Prices (Fares, Fees and Rates)

More stories

  • 125 Shares189 Views

    in Economy

    Trump Softens Tone on Inflation After Pledging to Lower Prices

    by

    President Trump pledged to lower costs on “Day 1” as a candidate. His administration now acknowledges it will take more time.President Trump promised voters that, if elected, he would enact policies that would bring prices down on “Day 1” in office.But three weeks into his term, Mr. Trump and White House officials have become more measured in how they discuss their efforts to tame inflation. They have begun downplaying the likelihood that consumer costs like groceries will decline anytime soon, reflecting the limited power that presidents have to control prices. Those are largely determined by global economic forces.The shifting tone could allow Mr. Trump to reset expectations about how fast prices will come down as he pursues policies like tariffs and tax cuts, which economists say could exacerbate inflation.Mr. Trump and his advisers believe that expanding American energy production and rolling back regulations will reduce costs. They also argue that some of Mr. Trump’s tax proposals, such as eliminating taxes on overtime, would curb inflation by giving workers more incentives to work longer hours, therefore expanding the labor force.But in an interview this week, Mr. Trump demurred when pressed about when families struggling with high prices would start to feel some relief. He suggested that his policies would make America a rich country, which would reduce the burden on consumers by, in theory, increasing their earnings.“I think we’re going to become a rich — look, we’re not that rich right now,” Mr. Trump said on Fox News. “We owe $36 trillion. That’s because we let all these nations take advantage of us.”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 Shares99 Views

    in Economy

    Steel and Aluminum Tariffs May Raise US Manufacturing Costs

    by

    Duties of 25 percent on steel and aluminum will flow through to car buyers, beer drinkers, home builders, oil drillers and other users of metal goods.America has seen this movie before: President Trump, who imposed stiff tariffs on Monday on imported steel and aluminum, did so once before, in 2018. So domestic industries have a pretty good idea of how the story ends.Manufacturers of trucks, appliances and construction equipment scramble to find U.S. sources of metal inputs, keeping steel and aluminum producers busier than they were before. Companies that need specific alloys that aren’t made domestically are forced to pay more. Prices rise, making end products more expensive.But there may be plot twists along the way. Will Mr. Trump cut deals with some countries, allowing large shipments in without the new duties? Will he set up a process to give companies a reprieve if they can demonstrate a hardship? (On Monday, a White House official said there would be no exclusions.)All of those could affect the outcome, which is why steel users are proceeding with caution. Angela Holt, who runs a precision machining company and heads the board of the Indiana Manufacturers Association, says the potential impacts on businesses are “complex.”“It could affect not only the cost but the availability, depending on their situation,” Ms. Holt said. “It’s highly varied, even among industries — I think it’s going to depend on an individual basis where they source their materials, what the competition looks like.”Lessons From Last TimeAlthough the American steel and aluminum industries are far weaker than they were in their heyday in the 1970s, U.S. companies import only about 26 percent of the steel they use, according to the International Trade Administration, and that number has been falling.Aluminum and Steel Prices Remain Elevated PostpandemicProducer price indices show a slight increase after tariffs were imposed in 2018, but lockdowns and increased demand for goods made a bigger impact two years later.

    Source: Bureau of Labor StatisticsBy 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

  • 150 Shares179 Views

    in Economy

    Trump Prepares to Take On the US Trade Deficit, a Familiar Nemesis

    by

    The trade deficit has long drawn the president’s ire. Now, he’s preparing to take it on again.To President Trump, one economic number represents everything that is wrong with the global economy: America’s trade deficit.That deficit is the total value of what the United States imports from other nations, minus its exports to other countries. The fact that America runs a trade deficit reflects how the nation’s appetite for foreign goods now far outpaces what U.S. factories and farms send abroad.Official data set for release on Wednesday morning is expected to show that the U.S. trade deficit widened to nearly $1.2 trillion in 2024. For Mr. Trump, the fact that the United States imports more goods than it exports is a sign of economic weakness and evidence that the world is taking advantage of America. While the country’s trade deficit has been widening for years, that gap could end up being a key reason Mr. Trump decides to impose tariffs on Europe, China, Canada, Mexico and other governments.Mr. Trump rolled out a dramatic series of trade actions against Canada, Mexico and China in recent days, signing executive orders to put tariffs on all three nations in what he said was an effort to stem the flow of drugs and migrants to the United States.But he also cited the trade deficit as he talked about tariffs writ large, making clear that the gap between what America sells and what it buys remains top of mind for Mr. Trump.

