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President Trump shocked markets yesterday when he announced that a new, heavy round of tariffs on Chinese goods will take effect this Friday. Complacent markets had assumed that a trade deal would get done, that it was just a matter of sorting out the details. Now that is far from certain. Failing a last minute deal, which is certainly possible, the trade war is back. And it could get worse.What most surprised me about the new trade war was not that it started, but that the mainstream financial media denied it was happening for so long. The media have consistently...

U.S. stocks declined Monday amid heightened anxiety over the U.S.-China trade spat, raising investors’ concerns that the conflict could dent economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 186 points, or 0.7%, to 26322, easing off of session lows after falling more than 450 points in early trading. The S&P 500 shed 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.9%. Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors dropped, led by declines in industrials, materials technology-—three areas with heavy exposure to China. Nearly all of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials also fell. Stock markets in Asia and...

President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imported washing machines has had an odd effect: It raised prices on washing machines, as expected, but also drove up the cost of clothes dryers, which rose by $92 last year. What appears to have happened, according to new research from economists at the University of Chicago and the Federal Reserve, is a case study in how a measure meant to help domestic factory workers can rebound on American consumers, creating unexpected costs and leaving shoppers with a sky-high bill for every factory job created. Research to be released on Monday by the...

Tariffs on steel and aluminum are not slowing down most American manufacturers that use the metals in production, defying forecasts that the higher duties would hit metals-using businesses hard. There have been many anecdotal reports of strains put on metals using business from the tariffs but the data do not support the idea that these are significant in aggregate. If anything, the tariffs have been accompanied by rising output and rising demand for productive capacity. Fabricated metals products output rose 0.2 percent in October, the third consecutive monthly gain, according to data released by the Federal Reserve Friday. For the...

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and European Union leaders announced Wednesday they have agreed to work toward "zero tariffs" and "zero subsidies" on non-automobile goods and would work to resolve U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that have roiled European markets. The president, in a hastily called Rose Garden statement with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said the EU had agreed to buy "a lot of soybeans" and increase its imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. Juncker, meanwhile, said the U.S. and EU had agreed to hold off on further tariffs as part of trade talks aimed...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday secured concessions from Europe, averting a trade war, Dow Jones reported, citing a European Union official. The report came shortly before Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker were scheduled to brief the press at a joint conference in the White House Rose Garden.

European stocks fell Friday, with auto and bank shares among those losing ground as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a significant expansion in tariffs on Chinese imports, underscoring concerns that a global trade war will crimp global economic growth and corporate profits. ---snip--- European stocks extended losses after Trump, in an interview with CNBC, said he’s “ready” to put tariffs on all Chinese goods imported to the U.S., which would amount to more than $500 billion. Trump had previously said he’s looking at targeting $200 billion in Chinese imports, and that would be on top of tariffs already in effect...

China announced additional tariffs on 106 U.S. products on Wednesday, in a move likely to heighten global concerns of a tit-for-tat trade war between the world's biggest economies. The effective start date for the new charges was not announced, though China's Ministry of Commerce said the tariffs are designed to target up to $50 billion of U.S. products annually. The 25 percent levy on U.S. imports includes products such as soybeans, cars and whiskey, Beijing said. The full list can be found here. The move comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump unveiled a list of Chinese imports...

US publishes list of 1,300 Chinese goods worth US$50b to be targeted by tariffs PUBLISHED APR 4, 2018, 7:36 AM SGT UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO WASHINGTON (AFP, REUTERS, WASHINGTON POST) - US officials have published a list of US$50 billion (S$65.6 billion) in Chinese imports set to be targeted by US tariffs, the latest move in President Donald Trump's simmering trade confrontation with Beijing. The move came a day after Beijing imposed duties on about US$3 billion in US exports such as pork, wine and fruit, a countermeasure to US metal tariffs that was widely seen as a warning Chinese...

