Evelyn Reynolds

The Trump administration has launched national security investigations into imports of robotics, industrial machinery and medical devices, a move that could pave the way for fresh tariffs.
The investigations also targeted imported medical equipment like wheelchairs, hospital beds and devices used in medical diagnosis and treatment like pacemakers.
The Trump administration has already used the “Section 232” law to impose levies on automobiles and parts, copper, steel and aluminum.

A Fanuc robotic arm moves bins of products during a media tour of the Amazon.com Inc. DAB2 fulfillment center in Daytona Beach, Florida, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. The DAB2 fulfillment center is Amazon’s seventh robotics fulfillment center in Florida. Photographer: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Trump administration has launched national security investigations into imports of robotics, industrial machinery and medical devices, a move that could pave the way for fresh tariffs and raise costs for consumers, hospitals and manufacturers.
The Department of Commerce said Wednesday that the probes, opened Sept. 2 under the “Section 232” of the Trade Expansion Act, will assess whether such imports threaten U.S. national security, according to Federal Register filings.

The latest probes expand the list of items that could be exposed to higher tariffs to include personal protective equipment such as surgical masks, N95 respirators, gloves and other medical consumables, including syringes, needles and prescription drugs.
They also extend to imported medical equipment such as wheelchairs, hospital beds and diagnostic and treatment devices like pacemakers, insulin pumps and heart valves.
The probes could be used as justification for fresh sectoral tariffs aimed at boosting domestic production of goods deemed critical to national security.
The department is seeking comments from companies on their projected demand for these products and whether domestic production can meet local demand and the role of foreign supply chains.
Firms are also invited to outline the impact of foreign subsidies and what the administration described as “predatory trade practices.”

The Trump administration has previously invoked Section 232 to impose levies on automobiles and parts, copper, steel and aluminum.
Investigations into imports of pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and chip components such as silicon wafers, chipmaking equipment and related downstream products are also ongoing, reflecting Washington’s concerns over reliance on overseas supply chains.
Any new duties resulting from the sector-specific probes would be stacked on top of U.S. President Doanld Trump’s country-specific tariffs, though the European Union and Japan have reached agreements that could shield them from extra levies.
The U.S. depends heavily on Mexico and China for machinery, with imports from the two countries accounting for more than 18% and 17% of total U.S. machinery purchases in 2023, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission.
The auto industry could be among the hardest hit by the latest potential tariffs, as it accounted for the largest demand for industrial robots — 13,747 installations last year, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Most of those robots were imported, with few manufacturers producing in the U.S., the group said.
The potential levies on medical devices and protective gear could increase costs for hospitals and patients, reducing access to critical equipment and care, experts have warned.

Culver City, CA – September 23: Detail of vials and syringe containing a COVID-19 vaccination by Pfizer at Kaiser Permanente Venice Medical Office Building in Culver City Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. Details of vials, syringes as well as vaccinations.
Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

“MedTech supply chain leaders are already reporting supply chain concerns, and we cannot afford to drive up the cost of health care for patients, or on the health care system,” said Scott Whitaker, CEO of AdvaMed, the trade group that represents medical technology and device makers. “The reality is, any increased costs will be largely borne by taxpayer-funded health programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the [Veterans Health Administration].”
Hospital trade groups have also been sounding the alarm this year, warning that higher tariffs could hurt the quality of care.
Rick Pollack, the CEO of the American Hospital Association, said in April that “disruptions in the availability of these critical devices — many of which are sourced internationally — have the potential to disrupt patient care.”
— CNBC’s Bertha Coombs contributed to this report. More

U.S. Latino immigrants accounted for $1.6 trillion in GDP in 2023, according to a new research report by the Latino Donor Collaborative.
Businesses that recognize the potential of the cohort and adapt their strategy to court Latino customers often see dramatic growth.
Mass deportations of undocumented workers could cause GDP to decline by $2.3 trillion, or 7.7%, in 2025 dollars.

People seen holding Puerto Rican flag during the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade on 5th Avenue in New York City.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

U.S. Latino immigrants accounted for $1.6 trillion in GDP in 2023, according to a new research report by the Latino Donor Collaborative, contributing to an overall purchasing power for U.S. Latinos of $4.1 trillion. The 2023 data is the most recent year included in the study.
U.S. Latino GDP, measuring the economic impact of the cohort, was up 50% in 2023 from 2015, boosted by increasing education, entrepreneurship and labor force participation, said economists with Arizona State University, who conducted the research. For comparison, the estimated GDP of non-Latinos in the U.S. grew by 17% over the same time frame.

