Latest news with #BusinessRoundtable
Wall Street Journal
01-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Coming Soon for CEOs, a MAGA-Infused Business Association
A new group out of Washington, D.C., aims to offer an alternative to longstanding executive networks like the Business Roundtable, but with a MAGA makeover. American Growth Partnership, founded by several former Republican campaign and congressional aides, will offer monthly briefings and off-the-record roundtable discussions between its members and Trump appointees, aides and policymakers.
Zawya
30-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Nigeria: Tuggar targets expanded economic partnerships with Brazil
Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has addressed a gathering of high-net-worth investors and business leaders at a Brazil–Nigeria Business Roundtable held in Rio de Janeiro. The event was organized under the auspices of ApexBrasil, Brazil's leading investment promotion agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). The roundtable featured key figures including José Luis Pinho Leite Gordon, Director of Productive Development, Innovation, and Foreign Trade at BNDES; Raphael Cittadino, Executive Chief of Staff at ApexBrasil; and Marcelo Salum, Head of Investment Promotion at Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE). Notable Brazilian companies like Petrobras and Embraer were also in attendance. Ambassador Tuggar during the event called for the revitalization of Nigeria-Brazil trade relations, rooted in shared historical and cultural ties. He emphasized that renewed economic engagement must leverage both countries' comparative advantages, with private enterprise innovation and robust governmental support as critical drivers. Highlighting Nigeria's reforms and the government's commitment to de-risking investments particularly through insurance mechanisms he reaffirmed Nigeria's readiness for strategic, long-term partnerships. 'Our countries share a legacy of cooperation. Now is the time to translate that legacy into tangible economic progress,' Tuggar noted. 'Nigeria presents vast opportunities across energy, agriculture, aviation, and digital technology, and stands open for business.' Marcelo Salum, speaking on behalf of Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, echoed this sentiment. He noted that Brazil values the role of Nigeria's growing tech sector including its unicorn companies and sees opportunities for mutual benefit through initiatives such as the Green Imperative Project and expanded sugar and ethanol trade. Also participating were Ambassador Basil Okolo, Chargé d'Affaires at the Nigerian Embassy in Brazil, and Ms. Aisha Rimi, CEO of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), who joined virtually. The event marks a significant step toward deepening Nigeria–Brazil economic ties, with both nations reaffirming their commitment to building a resilient, innovative, and inclusive trade and investment partnership.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jon Stewart says Trump's tariff policy sounds like a 'Squid Game' tagline
Jon Stewart laid into Trump's tariffs during his monologue on "The Daily Show" on Monday. Trump's economic policy sounds like it has "the same tagline as Season 3 of 'Squid Game,'" Stewart said. Trump's tariffs are slated to take effect on April 9 and to impact more than 180 countries. "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart slammed President Donald Trump's tariffs during his monologue on Monday night, likening the administration's economic policy to the hit South Korean Netflix show, "Squid Game." In a segment called "Trade Wars," Stewart discussed the latest developments in the Trump administration's economic and trade policy. "Our economy is in the midst of a beautiful metamorphosis, turning from a simple caterpillar into a dead caterpillar," Stewart said. Trump's tariffs, announced on Wednesday, are slated to go into effect on April 9 and to impact more than 180 countries. The tariffs start at a baseline rate of 10% and will hit both the US's friends and foes. During his monologue, Stewart pointed out that Trump had responded to criticism of his tariffs with social media posts urging Americans not to be "weak" or "stupid." Those posts included a Truth Social post on Friday, in which Trump wrote in all-caps: "ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL!" "What are you doing? Your economic policy has the same tagline as Season 3 of 'Squid Game?'" Stewart said on Monday night. "Only the weak shall die in my economy!" The first two seasons of Netflix's hit show "Squid Game" followed groups of deeply indebted people in South Korea as they competed in a series of deadly games to win a life-changing sum of cash. The fictional show has no single tagline but has become interchangeable with the topics of debt, financial crises, and economic despair. The series' third season is set to air on June 27. Netflix ran the tagline "Prepare for the final game" on promotional posters. "And it didn't have to happen like this," Stewart added of Trump's tariffs. "Trump had so many options to shape the world economy into the one he thought was fairer. He could have proposed some incentives to bring back manufacturing. He could have gone sector to sector, nation to nation, negotiate better trade reciprocal agreements." "We're the richest country in the world, ever. We're not the world's victims," Stewart said. "If we have inequalities in this country, that's on us." "And I'm not saying we can't make adjustments and renegotiate things, but it didn't have to be this reckless," he added. Stewart has consistently criticized Trump and the administration's policies, but he's far from the only prominent critic of Trump's tariff policies. Joshua Bolten, the CEO of Business Roundtable, said Trump's tariffs "run the risk of causing major harm to American manufacturers, workers, families and exporters." "Damage to the US economy will increase the longer the tariffs are in place and may be exacerbated by retaliatory measures," Bolten said. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman — who came out strongly for Trump during the 2024 election — has called for Trump to call a 90-day timeout on the tariffs. And Elon Musk, Trump's biggest backer and most prominent advisor, broke with the administration on tariffs, advocating instead for a "zero-tariff" system and "free trade zone" between the US and Europe. Trump's tariff announcement has roiled markets and spooked investors. The S&P 500 is down by nearly 14% year to date, while the Nasdaq Composite is down 19% year to date. On Sunday, Trump said he didn't want to see markets cratering — but that "sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI. Read the original article on Business Insider
