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    Trump’s Tariffs Could Impact Apparel Companies That Make Clothing in the U.S.

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    On the open 15th floor of a loft building in Midtown Manhattan, about a dozen skilled workers make their way through piles of pants, stitching each piece together with focus and precision. Some of the items are designed by Outlier, a fashion brand that produces its smaller runs and experimental products with the garment district’s ecosystem of contract manufacturers.It’s the kind of work that should get a boost from the stiff tariffs newly imposed on products entering the United States from nearly every other country. But the storeroom where Outlier keeps its fabric tells a more complicated story.The rolls of cloth and boxes of recycled goose down come from Italy and Switzerland, Thailand and New Zealand, countries with specialized industries developed over generations that are unlikely to be recreated in America. Take the linen, made from flax grown in a coastal region stretching from northern France to the Netherlands.“It would take a decade to get a crop growing,” said Tyler Clemens, Outlier’s co-founder. A linen shipment was headed for the cutting room; Mr. Clemens had just gotten the bill from the Department of Homeland Security with a charge labeled “IEEPA-RECIPROCAL,” after the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, one of the laws used to justify President Trump’s tariff measures.A fabric order for Outlier arriving at a factory in Manhattan. The fabric was made in Japan and dyed in Portugal before being shipped to the United States, where it incurred a tariff.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesOutlier’s material comes from abroad, as do some of its finished products. Karsten Moran for The New York TimesWe 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

  • 125 Shares119 Views

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    Trump’s Tariff Reversal Calms Some G.O.P. Nerves, but Questions Linger

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    President Trump’s whipsawing tariff policy has prompted bipartisan alarm on Capitol Hill, where Democrats are outraged and Republicans are caught between their deep opposition to tariffs and fear of criticizing Mr. Trump.The president’s abrupt announcement on Wednesday that he would halt most of his reciprocal tariffs for 90 days just a week after announcing them allayed the immediate concerns of some G.O.P. lawmakers, many of whom rushed to praise Mr. Trump for what they characterized as deal-making mastery.But behind those statements was a deep well of nervousness among Republican lawmakers who are hearing angst from their constituents and donors about the impact of Mr. Trump’s trade moves on the financial markets and the economy. Some of them have begun signing onto measures that would end the tariffs altogether or claw back Congress’s power to block the president from imposing such levies in the future.“I’m just trying to figure out whose throat I get to choke if it’s wrong, and who I put up on a platform and thank them for the novel approach that was successful if they’re right,” Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said of the sweeping tariffs on Tuesday during a hearing with Jamieson Greer, the Trump administration’s top trade official.On Wednesday, after Mr. Trump pulled back most of the tariffs but retained a 10 percent tariff rate for most countries and announced additional penalties on China, Mr. Tillis still sounded anxious. He said the move was likely to “reduce some of the escalation,” but added that there was still considerable work to be done to prevent another market meltdown.“We’ve got to get a deal before we get rid of uncertainty,” he told reporters soon after Mr. Trump announced the change in a social media post.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

  • 138 Shares99 Views

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    After Trump’s Pause on Tariffs, EU Delays Retaliation to Allow Talks

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    E.U. officials ​announced on Thursday that they would delay their plans for retaliatory tariffs after President Trump’s abrupt decision to hit pause on some of the levies he had placed on Europe and much of the rest of the world.Mr. Trump’s announcement, a day before, had signaled what European leaders were hoping for: a possible willingness to negotiate.Washington’s pivot came just hours after European officials had approved retaliatory levies of 10 to 25 percent on about $23 billion of U.S. imports. But given the American shift in stance, E.U. leaders said on Thursday that they would take a 90-day pause of their own.“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced in a statement. “Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues.”The Trump administration is specifically pausing what it has called “reciprocal” tariffs — across-the-board taxes that apply in different amounts to different countries. Mr. Trump announced those levies on April 2 and said that the European Union would face a levy of 20 percent. With his about-face on Wednesday, the bloc would most likely instead face a 10 percent across-the-board tariff for the next 90 days.But the 25 percent tariffs that Mr. Trump has placed on both cars and on steel and aluminum seemed to be still in place — and the retaliation that Europe approved on Wednesday was in response to those metal-sector tariffs, not to the tariffs that Mr. Trump has now delayed. The retaliation plan would have applied tariffs of 10 to 25 percent on a wide range of goods, including soybeans, peanut butter and hair spray. Officials will now “take a bit of time to think, take a bit of time to analyze, take a bit of time to reflect,” Olof Gill, a spokesman for the European Commission, said at a news conference on Thursday.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

