Latest news with #Scott Bessent
NHK
9 hours ago
- Business
- NHK
US inflation heats up as tariffs start to bite
The US Labor Department announced on Tuesday that the Consumer Price Index in June rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier. That was the fastest pace since February. Consumers are starting to feel the impact of President Donald Trump's trade policies. Costs are rising for products with the most exposure to tariffs, such as toys, sporting goods and household furnishings. Prices for each of these items jumped by at least 1 percent. Trump responded to the figures by once again taking aim at the Federal Reserve. He wants policymakers to soften the blow of higher prices by lowering interest rates. At the White House, Trump said: "Interest rates should be coming down where we have a very, very successful country. We should have the lowest interest rate anywhere in the world, and we don't." Trump has been pressuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell to step down. Powell's term is set to expire next May, but he can technically remain on the Fed's board until 2028. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that officials have begun a "formal process" to replace Powell. He said Powell should leave the Fed entirely when his term as chair ends.
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Japan PM to meet Bessent on Friday, Yomiuri says
July 15 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is arranging to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on Friday, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday, ahead of an August 1 deadline to strike a trade deal with the United States. A separate Yomiuri report said European Union leaders will visit Ishiba later this month to sign an "alliance" advocating global free trade, seeking multilateral ties as U.S. tariffs add to trade risks. Bessent is set to travel to Japan to attend the U.S. national day at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, scheduled for July 19, skipping a concurrent Group of 20 finance officials meeting in South Africa, U.S. Treasury said last week. Bessent would lead the U.S. delegation, which will also include Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, according to the White House. Japan's top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is also expected to meet with Bessent, Yomiuri added, citing an unnamed government source. Despite seven U.S. visits since April, Akazawa has yet to secure a trade agreement with Washington. Reuters has not independently confirmed these planned meetings during Bessent's Japan trip. This would mark the first high-level meeting between Tokyo and Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump last week sent a letter to Japan raising tariffs on Japanese imports to 25% from August 1. Separately, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will meet Ishiba in Tokyo around July 23 and launch a "competitiveness alliance" scheme, Yomiuri reported. The EU, facing 30% tariffs, has accused the U.S. of resisting efforts to strike a trade deal and warned of countermeasures. The new EU-Japan framework will note their commitment to "a stable, predictable, rules-based, free and fair economic order" to counter Trump's tariffs and China's rare earth export restrictions, Yomiuri said, citing draft statements. The statement could also mention EU-Japan tie-ups in areas such as rare earth and battery supply chains, natural gas investments, defense industry dialogues and satellites, the newspaper added. The U.S. and EU officials' Japan visits come at a sensitive time for Ishiba with his ruling coalition seen losing its majority in Sunday's upper house election, according to recent polls. Having already lost the lower house majority in October, a second electoral defeat could significantly undermine Ishiba's political standing while potentially strengthening opposition parties that advocate for tax cuts and looser monetary policy.
News24
2 days ago
- Business
- News24
G20's financial watchdog lays out climate plan but presses pause amid divisions
The G20's financial stability watchdog delivered a new plan on how to tackle climate risks on Monday, but paused further policy work amid a retreat by the United States that has tested efforts to advance a united financial policy on climate-related risks. The US has withdrawn from multiple groups dedicated to exploring how flooding and wildfires and big climate-related policy shifts could impact financial stability. In its medium-term plan, the G20's Financial Stability Board pledged to step up coordination and data sharing on climate-related financial risk. However, it said while progress had been made to integrate climate risks into financial systems, some of its members, who include central bank governors and ministers, were keen to pause further climate work. "While many members feel there is a need for more work, some members feel that the work completed to date is sufficient," the FSB said in an update to its 2021 climate roadmap delivered to G20 finance ministers meeting in South Africa. "Going forward, the FSB will ... make determinations about what projects, if any, it will undertake." US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was set to skip the G20 meeting, Reuters reported last week. The United States is due to head the G20 group, which it helped found in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, next year. The FSB said it would continue to consider climate-related topics each year and would focus on its role as a coordinator of international work on climate risks. The watchdog said it did not have plans to do any more significant policy work on integrating climate-related financial risks into its supervisory and regulatory work. Work on this topic is ongoing at many of its member institutions, it said. READ | EU unveils long-delayed 2040 climate target - with wiggle room Earlier this year, the FSB published work on the usefulness of transition plans for financial stability and in 2024 presented a stocktake of supervisory and regulatory work on nature-related financial risks. "Rather than identifying such vulnerabilities a priority for further work, the FSB will leave that decision up to its annual work programme process," it said in the report. The report detailed progress made since 2023 by international standard setters and global banking regulators like the Basel Committee on climate disclosure. It also set out efforts to provide forward-looking data to help banks and companies quantify economic losses from climate shocks such as heatwaves.