New York Times
05-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
‘Few of Us Ever Imagined He Would Go This Far'
In the past, the one constituency President Trump has sometimes listened to has been our stock market. Well, it has spoken, falling 10.5 percent in one of the largest two-day stock market swoons in decades. In the 50 years I have been immersed in markets and economic policy, I have never before witnessed a signature economic policy initiative that was met with such unalloyed criticism. What's worse, the damage was entirely self-inflicted. Why such a reaction? One reason the S&P 500 fell was that the tariffs Mr. Trump rolled out were so much greater than investors anticipated. (Give the White House an F for failing to prepare the market for what to expect.) Then on Friday, China announced its own 34 percent tariff on our goods, making it clear that our trading partners were not going to simply give in to Mr. Trump's demands, as he had suggested they would. As Mr. Trump was doubling down, asserting that 'my policies will never change,' the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, was delivering his own bombshell: Given the higher-than-predicted tariffs, higher inflation and slower growth were likely to ensue, he said. That's drastically different from just a couple of weeks ago, when Mr. Powell called the potential impact of new tariffs on prices 'transitory.' The business community, which by my count heavily supported Mr. Trump in the election five months ago, seems stunned. Few have spoken publicly, but the Business Roundtable, the premier corporate trade association, on Wednesday warned that universal tariffs run 'the risk of causing major harm to American manufacturers, workers, families and exporters.' Privately, several chief executives told me that they recognized that imposing the tariffs, as well as Mr. Trump's intractable support of them, was a potentially cataclysmic mistake. 'Few of us ever imagined he would go this far,' one told me. 'He could well bring down the economy and himself.' The Trump-supporting business leaders I've spoken to in the last two days don't yet regret their votes, mostly because of their intense distaste (if not hatred) for the Biden-Harris administration. And they remain broadly supportive of the efforts by the tech billionaire Elon Musk to reform the federal government, even if they acknowledge that his DOGE team may be going too far in its slashing of spending and personnel. But I wonder how some other major Trump-supporting leaders whose stock prices have been particularly hard hit now feel, like Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone, the investment group (down 15 percent in two days), and Safra Catz, chief executive of Oracle, the database company (down 12 percent). Mr. Trump's actions aren't the only problem. Almost as important is the lack of clarity as to what policies he is pursuing and why. At times, Mr. Trump implies that the purpose of the tariffs is to bring back manufacturing, which suggests that they will stay in place indefinitely. At other times, he suggests that the goal is to negotiate tariff reductions by other countries (even though much of what Mr. Trump asserts about their tariffs is inaccurate). The dithering takes a real toll. I see this from my role as a professional investor. How do we evaluate a company that imports goods or engages in international commerce? We seek a lower price, or we grit our teeth, or we pass on the opportunity. As a result, our pace of investing has slowed sharply this year. And it's not just us. In the year's first quarter, the number of newly announced mergers and acquisitions dropped to its lowest level since the financial crisis. 'Folks are looking but not pulling the trigger,' one leading investment banker told me. Equity offerings have become similarly challenged; multiple companies planning to go public have postponed their fund-raising since Wednesday. Even experts inside the Trump bubble are flummoxed. In a recent private call with investors, one senior official in the first Trump administration confidently predicted that autos coming from Mexico would get more favorable treatment than those originating in Canada. The following day, Mr. Trump imposed the same duties on vehicles coming from the two countries. The outlook is bleak. Prediction markets put the odds of a recession at 50 percent or even a bit higher. And while the jobs figures that were released Friday were sound, the Conference Board recently reported that consumer expectations for the economy hit their lowest level in 12 years, while anticipated inflation over the next year (measured before the tariff announcement) has jumped to 6.2 percent. Domestic manufacturing production is now contracting. Stagflation — that particularly painful combination of inflation and economic stagnation — has become the least harm that we are likely to experience. In a normal world, when an economy falters, eyes turn to the central bank for help, in the form of reductions in interest rates. But progress on inflation has stalled, making it more difficult for the Fed to come to the rescue. And the new tariffs will only make inflation worse. Many business people and investors are still hoping Mr. Trump will recognize the havoc he is creating and ease off his tariffs. But so far, he doesn't seem concerned. And that may be our biggest worry of all.