  • 125 Shares179 Views

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    Inside Factories in China, a Struggle to Survive Trump’s Tariffs

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    As President Trump ratcheted up new tariffs on goods from China to 125 percent this week, the mood in the dusty streets and small factories of southeastern China was a mixture of anger, worry and resolve.Thousands of export-oriented small factories in or near Guangzhou, the commercial hub of southeastern China, have played a central role in the country’s rapid economic development over the past half century. Quick to supply almost any manufactured product at a low cost, they employ millions of migrant workers from all over China.Now many of these small factories, cornerstones of the Chinese economy, are confronting difficult times. Clothing factory managers fret about a spate of orders from American customers being canceled at the last minute, saddling them with losses. Managers of factories making machinery wonder whether their low costs will help them survive. And workers hope they will still have jobs in the coming weeks and months.A small factory in Guangzhou, China, makes ovens, fryers and other equipment for restaurants and backyard barbecuers.Qilai Shen for The New York TimesA few garment factories that mainly supplied the United States market have already closed temporarily as their owners wait for more clarity on tariffs. Managers of many more factories are now hurrying to find buyers in other countries or chase down customers in China.But China already faced a huge glut of factory capacity even before Mr. Trump began closing the American market this year to many imports from China. Customers elsewhere have demanded ever deeper discounts.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

  • 125 Shares99 Views

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    Bond Sell Off Raises Questions About U.S. Safe Haven Status

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    A sharp sell-off in U.S. government bond markets and the dollar has set off fears about the growing fallout from President Trump’s tariffs, raising questions about what is typically seen as the safest corner for investors during times of turmoil.Yields on 10-year Treasuries — the benchmark for a wide variety of debt — whipsawed on Wednesday after Mr. Trump paused the bulk of the levies he had threatened the week before and raised the rates charged on Chinese goods after that country retaliated. The reversal sent U.S. stocks soaring.After the announcement, the 10-year bond traded at 4.35 percent, slightly lower than earlier in the day but still well above recent levels. Just a few days ago, it had traded below 4 percent. Yields on the 30-year bond reversed an earlier rise that had lifted it above 5 percent. It now stands at 4.74 percent. Selling intensified for short-term government bonds, with the two-year yield surging nearly 0.2 percentage points to 3.9 percent.Amid the tumult, other markets considered alternative safe havens to the United States have gained. Yields on German government bonds, which serve as the benchmark for the eurozone, fell on Wednesday, indicating strong demand. Gold prices rose, too.The U.S.-centric volatility comes on the heels of investors fleeing riskier assets globally in what some fear had parallels to an episode known as the “dash for cash” during the pandemic, when the Treasury market broke down. The recent moves have upended a longstanding relationship in which the U.S. government bond market serves as a safe harbor during times of stress.Adding to Wednesday’s angst was the fact that the U.S. dollar, which is the world’s dominant currency and was largely expected to strengthen as Mr. Trump’s tariffs came into effect, had instead weakened. It shaved some of those losses after the administration’s announcement.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

  • 113 Shares149 Views

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    Trump Reverses Course on Global Tariffs, Announcing 90-Day Pause

