Latest news with #UStreasury
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump adds Ireland to trade ‘blacklist'
Donald Trump has added Ireland to the White House's official blacklist of countries for the nation's trade surplus with the US. Ireland joins fellow new entrant Switzerland in the US treasury's bad books, on a list that includes regular US targets including China, Japan, Germany, Vietnam and South Korea. Appearing on the watchlist puts Ireland, whose dominant industries are pharmaceuticals and technology, at the front of the queue of countries likely to attract Mr Trump's ire. If escalated, it can open the door to tariffs and other sanctions. The US president has previously singled out Ireland as a country whose trade surplus hurts the US economy. 'We do have a massive deficit with Ireland, because Ireland was very smart. They took our pharmaceutical companies away,' he told Micheál Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, in the Oval Office in March. He even considered putting a 200pc tariff on US pharmaceutical imports from Ireland. 'We don't want to do anything to hurt Ireland. We do want fairness,' he said. Ireland's goods exports to the US surged by 49pc in the first quarter of 2025 from the same period a year earlier, the country's statistics office reported this week, as exporters scrambled to get shipments off before any of Mr Trump's tariffs kicked in. The export surge fuelled a 9.7pc bounce in Ireland's GDP in the first quarter. Irish exports are under dire threat from Mr Trump's potential tariff of 50pc on goods imports from the EU. Dublin and other European capitals are now sweating on Brussels' negotiations with Washington to avoid this levy hitting the bloc in early July. On Friday, the German central bank warned that if the two sides did not strike a deal, Europe's biggest economy would remain mired in recession until 2027. German data issued on Friday showed a 1.4pc drop in factory output in April and a 10.3pc slump in German exports to the US from a month earlier, as pre-tariff, front-end loading of trans-Atlantic shipments came to a halt. The two sides' trade negotiators met in Paris this week. Maros Sefcovic, the EU trade commissioner, said afterwards that talks were 'advancing in the right direction at pace', while Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, declared himself 'pleased that negotiations are advancing quickly'. They have slightly more than four weeks until the expiry of a 90-day pause on Mr Trump's tariffs on July 9. The president has frequently expressed hostility towards the EU over its trade policies, but was peaceable towards a visiting Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, at a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday. 'We'll end up hopefully with a trade deal,' he told reporters. 'I'm OK with the tariffs, or we make a deal with the trade.' The US treasury's report on Friday – a twice-yearly 'Monitoring List of major trading partners whose currency practices and macroeconomic policies merit close attention' – had some advice for both Germany and Ireland. Dublin was urged to focus on boosting activity in its domestic economy', to help Ireland 'address its over-reliance' on export-focused multinational companies. Berlin was told that Germany's unbalanced trade with the US was caused by German businesses and consumers failing to open their wallets and spend their savings. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump adds Ireland to trade ‘blacklist'
Donald Trump has added Ireland to the White House's official blacklist of countries for the nation's trade surplus with the US. Ireland joins fellow new entrant Switzerland in the US treasury's bad books, on a list that includes regular US targets including China, Japan, Germany, Vietnam and South Korea. Appearing on the watchlist puts Ireland, whose dominant industries are pharmaceuticals and technology, at the front of the queue of countries likely to attract Mr Trump's ire. If escalated, it can open the door to tariffs and other sanctions. The US president has previously singled out Ireland as a country whose trade surplus hurts the US economy. 'We do have a massive deficit with Ireland, because Ireland was very smart. They took our pharmaceutical companies away,' he told Micheál Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, in the Oval Office in March. He even considered putting a 200pc tariff on US pharmaceutical imports from Ireland. 