The report comes as the Trump administration is charging ahead with an unprecedented effort to remove undocumented immigrants from the U.S.
California’s economy alone saw $989 billion of Latino GDP in 2023 and is projected to surpass a trillion dollars in 2025, according to the report. Texas, Florida and New York each also have Latino GDPs worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
And Latino spending is making up a larger share of the overall economy.
As baby boomers age, their share of spending declines by about 4% annually, according to the report, and U.S. Latinos are poised to fill the spending gap. Their share of U.S. consumption is growing by more than 3% annually. Actual consumer spending is up nearly 5% annually compared with 2.4% for non-Latinos, driven by population changes and rise in disposable income.
“It’s very clear — if there’s a silver bullet for the economy beyond AI, it’s the Latino consumer. They are workers, entrepreneurs and consumers, driving significant growth across sectors in the American economy, ” said Sol Trujillo, co-founder of the Latino Donor Collaborative and chairman of the Trujillo Group.

“The velocity of the rise of brands that are marketing to us Latinos as their mainstream customers should be a wake-up call to every CEO and CMO, ” said Beatriz Ace vedo, CEO and co-founder of Suma Wealth on stage Wednesday at Velocity, an economic conference in Los Angeles where the Latino GDP report was presented.
Acevedo highlighted companies that have seen their growth accelerate along with their share of American Latino customers:

Modelo in 2023 overtook Budweiser to become America’s No. 1 selling beer brand by capturing 50% of the Latino consumer market in the U.S. (Modelo just this week lost that crown to Michelob Ultra.)
T-Mobile leveraged the growth of its Latino market share to leap frog AT&T and Verizon to become No. 1 in subscriber growth.
Dr. Pepper surged passed Pepsi to capture the second spot in soda behind Coke by doubling its Latino consumer share over the past decade.
The WNBA dramatically grew its U.S. Latino viewership on television and subsequently saw the most viewer growth of all professional sports.
Kia went from No. 6 in new car sales to No. 11 after a 44.5% increase in Hispanic market sales over the last 5 years.

But mass deportations could undermine the business opportunities and derail that economic progress, experts said at Velocity.
Dennis Hoffman, ASU economics professor and the lead author of the U.S. Latino GDP report, warned deporting as many as 8.3 million undocumented workers could lead to losses of more than 19.5 million workers because of the lost revenue and economic activity provided by undocumented workers.
“We need to fix our immigration system. I’m not suggesting open borders. I’m not suggesting we allow people to work persistently without papers. But our system is fixable,” Hoffman said. “We can sponsor productive, hardworking, undocumented workers and not suffer the pain that we would have to incur if if we actually did something like this [mass deportations].”
Hoffman said his simulation predicts total GDP could decline by $2.3 trillion or $7.7%. More

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the issuance of the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement on interest rate policy, in Washington, D.C., U.S., Sept. 17, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday noted that asset prices, a category that typically includes stocks and other risk instruments, are at elevated levels.
During a speech in Providence, Rhode Island, the central bank leader was asked how much emphasis he and his colleagues place on market prices and whether they have a higher tolerance for higher values.

“We do look at overall financial conditions, and we ask ourselves whether our policies are affecting financial conditions in a way that is what we’re trying to achieve,” Powell said. “But you’re right, by many measures, for example, equity prices are fairly highly valued.”
In the run-up to last week’s policy meetings, stocks and other assets rallied strongly as conviction grew that that the Federal Open Market Committee would be lowering its benchmark overnight borrowing rate. Stocks have continued to climb, setting a succession of record highs for major averages, since the decision Wednesday to cut by a quarter percentage point.
“Markets listen to us and follow and they make an estimation of where they think rates are going. And so they’ll price things in,” Powell said in part of the conversation dealing with mortgage rates.
Though Powell noted the lofty equity values, he said this is “not a time of elevated financial stability risks.”
Stocks took a turn lower after Powell’s comments, with major averages all trading in the red. More

The OECD now expects global growth of 3.2% this year, compared to the 2.9% expansion it had forecast in June.
“Global growth was more resilient than anticipated in the first half of 2025, especially in many emerging-market economies,” the OECD said.
The full effect of tariffs is yet to be felt, however, the organisation said, warning of “significant risks to the economic outlook.”

