Evelyn Reynolds

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    Here Are Trump’s New Tariff Threats

    President Trump has told 14 countries that they will face tariffs of at least 25 percent on Aug. 1 if they don’t reach agreements by then.President Trump informed Japan, South Korea and 12 other nations on Monday that they will face tariffs of at least 25 percent starting Aug. 1 unless they can broker new trade deals imminently with the United States.The newly announced rates, communicated in letters to those nations’ leaders and posted on social media, marked a revival of Mr. Trump’s trade brinkmanship, with additional threats targeting other nations expected throughout the week.The new tariff rates essentially replace the sky-high duties that the president announced in April. At the time, Mr. Trump quickly paused his so-called reciprocal levies for 90 days, mostly so his administration could broker favorable trade agreements around the globe.But the White House has made minimal progress on what an official once described as a campaign to strike “90 deals in 90 days,” with the deadline set to lapse on Wednesday.To buy more time, Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Monday that extended his initial pause, while sending notes to countries informing them about the new taxes on their exports to the United States.His initial battery of letters went to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Tunisia and Thailand.Both Japan and South Korea, which each represent about 4 percent of U.S. imports, face 25 percent tariffs on Aug. 1. Thailand would see a rate of 36 percent and Bangladesh 35 percent.Mr. Trump also threatened to raise rates even higher if any of the countries sought to retaliate with import taxes of their own or tried to evade the U.S. duties by shipping through other nations.In the coming days, the White House is expected to send additional letters to other countries, some of which will be subject to the tariffs outlined by the president in April. More

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    Trump Keeps Foreign Countries on Edge as Tariff Deadline Nears

    The president is again threatening higher tariff rates on a dozen foreign nations, as a deadline elapses this week for making trade deals.President Trump is set to rekindle economic pressure on America’s trading partners this week, as a deadline for making trade deals elapses and the administration begins notifying countries of the tariffs they’ll face on exports to the United States.For 90 days, the administration has been trying to reach trade pacts with dozens of countries in an attempt to lower economic barriers to U.S. exports. In April, the president imposed stiff global tariffs on nearly every trading partner but paused most of those levies until July 9 to try and win concessions.So far, the United States has reached only two preliminary trade deals, with Britain and with Vietnam, which are scant on details and leave much to be worked out.More such limited trade deals could be announced in the coming days, including an initial trade framework with India. Countries that have so far agreed to trade deals, even preliminary handshake agreements, have qualified for lower tariff rates than what Mr. Trump threatened in April.Other countries that have not reached agreements are expected to face sharply higher tariffs, although the president and his advisers have recently implied that the tariffs may not go into effect until Aug. 1, rather than on July 9.Still, with tariffs threatening to strain diplomatic relations and bring some global commerce to a halt, a delay of a few weeks may not to do much to soothe many foreign governments. It could also further unsettle financial markets, which revolted when Mr. Trump initially announced his global tariffs, a meltdown that prompted Mr. Trump to institute the 90-day delay.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump threatens extra 10% tariff on countries that align with ‘Anti-American’ BRICS policies

    Trump’s announcement came as the BRICS bloc of developing countries is meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    The bloc’s leaders took aim at Trump’s sweeping tariff policies in a joint statement over the weekend.
    The U.S. tariffs announced in April will take effect on Aug. 1, instead of July 9, for countries that have not reached a deal with Washington.

    President of the United States Donald J. Trump delivers remarks to a crowd at an America250 rally in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, on July 3, 2025.
    Kyle Mazza | Anadolu | Getty Images

    U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened an additional 10% tariff on countries that orient themselves along the “Anti-American policies of BRICS.”
    Trump’s announcement, which did not elaborate on any specific policy of BRICS, came as the group’s meeting is underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    The bloc’s leaders appeared to take aim at Trump’s sweeping tariff policies in a joint statement on Sunday, warning against “unjustified unilateral protectionist measures, including the indiscriminate increase of reciprocal tariffs.”
    Without calling out the U.S., the leaders voiced “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules,” warning that the “proliferation of trade-restrictive actions” threaten to disrupt the global economy and worsen the existing economic disparities.
    “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Sunday evening stateside.
    Trump could have been provoked by the BRICS leaders’ joint statement taking a thinly veiled swipe at his tariff policies, said Stephen Olson, former U.S. trade negotiator and current visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
    By “anti-American” policies, the president may be referring to “the desire expressed by BRICS members to move beyond a U.S.-led world order in finance and global governance,” said Olson, adding that how that alignment will be assessed was “anyone’s guess.”

