for future export and job growth without the fear of retaliatory tariffs returning,' Swonger said in a EU has suspended retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods including wine and spirits until Feb. 5, 2026. Proposals to exempt a certain amount of EU steel imports, known as a tariff rate quota, have been left unresolved pending more talks. The 15% tariff is much higher than tariff levels on both sides from before Trump began imposing his tariffs, when they averaged in the low single digits. The tariffs are paid on the U.S. end, either absorbed by American businesses importing the goods, lowering their profits, or passed on to U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices at the cash register. The deal also includes nonbinding EU commitments to purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy and for EU companies to invest $600 billion in the U.S. In both cases, the money would come from private companies and is based on assessment by the European Commission on what companies were planning to spend.
Qatar Tribune
3 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Investors await Powell's speech as US stocks dip
Agencies New York Wall Street opened lower on Thursday as investors perused Walmart's latest financial results ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech on Friday. In the US, first-time jobless claims rose more than expected last week to 235,000, according to the US Department of Labor, fuelling concerns that the labour market is losing steam. Meanwhile, investor sentiment was further dented by retail titan Walmart posting disappointing results. Even though the retail giant reported increases in second-quarter profits and sales on Thursday, despite a challenging tariff environment, it missed Wall Street's profit expectations. The nation's largest retailer dipped 4.3 percent shortly after the US stock market opened, despite raising its annual profit and sales outlook. Walmart is among the first group of major US retailers this week to report quarterly results that should shed more light on how consumers are coping with rising prices because of higher tariff costs. Beauty and cosmetics maker Coty also did not fare as well as expected in its most recent quarter. Investors fled after the owner of CoverGirl and Clairol beauty brands posted an unexpected fourth-quarter loss, sending shares down more than 20 percent after hours. Sales fell 8 percent from the same period a year ago, and the company said it expects margins to continue to be pressured by lower sales and the impact of tariffs. The S&P 500 started trading slightly below its close on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.2 percent, but the Nasdaq edged up 0.1 percent by 4.30pm inEurope. Wall Street's attention will turn to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, when Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak to an annual conference of central bankers. The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, concerned that President Donald Trump's tariff hikes could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the US may be superseding that. Still, minutes from the Fed's July 29-30 meeting, released Wednesday, showed most Fed officials felt the threat of higher inflation was a greater concern than the potential for job losses, leading the central bank to keep its key rate unchanged. The Fed's inaction has infuriated Trump, who has publicly admonished Powell and other Fed officials, going so far as to demand that they resign. On Wednesday, Fed governor Lisa Cook said she wouldn't leave her post after Trump called for her resignation on social media over an accusation from one of his officials that she committed mortgage fraud. Investors—and the president—are hoping that Powell hints at a rate cut in his speech on Friday, which would likely give stocks and other investments a boost. Earlier, in Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 percent after a survey showed Japan's factory activity remained in contraction for the second month in August. The S&P Global Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 49.9 in August from 48.9 in July, just below the 50 level marking the cut-off between growth and decline. Regional manufacturers have been feeling pressure from Trump's higher tariffs on exports to the United States. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.2 percent lower, while the Shanghai composite index rose 0.1 percent. 'Asian markets walked into Thursday like a card room still heavy with last night's smoke—muted, watchful, waiting for the next cue out of Jackson Hole,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. The exception was Australia, where the S&P/ASX 200 index added 1.1 percent to 9,019.10, surpassing the 9,000 level for the first time in a rally driven by strong economic data and corporate earnings. In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.4 percent after shedding some of its morning gains. Taiwan's TAIEX climbed 1.4 percent, while India's Sensex added 0.3 percent.
Al Jazeera
20 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump has bought more than $100m in bonds in office, disclosure shows
United States President Donald Trump has bought more than $100m in company and municipal bonds since his return to the White House, financial disclosures show, providing a window into the management of the billionaire's wealth in office. The filings released by the US Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday detail nearly 700 financial purchases made by Trump from his January 21 inauguration to August 1. The purchases include bonds issued by the financial giants Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, as well as those from corporate household names such as Meta, UnitedHealth, T-Mobile and The Home Depot. Dozens of US states, including Texas, Florida and New York, are represented in the purchases of municipal bonds, with Trump's investments spanning hospitals, schools, airports, ports and gas projects. The documents do not provide the value of each transaction, only broad ranges, such as $100,001-$250,000 and $1,000,001-$5,000,000. Trump did not report any sales during the period. A type of fixed-income investment, bonds are a loan to a government authority or company in exchange for a specified rate of interest. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but US media cited administration officials as saying that Trump and his family were not directly involved in the transactions. Under legislation passed in 1978 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, US presidents are required to disclose a broad accounting of their finances, but they are not obligated to divest from assets that could potentially raise conflicts of interest. Before Trump, all US presidents going back to 1978, set up a blind trust or committed to limiting their investments to diversified mutual funds upon taking office. Trump controversially dispensed with that tradition, instead passing control of his business empire to a trust managed by his children. Government ethics experts have for years raised concerns about the intersection between Trump's governance and his personal fortune. Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the administration of former President George W Bush, noted that Trump's bond holdings stand to rise in value if the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates as he has demanded. 'When interest rates go down, bond prices go up,' Painter told Al Jazeera. 'No wonder he's leaning on the Fed for a rate cut!' While Trump's exact net wealth is unclear, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index last month estimated the US president to be worth $6.4bn.