Container backlog occurs at Longtan Port Container Terminal in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, on September 21, 2025. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Costfoto| Nurphoto | Getty Images

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development upgraded its global economic growth forecast on Tuesday, with many economies appearing more resilient than expected so far this year.
The OECD now expects global growth of 3.2% this year, compared to the 2.9% expansion it had forecast in June. Expectations for 2026 were unchanged at 2.9%. This would mark a slowdown from the 3.3% growth seen in 2024.

Growth expectations for the U.S. were also lifted, to 1.8% for 2025, compared to June’s 1.6% estimate. This still marks a significant fall from 2024’s 2.8% growth, however. The organization forecasts 1.5% growth for the U.S. in 2026.
“Global growth was more resilient than anticipated in the first half of 2025, especially in many emerging-market economies,” the organisation said in a new report.
“Industrial production and trade were supported by front-loading ahead of higher tariffs. Strong AI-related investment boosted outcomes in the United States and fiscal support in China outweighed the drag from trade headwinds and property market weakness,” it noted.
Alvaro Pereira, chief economist of the OECD, on Tuesday told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed that individual economic events in emerging markets including Brazil, Indonesia and India also boosted the world economy.
“But to be honest with you, for most of our forecasts we have not changed significantly the forecast for virtually all the G20 countries and we still expect a slowing in the second part of the year after this front loading took place in the first quarter,” he said.

Tariff impact still to come

The OECD warned, however, that “significant risks to the economic outlook remain,” as investment and trade continue to be hit by high levels of policy uncertainty and elevated tariffs.
Sweeping duties on goods entering the U.S. came into effect in August after months of policy changes, temporary pauses, and threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Countries and regions around the world now face tariff rates as high as 50% on their exports to the U.S., with some still trying to negotiate trade frameworks.
“US bilateral tariff rates have increased on almost all countries since May. The overall effective US tariff rate rose to an estimated 19.5% at the end of August, the highest rate since 1933,” the OECD said.
“The full effects of tariff increases have yet to be felt – with many changes being phased in over time and companies initially absorbing some tariff increases through margins – but are becoming increasingly visible in spending choices, labour markets and consumer prices,” it added.
Labour markets are showing signs of softening as some countries see higher unemployment and fewer job openings, according to the report, while the disinflation process appears to have flattened.
The OECD’s Pereira said that “the tariff shock is bringing more inflationary pressures in many countries.”
“We expect it will be additional price impacts for firms not only in the United States but other parts of the world too,” he said.
The OECD now expects headline inflation to amount to 3.4% across G20 countries in 2025, slightly lower than June’s 3.6% projection. Inflation expectations for the U.S. were revised down more sharply, with the OECD now forecasting price rises of 2.7% in 2025, down from the previous 3.2% forecast.
Looking ahead, further tariff increases and a return of inflationary pressures were flagged in the organization’s report as two key risks, alongside growing concerns about the fiscal situation and the possibility of repricing in financial markets.
“High and volatile crypto-asset valuations also raise financial stability risks given growing interconnectedness with the traditional financial system. On the upside, reductions in trade restrictions or faster development and adoption of artificial intelligence technologies could strengthen growth prospects,” the OECD noted. More

Ten- and 30-year Treasury yields rose this week despite the Federal Reserve cutting its short-term interest rate.
The 10-year yield is little changed since early 2024, despite the Fed cutting rates multiple times since then.

Torsten Asmus | Istock | Getty Images

Longer-term Treasury yields jumped this week, flying in the face of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, as bond investors didn’t get the assurances they sought.
The 10-year Treasury yield jumped as high as 4.145% after briefly falling below 4% this week. The 30-year Treasury yield — closely followed for its connection to home mortgages — traded around 4.76%, up from a low of 4.604% earlier in the week.

