Latest news with #ScottBessent
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Stocks in Asia fall after court pauses block on Trump tariffs
Update: Date: Title: Introduction: Asian stocks fall after tariffs reinstated Content: News that a federal court had blocked most of Donald Trump's sweeping trade tariffs helped stock markets rise yesterday. But now that an appeals court has agreed to a temporary pause in the decision, stocks are starting to fall again. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index dropped 1.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.5%. The mainland Chinese index the SSE Composite fell 0.3%, while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.9%. The US dollar has been shaky too, and is now heading for its fifth consecutive monthly decline as investors brace for more uncertainty around trade. Trump said on Thursday he hoped the Supreme Court would overturn the trade court's decision, while White House officials have suggested he could pursue other presidential powers to make sure that tariffs take effect. Despite the uncertainty around Trump's tariff regime, the White House says that negotiations with its top trading partners continue. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox News that he is scheduled to have talks with a high-level Japanese delegation later on Friday in Washington. Trump had already paused his 'Liberation Day' tariff rates on most trade partners for 90 days to July 9 and set a baseline rate of 10% in the meantime while they negotiate new deals. Earlier this month the US and the UK confirmed they had agreed a trade deal, but no legal text exists yet to bring the concessions into force. The UK has said it wants to accelerate negotiations to conclude the deal with the US. The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, is expected to meet US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick at a meeting of the OECD in Paris next Tuesday. 1PM BST: German inflation data 1:30PM BST: US PCE (Inflation measure) 3PM BST: University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump tariffs stay in place for now after appellate ruling
US President Donald Trump celebrated a temporary reprieve for his aggressive tariff strategy on Thursday, with an appeals court preserving his sweeping import duties on China and other trading partners -- for now. The short-term relief will allow the appeals process to proceed after the US Court of International Trade barred most of the tariffs announced since Trump took office, ruling on Wednesday that he had overstepped his authority. Welcoming the latest twist in his legal skirmishes over his trade policies, Trump lashed out at the Manhattan-based trade court, calling it "horrible" and saying its blockade should be "quickly and decisively" reversed for good. US Trade Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks were "a bit stalled" and suggested Trump get involved personally with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in order to iron out tariffs between the world's two biggest economies. "I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other," Bessent told Fox News after the ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, known as an administrative stay. Washington and Beijing agreed this month to pause reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, a surprise de-escalation in their bitter trade war following talks between top officials in Geneva. Trump has moved to reconfigure US trade ties with the world since returning to the presidency in January, using levies to force foreign governments to the negotiating table. However, the stop-start tariff rollout on both allies and adversaries has roiled markets and snarled supply chains. The White House had been given 10 days to halt affected tariffs before Thursday's decision from the appeals court. The Trump administration called the block "blatantly wrong," expressing confidence that the decision would be overturned on appeal. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the judges "brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority of President Trump." Leavitt said the Supreme Court "must put an end" to the tariff challenge, while stressing that Trump had other legal means to impose levies. A separate ruling by a federal district judge in the US capital found some Trump levies unlawful as well, giving the administration 14 days to appeal. - 'Hiccups' - Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told Fox Business that "hiccups" sparked by the decisions of "activist judges" would not affect talks with trading partners, adding that three deals were close to finalization. Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro told reporters after the appellate stay that the administration had earlier received "plenty of phone calls from countries" who said they would continue to "negotiate in good faith," without identifying those nations. Trump's import levies are aimed partly at punishing economies that sell more to the United States than they buy. The president has argued that trade deficits and the threat posed by drug smuggling constituted a "national emergency" that justified the widespread tariffs -- a notion the Court of International Trade ruled against. Trump unveiled sweeping duties on nearly all trading partners in April at a baseline 10 percent, plus steeper levies on dozens of economies including China and the European Union that have since been paused. The US trade court's ruling quashed those blanket duties, along with others that Trump imposed on Canada, Mexico and China separately using emergency powers. However, it left intact 25 percent duties on imported autos, steel and aluminum. Beijing -- which was hit by additional 145 percent tariffs before they were temporarily reduced to make space for negotiations -- reacted to the trade court decision by saying Washington should scrap the