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New York Times
25-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Tony Bechara, Painter Who Championed Latino Artists, Dies at 83
Tony Bechara's parents didn't believe he could make a living as an artist. So he majored in philosophy and economics in college and earned a master's degree in international relations. He started law school, too, but in his mid-20s he found his true passion as a painter. Returning to New York from Paris, where he studied history at the Sorbonne, he enrolled in the School of Visual Arts in 1967, where he began painting black-and-white figurative imagery. Animated by the chaos of the city's streets, he graduated to painting kaleidoscopic grids that he meticulously mapped, and he was embraced by critics and invited to exhibit in museums. He became a patron of the arts and of fledgling Latino artists and, for 15 years, led El Museo del Barrio, a showcase of Puerto Rican art that he expanded to encompass works from all over Latin America. Mr. Bechara died in a Manhattan hospital on April 23, his 83rd birthday. The cause was heart failure, a spokeswoman for El Museo del Barrio said. From 2000 to 2015, he served as chairman of the board of the museum, on Fifth Avenue and 104th Street on the edge of East Harlem, where many newcomers from Puerto Rico originally settled (barrio is Spanish for neighborhood). His mandate was to broaden the museum's collection and exhibits beyond the Barrio to include art from Latin America and the Caribbean. That expanded purview prompted some local critics to complain that the museum was neglecting its primary focus on Puerto Rican culture. 'If the criticism is that we're not an ethnocentric gallery, then that's fair,' Mr. Bechara told The New York Times in 2002. 'But our ambition and our mission demand that we become a world-class museum, open to all people.' He explained that the museum's educational mission extended to East Harlem school students and that works by Puerto Rican artists, himself included, represent some 60 percent of the paintings and sculptures in El Museo's biennial survey of Latino art. Mr. Bechara also served on the boards of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Instituto Cervantes; Studio in a School, which integrates the arts into classroom education; and The Brooklyn Rail, a cultural journal. After he emerged in the 1970s as a promising talent, he also nurtured and promoted other artists, among them Carmen Herrera and Leon Polk Smith. 'They are an extension of my commitment to art, like unfinished murals in which I work during the night.' he said in an interview with AzureAzure, a bilingual cultural guide, in 2015. His paintings, which one critic compared to 'optical confetti,' were inspired by the paintings of Titian and Tintoretto; Byzantine-era mosaics; Islamic tiles and calligraphy in the Alhambra in Spain; and 19th century post-Impressionist French pointillist painters like Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. His paintings consisted of thousands of quarter-inch quadrangles. Beginning with a palette of 125 colors, Mr. Bechara used acrylics, which added a dimension that evoked weaving and basketry. He produced 'shimmering eloquent compositional arrangements developed by chromatic concentration of the squares to form abstract configurations,' Grace Glueck wrote in The Times in 1979. 'For every painting, I first use the one-quarter inch masking tape to create the grid, dividing the surface across equally,' he said in an interview with Phong H. Bui, the Brooklyn Rail's publisher and artistic director, in 2023. 'It begins with taping one layer on the whole canvas vertically,' he said, 'then proceeds the same horizontally. The next thing is to apply the selected color with a small brush, then remove the tape.' 'What I love is the degrees of surprise every time; to take each layer of tape off the canvas is to reveal new worlds of optical symphony,' he said. His art appeared in the Whitney Biennial in 1975, was the subject of a solo show a decade later at El Museo del Barrio and was exhibited at MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art's outpost in Long Island City, Queens. His works are in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Conn.; the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, N.Y.; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.; and the Museo de Arte in San Juan, P.R. A book by Mr. Bechara titled 'Tony Bechara: Annotations on Color Schemes' is scheduled to be published later this year. Antonio Jose Bechara was born on April 23, 1942, in San Juan. His mother, Rosa Margarita Martinez, was from Majorca, Spain. His father, Francisco Bechara, who was of Lebanese descent, operated a limestone quarry and was a developer. Mr. Bechara is survived by a sister, Maria Rosa Bechara Escudero. His wife, Judith, and two brothers died earlier. After graduating from the New York Military Academy, he earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and attended Georgetown Law School (his parents wanted him to join the family business). He persuaded them to let him study at the Sorbonne and returned to New York in 1967, where he received a master's degree in international relations from New York University and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts. Mr. Bechara passionately championed painting and its pre-eminence in the art world. 'As long as there are color pigments, and the fact that no technology ever can substitute this old practice, which has existed since cave paintings, way before language and the written words were invented,' he said, 'painting culture will always be with us.'
