Latest news with #Trump-initiated
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Business Roundtable is MIA Against Trump's Attacks
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office at the White House on May 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit - Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images President Donald Trump recently attacked Walmart, the biggest private sector employer in the United States and the largest retailer in the world. Douglas McMillon, CEO of Walmart warned that the Trump Administration's tariffs could drive cost increases. In response, President Donald Trump took to social media. 'Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected,' seethed the President. 'Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, 'EAT THE TARIFFS,' and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I'll be watching, and so will your customers!!!' The rebuke comes the very same week that Trump chided revered Apple CEO Tim Cook for manufacturing in India and is merely the latest in a long line of attacks on some of America's most iconic businesses. So far during his second term, Trump has lashed out at companies such as Amazon, Bank of America, and Boeing. And organizations including AT&T, Harley-Davidson, and Merck have not been immune to Trump's wrath. However, business leaders are yet to collectively, and definitively, stand up to him. Many completely non-political CEOs saw their firms suffer Trump-initiated stock plunges as they made prudent decisions on how to guide their companies around reckless universal trade sanctions. As Trump's tariff tantrums threaten to plunge the American economy off a cliff—amidst significant price increases, large layoffs, plummeting business and consumer confidence, and frozen capital investments across industries—CEOs know they need to speak truth to power. But we've heard from dozens of Fortune 100 CEOs that they are having a hard time breaking through to President Trump, and conveying the very real dangers facing their businesses, their shareholders, their employees, and their communities. Furthermore, even though 90% of CEOs agree that tariffs are backfiring, they are fearful that if they speak out on their own, they will turn into the next targets of a capricious, vindictive President—as Walmart found out the hard way. Trump fears collective action, and relies on pitting rivals against one another through a divide-and-conquer approach. When business groups stand by in passive inaction when individual CEOs get pummeled, they cede the moral and strategic imperative to Trump's impulsive whims—ultimately leaving business leaders twisting in the wind. Some trade groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Chamber of Progress—along with other specialized industry groups from the automotive sector to the pharmaceutical industry—have tried to pick up the pieces. However, there are many who wonder why the Business Roundtable, a D.C.-based lobbying firm and association of more than 200 leading CEOs, seems to be missing in action. Indeed, why have they not played a greater role in catalyzing collective action beyond putting out perfunctory statements and purported behind-the-scenes lobbying? This muted response follows other high-profile disappointments from the Business Roundtable in the Trump era, including during his first term. In August 2017, following Trump's horrifying defense of neo-Nazis who attacked peaceful counterdemonstrators at a rally in Charlottesville, Va., the American business community stood together. The highly-regarded CEO of Merck, Ken Frazier led the charge. In his resignation letter he wrote, 'As C.E.O. of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.' The son of a well-read custodian, Frazier grew up in North Philadelphia and became one of few black Fortune 500 chief executives. Trump predictably attacked him, which immediately backfired. Over the next several days, CEOs who had once shunned politics came to Frazier's vocal defense, including the heads of Walmart, Intel, BlackRock, and IBM. When Frazier exited the President's Business Advisory Group, he set off a high-profile stampede of exits. Frazier's peer CEOs walked out in solidarity, triggering the disbanding of the two of President Trump's business advisory councils: the Manufacturing Council and the Strategy and Policy Forum. At the time, many CEOs were frustrated that the Business Roundtable remained relatively passive—especially amidst an era of perceived antitrust politicization, with Trump deputies holding up the Time Warner-AT&T deal on specious grounds for 18 months. Similarly, when in November 2020, President Trump refused to acknowledge his electoral defeat, 22 CEOs, frustrated with inaction by the Business Roundtable, asked me to convene an immediate Zoom call for 100 of the nation's largest CEOs. All showed up—from pharma to finance, advertising to airlines, consumer goods to consulting. During this 'Chamber of Conscience' meeting, these business leaders stood up for the importance of certified elections and also certified the truth—meeting for four sessions through the presidential transition under the banner of Business Leaders