Latest news with #AdamGray
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Heard on the Street Recap: Best Offers
Shares in discount retailer Dollar General surged 16% after the company posted strong sales results (Adam Gray/Bloomberg News)
GMA Network
24-05-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Trump threatens new tariffs on European Union and Apple, reigniting trade fears
People browse iPhones at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York City, U.S., May 23, 2025. REUTERS/Adam Gray BRUSSELS/BANFF, Canada/THE HAGUE — U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to ratchet up his trade war again, pushing for a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warning Apple he may slap a 25% levy on all imported iPhones bought by U.S. consumers. The twin threats, delivered via social media, roiled global markets after weeks of de-escalation had provided some reprieve in the tariff battle. Major U.S. stock indexes and European shares fell and the dollar weakened, while the price of gold, a safe-haven for investors, rose. U.S. Treasury yields fell on fears about tariffs' effect on economic growth. Trump's broadside against the EU was prompted by the White House's belief that negotiations with the bloc are not progressing fast enough. His saber-rattling also marked a return to Washington's stop-and-start trade war that has shaken markets, businesses and consumers and raised fears of a global economic downturn. And the president's attack on Apple is his latest attempt to pressure a specific company to move production to the United States, following automakers, pharmaceutical companies and chipmakers. The United States, however, does not mass-produce smartphones—even as U.S. consumers buy more than 60 million phones annually—and moving production would likely increase the cost of iPhones by hundreds of dollars. Later on Friday, Trump told reporters inside the Oval Office that his proposed tariff on Apple would also apply to "Samsung and anybody that makes that product," apparently referring to smartphones. He said he expected the new phone levy to be in place by the end of June. Trump reiterated his complaint that the European Union treated the U.S. badly and restricted the U.S. from selling cars into the EU. "And I just said, 'It's time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game.'" "I'm not looking for a deal," Trump said when asked whether he expected a deal before June 1. "We've set the deal—it's at 50%. But again, there's no tariff if they build their plant here." EU trade Chief Maros Sefcovic said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, was fully committed to securing a deal that worked for both sides, following a Friday phone call with U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He added that EU-U.S. trade "must be guided by mutual respect, not threats." Speaking to reporters in The Hague, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof backed the EU's strategy in trade talks and said the EU was likely to see this latest announcement as part of the negotiations. "We have seen before that tariffs can go up and down in talks with the U.S.," he said. The White House paused most of the punishing tariffs Trump announced in early April against nearly every country in the world after investors furiously sold off U.S. assets including government bonds and the U.S. dollar. Trump left in place a 10% baseline tax on most imports, and later reduced his massive 145% tax on Chinese goods to 30%. A 50% levy on EU imports could raise consumer prices on everything from German cars to Italian olive oil. The EU's total exports to the United States last year totaled about 500 billion euros ($566 billion), led by Germany (161 billion euros), Ireland (72 billion euros) and Italy (65 billion euros). Pharmaceuticals, cars and auto parts, chemicals and aircraft were among the largest exports, according to EU data. Disputes over tariffs The White House has been in trade negotiations with numerous countries, but progress has been unsteady. Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies tried to downplay disputes over the tariffs earlier in the week at a forum in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. "The EU is one of Trump's least favorite regions, and he does not seem to have good relations with its leaders, which increases the chance of a prolonged trade war between the two," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. Talks with Japan appeared less fraught. After meeting separately with Lutnick and Greer on Friday, Japan's top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said the two sides discussed expanding trade, non-tariff barriers and economic security issues. He described their talks as franker and more in-depth than before. Speaking to reporters, Akazawa said that while it would be great if an agreement could be reached when Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meet at the Group of Seven summit next month in Canada, he would not rush just to secure a deal. "Our country has national interests that must be protected, so it is not sufficient simply to forge an agreement quickly," Akazawa said. "As a negotiator, I can tell you that in negotiations the party stuck to a deadline usually loses." U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent would not comment on other potential trade deals, but said on Fox News that there would be more announced as the end of the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs approaches in July. Apple declined to comment on Trump's threat, which would reverse exclusions he granted on smartphones and other electronics imported largely from China in a break for Big Tech firms that sell consumer goods. Apple shares fell 3% after Trump said in an early Truth Social post that he told company CEO Tim Cook "long ago" that "I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else." Cook and Trump met on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the situation. Apple is speeding up plans to make most iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India by the end of 2026 to navigate potentially higher tariffs in China. But the odds on moving production to the U.S. are slimmer. In February, Apple said it will spend $500 billion over four years in nine American states, but that investment was not intended to bring iPhone manufacturing to the U.S. "It is hard to imagine that Apple can be fully compliant with this request from the president in the next 3-5 years," D.A. Davidson & Co analyst Gil Luria said. — Reuters
Axios
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