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
US stock markets tumble as investors shaken by Trump tariffs
US stock markets tumbled on Thursday as investors parsed the sweeping change in global trading following Donald Trump's announcement of a barrage of tariffs on the country's trading partners. All three major US index funds were down as trading started on Thursday morning. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fund was down 4.5%, while S&P 500 and the Dow dropped 3.4% and 2.7% at opening, respectively. Meanwhile, the US dollar hit a six-month low, going down at least 2.2% on Thursday morning compared to other major currencies. Though the US stock market has been used to tumultuous mornings over the last few weeks, US stock futures – an indication of the markets likely direction – had plummeted after the announcement. Hours later Japan's Nikkei index slumped to an eight-year low and was followed by falls in stock markets in London and across Europe. The White House drafted up a list of countries, including some of its largest trade partners and ones uninhabited by humans, that will be receiving reciprocal tariffs. Many economies will see new tariffs above 20%, including the EU, China, Japan and Taiwan. The 10% baseline tariff will go into effect on 5 April, while the reciprocal tariffs will begin 9 April, according to the White House. Economists have for months warned that high tariffs are a major risk to the US economy, pushing prices up for consumers on everything from cars to wine along with destabilizing the US's role in the global economy. But that didn't stop Trump from taking a celebratory tone at the event he dubbed 'liberation day'. Trump tried to paint the tariffs as the start of 'the golden age of America'. 'We are going to start being smart and we're going to start being very wealthy again,' Trump said. On Thursday Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, defended the move. 'This is the reordering of fair trade,' he said on CNBC's Squawk Box. 'I expect most countries to start to really examine their trade policy towards the United States of America, and stop picking on us.' Multiple major American business groups have spoken out against the tariffs, including the Business Roundtable, a consortium of leaders of major US companies including JP Morgan, Apple and IBM, which called on the White House to 'swiftly reach agreements' and remove the tariffs. 'Universal tariffs ranging from 10-50% run the risk of causing major harm to American manufacturers, workers, families and exporters,' the Business Roundtable said in a statement. 'Damage to the US economy will increase the longer the tariffs are in place and may be exacerbated by retaliatory measures.' In a statement, the National Retail Federation, a lobbying group for the retail industry, said that the new tariffs negatively impact the business environment for retailers. 'More tariffs equal more anxiety and uncertainty for American businesses and consumers. While leaders in Washington may not care about higher prices, hardworking American families do,' the group said. Contrary to what Trump has said about the jobs the tariffs will create, the National Association of Manufacturers said that tariffs actually 'threaten investment, jobs, supply chains and, in turn, America's ability to outcompete other nations and lead as the preeminent manufacturing superpower'. The tariffs also appear unpopular among voters. A poll released on Wednesday ahead of Trump's announcement found that just 28% of Americans believe tariffs help the economy, while 58% believe the impacts will be damaging. But in his speech yesterday, Trump appeared ready to be defiant against any criticism. 'In the coming days, there will be complaints from the globalists and the outsources and special interests and the fake news,' he said. 'This will be an entirely different country in a short period of time. It'll be something the whole world will be talking about.'