'We don't want to do anything to hurt Ireland. We do want fairness,' he said. Ireland's goods exports to the US surged by 49pc in the first quarter of 2025 from the same period a year earlier, the country's statistics office reported this week, as exporters scrambled to get shipments off before any of Mr Trump's tariffs kicked in. The export surge fuelled a 9.7pc bounce in Ireland's GDP in the first quarter. Irish exports are under dire threat from Mr Trump's potential tariff of 50pc on goods imports from the EU. Dublin and other European capitals are now sweating on Brussels' negotiations with Washington to avoid this levy hitting the bloc in early July. On Friday, the German central bank warned that if the two sides did not strike a deal, Europe's biggest economy would remain mired in recession until 2027. German data issued on Friday showed a 1.4pc drop in factory output in April and a 10.3pc slump in German exports to the US from a month earlier, as pre-tariff, front-end loading of trans-Atlantic shipments came to a halt. The two sides' trade negotiators met in Paris this week. Maros Sefcovic, the EU trade commissioner, said afterwards that talks were 'advancing in the right direction at pace', while Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, declared himself 'pleased that negotiations are advancing quickly'. They have slightly more than four weeks until the expiry of a 90-day pause on Mr Trump's tariffs on July 9. The president has frequently expressed hostility towards the EU over its trade policies, but was peaceable towards a visiting Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, at a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday. 'We'll end up hopefully with a trade deal,' he told reporters. 'I'm OK with the tariffs, or we make a deal with the trade.' The US treasury's report on Friday – a twice-yearly 'Monitoring List of major trading partners whose currency practices and macroeconomic policies merit close attention' – had some advice for both Germany and Ireland. Dublin was urged to focus on boosting activity in its domestic economy', to help Ireland 'address its over-reliance' on export-focused multinational companies. Berlin was told that Germany's unbalanced trade with the US was caused by German businesses and consumers failing to open their wallets and spend their savings.
Globe and Mail
25-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Bond Market Turmoil and U.S. Debt Fears Send Gold's Price (GLD) Higher
Gold's price has hit a two-week high amid ongoing turmoil in the bond market and growing concerns over the U.S. government's debt. Confident Investing Starts Here: Spot gold prices have risen nearly 1% to $3,340.53 an ounce, the highest level since May 9 of this year. The rise in the price of bullion has coincided with a continued drop in the value of the U.S. dollar, which is near a two-week low. Investors and central banks are buying gold after there was weak demand for 20-year U.S. Treasury bonds in a recent auction, raising concerns about poor interest in American assets. There are also rising fears of stagflation in the U.S. economy, which is when inflation rises even as the economy stagnates. Yields Spike All the worries have led U.S. Treasury yields to spike, with the 10-year bond jumping to 4.60% and the 30-year Treasury bond yield topping 5.14%. Rising yields occur when investors sell U.S. Treasuries. There are fears that foreign investors are offloading American bonds as they lose faith in the economic outlook. The U.S. Treasury Department saw soft demand for a $16 billion sale of 20-year bonds on May 21, which has made bond traders nervous. The weak demand comes days after Moody's (MCO) lowered its U.S. credit rating, dropping it from the highest AAA level and citing escalating debt concerns. Gold is widely viewed as a store of value and treated as a safe haven investment in times of economic and geopolitical turmoil. The price of gold has risen 25% this year, outpacing stocks and most other tradeable assets. GLD Price Movement The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) exchange-traded fund (ETF) holds physical gold and tracks the spot price movements of the precious metal. As one can see in the chart below, GLD has risen 25.38% so far in 2025.