The Australian
18-05-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Former White house mouthpiece and Wall Street hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci on Donald Trump
It's just after 6pm in New York, and Anthony Scaramucci is in the back seat of an Uber heading uptown. He got the call a short time ago. A table has suddenly become available at Rao's, the legendary Italian restaurant in East Harlem that's more famous for being impossible to get into than its signature meatballs. Scaramucci left his Madison Avenue office and is racing to get there by 7pm. 'If I bomb out then I can't go there anymore,' he says. Known worldwide as 'the Mooch', Scaramucci is speaking to The Australian via video link. The fast-talking Wall Street hedge fund manager from the Italian suburbs of Long Island was catapulted onto the global stage when he was tapped by Donald Trump, to become communications head during the US President's first administration. It was 2017 and The Mooch lasted just 10 days in the job before he was fired by Trump amid an acrimonious falling out. The then White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci with Donald Trump during his first term. Scaramucci had known Trump for more than two decades before he became president. They first met when The Mooch was at Goldman Sachs, but the two connected over their big personalities and all things New York. That gulf is now so great, Scaramucci has labelled Trump as 'dangerous' and endorsed former vice president Kamala Harris in her failed bid for the White House. Seeing Trump up close in business and private long before his political career, Scaramucci knows what makes the President tick. It all comes down to two things: money and attention. Both forces are constantly vying to be at the top spot. 'When you look through the prism of what he's doing, it is best to say: 'Okay, what does that get him attention or money?' Scaramucci says. 'The tariff thing: the way he spun that, and the way he created that he put himself in the minds of every single business person in the world, every single media person, every single journalist'. The fact that (we) are talking about him, he would absolutely love that. He wants his name, his persona, his psyche infecting your brain.' Scaramucci pauses. 'It's almost like 'Covid-19' is like 'Trump 2025'. It's like he's a virus, and he wants to be a pandemic on your brain. If you see him through that prism, and you say, 'Okay, I see why he did that. I see why he went to 180 (per cent tariff) and now he's at 30 on his way to zero, frankly, because it'll go right back to where it was' … He wants us talking about him.' On the question of money, it's how this benefits the Trump family's investments. Scaramucci says last week's tour of the Middle East's richest counties will offer plenty of private investments. 'If you think the interests of the West, leading the free world, helping the MAGA base … if you think any of those things are even on the list, then you really don't understand the guy'. After the White House and his moment in the sun, Scaramucci returned to SkyBridge Capital, the hedge fund he founded after leaving Goldman Sachs. The aim of the fund was to connect the biggest-name wealthy clients in the hedge fund industry. SkyBridge has since become a major player in cryptocurrency markets, launching the Bitcoin Fund in 2021. Scaramucci, who also runs his own podcast with BBC correspondent Katty Kay, will be headlining the 10th annual Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Conference, which returns to the Sydney Opera House in November. All the proceeds from the conference go to medical research, with nearly $80m donated over the decade it's been running in Australia. (When he is in Australia, The Mooch is hoping to take a side trip to Melbourne: 'I love that town. It has the best coffee in the world.') Market turmoil followed Trump unleashing his Liberation Day tariffs early last month, with a share market sell-off pushing Wall Street into bear-market territory. But as the turmoil spread to bond markets just over a week later, Trump started to back away. He outlined a three-month pause in punishing reciprocal tariffs and opened a window for negotiations. He held firm with China for several weeks. Two weekends ago, there was a dramatic walk back from both sides. Trump slashed his 145 per cent tariffs on China to 30 per cent for a three-month window. China also agreed to cut its retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Anthony Scaramucci says Donald Trump's political instincts are often correct. Picture: AP There's good reason for the walk back, the former White House adviser says. While Trump initially shrugged off turmoil in equity markets, even he couldn't ignore the warning signs in bonds. Sharemarkets may have rebounded; there's doubt still in bond markets. Over the weekend, Moody's stripped the US of its rolled-gold AAA credit rating. 'Donald Trump does have a ruler, and that ruler is the bond market,' Scaramucci says. 