    This year’s BRICS host country Brazil did not respond to CNBC’s request for comments.
    The BRICS group of developing nations also offered symbolic backing to fellow member, Iran, condemning a series of military strikes on the country, without naming Israel or the U.S which carried out the military operation.
    The bloc includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran. The grouping describes itself as “a political and diplomatic coordination forum for countries from the Global South and for coordination in the most diverse areas.”
    The bloc seeks to challenge Western-dominated institutions of global economic governance, as well as to supplant the U.S. dollar’s role in the global economy, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
    This year, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Premier Li Qiang to the BRICS meeting in his absence, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, attended online.
    In response to Trump’s threat of 10% extra duty, a spokesperson for Chinese foreign ministry said at a regular press briefing Monday that China opposed any action of using tariffs as “a tool to coerce others.”
    “China has been consistent in opposing any tariff war, trade war,” the spokesperson said, adding that “arbitrarily slapping tariffs does not serve the interests of any party.” That’s according to CNBC’s translation of her comments in Mandarin.
    Separately, Trump confirmed that the U.S. will start delivering letters on Monday, detailing country-specific tariff rates and any agreements reached with various trading partners. That affirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments over the weekend.
    The Trump administration has said that tariffs announced in April will take effect on Aug. 1, instead of July 9, for countries that have not reached an agreement with the U.S.
    Bessent rejected the idea that Aug. 1 was yet another new tariff deadline. “We are saying this is when it’s happening, if you want to speed things up, have at it, if you want to go back to the old rate that’s your choice,” Bessent said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
    In April, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the steep tariffs he had unveiled just days prior on most trading partners. That pause is due to expire on Wednesday, sparking concern among investors and U.S. trading partners.
    — CNBC’s Erin Doherty, Lim Hui Jie contributed to this story. More

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    Bessent Says He Expects Trade Deals by This Week’s Deadline

    But the Treasury secretary also said that some countries working toward agreements with the United States could have until Aug. 1.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he was confident the Trump administration would be able to reach deals with some countries before the deadline on Tuesday for steep tariffs would take effect.But he also held out the possibility that the deadline could be extended to Aug. 1 for countries seeking to reach deals.“There’s a lot of foot dragging on the other side, and so I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days,” Mr. Bessent said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added, “We’re going to be very busy over the next 72 hours.”In addition, Mr. Bessent said that the administration would begin informing countries about the tariff rates they could face if they did not quickly reach trade agreements with the United States.“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that, if you don’t move things along, then, on Aug. 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Mr. Bessent said. “So I think we’re going to see a lot of deals very quickly.”Mr. Bessent’s comments came just three days before a 90-day pause on Mr. Trump’s steepest levies is set to expire. Mr. Trump first mentioned the possible Aug. 1 extension in comments to reporters on Air Force One on Friday night.“It’s not a new deadline,” Mr. Bessent said Sunday. “We are saying this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice.”Mr. Trump announced his so-called reciprocal tariffs, in early April, only to suspend them shortly after, when the threat of the steep duties roiled global financial markets. So far, the United States has reached preliminary trade deals with Vietnam and the United Kingdom, far from Trump’s goal of 90 deals in 90 days.Mr. Bessent said he was confident that the administration would be able to reach deals within the next few days once the letters were sent out. “We have the leverage in this situation,” he said. More

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    Here’s where the jobs are for June 2025 — government sector leads the way

    State and local government accounted for much of the U.S. job growth in June, according to federal data.
    Health care and social assistance also saw notable payroll expansion in the month.

    Legislative Hall, the Delaware State Capitol, in Dover, Delaware
    Aimintang | Istock | Getty Images

    State and local government job growth powered the U.S. labor market’s expansion in June.
    Government jobs saw the largest month-over-month sector growth at 73,000, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday. That means government jobs accounted for about half of the 147,000 total nonfarm payroll growth in June.

    “Government at the state and local levels did much of the hiring in June,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. That helped “the total payrolls number to top expectations,” he said.
    State government payrolls grew by 47,000, while local governments added 33,000 jobs. The bulk of those new jobs on both levels were in education, the data shows.
    On the other hand, the federal government payroll shrank by 7,000 jobs in the month. That’s unsurprising given the continued focus on government job-cutting initiatives under President Donald Trump.
    Bankrate’s Hamrick warned that it would be hard for state and local governments to sustain such strong growth.

    Health care and social assistance saw the next biggest monthly growth, adding more than 58,000 positions. Paired with government, the two sectors accounted for nearly 9 out of 10 new jobs on balance in June.

    Leisure and hospitality and construction were also among industries seeing payrolls expand significantly in the month, according to the BLS data.
    But labor force growth was capped by constriction in several sectors. Professional and business services, manufacturing and wholesale trade each lost around 7,000 net jobs in June. More

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    U.S. payrolls increased by 147,000 in June, more than expected

    Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 147,000 for the month, higher than the estimate for 110,000 and just above the upwardly revised 144,000 in May.
    Market pricing shifted strongly following the payrolls report, with traders all but taking the chance of a July rate cut off the table.
    Government employment posted a large gain, leading all categories with an increase of 73,000 due to solid boosts in state and local hiring.

