Economy

“Should the incoming data continue to show that inflation is moving sustainably toward our 2% goal, it will become appropriate to gradually lower the federal funds rate to prevent monetary policy from becoming overly restrictive on economic activity and employment,” Bowman said in remarks prepared for delivery to a closed meeting of the Kansas Bankers Association. “But we need to be patient and avoid undermining continued progress on lowering inflation by overreacting to any single data point.”The Fed at the end of July kept the policy rate in the same 5.25%-5.50% range it has been for more than a year, but signaled that a rate cut could come as soon as September if inflation continued to cool. Inflation by the Fed’s targeted measure — the year-over-year change in the personal consumption expenditures price index – eased to 2.5% in June.Bowman’s remarks did not foreclose a rate cut next month. Indeed, she noted the Fed by its September meeting will have additional economic data as well as a better idea of how recent financial market volatility may affect the economic outlook. Bowman also did not repeat her assertion in prior speeches that she remains willing to raise rates at a future Fed meeting if needed.But she remains a voice of caution on the Fed policy-setting committee as it moves closer to cutting interest rates. While Bowman reiterated that her baseline outlook is for inflation to continue to decline with monetary policy held steady, she expressed skepticism that price pressures will ease as quickly this year as they did last year. And although she said risks to the Fed’s two goals of price stability and full employment are moving into better balance, she signaled she is still more worried about inflation. The July jump in the unemployment rate, to a nearly three-year high of 4.3%, “may be exaggerating the degree of cooling in labor markets,” she said, pointing to a low level of layoffs and the likelihood that Hurricane Beryl had temporarily slowed job gains.Meanwhile, she said, risks including geopolitical tensions threaten to push up prices further. “With some upside risks to inflation, I still see the need to pay close attention to the price-stability side of our mandate while watching for risks of a material weakening in the labor market,” she said. More

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra and China’s Shaanxi Automobile Group have agreed to set up a $3 billion joint venture to build a car manufacturing plant in India and are awaiting New Delhi’s approval, sources told Reuters.A majority stake in the proposed manufacturing venture will be owned by Mahindra, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, and is proposed to be set up in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. In a stock exchange statement after the report was published, Mahindra said: “The article is unfounded and there is no truth in the matter.” Shares of Mahindra rose as much as 3.1% before settling 2.5% higher at 2,749.15 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.The proposal includes building an export-oriented, integrated manufacture hub for assembled cars as well as engines and car batteries, the sources said.Mahindra has sought a government nod for the Chinese investment, the sources said.Faxes and calls to Shaanxi’s phone numbers listed on the company’s website were not answered. India’s commerce, heavy industries and foreign affairs ministries did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The sources did not want to be named as they are not allowed to speak to media.Indian government approval has been necessary for any Chinese investment into the country since 2020, when New Delhi tightened its restrictions on Chinese investment after deadly border clashes between the two neighbours.Billions of dollars worth of investments have over the years either been delayed or canceled due to India’s additional vetting processes for the likes of BYD Co (SZ:002594) Ltd, Great Wall Motor and SAIC’s MG Motor.A proposal worth $1 billion by BYD last year has been held by the government on security concerns. However the investment proposal comes at a time when India is looking to ease restrictions on Chinese investment in non-sensitive sectors like solar panels and battery manufacturing, where New Delhi lacks expertise.India’s top government officials have lately been hinting at reviewing their stance against Chinese investment as foreign investments fell to 17-year lows. India Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month said she supported the views of her Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, who recently said New Delhi could promote foreign direct investment from China to boost India’s exports. More

Nationalist hatred has been linked to forces like stagnant wages and declining services, even though research shows immigration helps many economies.Like many cities around Britain shaken by anti-immigrant riots over the past week, Hartlepool, a seaside town on the northeast coast, has partly recovered from the devastating waves of industrial decline that began washing over the country in the 1980s.Still, the scars linger. Disposable income is below the national average, and more people are out of the work force, according to the Office for National Statistics. There are fewer active businesses, healthy life expectancy is lower and the crime rate is 89 percent higher.In Britain, as well as throughout Europe and in the United States, economic problems — like stagnant wages, roaring inequality and declining public services — have been linked to the rise of anti-immigrant attitudes.Even though research shows that immigration is an overall plus for most economies, far-right politicians have been able to exploit those frustrations to energize supporters and gain political power.In Britain, Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist, anti-immigration party Reform, has regularly made false claims that refugees and migrants drained public budgets. He has complained, for instance, about Britain having to “build a house every two minutes” to accommodate legal migrants and warned of “those arriving on the back of lorries” trying to get benefits.Mr. Farage, who was elected to Parliament in July, added to the web of disinformation that helped kindle the riots by inaccurately suggesting the man who fatally stabbed three young children at a dance class in Southport was an undocumented immigrant. He later came out against the violence.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