'Which is why by April 9 he caused a pause (in tariffs)' and this month de-escalated with China. No doubt the tariff execution was botched. Scaramucci gives the President credit; his political instincts are often right. 'There are some trade imbalances with China that we in the West should rectify,' Scaramucci says. 'We did have a problem on our southern border. Don't go by me – 70 per cent of the Americans felt that we had a problem on our southern border. 'If you have an obligation to spend 2 per cent of your GDP on defence, and you're a member of NATO then you're under that number … there are kernels of truth in what he's saying.' Why does it go wrong? 'What I always say is there's a good angel on Trump's shoulder,' he says. 'He can identify things, and he can say these things. You look at him, say, 'okay, that's actually true'. But then there's a bad angel in terms of the implementation of policy and the need for attention. And he's literally got the bad angel or the devil on his shoulder saying, 'Hey, you might be able to rake in $200bn for your family here'. 'In Trump-1 he was fearful and insecure about the presidency. He had a lot of establishment people in the mix with him that were stopping him from his worst instincts. In Trump-2. He doesn't have that.' Whereas son-in-law Jared Kushner was a calming force during Trump's first administration, he is no longer in the circle of power of the new administration. Instead, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, the Trump family's biggest backer of MAGA, is the President's new spirit force. 'This is why Trump-2, in my humble opinion, is way more dangerous than Trump-1,' Scaramucci says. 'You asked 'what is he doing?' They don't know what he's doing as of tonight. He's not actually sure what he's doing tomorrow. He's not sure because he wants to get attention. Elon Musk has the one thing Donald Trump loves: money. Picture: AP 'He wants to do some things that will potentially enrich his family, and so when he figures out what they are, he'll start doing them. And that's, that's him'. There's a big figure who looms over all this: Elon Musk. Scaramucci admits he got it wrong, thinking Trump and Musk would flame out earlier. Earlier this month, the multibillionaire effectively handed in the keys to the controversial Department of Government Efficiency and returned to his role as Tesla chief executive. The Musk relationship comes back to one of the core Trump drivers. 'Elon's loaded; Trump loves money,' Scaramucci says. However, he says it was clear the multi-billionaire overstayed his White House time and was starting to get on Trump's nerves. 'It's the old Ben Franklin thing,' he says. 'House guests are like fresh fish – they last three days. And so Elon, he wanted him out, but he's too rich to push him out the way he pushed out me or (former adviser) Steve Bannon. Elon will be in the mix from a distance for quite some time because of the money associated with him'. This is a good point to ask about Scaramucci's own flame out with Trump. Their 20-year friendship was over following Scaramucci's frenzied 10-day stint as White House communications director. The public line was Trump fired him (via then chief of staff John Kelly) for the Wall Street banker's colourful criticisms of Bannon, the Trump loyalist and champion of the far-right. (Bannon was sacked as chief strategist a few weeks later.) Scaramucci counters that his own fate was more than what has been written. He was pushing back on the President too much. 'I got fired because I was fighting with Trump,' he says. 'Trump told me that I was a Deep Stater. I'm like, 'Dude, I haven't even been to Washington on a field trip. I'm definitely not a Deep Stater'.' Still, taking the job was the 'biggest mistake' of his life. Anthony Scaramucci conducting a White House press conference in 2017. Picture: AFP 'If you want me to be brutally honest with you, it was the wrong job for me,' he says. 'My wife hates Trump, almost as much as Melania (Trump) hates him. My wife told me, 'Don't go work for him. He's gonna burn you. He's gonna hurt you. Blah, blah, blah'. But the kid from Long Island … this was an egocentric mistake 'It's actually a very good lesson for investors. When you put your ego, and you put your pride into your decision-making, you make colossal mistakes. That's true in investing. It's true in your personal life. It's true in your career'. It's now nearly 7pm as Scaramucci's Uber slowly pulls up out the front of Rao's. Perfect timing. 'When Bill Clinton left the White House, he got himself an office right by this restaurant,' he says. 'He tried to get a reservation. They told him: 'Look, sorry. We don't care'. The only way you can get in there is you got to know somebody that owns one of the tables in the restaurant'. Scaramucci simply can't miss that table. Anthony Scaramucci will be headlining 2025 Sohn Hearts & Minds conference in Sydney on November 14
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The US Is on Track to Lose $12 Billion in Travel Revenue in 2025