levies. "China urges the United States to heed the rational voices from the international community and domestic stakeholders and fully cancel the wrongful unilateral tariff measures," said commerce ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian. The trade court was ruling in two separate cases, brought by businesses and a coalition of state governments, arguing that the president had violated Congress's power of the purse. The judges said the cases rested on whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) delegates such powers to the president "in the form of authority to impose unlimited tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world." The judges stated that any interpretation of the IEEPA that "delegates unlimited tariff authority is unconstitutional." Analysts at London-based research group Capital Economics said the case may end up with the Supreme Court but would likely not mark the end of the tariff war. burs-ft/cms/pbt
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Markets slide again on concern Trump's tariffs are here to stay
Asian shares and US stock futures fell again on concern US president Donald Trump's tariffs are here to stay after his administration reiterated its resolve to keep the levies amid a legal tussle. A gauge of Asian shares dipped 0.5 per cent, trimming its biggest monthly gain since November 2023, amid uncertainty about the legal status of Trump's planned tariff increases. Sentiment towards equity markets also worsened after the Wall Street Journal reported the administration is considering a stopgap effort to impose levies on swaths of the global economy. Hong Kong shares dropped after US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks with China were 'a bit stalled'. READ MORE Japan's Nikkei saw the most pronounced selling, after experiencing the most pronounced buying on Thursday, with moves in the exporter-heavy index exacerbated by the ebb and flow in demand for the safe-haven yen. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington temporarily reinstated Trump's duties on Thursday while it considers the government's appeal. On Wednesday, a little-known trade court had unanimously ruled Trump overstepped his authority, and tariffs were the jurisdiction of Congress not the president. Either way, senior Trump administration officials said they were undeterred and expected either to prevail on appeal or to employ other powers to ensure the tariffs remain. The Nikkei dropped 1.7 per cent in the Asian morning, putting it basically back at Wednesday's closing level. The yen strengthened about 2 per cent from its low on Thursday to last change hands at around 143.48 per dollar. A stronger yen reduces the value of overseas revenues. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.4 per cent and mainland China's blue chip index eased 0.3 per cent in early trading. South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.5 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.4 per cent. 'Trump's trade agenda remains alive and kicking, with the legal battle adding yet another layer of uncertainty,' said Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank. 'The only thing that looks more certain is more uncertainty,' which will lead to additional delays in investment decisions and hiring, he said. US S&P 500 futures retreated 0.2 per cent. The cash index rose 0.4 per cent overnight, but that was largely the effect of resilient Nvidia financial results from after the market close on Wednesday, to which Asian shares already had a chance to react. Pan-European Stoxx 50 futures edged 0.1 per cent lower. The 10-year US Treasury yield was steady at 4.42 per cent on Friday, following a 5.5 basis point slide on Thursday. Safe-haven gold was little changed at $3,311 per ounce, following a 0.8 per cent advance in the previous session. Risk-sensitive bitcoin slipped to a 10-day low of $104,714.35. Both Brent and US West Texas Intermediate crude eased 0.3 per cent early on Friday, to $63.97 and $60.75 per barrel, respectively. – Reuters
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Suffered Humiliating West Wing Tongue-Lashing: ‘F*** You! F*** You!'
Further details have emerged about the shouting match between Scott Bessent and Elon Musk at the White House, showing just how fed up the Treasury Secretary was with the tech mogul. A profile from The Atlantic detailing the rapid rise and fall of Musk's influence in President Donald Trump's world opens with a dramatic quote that Bessent is alleged to have yelled at Musk during a heated exchange last month over who should lead the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 'F--- you! F--- you! F--- you!' Bessent reportedly shouted at Musk. In retaliation, Musk squared up to Bessent and accused him of running two failed hedge funds. 'I can't hear you,' Musk said. 'Say it louder.' The fiery confrontation, believed to have taken place within earshot of Trump, was first reported by Axios in April. One unnamed witness who saw the near-physical altercation described it as 'two middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing.' The dispute reportedly stemmed from Bessent being furious that Musk had gone behind his back to push for Gary Shapley to be named acting commissioner of the IRS. Bessent wanted Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender for the job, who eventually replaced Shapley after just three days. The Atlantic framed the incident as another example of Musk burning bridges inside the Trump administration while essentially heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). For months, Musk's leadership of the federal cost-cutting mandate made him arguably the most influential person in Trump's orbit. So much so that people began asking if the billionaire, who regularly appeared at Cabinet meetings and press events alongside Trump, was the real president. But following a string of setbacks, including Musk's heavily endorsed candidate getting trounced in the Wisconsin State Supreme Court election and polling suggesting he's increasingly unpopular, it appears Musk is retreating from his government role. He's also far behind on his original goal to slash $2 trillion from federal spending through DOGE. According to his own department's website, the figure stands at around $170 billion after months chaos, gutting of agencies and mass firings. In April, Trump announced that Musk would be 'going back home to his cars' and shifting focus to companies like Tesla over his work in the White House. Musk's official designation as a 'special government employee' requires him to step down after 130 days regardless. But Rushab Sanghvi, general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, suggested that Musk's unpopularity helped speed up his exit. 