for National Unity. That silence of the Business Roundtable is a far cry from why it was created. I personally knew the highly engaged, politically diverse founding generation of Business Roundtable members—ranging from Reginald Jones of GE, Clifton Garvin of Exxon, Irving Shapiro of DuPont, George Weyerhaeuser of his eponymous timberland firm, Al Casey of American Airlines, Roger Smith of GM, Jim Burke of Johnson & Johnson, and Roy Vagelos of Merck—and they set up the Business Roundtable explicitly as a vehicle for collective action for CEOs to tackle public policy issues. As Trump attacks our nation's most iconic enterprises, the Business Roundtable needs to return to its founding principles, purpose, and moral clarity so that CEOs are not left dangling in the wind all alone and defenseless while Trump picks them off individually. CEOs grappling with how to break through to a mercurial President as they watch their enterprises and the broader economy teeter off the ledge know there is strength in collective action—lest they become Trump's next target. Contact us at letters@
Int'l Business Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Elon Musk Reposts Pope's Suggestion That Vatican Can Host Global Talks For 'Enemy' Nations
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday urged world leaders to hold talks at the Vatican He said the Holy See was willing to 'help enemies meet' Some X users agree that the Vatican would be a great location for global summits Others believe religion and politics should remain separate Elon Musk on Wednesday shared a post by Pope Leo XIV wherein the recently elected pontiff made a significant suggestion on the Vatican potentially playing a role in global dialogue amid the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and trade tensions simmering worldwide. While the tech titan did not say anything to add to the Pope's suggestion, his repost indicates he may find the recommendation feasible. Pope Leo XIV Says Holy See Open to Hosting Summit In his post, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff in history, said the Holy See, the pope's office, "is willing to help enemies meet." "With heart in hand, I say to the leaders of nations: let us meet; let us dialogue; let us negotiate!" he wrote Wednesday, seemingly referring to the geopolitical tensions over global wars and potentially even the Trump-initiated trade war. Elon Musk reposted Pope Leo XIV's call to global leaders to negotiate and engage in dialogue at the Vatican. Elon Musk on X / Screenshot The new pope is known for not shying away from talking about politics or at least weighing in on some things politicians say. Earlier this year, using his personal account on X, Pope Leo XIV took a swipe at Vice President JD Vance, who suggested that there is an order when it comes to love among Christians. "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," the pope wrote at the time. X Users React to Pope's Notion Meanwhile, X users have had various reactions to the pontiff's post, with some agreeing that the Vatican should play a role in global talks, while others believe the church should remain separate from the state. "The Vatican should be the meeting place for the world, not the UN," one user wrote. The Vatican should be the meeting place for the world, not the UN — Tony Hrvatska 🌴🕊 (@tonybalogna) May 14, 2025 Another user agreed that negotiations should be normalized and communicating "in a friendly manner" should be considered. We should accept negotiations and communicate in a friendly manner! — ❤️Superdan (@Super__dandan) May 15, 2025 One X user said there is a "lack of neutral territory needed for substantive peace negotiations," and the Holy Father's recommendation for the Vatican to be the meeting place for global leaders was a great opportunity. This is a great idea! I was just talking with my son about the lack of neutral territory needed for substantive peace negotiations. Thank you, Holy Father , for this wonderful opportunity and I pray the appropriate leaders will respond positively. — Steve Bentley (@SuaSponteSteve) May 15, 2025 Others encouraged the pope to consider reaching out to the leaders of Ukraine and Russia and also host other discussions at the Vatican. You should seriously consider reaching out to Russia and Ukraine and offer to host their talks in the Vatican. What a message!!! — Bill G (@sflgent61) May 14, 2025 A message so desperately needed today. I can't think of a better place for dialogue — P.K. Pajak (@PK_Pajak) May 14, 2025 On the other hand, there were some users who said it wasn't the pope's place to intervene in political topics. Some also pushed back on the idea of allowing religion and politics to converge. As a Catholic, it is not your place to act politically. — 👑HRH Chelsy, 💝 Only Princess of Sussex👑 (@MrMrsHenryWales) May 15, 2025 Stop this stupidity. Some things should be kept away from religion politics! — zidantimesKE (@zidantimes) May 15, 2025 It remains to be seen whether leaders will heed the pope's advice and consider utilizing the Vatican as a negotiating table. His call comes during critical geopolitical times as wars rage on and trade tensions escalate.