(Bloomberg) -- The US is on track for a very bad tourism year. A New Central Park Amenity, Tailored to Its East Harlem Neighbors As Trump Reshapes Housing Policy, Renters Face Rollback of Rights What's Behind the Rise in Serious Injuries on New York City's Streets? NYC Warns of 17% Drop in Foreign Tourists Due to Trump Policies LA Mayor Credits Trump on Fire Aid, Stays Wary on Immigration According to new data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), shared exclusively with Bloomberg, the country is set to lose $12.5 billion in travel revenue in 2025, with visitor spending estimated to fall under $169 billion by year's end. The numbers represent a decline of around 7% in visitor spending year-over-year, and a decline of 22% since tourism reached its peak in the US in 2019. This puts the US in a league of its own. Out of 184 global economies analyzed by WTTC in conjunction with Oxford Economics, it's the only one projected to lose tourism dollars this year. 'Other countries are really rolling out the welcome mat, and it feels like the US is putting up a 'we are closed' sign at their doorway,' says WTTC President and Chief Executive Officer Julia Simpson. The consequences, Simpson says, could be devastating. 'The US travel and tourism sector is the biggest sector globally compared to any other country, worth almost $2.6 trillion,' she says, citing WTTC and Oxford Economics data. According to Simpson's data, direct and indirect tourism represents 9% of the American economy. (Visitor spending is one of the 'direct' parts of the travel economy, while 'indirect' contributions include the knock-on effects of increased spending by hospitality professionals.) The sector employs 20 million people and creates $585 billion in US tax dollars each year—7% of all tax revenue the US government receives. It's a 'major mainstay of the US economy,' she says. The issues the industry faces have been years in the making. The problems began in the Biden era as a result of Covid-era travel requirements that lingered longer than they did in most other nations. Then the soaring dollar started pricing people out. 'The Japanese used to visit the US a lot, but the strong dollar made it quite an expensive place,' Simpson says. 'Same with Europeans.' But now, she says, a shift in people's views is turning cracks in the American travel economy into chasms. According to international arrivals data from the US Department of Commerce, travelers are already shifting their behavior as a result of the current administration's 'America First' rhetoric and policy. 'What we are seeing now is a sentiment shift that's really very sad,' Simpson says. 'Legislators need not confuse the tourism sector with issues around illegal immigration. A sophisticated system can balance both without turning [the country] into an island that no one wants to visit.' In March 2025, the most recent month for which data is available, arrivals were significantly down for all of the US's most robust visitor populations. UK arrivals were down 15% year-over-year; Germans were down 28%; South Korean trips declined by 15%; and other key source markets, including Spain, Ireland and the Dominican Republic, were down between 24% and 33%. The effects won't be felt evenly across the US, with the $12.5 billion deficit disproportionately affecting major US gateways as well as tourism areas along the Canadian border. Take New York City and the broader Empire State as an example. On May 8, the city's tourism agency reversed course on its positive outlook for 2025—the year it expected to finally rebound fully from the impact of the pandemic—to forecast that it would receive 400,000 fewer tourists and $4 billion less in tourism spending than it did in 2024. The latest projections for New York, accounting for a total of 64 million tourists this year, include estimates that 400,000 more domestic tourists—but 800,000 fewer international visitors—will visit the five boroughs. Tourists from abroad tend to stay longer and spend more, and in 2024 they represented half of the $51 billion that the city netted via tourism. According to Governor Kathy Hochul, this slump extends to regions upstate. Some 66% of businesses in New York's 'north country,' which juts out toward Ottawa and Montreal, have already felt a 'significant decrease' in Canadian bookings for 2025. In an April 29 press release, Hochul attributed that figure to President Donald Trump's '51st state' rhetoric and the impact of tariffs. Among those north country businesses, 26% have already adjusted staffing in response to the declines. The damage is profound. WTTC now forecasts that it will take until at least 2030 for US tourism to recover to pre-Covid levels. And that's if things don't get worse before they get better. People in the industry, she says, have taken note of proposed legislation that would raise the cost of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which is required of all travelers who plan to come to the US from countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program. It is currently $21 per traveler but could rise to $40 if the legislation is adopted. 