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10-year Treasury yield, 1 month

The Fed lowered its benchmark lending rate a quarter percentage point to 4.00%-4.25% at the end of its meeting on Wednesday, prompting investors to send stocks to record highs as they cheered the first rate cut of the year. But bond traders saw the move as an opportunity to “sell the news” after recent bond gains, according to Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at One Point BFG Wealth Partners.
Traders of longer-dated bonds “don’t want the Fed to be cutting interest rates,” Boockvar said.
Their selling of long-term bonds drove down the price and drove up the yield. Prices and yields for bonds move in an inverse direction.
Easing monetary policy at a time when inflation is running above the Fed’s 2% target and the economy looks steady can indicate the central bank is “taking the eye off” inflation, Boockvar said, a key risk to longer duration securities. Updated economic projections from the Fed released Wednesday showed policymakers seeing slightly faster inflation next year.

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30-year Treasury yield, 1 month

Investors have been looking for the Fed to shift its emphasis from fighting inflation to boosting the labor market following weak employment data earlier this month. Fed Chair Jerome Powell called Wednesday’s rate cut a “risk management” move, pointing to the softening labor market.

“The bond market, if [longer yields] continue higher, would be sending a message that, ‘We don’t think you should be aggressively cutting interest rates with inflation stuck at 3%,'” Boockvar said.
Additionally, Boockvar said higher yields this week came after longer-dated bond prices had steadily risen in recent months, sending yields lower. It was a similar move as was seen following the Fed’s rate cut in September of last year, he noted.

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10-year Treasury yield, 6 months

But Boockvar said it’s noteworthy that the 10-year note yield is little changed compared with early 2024, despite the Fed cutting rates multiple times since then.
A rise in longer-term yields can have implications for mortgage loans on big-ticket purchases like homes and autos as well as credit card costs. Mortgage rates rose following the Fed rate cut this week after reaching a three-year low ahead of the central bank action.
Homebuilder Lennar on Thursday missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations for the third quarter and gave weak guidance for deliveries in the current quarter. Co-CEO Stuart Miller said in a statement that Miami-based Lennar faced “continued pressures” in today’s housing market and “elevated” interest rates for much of the third quarter.
Looking for ‘terrible news’
While the stock market can move significantly on one rate cut, bond investors are trying to make decisions based on what it sees as the bigger picture, according to Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS.
“It’s not the journey, it’s the destination,” he said. That can be determined in part by looking at the central bank’s projections for future rate cuts and the perceived neutral rate on the Fed funds rate.
“They’re trying to assess: What’s the end game in this?,” Rupkey said. “The bond market really will react once it is assured that the central bank is going to lower the rates dramatically.”
One Point’s Boockvar said longer-term U.S. yields can also be influenced by their international counterparts, which also tend to be moving higher, making it key to follow overseas economic developments and moves by foreign central banks.
Still, investors should be careful what they wish for when it comes to long-dated yields, Rupkey warned.
Yield declines often signal a recession on the horizon, the economist said. In fact, Rupkey attributed this week’s yield jumps in part to falling unemployment filings, which suggest less risk of an economic downturn anytime soon.
“Don’t rejoice so much about getting bond yields down, because it may mean that it’s impossible for you to find work,” Rupkey said.
“Unfortunately, the bond market only really embraces bad news,” he added. And unfortunately, “not just bad news … terrible news.”
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Diana Olick contributed to this report. More

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to the press, on the day of U.S.-China talks on trade, economic and national security issues, in Madrid, Spain, September 15, 2025.
Violeta Santos Moura | Reuters

White House confidante Steve Bannon has an unusual solution for who should take over as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell next year.
In a podcast interview with Sean Spicer, who served as White House press secretary during President Donald Trump’s first term, Bannon recommended that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent helm the central bank — while also keeping his current position.

“I am a big believer that on an interim basis, that Scott Bessent should be both the head of the Federal Reserve and the secretary of Treasury, and maybe get through the midterm elections, step down at Treasury and take over the Federal Reserve,” Bannon said for a show that will be aired at 6 p.m. Friday on YouTube, footage of which was obtained by CNBC’s Eamon Javers.
Bannon was chief White House strategist during Trump’s first term but lasted just seven months before the president fired him. However, he is still thought to be respected within the administration.
A White House response indicates there’s little if any interest in the proposal.
“Such an arrangement is not being and has never been considered by the White House,” a spokesman said.
Though there is no direct historical precedent, prior to the Banking Act of 1935 the Treasury chief served as an ex-officio Board of Governors member, before the position of Fed chair was created. Janet Yellen led the Fed then the Treasury, though those terms were several years apart.