CNA
2 days ago
- Business
- CNA
G20's financial watchdog lays out climate plan but presses pause amid divisions
LONDON: The G20's financial stability watchdog delivered a new plan on how to tackle climate risks on Monday (Jul 14), but paused further policy work amid a retreat by the United States that has tested efforts to advance a united financial policy on climate-related risks. The US has withdrawn from multiple groups dedicated to exploring how flooding and wildfires and big climate-related policy shifts could impact financial stability. In its medium-term plan, the G20's Financial Stability Board pledged to step up coordination and data sharing on climate-related financial risk. However, it said while progress had been made to integrate climate risks into financial systems, some of its members, who include central bank governors and ministers, were keen to pause further climate work. "While many members feel there is a need for more work, some members feel that the work completed to date is sufficient," the FSB said in an update to its 2021 climate roadmap delivered to G20 finance ministers meeting in South Africa. "Going forward, the FSB will ... make determinations about what projects, if any, it will undertake." US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was set to skip the G20 meeting, Reuters reported last week. The United States is due to head the G20 group, which it helped found in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, next year. The FSB said it would continue to consider climate-related topics each year and would focus on its role as a coordinator of international work on climate risks. The watchdog said it did not have plans to do any more significant policy work on integrating climate-related financial risks into its supervisory and regulatory work. Work on this topic is ongoing at many of its member institutions, it said. Earlier this year, the FSB published work on the usefulness of transition plans for financial stability and in 2024 presented a stocktake of supervisory and regulatory work on nature-related financial risks. "Rather than identifying such vulnerabilities a priority for further work, the FSB will leave that decision up to its annual work programme process," it said in the report. The report detailed progress made since 2023 by international standard setters and global banking regulators like the Basel Committee on climate disclosure.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
G20's financial watchdog lays out climate plan but presses pause amid divisions
By Virginia Furness LONDON (Reuters) -The G20's financial stability watchdog delivered a new plan on how to tackle climate risks on Monday, but paused further policy work amid a retreat by the United States that has tested efforts to advance a united financial policy on climate-related risks. The U.S. has withdrawn from multiple groups dedicated to exploring how flooding and wildfires and big climate-related policy shifts could impact financial stability. In its medium-term plan, the G20's Financial Stability Board pledged to step up coordination and data sharing on climate-related financial risk. However, it said while progress had been made to integrate climate risks into financial systems, some of its members, who include central bank governors and ministers, were keen to pause further climate work. "While many members feel there is a need for more work, some members feel that the work completed to date is sufficient," the FSB said in an update to its 2021 climate roadmap delivered to G20 finance ministers meeting in South Africa. "Going forward, the FSB will ... make determinations about what projects, if any, it will undertake." U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was set to skip the G20 meeting, Reuters reported last week. The United States is due to head the G20 group, which it helped found in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, next year. The FSB said it would continue to consider climate-related topics each year and would focus on its role as a coordinator of international work on climate risks. The watchdog said it did not have plans to do any more significant policy work on integrating climate-related financial risks into its supervisory and regulatory work. Work on this topic is ongoing at many of its member institutions, it said. Earlier this year, the FSB published work on the usefulness of transition plans for financial stability and in 2024 presented a stocktake of supervisory and regulatory work on nature-related financial risks. "Rather than identifying such vulnerabilities a priority for further work, the FSB will leave that decision up to its annual work programme process," it said in the report. The report detailed progress made since 2023 by international standard setters and global banking regulators like the Basel Committee on climate disclosure. It also set out efforts to provide forward-looking data to help banks and companies quantify economic losses from climate shocks such as heatwaves. 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