'The thing about tourism is it's extremely resilient,' she says. 'If you push the right buttons, it will bounce back. But increasing the cost of an ESTA will only deter people further.' It's a cost for which the US can't easily compensate. Already, 90% of the US tourism economy is made up of domestic travel—Americans vacationing within the 50 states—making it a hard sector to grow. Meanwhile, Simpson adds, every other country is making it easier for people to come visit with new perks like digitized visas. 'India is gaining, the Middle East is gaining, China is gaining, Europe is doing quite well,' Simpson says. 'It's only Americans that are being left behind and losing out.' The Recession Chatter Is Getting Louder. Watch These Metrics US Border Towns Are Being Ravaged by Canada's Furious Boycott Two Million Meat Sticks a Day Isn't Enough for Chomps' CEO With the New York Liberty, Clara Wu Tsai Aims for the First $1 Billion Women's Sports Franchise How the Lizard King Built a Reptile Empire Selling $50,000 Geckos ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SALT, Tips and Auto Loans: A Guide to the House GOP Tax Bill
(Bloomberg) -- House Republicans' release of the tax provisions in their massive fiscal bill provides a crucial initial reading of what party leaders think could pass, culminating weeks of intense negotiations among fractious GOP lawmakers. A New Central Park Amenity, Tailored to Its East Harlem Neighbors As Trump Reshapes Housing Policy, Renters Face Rollback of Rights What's Behind the Rise in Serious Injuries on New York City's Streets? NYC Warns of 17% Drop in Foreign Tourists Due to Trump Policies LA Mayor Credits Trump on Fire Aid, Stays Wary on Immigration But the bill still may change as leaders strike more deals to secure passage in the House. And Senate Republicans are likely to follow their own path, requiring more compromises. Business lobbyists notched many of the top tax breaks they were seeking, while avoiding levy increases that were instead targeted at renewable energy projects, immigrants, foundations and colleges. The bill is officially scored as losing $3.7 trillion in revenue, within the $4.5 trillion limit lawmakers set for themselves. Here's a rundown of the tax bill's main provisions impacting individuals and businesses: No Millionaire Tax House Republicans rejected the so-called 'millionaire tax' floated by President Donald Trump, which would have set a higher income tax rate for individuals making more than $2.5 million in a year. The draft would permanently set the top tax rate for individuals at 37%, extending the rate set by President Donald Trump's 2017 tax bill. Without new legislation, the top rate is set to expire and would revert back to 39.6%. $30,000 SALT Limit The limit on state and local tax deductions would rise to $30,000 – a slight increase from the existing SALT cap, but likely not enough to appease Republicans from high-tax states like California and New York. The proposed SALT cap would be $30,000 for individual filers or married couples filing joint returns but $15,000 for married individuals filing separate returns. The bill also would place a new income test on eligibility for the tax deduction, phasing it out for individuals earning more than $200,000, or married couples earning more than $400,000. At least five Republican lawmakers rejected the new limit in advance as too low. They could stop the entire tax bill if they stick to their guns. Tips, Overtime and Autos Tips and overtime pay would be exempt from income tax through 2028, the end of Trump's second term, fulfilling — at least for four years — a Trump campaign promise. The GOP bill would also make interest on auto loans deductible through 2028, addressing another Trump campaign promise. All three provisions would be retroactive to the beginning of this year. Interest Expensing Private equity and other heavily indebted business sectors won a major fight in the tax bill on interest expensing. The bill adds depreciation and amortization when determining the tax deductibility of a company's debt payments. The maximum amount any company can get in such tax write-offs is calculated as a percentage of earnings. That's why using Ebitda – which is typically bigger than Ebit — in this process would generate heftier tax deductions. Carried Interest The bill does not make any changes to the tax treatment of carried interest after a massive lobbying campaign by affected industries. Trump has pushed Republicans to tax carried interest as ordinary income, raising taxes on private equity, venture capitalists and real estate investors. University Endowment Tax Some private universities would face a dramatic tax increase on investment income generated by their endowments, posing a serious penalty to some of the nation's wealthiest schools. The provision would create a tiered system of taxation so that wealthy colleges and universities that meet a threshold based on the number of students would pay more. Under Trump's 2017 tax law, some colleges with the most well-funded endowments currently pay a 1.4% tax on their net investment income. The levy would rise to as high as 21% on institutions with the largest endowments based on their student population. The provision is a major escalation in Trump's fight with Harvard and other elite colleges and universities, which he has sought to strong-arm into making curriculum and cultural changes that he favors. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton and MIT would face the maximum 21% tax rate, based on the size of their endowments in 2024, according to data from the NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. Private Foundation Tax Private foundations also would face an escalating tax based on their size: 2.78% for private foundations with assets between $50 million and $250 million, 5% for entities with assets between $250 million and $5 billion; and 10% for foundations with assets of at least $5 billion, such as the Gates Foundation, a longtime target for Republicans. Sports Teams The bill would limit write-offs for professional football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer franchises that claim deductions connected to the team's intangible assets, including copyright, patents or designs. Electric Vehicles A popular consumer tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle would be fully eliminated by the end of 2026, and only manufactures that have sold fewer than 200,000 electric vehicles by the end of this year would would be eligible to receive it in 2026. Tax incentives for the purchase of commercial electric vehicles and used electric vehicles would also be repealed. Renewable Tax Credits Popular production and investment tax credits for clean electricity would be phased out by the end of 2031 and new requirements against using materials from certain foreign nations would be added. Those credits weren't set to expire until the later part of 2032 or until until carbon emissions from the US electricity sector decline to at least 75% below 2022 levels. A tax credit for the production of nuclear energy would also be phased out by 2031. Bonus for Elderly Americans aged 65 and older who don't itemize their taxes would get a $4,000 bonus added to their standard deduction through 2028. That benefit would phase out for individuals making more than $75,000 and couples making more than $150,000. It would be retroactive to the beginning of this year. Trump had campaigned on ending taxes on Social Security benefits but that proposal would have run afoul of a special procedure Republicans are using to push through the tax law changes without any Democratic votes. The higher standard deduction is an alternative way of targeting a benefit to the elderly. Targeting Immigrants Immigrant communities would face a new 5% tax on remittances sent to foreign nations. Many immigrants send a portion of their earnings abroad to support family members in their home countries. Tax credits would be available to reimburse US citizens who send payments abroad. Multinational Corporations Benefit Multinational companies would get an extension of current lower rates on foreign profits, marking a win for corporate America. Factory Incentives The bill does not include Trump's call for a lower corporate tax rate for domestic producers, but instead allows 100% depreciation for any new 'qualified production property,' like a factory, if construction begins during Trump's term — beginning on Jan. 20, 2025, and before Jan. 1, 2029, and becomes operational before 2023. That would be a major incentive for new facilities as Trump wields tariffs to drive production to the US. Child Tax Credit The maximum child tax credit would rise from $2,000 to $2,500 through 2028 and then drop to $2,000 in subsequent years. 'MAGA' Accounts The bill would create new tax-exempt investment accounts to benefit children, dubbed 'MAGA' accounts, referring to his Make America Great Again campaign slogan. The accounts would allow $5,000 in contributions per year and adult children would be able to use the funds for purchasing homes or starting small businesses, in addition to educational expenses. The bill would authorize one-time $1,000 government payments into accounts for children born from 2025 through 2028. Pass-Through Deduction Owners of pass-through businesses would be allowed to exclude 23% of their business income when calculating their taxes, a 3% increase from the current rate. The increase is a win for pass-through firms — partnerships, sole proprietorships and S corporations — which make up the vast majority of businesses in the US. Research and Development The draft would temporarily reinstate a tax deduction for research and development, a top priority for manufacturers and the tech industry. The deduction will last through the end of 2029. --With assistance from Janet Lorin, Ari Natter, Josh Wingrove, Billy House and Derek Wallbank. (Adds details on interest expensing, accounts for children) The Recession Chatter Is Getting Louder. Watch These Metrics US Border Towns Are Being Ravaged by Canada's Furious Boycott Two Million Meat Sticks a Day Isn't Enough for Chomps' CEO With the New York Liberty, Clara Wu Tsai Aims for the First $1 Billion Women's Sports Franchise How the Lizard King Built a Reptile Empire Selling $50,000 Geckos ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dollar Surges After US and China Agree to Reduce Trade Tariffs