Winnipeg Free Press
08-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Opinion: Dealing directly with the unhinged neighbour
Opinion In the end, the encounter was described as cordial. Tense, yes, but respectful. Some even went so far as to call it productive. For Canadians, the most meaningful outcome of the first face-to-face meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump might be that it was largely uneventful — noteworthy for its general absence of blowups, tirades, insults or outright lies from a serially erratic leader who is known for producing all of those things in abundance. Tuesday's get-together at the White House was described by Trump himself as 'friendly,' and while it did not produce anything in the way of definitive declarations regarding Canada-U.S. relations and the ongoing Trump-initiated tariff dispute that continues to impact both nations' economies, it can fairly be argued it did accomplish a positive reset of the intentions and emotions informing the cross-border alliance. The Canadian Press Prime Minister Mark Carney If it's true — and it most certainly is — the Liberals won the federal election on the strength of their pitch that Carney is the leader best suited to deal with the challenges posed by Trump's scattershot antics, then Tuesday's event would have to be considered a triumph of managed expectations and mostly muted diplomatic restraint. One can't help wondering what the prime minister was anticipating as he arrived at the White House, and whether his hopes were achieved by the time he exited. In just a weekend's worth of news cycles leading up to their meeting, Carney would necessarily have watched and taken note as Trump: a) posted on social media (and then denied responsibility for) an AI-generated picture of himself as the next pope, b) mused about reopening the long-shuttered Alcatraz prison to 'house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders,' c) pledged to impose a 100 per cent tariff on movies produced outside the U.S. (a nonsensical notion, given the ethereal logistics and economics of film production) and d) continued his out-loud ruminations about annexing Canada as the 51st U.S. state. Even with Carney actually en route to their crucial first meeting, the president could not restrain himself from further trolling Canada on his Truth Social platform, posting (inaccurately) that the U.S. 'subsidizes' Canada by US$200 billion annually and that 'We don't need their Cars, we don't need their Energy, we don't need their Lumber, we don't need ANYTHING they have … (and) They, on the other hand, need EVERYTHING from us!' Armed, as he must have been, with a clear understanding of who and what awaited him in the Oval Office, Carney delivered a virtuoso performance, opening with a deftly measured statement that sounded very much like a compliment — 'Thank you for your hospitality and, above all, your leadership; you're a transformational president…' — but was really nothing more than a recitation of fact that left open to the listener just exactly what Trump is transforming, and (for better or worse) how. Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Sign up for The Warm-Up For most of the on-camera portion of their session, Carney remained silent as the president expounded at length on a variety of unrelated topics; when it came time to the PM to address the issue of annexation, however, Carney spoke matter-of-factly in terms Trump could understand: 'As you know, from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale. … Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign the last several months, it's not for sale, won't be for sale, ever.' 'Never say never,' Trump responded, to which Carney mouthed silently to numerous people in the room, 'Never.' Message delivered. And, as far as this first meeting is concerned, mission accomplished.
Business Times
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Times
Perception vs reality in markets
THE gap between perception and reality is called opportunity. It has been many years since the gap has been quite as large as it is now in US markets. How we react to this gap determines both trading and long-term investment outcomes. Many economic commentators in the US appear to believe that the US is winning the President Trump-initiated trade war with not just China, but also the world. Trump tells the media that he has concluded more than 200 deals as a result of his tariff mayhem. All markets rebounded rapidly after the initial collapse immediately following his 'Liberation Day' announcement on Apr 2. In US markets, the rebound followed Trump's pullback on tariffs. Whether that is evidence of winning remains an open question. However, the narrative favoured by Trump and his trade advisors like Peter Navarro is that America is winning the tariff war, and that despite a small pullback in GDP, the future for the economy is very good. But there is a small and growing group of analysts and fund managers who have a more bearish outlook. They claim to be realists. They point to the fall in GDP numbers and a US Purchasing Managers Index figure below the critical 50 level. They point to China's refusal to submit to tariff pressure and its selective use of countervailing tariffs to bring the US to the negotiating table. They also note that the US makes up less than 14 per cent of China's total export market, and point to the integration of US manufacturing with international supply chains, most of which rely on Chinese components and participation. The fact remains that China is the largest market for cars, and the major source of profits for all US carmakers. Closing this market destroys the profitability of US carmakers, and there is no substitute market in the US. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up To succeed, traders must trade what they see on the price chart, rather than what they might believe about the market condition. Investors have a more unenviable task, because they make investment decisions based on their long-term expectation of how the market would behave. It is easier when perception and reality coincide, and more difficult when they diverge. In all situations, the chart of index activity provides a closer approximation to the reality of the economy. There are two places to look at in this battle between economies. The first is the broad S&P 500 index. It is not perfect because it comprises only the top 500 stocks. This means the S&P is based on survivor bias, because the index components include only winners, so it gives the appearance of always rising. The second is the Shanghai Index, which comprises all stocks trading on the Shanghai Exchange. The S&P 500 Index is dominated by the rounding-top pattern. The rapid pullback in April exceeded the chart pattern projection targets for a 20 per cent fall. This is very bearish. The rebound from support near 5,200 does not mean the influence of the pattern on the market has ended. The rebound rally is not yet a trend change. The arc of the rounding top is projected to the right. Technically, the Index needs to move above this projected value, now around 6,050, before we can say a new uptrend is in place. Until the index breaks above the pattern line, the best that can be said is that the market is in a rally. This