GOP and Dems agree: "Big, beautiful bill" key to 2026 midterms
Republicans and Democrats are at odds over nearly everything in President Trump's reconciliation bill, but they are in strange agreement that the 2026 election will be contested over the provisions contained within its 1,000+ pages. Why it matters: The 215-214 vote Thursday sets up 18 months of trench warfare to define the bill's impact on Medicaid, tax rates and the southern border. For Republicans, it's taxes, the border and health care for undocumented migrants. For Democrats, it's Medicaid, SNAP and tax cuts for the rich. 👀 "It's a vote that every single vulnerable House Republican will come to regret next year," thundered a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee memo. "The DCCC will use their words against them over and over again like the albatross it is." The other side: The National Republican Campaign Committee has already launched a five-figure ad hitting its early targets, including Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif.). " Illegals get freebies, you get the bill," the narrator intones. "Tell Adam Gray: Help Americans, not illegal immigrants." Its own strategy memo claimed, "House Democrats just gave Republicans a generational opportunity to go on offense." Zoom out: Rarely does a singular vote define an entire election cycle. One exception was former President Clinton's 1993 omnibus budget bill, which passed 218-216, with all 175 House Republicans opposed. A late "yes" vote from Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, a freshman from Pennsylvania (and Chelsea Clinton's future mother-in-law), hounded her and led directly to her defeat in 1994. The GOP picked up 54 seats and the majority for the first time in 40 years. Zoom in: As the November 2026 election gets closer, the ad buys will get bigger, but the subject matter is likely to stay the same. The Democratic strategy is clear: Accuse Republicans of stripping millions of Americans of Medicaid and leaving millions of children in danger of losing their school lunches. Republicans will answer the Medicaid charge, in part, by trying to change the subject and accuse Democrats of wanting to provide health care to undocumented immigrants. They will claim Democrats voted for a tax increase and failed to help secure the southern border. The bottom line: The election cycle is still early. Other potential events — a war, a recession, or (say) a global pandemic — can always subsume a single vote and make the current issue set look small.
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Anti-Israel protesters spark chaos at Columbia University graduation with diploma burning, aggressive chants
At least two anti-Israel protesters were arrested outside Columbia University during its annual commencement ceremony, as the NYPD tussled with a few dozen rowdy demonstrators across the street from the school's main entrance. The ceremony — attended by some 37,000 people — went relatively smoothly inside the gates, though acting President Claire Shipman's commencement address was drowned out by raucous chants demanding the release of former graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by ICE agents in March and is currently awaiting deportation. Outside the campus gates, however, some newly minted grads torched their diplomas in protest, loudly booing, chanting and brandishing signs denouncing Israel for alleged 'atrocities' committed in its war against Hamas. Cops were called to the scene to maintain order, but the NYPD couldn't immediately confirm who summoned them to the Morningside Heights campus. Advertisement Khalil, a spokesman for the radical Columbia University Apartheid Divest group (CUAD), is slated for deportation by the Trump administration for allegedly engaging in activities 'aligned to Hamas.' 3 Cardboard lit on fire during the commencement ceremony. Adam Gray for the NYPost 3 Columbia students ripped up their diplomas at the graduation. Adam Gray for the NYPost Advertisement CUAD put out a call on social media ahead of Wednesday's graduation pledging to disrupt the ceremony. 'WEAR A MASK! GET LOUD! BRING NOISE! NO COMMENCEMENT AS USUAL UNDER GENOCIDE!' the group wrote in an X post Tuesday. 3 Students were arrested and escorted into police vans. Adam Gray for the NYPost Advertisement Last year's commencement was canceled over safety concerns after an anti-Israel encampment protest engulfed the campus for weeks during the spring. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Hill
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Natural resources reconciliation bill advances
The legislation passed through a House Natural Resources Committee markup in a mostly party-line vote of 26-17, with Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif.) joining Republicans in favor. During the markup, which stretched to around 1 a.m., a contentious amendment was also added to the bill that would sell off certain public lands in Nevada and Utah. The measure represents the committee's contribution to a larger GOP-led bill that seeks to use the budget reconciliation process to allow it to bypass the Senate's 60-vote threshold. Republicans say this portion of the bill would create $18.5 billion in savings and new revenue for the federal government, which the party is expected to use to help pay for tax cuts. The newly advanced bill requires the Interior Department to offer up 30 chances for companies to bid on opportunities to drill in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 15 years and requires six similar auctions to be held for drilling inside Alaska's Cook Inlet. It also requires the reinstatement of leases to drill in the controversial Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as four new drilling auctions there. It also requires additional Arctic drilling opportunities in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Meanwhile, the legislation also takes steps to restrict environmental reviews of energy projects — and exempts some project approvals of them from court challenges. Currently, the federal government assesses a project and determines whether it should move forward and if it needs to take any additional steps to mitigate its environmental impacts. Under the legislation, companies can pay a fee for an expedited review, conducted either by the federal government or the company itself. These reviews would also be exempted from court challenge. In addition, the proposal would allow for more opportunities to mine for coal on federal lands and block 'any action limiting the Federal coal leasing program.'