(Bloomberg) -- The dollar soared and government bonds sold off as markets reacted to a de-escalation in the trade war between China and the US, which agreed to temporarily lower some tariffs for 90 days. A New Central Park Amenity, Tailored to Its East Harlem Neighbors As Trump Reshapes Housing Policy, Renters Face Rollback of Rights Is Trump's Plan to Reopen the Notorious Alcatraz Prison Realistic? What's Behind the Rise in Serious Injuries on New York City's Streets? NYC Warns of 17% Drop in Foreign Tourists Due to Trump Policies A gauge of dollar strength rose as much as 1% and the yen, a traditional haven, plunged as progress in talks stoked appetite for risk assets. The US 10-year yield climbed seven basis points to 4.45%, its highest in nearly a month, while stocks got a boost on both sides of the Atlantic. It's a potential pivot point for markets, which have been roiled by US President Donald Trump's attempts to rewire global trade. He targeted China with particularly punitive tariffs, sparking a trade war and fears of a recession. 'This kind of coordinated tariff relief, even if temporary, changes the investment landscape,' said Nigel Green, chief executive officer of deVere Group. 'It clears a path for businesses to recalibrate their outlook, and for markets to rally on something more than just hope.' After weekend talks in Geneva, the US and China issued a joint statement indicating that they would temporarily lower tariffs on each other's products for 90 days. It buys the world's two largest economies three more months to resolve their differences. In the US, Nasdaq 100 futures surged as much as 3.9% while S&P 500 futures rose 3.1%. Europe's Stoxx 600 index climbed as much as 1.2% but gains were tempered by a drop in pharmaceutical stocks as Trump said he planned to order a cut in US prescription drug costs. Still, the move toward de-escalation of trade tariffs spurred some big sector-level moves in Europe, with shipping stocks including Danish container giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S surging 13% and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd AG up around 10%. Automakers Stellantis NV, Mercedes-Benz Group AG and BMW AG all rose over 5%. 'These are cuts in tariffs which are much deeper than what was expected,' said David Kruk, head of trading at La Financiere de L'Echiquier. 'For those who were bearish since the tariffs announcement, this is a real pain trade. There is no more dip to buy so if you were not invested, it's really hard to go in now.' Havens Slide The Swiss franc and euro also fell against the greenback following the announcement. The common currency, which had emerged as a haven amid the rout in US assets, fell as much as 1.5% to $1.1084, putting it on track for its worst day this year. 'This is positive for G-10 risk especially the Antipodean currencies and the US dollar,' said Valentin Marinov, head of G10 FX strategy at Credit Agricole SA. 'Easing US growth fears should further help restore market confidence in the USD-denominated assets.' Traders rushed to pare wagers on the extent of interest-rate cuts from major central banks this year, as concerns over the economic outlook ebbed. Swaps now favor a quarter-point reduction in September from the Federal Reserve, compared to as soon as July last week. The European Central Bank is expected to cut rates by around 50 basis points for the remainder of the year, versus more than 60 basis points at Friday's close. Still, the relief for US assets may prove temporary. Even before Monday's announcement, investors were warning that the US administration's aggressive trade policies exposed the risk of significant overweights to the region, meaning outflows would likely endure even if trade tensions dissipated. 'We believe concerns around the US hard-data outlook persist, and potential asset allocation shifts away from US assets remain medium- to longer-term headwinds for the greenback,' said Mohamad Al-Saraf, an analyst at Danske Bank. --With assistance from Kit Rees, Julien Ponthus and Vassilis Karamanis. (Updates prices throughout.) US Border Towns Are Being Ravaged by Canada's Furious Boycott How the Lizard King Built a Reptile Empire Selling $50,000 Geckos With the New York Liberty, Clara Wu Tsai Aims for the First $1 Billion Women's Sports Franchise Maybe AI Slop Is Killing the Internet, After All Pre-Tariff Car Buying Frenzy Leaves Americans With a Big Debt Problem ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