means the market may retreat and again test the 5,200 support level. The Shanghai Index has traded in a broad sideways trading band between 3,150 and 3,400 since October 2024. The three breakouts above 3,400 have been weak. The fall below 3,150 was also weak in the sense that it was followed by a rapid recovery. The 3,300 level has acted both as a support and resistance feature in this broader trading band. The rally rebound has stalled and is consolidating around this level. From the US perspective, it indicates an unexpected level of resilience. The consolidation carries with it the potential to break on the upside and move towards longer-term resistance near 3,400. A successful break above this level has the next resistance target near the previous high at 3,670. Any retreat from current levels has historical support near 3,150, or a fall of around 4 per cent. A retreat to these levels would not signal a collapse of the Chinese economy because it would be consistent with the normal ranging behaviour of the index over the past seven months. The opportunity presented by the gap between perception and reality is that traders have the choice of going long while they are prepared to exit the trade quickly as the market pulls back. Investors may use dips as a buying opportunity and hedge these positions at rally peaks. The charts suggest that the reality is that the US market has a bear lurking in the background because the China market shows unexpected resilience. The writer is a financial technical analysis specialist, equity and derivatives trader and author
Asia Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Asia Times
China should seize the climate change leadership crown
The second Trump administration has announced various anti-climate policies under its 'America First' strategy. Leaving the Paris agreement, kicking off a trade war, shutting down USAID and drilling for more oil and gas will not only undermine the US's international reputation but will undermine the global effort to combat climate change. With the US in retreat from climate action and Europe preoccupied by security challenges, new leadership is urgently needed. China may be poised to fill this gap. The country is already dominant in most clean technologies, and its top leaders say climate action can help the country fulfill its responsibilities as a major power. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, reiterated this message at a recent closed-door meeting of heads of state, organised by the UN secretary general to discuss the climate crisis. After nodding to the Trump-initiated global economic shock, Xi said China 'will overcome the headwinds and steadily move forward global climate governance.' But to take on this leadership, Beijing must first strengthen China's domestic policies along with its support for climate action in the Global South. The country has made remarkable progress on clean energy, and its carbon emissions may peak this year. But more than 60% of the electricity generated in the country still comes from coal, and it remains unclear how fast the government plans to phase out fossil fuels. Meanwhile, some provincial governments are still issuing permits to add new coal-fired power plants. Coal storage in Ningbo, China. Photo: Alex Tao Wang / shutterstock via The Conversation There are things China can do almost immediately to show its commitment to climate action and rebuild international confidence in the Paris agreement. First, it must set very ambitious pledges to reduce its emissions for the coming decades ahead of this year's UN climate conference (COP30) to be held in November in Belem, Brazil. China was one of the many countries that missed a February deadline for submitting its targets (only 15 countries were on time). Until now, Beijing's strategy has been to 'wait and see' given the turbulence caused by the new Trump administration. What China ends up pledging will have a profound impact on global ambition. An ambitious target might mean reducing its emissions from their peak level by at least 30%. This is still achievable if the country can maintain its current progress in renewables. Despite the missed deadline, there are some positive noises coming from Beijing. In a recent high-level meeting organized by the UN secretary general, Xi announced that China's next set of emission reduction targets, covering the period up to 2035, will cover all economic sectors and all greenhouse gases. This will be a major progress compared to China's previous pledges, which only covered carbon dioxide (China is the world's biggest emitter of the potent greenhouse gas methane, for instance) and did not integrate national targets into individual sectoral policies. China has also been instrumental in bridging gaps between developed and developing countries in recent international talks. This was especially the case during negotiations at COP29 last year in Baku, Azerbaijan, for a new global climate finance goal. Climate finance, in this context, refers to providing developing countries with the resources to help them reduce their emissions and adapt to climate change. China still has developing country status in the UN's climate change convention and, as such, has no official obligation to provide international climate finance. Despite this, it has already provided or helped raise around US$24.5 billion for clean energy, disaster recovery and other climate actions in developing countries. That makes it the world's fifth-largest climate finance donor, according to some estimates. But for this investment to have a lasting impact, Beijing needs to be more transparent about where its funding goes and how projects are financed. It should also get local people more involved in designing and implementing the projects it funds. China should also play a major role in reforming the global financial system to make it aligned with the Paris agreement. As a strong supporter of green finance, it can influence upcoming international talks such as the Financing for Development conference in Seville, as well as the UN's negotiations on international tax cooperation. As co-chair of the G20's sustainable finance working group, China also has the opportunity to push for more funding to support net zero. China is by far the world's biggest producer of renewables, batteries, electric vehicles and many other clean technologies, and is in a unique position to supply them affordably. While it has already exported lots of these products, many developing countries still don't have the know-how or the basic infrastructure to make the most of them (solar farms are of limited use if you don't have a battery capable of storing the electricity they generate, for instance). China can address this by partnering with other governments in the Global South to share technologies and invest in manufacturing. With global climate leadership at risk, China has the chance to step up. As an emerging superpower with advantages in clean technologies and a leadership that recently reaffirmed its commitment to climate action, the country is well-positioned. The world is watching to see if China will follow through. Yixian Sun is associate professor in international development, University of Bath This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
