Page 9 - Trump Tariff

What is TACO trade and how 'Trump chickening out' helps investors profit

US President Donald Trump says what critics call 'chickening out' on tariffs is really strategic negotiation, but investors are profiting from the volatility

Trump denies 'chickening out' on tariffs amid frequent rate changes

US President Donald Trump wants the world to know he's no chicken just because he's repeatedly backed off high tariff threats. The Republican president's tendency to levy extremely high import taxes and then retreat has created what's known as the TACO" trade, an acronym coined by The Financial Times' Robert Armstrong that stands for Trump Always Chickens Out". Markets generally sell off when Trump makes his tariff threats and then recover after he backs down. Trump was visibly offended when asked about the phrase Wednesday and rejected the idea that he's chickening out", terming the reporter's inquiry nasty". "You call that chickening out? It's called negotiation, Trump said, adding that he sets a ridiculous high number and I go down a little bit, you know, a little bit" until the figure is more reasonable. Trump defended his approach of jacking up tariff rates to 145 per cent on Chinese goods, only to pull back to 30 per cent for 90 days of negotiations. Similarly, last week he

Trump pressures EU for unilateral tariff cuts as trade talks stumble

As the deadline for the 90-day tariff pause grows near, the Donald Trump administration and European Union fail to find consensus in trade talks

India well-positioned to deal with negative effects of US tariffs: Moody's

India is well-positioned to deal with the negative effects of US tariffs and global trade disruptions as domestic growth drivers and low dependence on exports anchor the economy, Moody's Ratings said on Wednesday. In a note on India, the agency said government initiatives to boost private consumption, expand manufacturing capacity and increase infrastructure spending will help offset the weakening outlook for global demand. Easing inflation offers the potential for interest rate cuts to further support the economy, even as the banking sector's liquidity facilitates lending. "India is better positioned than many other emerging markets to deal with US tariffs and global trade disruptions, helped by robust internal growth drivers, a sizable domestic economy and a low dependence on goods trade," Moody's said. Besides, the Pakistan-India tensions, including the flare-up earlier in May, would weigh on Pakistan's growth more than on India's. "In a scenario of sustained escalation in ...

Trump's tariffs to test unity among allies at G7 finance ministers' summit

Leading financial officials from the world's richest countries are gathering in a Canadian mountain resort this week for what may prove a contentious meeting in the wake of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. The annual meetings of the Group of 7 finance ministers, known as the G7, are typically congenial and in previous years have produced joint commitments to combat inflation and counter the COVID pandemic. There may be less agreement this year as Trump's tariffs threaten to slow growth in many of the gathered nations, including host Canada, which Trump has also suggested become a potential 51st state. I expect it will be somewhat of a testy conversation among the G7 officials, said Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University and former top official at the International Monetary Fund. This is a very difficult period for the relationships among the G7 countries. The Trump administration has reached an initial trade deal with one G7 member, the United Kingdom, and is ..

US tariff unpredictability poses credit risk for debt issuers: Moody's

Moody's Ratings on Tuesday said the uncertainties around US tariffs have negative credit consequences for debt issuers across emerging markets, including companies, governments and banks. "The on-again, off-again US tariffs and difficulty predicting US trade policy have negative credit consequences for debt issuers across emerging markets," Moody's said. Besides, geopolitics is an additional stress for emerging markets, including the flare-up of tensions between India and Pakistan. Exporters are most directly exposed to US tariff changes, but most debt issuers face indirect effects, Moody's said, adding tariffs will reach a much bigger and varied group of debt issuers indirectly through slowing economic growth and, for many, commodity price declines, currency depreciation and investor risk aversion. "The raft of tariffs the US administration has announced, altered and paused this year has negative credit consequences for debt issuers across emerging markets, including companies, .

Taiwan's Prez downplays US tariff tensions as 'frictions between friends'

The Taiwanese president said Tuesday that trade tensions between the United States and Taiwan are just frictions between friends in a show of optimism as tariff negotiations are underway with Washington. US President Donald Trump imposed 32 per cent tariffs on all imports from Taiwan as part of sweeping duties levied against all US trading partners last month. The tariffs on Taiwanese goods were subsequently lowered to 10 per cent for 90 days to allow for trade negotiations. Officials from both sides met in Taipei, the island's capital, last month for a first round of in-person talks, to be followed by another one in the coming weeks. In a speech marking his first year as president and focusing on Taiwan's strategies to defuse the effects of US tariffs and military threats from China, Lai Ching-te struck an accommodating tone despite the tariff pressure. The US and Taiwan have long cooperated and have also encouraged each other to grow, he said. There are bound to be frictions betw