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Retailers are fueling a summer rush of imports to the United States this year as companies guard against a potential strike by port workers and ongoing shipping disruptions from attacks in the Red Sea ahead of a shortened holiday shopping season.Container imports and freight rates surged in July, signaling an earlier than usual peak season for an ocean shipping industry that handles about 80% of global trade. July is expected to be the peak for U.S. retailers, which account for about half of that trade, and August is expected to be almost as robust, analysts said. Companies that import toys, home goods and consumer electronics have brought forward holiday promotions to capture customers who are shopping earlier each season. “Retailers don’t want to be caught back-footed,” said Jonathan Gold, the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) vice president for supply chain and customs policy. Many shippers expedited holiday goods orders, with some putting Christmas items on the water as early as May, said Peter Sand, chief analyst at pricing platform Xeneta. The influx is not a result of consumer spending, which has been tethered by stubborn inflation and high interest rates, experts said. Rather, it is a precaution against a potential U.S. port strike and the late Nov. 28 date for Thanksgiving this year, squeezing the peak shopping and delivery season running to Christmas Eve.In July U.S. container imports registered the third-highest monthly volume on record with 2.6 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 16.8% from a year earlier, in part owing to record imports from China, according to supply chain software provider Descartes (NASDAQ:DSGX) Systems Group.The NRF, which is chaired by the CEO of Walmart (NYSE:WMT)’s U.S. business and includes the CEOs of Target, Macy’s (NYSE:M) and Saks on its executive committee, said it also expects strong August imports. Walmart, the nation’s largest container shipping importer, reports second-quarter earnings on Aug. 15.Retailers are concerned about a possible Oct. 1 strike at seaports stretching from Maine to Texas after talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance stalled. Maersk on Friday outlined the consequences of potential strike disruption at U.S. ports.”Should a general work stoppage occur on the U.S. Gulf and East Coasts, even a one-week shutdown could take 4-6 weeks to recover from, with significant backlogs and delays compounding with each passing day,” Maersk said in a U.S. market update. Non-contract spot rates for a container going from the Far East to the U.S. West Coast jumped 144% between the end of April and start of July but have since fallen 17%, with similar trends seen in container routes to the U.S. East Coast and into northern Europe and the Mediterranean, according to Xeneta.”We should now see the spot market fall further, but the decline is unlikely to be as rapid as the rise, so it is still going to be a painful end to the year for shippers,” Sand said. TARIFF THREAT The industrial sector has been a significant driver of U.S. container import growth in the first half of 2024, partly due to looming tariffs on exports from China and other countries. President Joe Biden’s administration levied new tariffs on numerous goods, which will take effect later this year.”The big tariff pull-through is EV batteries and solar cells,” said Jason Miller, professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University’s business school.Biden has maintained tariffs put in place by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who as the 2024 Republican nominee has threatened more and larger tariffs if he regains the White House. Despite that threat, the response from companies has so far been muted, Miller said. Global shipper Maersk said there could be some pulling forward of demand ahead of the U.S. election in November owing to uncertainty over tariffs.”Where there seems to be agreement so far is that the United States and China have entered into a much more competitive relationship, and it will not matter whether one party or the other wins the election,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said this week. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Friday extended an order blocking President Joe Biden’s administration from further implementing a student debt relief plan designed to lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers and speed up loan forgiveness for some.The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely granted an injunction pending an appeal requested by seven Republican-led states of a lower-court order that they said did not go far enough in blocking the U.S. Department of Education’s debt relief plan.The court previously at the urging of those states had on July 18 issued an order that temporarily blocked the administration from implementing parts of Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan that a Missouri judge had not already enjoined.The court’s Friday order was prospective, as the three-judge panel said the Republican-led states “cannot turn back the clock on any loans that have already been forgiven.” The three judges — Raymond Gruender, Ralph Erickson and L. Steven Grasz — were all appointed by Republican presidents.Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, hailed the ruling in a social media post. Missouri was the lead plaintiff in the case.”The Eighth Circuit has upheld the court order we obtained to BLOCK the illegal Biden/Harris half-a-TRILLION dollar student loan cancellation scheme,” Bailey said. “A massive win for every American who won’t be saddled with someone else’s Ivy League debt.”The Republican-led states argued in their lawsuit filed in April that the Biden administration’s U.S. Education Department had exceeded its legal authority by enacting the student debt relief plan. The administration’s plan provides more generous terms than past income-based repayment plans, lowering monthly payments for eligible borrowers and allowing those whose original principal balances were $12,000 or less to have their debt forgiven after 10 years.The administration had opposed the states’ request, saying they wanted an “extraordinary” injunction that would increase the monthly payments for millions of borrowers and stop any forgiveness even under regulations they had not challenged at the trial court level.U.S. District Judge John Ross in St. Louis had in June blocked the administration from continuing to provide debt forgiveness for some smaller loans in as few as 10 years, compared to the 20- or 25-year timeline earlier rules provided.Litigation over the SAVE Plan followed earlier court challenges by Republican-led states to a broader, $430 billion program championed by Biden, a Democrat, that would have fulfilled a campaign promise by cancelling up to $20,000 in debt for up to 43 million Americans. That plan was ultimately blocked by the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court in June 2023.The SAVE Plan was slated to fully take effect on July 1, though parts of it have already been implemented.The White House has said that over 20 million borrowers could benefit from the SAVE Plan. The Education Department says that 8 million are already enrolled, including 4.5 million whose monthly payments have been reduced to $0.The Education Department on Thursday said it had already granted $5.5 billion to 414,000 borrowers through the SAVE Plan.The administration estimated that the plan would cost taxpayers around $156 billion over 10 years, but Republican state attorneys general argue that its actual cost totaled around $475 billion. Another federal judge in Kansas had also blocked parts of the SAVE Plan, though a different federal appeals court, the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, put part of that decision on hold. A group of Republican-led states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate that injunction. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Washington will provide Israel $3.5 billion to spend on U.S. weapons and military equipment, the State Department said on Friday, with the release of the money coming months after the U.S. Congress appropriated it during Israel’s war in Gaza.A State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the department notified Congress on Thursday that the government intended to release the billions of dollars worth of foreign military financing to Israel. CNN reported earlier on the release of this amount which comes from a $14 billion supplemental funding bill for Israel passed by the Congress in April.Tensions in the Middle East have been mounting and many fear a widening of Israel’s war in Gaza that has already killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after recent killings of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.The Gaza health ministry says that since then Israel’s military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies. More