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    The president further raised already steep tariffs on China, saying that Beijing should not have retaliated against his earlier trade actions.President Trump on Wednesday abruptly reversed course on steep global tariffs that have roiled markets, upset members of his own party and raised fears of a recession. Just hours after he put punishing levies into place on nearly 60 countries, the president said he would pause them for 90 days.But Mr. Trump did not extend that pause to China, opting instead to raise tariffs again on all Chinese imports, bringing those taxes to a whopping 125 percent. That decision came after Beijing raised its levies on American goods to 84 percent on Wednesday afternoon in an escalating tit-for-tat between the world’s largest economies.In a post on Truth Social, the president said that he had authorized “a 90 day PAUSE” in which countries would face “a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff” of 10 percent. As a result, nearly every U.S. trading partner now faces a 10 percent blanket tariff, on top of 25 percent tariffs that Mr. Trump has imposed on cars, steel and aluminum.Slumping markets quickly rallied after Mr. Trump’s post. The S&P 500 climbed several percentage points in a matter of minutes and closed with a rise of more than 9 percent, sharply reversing days of losses. Wednesday was the best day for the S&P 500 since the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.Nearly every stock in the index rose. Airlines, some tech companies and Tesla were among those companies to soar over 20 percent. Shares of automakers rose sharply even though 25 percent tariffs on imported cars remain in place. Ford and General Motors both rose more than 7 percent.Mr. Trump, who for days had insisted he was not concerned about the market rout, acknowledged on Wednesday that the downturn had fed into his decision.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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    Delta Warns Trump’s Trade War Will Weigh on the Economy

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    Delta Air Lines on Wednesday became one of the largest American companies to warn that President Trump’s escalating trade war was weighing on its business and the global economy.Speaking before Mr. Trump reversed many of the tariffs he had just imposed on most countries, Delta’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, said a recession was possible as companies pulled back spending. “Everyone’s being prepared for uncertainty,” he told CNBC, “if that continues, and we don’t get resolution soon, we will probably end up in a recession.”Mr. Trump’s announcement helped send Delta stock up over 20 percent on Wednesday and prompted a broad rally in stocks. The president said he would pause the high tariffs for 90 days but kept a 10 percent tariff on most countries in place.Still, the president’s reversal might not be enough to dispel the uncertainty that has made it hard for companies to plan ahead. The Trump administration also said on Wednesday that it would significantly raise tariffs on China. The United States might not strike trade deals with other countries within 90 days.Airlines are highly sensitive to changes in the economy because air travel is among the first things that individuals and businesses can cut back on when they are worried about their paychecks or profits.Mr. Bastian expressed shock at the speed at which the trade tensions had taken the wind out of the economy.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

  • 138 Shares199 Views

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    Trump Defends Tariff Strategy Amid Global Trade War and Market Chaos

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    As new U.S. tariffs upended financial markets and sent foreign governments scrambling to respond, President Trump on Wednesday morning remained ebullient, posting at one point on Truth Social: “BE COOL!”“Everything is going to work out well,” he maintained amid the unfurling chaos. “The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”For Mr. Trump, the reassurances offered a stark, split-screen contrast with the pandemonium stemming from his costly and widening global trade war. In the hours since he imposed his latest round of tariffs, foreign powers including China have retaliated against the United States — and economists broadly have expressed renewed alarm about the prospects for severe blowback. But Mr. Trump has continued to downplay the risks to American consumers and businesses, insisting it is all part of his plan.In a post on Truth Social, he argued it was actually a “GREAT time to move your COMPANY into the United States of America,” adding: “DON’T WAIT, DO IT NOW!”When financial markets began to whipsaw — and a sell-off in the U.S. bond market deepened — the president chose to portray the uncertainty and chaos as an opportunity. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” he posted on the site later Wednesday morning.The president also tried to refocus attention on his plan to extend a set of soon-expiring tax cuts on individuals and businesses, which remains snarled in the House and Senate because of disagreements within Republican ranks.“Republicans, it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” Mr. Trump said in another of his posts. “The USA will Soar like never before!!!”For days, Mr. Trump and his top aides had foreshadowed the chaos and confusion now playing out across the global financial system. The president repeatedly had described the U.S. economy in medical terms, saying the nation was “sick” and needed a painful yet necessary corrective to boost American manufacturing and generate new revenue.Economists have told a different story, warning that the president’s steep new taxes on foreign exports could curtail growth and result in price increases for American consumers, ultimately raising the odds of a U.S. recession. Even some Republicans have grown increasingly alarmed with Mr. Trump’s trade strategy, with a handful signing on to new legislation that would limit his tariff authorities.But Mr. Trump has remained steadfast in his approach, as administration officials estimated this week that more than 70 countries had reached out to Washington in the hopes of striking a trade deal.“I know what the hell I’m doing,” the president told Republicans on Tuesday. More