How China's slow approval of rare earths is threatening supply chains

China's delay in approving export licences threatens manufacturing, EVs, and defence tech worldwide

Midpoint of Trump's tariff hiatus to reveal increasingly unsettled world

Chinese consumer and industry data on Monday will be followed by purchasing manager indexes on Thursday from around the world

Global funds return to India as Trump-era trade bets boost equities

The NSE Nifty 50 Index surged to its highest level since October this week, fueled by optimism that India could be among the first to strike a deal with the US

Donald Trump to keep 30% China tariffs through late 2025, say analysts

US levies on Chinese products imposed this year will likely hold at 30 per cent through late 2025, according to a Bloomberg survey

UN forecasts slower global growth following Trump's tariffs, trade tensions

The United Nations on Thursday forecast slower global economic growth this year and next, pointing to the impact of the surge in U.S. tariffs and increasing trade tensions. U.N. economists also cited the volatile geopolitical landscape and threats of rising production costs, supply chain disruptions and financial turbulence. These days, there's so much uncertainty in the air, said Shantanu Mukherjee, director of the Economic Analysis and Policy Division at the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It's been a nervous time for the global economy, he told reporters while launching the midyear forecast. In January this year, we were expecting two years of stable if subpar growth, and since then, prospects have diminished, accompanied by significant volatility across various dimensions. The U.N. is now forecasting global economic growth of 2.4% this year and 2.5% next year a drop of 0.4 percentage point each year from its projections in January. Last year, the global econo

Trump says India offered a trade deal with 'zero tariffs' on US goods

Trump claimed that India was offering 'no tariffs' on US exports, but did not elaborate on the trade deal

Tariff truce prompts Chinese auto-parts makers to rethink US investment

The 90-day temporary easing of US tariffs on China has introduced a high level of uncertainty, with the Chinese auto sector weighing the short-term and long-term impact

Generic industry unlikely to be affected by Trump's EO: Indian drug cos

IPA and Ind-Ra say Trump's MFN-based drug pricing move will impact innovators more than Indian generics, with CDMO firms likely to gain from offshore cost advantages

Nissan cuts 15% of global work force as Japan automaker sinks into losses

Nissan is slashing about 15 per cent of its global work force, or about 20,000 employees, as the Japanese automaker reported a loss for the fiscal year that just ended amid slipping vehicle sales in China and other nations. Nissan Motor Corp said it will reduce the number of its auto plants to 10 from 17, under what it called its recovery plan to carry out decisive and bold actions to enhance performance and create a leaner, more resilient business that adapts quickly to market changes. The Yokohama-based automaker said US President Donald Trump's tariffs on auto imports also hurt its results. Nissan is aiming to reduce its costs by 250 billion Yen (USD 1.7 billion) during the next fiscal year compared to the fiscal 2024 results that just ended in March. Nissan racked up a loss of 670.9 billion Yen (USD 4.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March, down from a 426.6 billion Yen profit recorded the previous fiscal year. Restructuring costs also hit its bottom line. Chief Financia

Honda forecasts 24.5% profit drop as China sales dip, Trump tariffs loom

Honda's profit for the fiscal year through March slipped 24.5 per cent from the previous year, as its vehicle sales in China dropped, and the Japanese automaker warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump's tariffs will worsen its earnings. Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co, which dropped talks to integrate its business with Japanese rival Nissan Motor Corp earlier this year, said its annual profit totaled 835.8 billion Yen (USD 5.6 billion), down from 1.1 trillion Yen in the previous fiscal year. Annual sales edged up 6.2 per cent to nearly 21.69 trillion Yen (USD 147 billion). Research and development costs hurt, despite Honda's record global motorcycle sales for the fiscal year, which topped 21 million motorcycles. Hybrid vehicle sales also did well, especially in the US, and Honda's profitability per vehicle was also improving, according to the maker of the Accord sedan and CR-V sports-utility vehicle. Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara acknowledged that Trump's tariffs were like

'China, US agree to set up economic, trade consultation mechanism'

Earlier on Sunday, the US announced a trade deal with China in Geneva. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said there has been substantial progress between the nations

US-China trade talks to boost market sentiment in Asia, say strategists

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said the world's two biggest economies agreed to create a mechanism for further discussions

Toyota faces biggest hit from Trump tariffs among global automakers

The huge tariff hit reflects the company's decision to hold the line on sticker prices at US dealers and production volumes at its 11 American factories amid the start of bilateral trade negotiations