The IPO announcement comes at a time when the Biden administration is expected to propose barring Chinese software in autonomous vehicles in the United States in the coming weeks.Self-driving technology remains experimental with robotaxi companies facing technical and regulatory hurdles. China, however, has moved aggressively to green-light trials compared to the United States.WeRide, known for autonomous taxis, vans, buses and street sweepers, is aiming to raise as much as $119.4 million in the IPO by offering 6.45 million American depositary shares at a price range of $15.50 and $18.50 per share.Certain investors have also agreed to purchase shares worth $320.5 million in WeRide in a concurrent private placement, subject to the IPO’s completion.Such investors include Alliance Ventures BV — the venture capital fund of the Renault (EPA:RENA) Nissan (OTC:NSANY) Mitsubishi Alliance — and JSC International Investment Fund SPC, among others.German automotive supplier Robert Bosch GmbH has indicated an interest in purchasing WeRide shares worth up to $100 million sold in the IPO.WeRide, founded in 2017, develops autonomous driving technologies and is testing and conducting commercial pilots in 30 cities across seven countries.It would be the second major China-based company to seek U.S. listing this year. In May, electric-vehicle maker Zeekr debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and is trading 35.6% below its offer price.Chinese IPOs in the U.S. had dried up in the past couple of years after ride-hailing giant Didi Global was forced to delist in 2022 following backlash from Chinese regulators.WeRide reported a net loss of 881.7 million Chinese yuan ($123.04 million) for the six months ended June 30, compared with 723.1 million yuan a year earlier.Revenue was 150.3 million yuan for the period, compared with 182.9 million yuan a year earlier.WeRide would list on the Nasdaq under the symbol “WRD”.Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and China International Capital Corp are lead underwriters for the IPO.($1 = 7.1660 Chinese yuan renminbi) More

Starbucks shares were up 3.2% in extended trading.The size of the hedge fund’s stake in the company is not known, the newspaper wrote.The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, also wrote that Starboard’s exact demands could not be learned. Sources have told Reuters that Starboard has not made any demands as it has not contacted the company.A spokeswoman for Starboard did not respond to several requests for comment. A spokesman for Starbucks declined to comment. Known for its pricey lattes, Starbucks, last week reported a drop in quarterly global sales hurt by weak demand in the U.S. and a 14% drop in China same-store sales.The company is already facing one activist investor with Elliott Investment Management currently engaging in discussions with the company, sources have said. Elliott often negotiates with companies and ends up putting representatives on the board.Starboard and Elliott have previously ended up invested in the same stock at eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and most recently at Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH). More