Bessent has been leading the search for Powell’s successor when the chair’s term expires in May 2026. There reportedly are 11 candidates, of which Bessent was thought to be one until he publicly said he is content with his position at Treasury.
Trump has been persistently critical of the Fed for not lowering interest rates aggressively. More

Germany was a hub of excitement earlier this year amid high hopes of an economic rebound — domestically, and across Europe.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Martins Kazaks told CNBC that “the big hope lies on Germany” when it comes to fiscal spending boosting the euro zone economy next year.
“The actual spending is slower than many of the more excitable pundits had expected. In Germany, it takes time to spend money,” said Berenberg’s Holger Schmieding.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addresses the Bundestag during a debate over the 2025 federal budget on September 17, 2025 in Berlin, Germany.
Nadja Wohlleben | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Huge investment pledges and major fiscal changes had bolstered hopes that Germany could give the euro zone economy a much-needed boost, but economists are starting to question if — and when — that will happen.
Germany was a hub of excitement earlier this year, with many politicians, analysts and economists sharing big hopes of an economic rebound — domestically, and across Europe.

It had moved to amend its long-standing debt brake rule, which limits how much debt the government can take on and dictates the size of the federal government’s structural budget deficit. Certain defense and security expenses above a specific threshold are exempt from the debt brake under the new rules.
The country also opted to create a 500 billion euro ($592 billion) infrastructure and climate investment fund.
The shift was considered a potential game-changer at the time, and was widely billed as a way to turn Germany’s sluggish economy around.
The country recorded annual contractions in both 2023 and 2024, with 2025 also off to a muted start. While gross domestic product grew 0.3% in the first quarter, it shrank by 0.3% over the following three months, according to the latest data.
The euro zone economy more broadly is also struggling, posting growth of 0.6% in the first quarter, although this slowed to just 0.1% in the following three months.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Martins Kazaks told CNBC earlier this month that “the big hope lies on Germany” when it comes to fiscal spending boosting the euro zone economy next year.
But it’s looking increasingly unclear whether this will come to fruition.

‘In Germany, it takes time to spend money’

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, told CNBC, that a “major rise” in defense orders and infrastructure investment had started in Germany.
“[But] we are not seeing it strongly in actual output data yet,” he said.
“All in all, everything is progressing as we expected after the big debt brake reform. The actual spending is slower than many of the more excitable pundits had expected. In Germany, it takes time to spend money.”
Meanwhile, Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics, flagged a “much higher deficit” in Germany over the coming years as a result of the spending splurge — along with some potentially unforeseen outcomes.
“Something that perhaps has gone a bit unnoticed is that the government is not just raising defence and infrastructure spending, it is also using some of the additional fiscal space to finance other spending,” she said.
This includes, for example, the financing of electricity tax cuts for businesses, but also covering higher pension, healthcare and social benefit costs, Palmas pointed out.
“Things like electricity tax cuts still will have a positive effect on the economy, but the additional spending on healthcare and pensions won’t boost the economy given it reflects mainly rising costs due to demographics,” Palmas noted.
While Palmas said the changes will help Germany’s economy grow in 2026, she warned that the expansion may not be as strong as many economists are anticipating.

A minimal boost?

Major German economic institutes have recently cut their economic projections for the country and now expect growth of just over 1% next year.
The European Central Bank, meanwhile, is expecting the euro zone to grow by 1% in 2026.
Berenberg’s Schmieding calculates that the fiscal stimulus in Germany will add around 0.3 percentage points to the country’s own growth rate, which he says would boost the euro zone economy by 0.1 percentage points.
Palmas, meanwhile, sees Germany’s growth adding around 0.2% to the euro zone’s in 2026.
Beyond Germany, several other factors are set to impact euro zone growth next year. Those include the recent interest rate cuts from the ECB, according to Palmas, as well as strong growth from Spain, which has been boosted by immigration and employment growth.

“On the other hand, U.S. tariffs are likely to be a small drag on the economy (we think they will subtract around 0.2% from GDP),” she said. “And in France, fiscal tightening will also weigh on growth.”
But Germany’s rebound should have knock-on effects that go beyond just GDP, Schmieding pointed out.
“The transition of Germany from its mini-recession until mid-2024 to significant growth from late 2025 onwards will have modest positive confidence effect on its neighbours. After all, Germany is usually their most important trading partner,” he said. More