China unveils plan to boost consumption as Trump tariffs bite
CNN
China has announced a wide-ranging “special action plan” to promote domestic spending, in an effort to counter the economic impact of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
China has announced a wide-ranging “special action plan” to promote domestic spending, in an effort to counter the economic impact of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. The initiative, announced Sunday by the official Xinhua news agency, is ambitious but short on specifics. It covered everything from boosting people’s incomes to establishing a childcare subsidy system, and expanding a “cash-for-clunkers” program to trade in old goods like cars and electronics. The plan builds on Premier Li Qiang’s promise during a major political meeting earlier this month to ensure that the “giant ship of China’s economy” will “sail steadily toward the future.” He had set an ambitious growth target of “around 5%” for this year. That would be possible only by boosting spending to ensure China doesn’t need to rely on exports to power its vast but slowing economy. China’s economy continues to be weighed down by weak consumer spending, an uncertain employment outlook and a prolonged property sector downturn. Internationally, it’s also being squeezed as the United States turns the heat up on a trade war against China. Trump doubled tariffs on all Chinese imports to 20% as of this month. In response, China has announced a fresh round of retaliatory tariffs, covering US agriculture imports, which took effect last week.
When tech founders build products, they can’t always know what those tools will eventually become or how people will use them. That sentiment is echoed repeatedly by early Twitter employees in a new CNN documentary series about the social media company called “Twitter: Breaking the Bird.”
Imported wine and spirits encompass 35% of revenue of all US sales in the alcohol market, meaning that all aspects of cocktails and wines ordered at restaurants or purchased at retailers will “rise significantly” if the tariffs go into effect.
President Donald Trump launched some of his harshest attacks yet on the media on Friday, using a speech at the Department of Justice to baselessly accuse outlets including CNN of illegal and corrupt behavior.
US stocks rallied Friday as investors tried to stage a rebound to finish a rocky week, though all three major indexes were still on track to close the week in the red.
Gold prices reached $3,000 an ounce for the first time in history Friday, boosted by demand for safe-haven assets as investors fret about President Donald Trump’s tariffs and geopolitics.
The Trump bump in consumer sentiment is now a Trump slump.
On-again, off-again tariffs, mass government layoffs, funding cuts and immigration crackdowns have seriously spooked Wall Street, which is emphatically rejecting President Donald Trump’s chaotic economic agenda.
For craft brewers, an industry largely consisting of small businesses and where the product is made in steel plus packaged in aluminum, the newly applied tariffs are having a direct strike on their bottom lines.
President Donald Trump has said that automakers can avoid his tariffs by simply moving production to American plants. But it’s not that easy. Not by a long shot.
China has sharply criticized a proposal to sell ports in the Panama Canal to American asset management giant BlackRock, attacking the deal as “spineless groveling” and a “betrayal” of the Chinese people.
Bill Pulte, who was confirmed by the US Senate on Thursday to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency for the Trump administration, said he’s in no rush to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage behemoths that power more than half of America’s mortgages.
Tesla, the electric car company run by Elon Musk, said this week that retaliatory tariffs against US manufacturers could harm its operations and that the US should carefully consider its trade policies, a break from Musk’s ally President Donald Trump.
US stocks slid Thursday and the S&P 500 entered into correction territory, down 10% from its record high in February, as President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on the European Union.