    Job growth proved better than expected in June, as the labor market showed surprising resilience and likely taking a July interest rate cut off the table.
    Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 147,000 for the month, higher than the estimate for 110,000 and just above the upwardly revised 144,000 in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. April’s tally also saw a small upward revision, now at 158,000 following an 11,000 increase.

    The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, the lowest since February and against a forecast for a slight increase to 4.3%. A more encompassing rate that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons edged down to 7.7%.
    Though the jobless rates fell, it was due largely to a decrease in those working or looking for jobs.
    The labor force participation rate fell to 62.3%, its lowest level since late 2022 as the labor force, owing to an increase of 329,000 of those not counted in the labor force. The household survey, which is used to calculate the unemployment rate, showed a smaller gain of just 93,000. The ranks of those who had not looked for a job in the past four weeks swelled by 234,000 to 1.8 million.
    Stock market futures held positive following the report while Treasury yields rose sharply in a trading session that will end early ahead of the Independence Day holiday Friday in the U.S.
    “The solid June jobs report confirms that the labor market remains resolute and slams the door shut on a July rate cut,” said Jeff Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge Investments. “Today’s good news should be treated as such by the markets, with equities rising despite the accompanying pickup in interest rates.”

    Along with the solid payroll gains and fall in the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings increased 0.2% for the month and 3.7% from a year ago, indicated little upward pressure on wage-related inflation. The average work week moved slightly lower to 34.2 hours.
    Government employment posted a large gain, leading all categories with an increase of 73,000 due to solid boosts in state and local hiring, particularly in education-related jobs. Federal government, which is still feeling the impact of cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, lost 7,000.
    In addition, health care again was strong, adding 39,000, while social assistance contributed 19,000.

    The report comes with an intensified focus on where the Fed heads with monetary policy as signs increasingly appear of a slowing labor market while President Donald Trump’s tariffs thus far have produced a muted impact on inflation.
    Trump has demanded the Fed lower its benchmark interest rate, which it has kept steady in a range between 4.25%-4.5% since December. Along with that, the president on Wednesday up the stakes, saying in a Truth Social post that Powell “should resign immediately.”
    For his part, Powell has kept a cautious tone on policy. In an appearance Tuesday, the central bank leader said that while every meeting is on the table for a rate cut, the strength of the U.S. economy is affording time to evaluate the incoming data.
    Market pricing shifted strongly following the payrolls report, with traders all but taking the chance of a July rate cut off the table. Odds for a July move fell to 4.7%, down from 23.8% on Wednesday, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch. The market continues to see the next reduction not coming until September and also reversed expectations for three total cuts this year, with the likelihood now reduced to two.
    There had been some speculation ahead of the report that a weak number was possible, with private payrolls service ADP on Wednesday reporting a loss of 33,000. However, the BLS report showed a gain of 74,000 in that category.
    Those getting jobs titled strongly to full-time positions, which increased by 437,000. Part-time workers fell by 367,000. More

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    How Health Care Remade the U.S. Economy

    <!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–>The change has been particularly visible over the past year, during which health care has been responsible for about a third of all employment growth, while other categories, like retail and manufacturing, have stayed essentially flat.–><!–> –><!–> [–> <!–> –><!–> [–><!–>The nation’s corps of nurses, oncologists, lab technicians, anesthesiologists and other health-related […] More

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    Can Indonesia Afford Prabowo’s Free School Lunch Program?

    Indonesia’s president promised free meals for every student in the country. But unemployment is rising, and some analysts say he’s making matters worse.Nina Megayanti used to think she had it all.For years, she had a comfortable life in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, eating out with friends, taking weekend trips abroad and making house payments. But in 2023, she was laid off from her marketing job as the economy slowed. She was out of work for more than a year, lost her housing deposit and went through almost all of her savings.Millions of other Indonesians are similarly desperate. The International Monetary Fund has warned that the country’s unemployment rate will rise this year to become the second-highest in Asia, exceeded only by China’s.But the government says the economy is doing fine, pointing to its annual growth rate of about 5 percent. Since taking office in October, President Prabowo Subianto has been focused on fulfilling campaign pledges, including a nationwide free school lunch program and affordable housing. He has also set up a new sovereign wealth fund.To bankroll these projects, he has redirected the equivalent of billions of dollars in government funds, slashed budgets and demanded austerity from the ministries of public works, health and education, among others. He has also fired thousands of government contractors. But Indonesia’s economy is heavily dependent on state spending, and critics say Mr. Prabowo’s priorities are misplaced.“The government is in denial about the economy,” said Awalil Rizky, an economist at the Bright Institute, an independent think tank in Jakarta. “The employment figures are evidence that the conditions are indeed not good.”The I.M.F. has projected that Indonesia’s unemployment rate will rise to 5 percent this year, from 4.9 percent in 2024. And on Tuesday, the government lowered its estimate for economic growth in 2025 to about 5 percent, from 5.2 percent.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More