'We kicked him out of town,' Sanghvi told The Atlantic. 'If he had stayed in the shadows and done his stuff, who knows how bad it would have been? But no one likes the guy.' Matt Calkins, CEO of software company Appian, which has worked with the federal government for decades, said Musk's approach to running his tech companies didn't translate well in Washington. 'He came with a playbook that comes from outside government, and there were mixed returns on that,' Calkins said. 'He comes in with his idealism and his Silicon Valley playbook, and a few interesting things happened. Does the 'move fast and break things' model work in Washington? Not really.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ousted Musk Admits to ‘Differences of Opinion' With Trump
Elon Musk may have been one of President Donald Trump's closest aides, but they didn't always see eye to eye. The recently departed DOGE chief revealed in an interview with CBS News' Sunday Morning that he wasn't always on board with the Trump administration's agenda. 'It's not like I agree with everything the administration does,' he said in a teaser for the interview airing June 1. 'I mean, I agree with much of what the administration does, but we have differences of opinion.' During his brief tenure as Trump's controversial cost cutter-in-chief, Musk reportedly tussled with State Secretary Marco Rubio over sweeping cuts made by DOGE and with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over their bets for acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. But those conflicts erupted out of the public eye, and Musk alluded to why they played out behind closed doors. 'The things that I don't entirely agree with, but it's difficult for me to bring that up in an interview, because then it creates a bone of contention,' he told CBS. 'So then I'm a little stuck in a bind where I'm like, 'Well, I don't want to speak up against the administration, but I also don't want to take responsibility for everything the administration is doing.'' The tech mogul has taken a pounding over DOGE's slash-and-burn approach to shrinking the size of federal government, with numerous polls finding that Americans largely disapprove of Musk. 'DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,' he told The Washington Post earlier this week. 'So, like, something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.' Musk's businesses also suffered losses while he was preoccupied in Washington. He earlier vowed to spend more time back at Tesla after the automaker saw profits plunge 71 percent in the first quarter of the year. A SpaceX ship also tumbled out of control half an hour after it was launched over the weekend. The world's richest man announced his formal departure from the government on Wednesday night, putting an end to his 130-day stint with the Trump administration that saw him gradually get pushed more and more out of the picture. Musk exited with only a fraction of the savings he vowed to deliver. He said at the start of the year that DOGE could save the government $2 trillion, but the massive cuts made by the task force only added up to $175 billion by their own estimation. On his way out, Musk poached top Trump aide Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, for a full-time role on his team. CNN's report that Katie followed Musk out of the government came a day after Stephen defended Trump's 'One, Big, Beautiful Bill' from the billionaire's criticism. 'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' Musk told CBS. Stephen later wrote on X that the mega bill couldn't codify the DOGE cuts because it was limited to mandatory spending: 'You cannot cut discretionary spending (only mandatory) in a reconciliation bill. So DOGE cuts would have to be done through what is known as a rescissions package or an appropriations bill.' Despite their public disagreement about Trump's signature measure, all appeared to be well between the two top Trump advisers. 'The work DOGE has done to eliminate government waste and corruption — the rot embedded deep within Washington — is among the most valuable services ever rendered to government,' Stephen said in an X post responding to Musk's departure. 'And the work has only just begun.' A senior Trump administration official also told CBS that 'Musk left on good terms and is still friends with the president.' 'This isn't a separation, but just a return to the private sector for Musk,' the official said. 'He will continue to be a friend to the president, and we can characterize that as an 'adviser.'' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed a similar sentiment to Fox host Laura Ingraham Thursday night. 'I know Elon is still very, very close to the President and I think he's going to stay exactly there,' he said on the Ingraham Angle. Meanwhile, Musk is set to appear alongside the president at a White House press conference on Friday, Trump confirmed on Truth Social Thursday. 'This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific! See you tomorrow at the White House.'