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
US condemns Russia's ‘brutal war' in surprise announcement
The US has condemned 'Russia's continued brutal war against Ukraine' in a surprise statement after a G7 summit. Finance ministers from the group of large, industrialised economies also promised to ramp up sanctions on Moscow if Vladimir Putin continued to drag his feet over a ceasefire. Their joint communique marked a significant change in policy from the Trump administration, which had refused to place sole blame on Russia for the war. It also comes after Donald Trump, the US president, and his closest aides suggested that they could be ready to walk away as peace mediators, having failed to secure a ceasefire in his first 100 days in the Oval Office. 'We condemn Russia's continued brutal war against Ukraine and commend the immense resilience from the Ukrainian people and economy,' G7 finance ministers said after a three-day summit in Banff, Canada, which had been attended by Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary. 'The G7 remains committed to unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence toward a just and durable peace,' they added.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stocks tally worst session in a month as weak bond-market auction has investors wondering how U.S. will manage its debt
Investors have been warily eyeing rising Treasury yields since the start of May, with some fretting that the latest jump in borrowing costs could soon start hurting stocks. Those fears were realized on Wednesday, as a disappointing auction of 20-year Treasury bonds sent yields climbing to fresh highs. Borrowing costs tied to long-dated debt touched levels not seen since late 2023. My ex-wife said she should have been compensated for working part time during our marriage. Do I owe her? Morgan Stanley turns bullish on U.S. stocks. Here's why it says the market lows have already been made. Surge in Treasury yields points to U.S. debt concerns as Trump's tax bill advances. Investors want this fix. My husband and I spend more money on our daughter and her family than on my single son. Do we compensate him? This investor banks on Munger's advice to ride out volatility in markets and Tesla That sent stocks reeling, with major indexes tallying their worst session since April 21, Dow Jones Market Data showed. 'Looks like we are sinking,' Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, said after the weak 20-year bond auction. The 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y was knocking on the door of the 4.6% level, and concerns about tariffs and 'the battle of the budget' remain, he said. Republicans are working to pass President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget bill. The latest version of the legislation included tax and spending cuts but would do little to pare the U.S. budget deficit. Also see: Trump, GOP tweak SALT cap. Here's what to know about the controversial tax break. 'When you have yields jumping up like this, it's a tough crosscurrent for stocks,' Cardillo said. Stocks had shaken off some of their early losses heading into the afternoon, as gains for Big Tech names like Alphabet Inc. GOOGL helped push the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite into the green. But around 1 p.m., the market suffered a one-two punch. Reports that OpenAI would buy an artificial-intelligence company founded by former Apple Inc. AAPL design chief Jony Ive appeared to weigh on shares of Ive's former employer. Around the same time, the weak 20-year BX:TMUBMUSD20Y auction helped revive concerns about waning foreign demand for U.S. debt. Suddenly, investors were starting to question how the U.S. would manage its debt burden over the long term. This, combined with the uncertainty surrounding the outlook for the U.S. economy, was enough to weigh on stocks, said Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Chicago-based Zacks Investment Management. See: Why the next 20-year Treasury auction is 'must-see TV' for investors after the Moody's downgrade 'It's a question of how much growth are we going to get, and what is the revenue stream for the U.S. government looking like to support the debt that they're issuing,' he said. Mulberry also pointed out that pain in debt markets was a global phenomenon on Wednesday, as yields on bonds trading in Japan and Europe also spiked. Earlier, investors digested weak earnings from Target Corp. TGT, along with a report from fellow retailer TJX Cos. TJX, the parent of TJ Maxx, which Mulberry described as not as bad as Target's, but still not great. Shares of both companies were selling off. Meanwhile, shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH fell further, heaping more pressure on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY was also weakening, signaling that the 'Sell America' trade might be back on, at least for now. Meanwhile, gold GC00 and bitcoin BTCUSD climbed, with the latter hitting a fresh record high north of $109,000 per coin. The S&P 500 SPX finished 95.85 points, or 1.6%, lower at 5,844.61, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP was off by 270.07 points, or 1.4%, at 18,872.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell 816.80 points, or 1.9%, to 41,860.44. A 5-star fund manager is capitalizing on Trump's global market shake-up. Here's how. 'What we found horrified us': My elderly relative mistook charity envelopes for overdue bills — and gave thousands to other family members Stocks tally worst session in a month as weak bond-market auction has investors wondering how U.S. will manage its debt My father's widow keeps sending me $200 checks in the mail. Why would she do this? The dollar is struggling to rebound since 'liberation day.' Why it may keep falling. 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