Trade war fears that have roiled the markets for two weeks intensified Thursday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 700 points and adding to concerns that stocks could be headed for a larger reckoning. Thursday’s selling, which sent shares of manufacturers, aluminum producers and steelmakers sharply lower, marked the culmination of months of growing investor anxiety over the course of U.S. trade policy. It came at a time when many say the market was already under pressure, gripped by fears over rising interest rates and sliding technology shares. Trade tensions ratcheted higher, as the Trump administration said...

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 700 points today amids Wall Street fears of a potential trade war with China sparked by punishing tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.

Shapiro claims that I favor “total state control of the economy” because I think it is possible to “simply pick the best industries and subsidize them.” Apparently, tariffs are Communism, and I am Stalin. . . Shapiro has it entirely backward: tariffs are the form of taxation most consistent with small government. . . tariffs are antithetical to big government because they preclude socialism. How? Tariffs make imports expensive. This encourages domestic production and discourages offshoring—thereby boosting demand for American labor. Basically, tariffs create stable jobs and increase wages for American workers... The key to solving this puzzle is recognizing...

Nothing in her op-ed strikes so much as a glancing blow at any of the criticisms of the tariffs. In the New York Post, Betsy McCaughey says the steel and aluminum tariffs have come under “an avalanche of false criticism.” Let’s check out her arguments one by one, in order.National security IMcCaughey writes, Tariff-bashers claim in war, the United States could rely on foreign suppliers. That’s ridiculous. Uncle Sam can compel our manufacturers to make defense needs a priority — but not foreign producers. The biggest suppliers targeted by the tariffs are Brazil, South Korea, Russia and Turkey. Should our...

WASHINGTON — The dust has yet to settle on President Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, but the White House is preparing another major trade measure, this time aimed squarely at China. Mr. Trump and his top trade advisers are readying a raft of actions to penalize China’s theft of American intellectual property, including tariffs on at least $30 billion of annual Chinese imports, people familiar with the discussions said. The measures, which could be announced as early as next week, may also include investment restrictions, caps on visas for Chinese researchers and challenges to...

March 14 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 250 points on Wednesday as U.S. manufacturers continued to suffer from concerns over the impact of new tariffs on trade. (please see full article at the link)

Economists estimate President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs will reduce U.S. employment only modestly, but increasingly worry that foreign-trade disputes could escalate and damage the U.S. economy. Forecasters surveyed in recent days by The Wall Street Journal continue to expect solid economic growth this year, but see rising odds that growth will come in below expectations. Just over half said risks were tilted to the downside, jumping from 30% in February and the highest share since September. Even generally optimistic economists cited trade policy or protectionism as risks to the outlook. “With everything looking better coming into the year,...

Dear President Trump : It seems you are about to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. You probably know that just about every economist except Peter Navarro thinks this is a terrible idea. But it’s not just us economists. Aside from the steel and aluminum industries, virtually the entire business community opposes the tariffs. The stock market took a major hit. And by the way, when did you stop using the Dow to keep score? You tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” Actually, trade wars are bad, and impossible to win. Voluntary trade is a...

There are a couple of important economic lessons that the American people should learn. I'm going to title one "the seen and unseen" and the other "narrow well-defined large benefits versus widely dispersed small costs." These lessons are applicable to a wide range of government behavior, but let's look at just two examples. Last week, President Donald Trump enacted high tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. Why in the world would the U.S. steel and aluminum industries press the president to levy heavy tariffs? The answer is simple. Reducing the amounts of steel and aluminum that hit our shores...

President Donald Trump is fulfilling yet another campaign promise by imposing steel and aluminum tariffs and pushing for further trade renegotiation around the world. While those interested in the principle of "free trade," business leaders, globalist politicians, the mainstream media attempt to galvanize the pubic against President Trump - Stefan Molyneux breaks down both side of the complicated issue.

SANTIAGO, Chile — A trade pact originally conceived by the United States to counter China’s growing economic might in Asia now has a new target: President Trump’s embrace of protectionism. A group of 11 nations — including major United States allies like Japan, Canada and Australia — signed a broad trade deal on Thursday that challenges Mr. Trump’s view of trade as a zero-sum game filled with winners and losers. Covering 500 million people on either side of the Pacific Ocean, the pact represents a new vision for global trade as the United States threatens to impose steel and aluminum...