    .dw-chart-subhed {
    line-height: 1;
    margin-bottom: 6px;
    font-family: nyt-franklin;
    color: #121212;
    font-size: 15px;
    font-weight: 700;
    }

    America’s Trade Deficits and Surpluses With Other Countries
    Note: Data is adjusted for inflation and shows 2023 trade in goods, the latest available full year of data.Source: Census BureauBy 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 Shares199 Views

    in Economy

    Trump’s Trade Move Could Increase Costs for Many Online Goods

    by

    President Trump’s decision to impose hefty tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China included a little-noticed but significant change to how online purchases will be taxed when they enter the United States.One provision of Mr. Trump’s executive order will increase costs for more than 80 percent of U.S. e-commerce imports. The decision could shift the landscape for online sales from Chinese vendors like Shein and Temu that have swiftly expanded their market share by sending cheap goods into the United States.The president’s order erased a workaround that many companies have taken advantage of in recent years, particularly since Mr. Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese products in his first term. The provision, known as the de minimis exception, allowed certain products that were sent directly to consumers from online platforms to come into the United States without facing tariffs, a huge tax advantage.This obscure provision of trade law underpins major business models. Shein, Temu and many sellers on Amazon have used the de minimis exemption to bypass tariffs. The exemption allows packages to be shipped from other countries without paying tariffs, as long as the shipments do not exceed $800 per recipient per day.But critics say the de minimis measure has also helped fuel an American drug crisis. Importers who use de minimis do not have to provide as much information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as they do with other packages, for ease of processing. That means drugs and the precursors used to make them could be more easily shipped into the United States without the government catching them.De minimis stems from a century-old trade law that was originally intended for shipments that would be too trivial to merit the attention of customs. But the use of this provision has exploded in popularity.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 Shares129 Views

    in Economy

    Panama Canal Fees Have Become a Flashpoint. Here’s Why They’ve Risen.

    by

    President Trump says the canal authority is overcharging. Recent increases are attributed in part to drought, maintenance investments and demand.The cost of using the Panama Canal has risen in recent years — excessively so, President Trump has asserted. The canal operator says droughts, investments in upgrades and sheer demand are among the reasons.But if Mr. Trump wrests lower canal fees out of Panama, American consumers may not feel much difference, because canal costs make up only a small part of the retail cost of most goods. One analysis concludes that going through the canal adds 10 cents to the cost of a coffee maker.Panama Canal shipping fees were not a big issue until Mr. Trump raised the matter last year.As well as highlighting the costs of using the canal, American politicians have security concerns. They point out that China has made big investments in Panama’s infrastructure and that a Hong Kong company operates ports at both the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the canal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a visit to Panama on Sunday, appeared to escalate those security concerns with Panama’s leader.China has no role in operating the canal, a job done by the Panama Canal Authority, a Panamanian agency. The United States built the canal in the early 20th century, mostly with laborers from the Caribbean, and ceded it to Panama in 1999 on condition that it be neutral.Mr. Trump has said that move, under a 1978 treaty, was a blunder by the United States, and he has refused to rule out military force to retake the waterway. In response, President José Raúl Mulino of Panama declared recently, “The canal is and will continue to be Panama’s.” He reiterated that on Sunday after meeting with Mr. Rubio: “There is no question that the canal is operated by Panama and will continue to be so.”The canal is crucial for the U.S. economy because it permits a shorter route between the East Coast and Asia than traveling across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Forty percent of United States container traffic and large amounts of U.S. energy exports travel through the canal on vessels paying tolls and other fees to use it.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 Shares149 Views

    in Economy

    Who Pays for Tariffs? Here’s What You Need to Know.

    by

    President Trump is moving forward with extensive tariffs on America’s closest trading partners. Beginning Tuesday, companies bringing products into the United States from Canada and Mexico will pay a 25 percent tariff; importers bringing products in from China will pay an additional 10 percent on top of existing levies.The president has insisted that these tariffs will not increase prices for American consumers and that if anyone pays the cost, it will be foreign countries.But a simple review of how tariffs work suggests that is not the case. Here’s what to know about who pays.Who pays for tariffs up front?A tariff is an extra surcharge put onto a good when it comes into the United States. It is the so-called importer of record — the companies responsible for importing that product — that physically pays tariffs to the federal government.The tariff fee of 10 percent or 25 percent is often charged not on the full sticker price of the good you see at the store, but a lower import price that companies pay to buy a good from abroad, before they mark up the price for sale at a store.Many importers of record are enrolled in the government’s electronic payment program, and have tariff fees automatically deducted from their bank accounts as they bring products into the country. Tariff revenue is collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, though Mr. Trump has floated the idea of creating an entirely new agency to deal with money earned from his tariffs.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 Shares149 Views

    in Economy

    High Inflation and New Tariffs Will Make the Fed’s Job Tougher

    by

    Fresh tariffs amid high inflation are making the Fed’s job uniquely difficult and feeding uncertainty about what to expect for interest rates this year.High inflation is stoking fresh debate about how the Federal Reserve should respond to President Trump’s sweeping plans to reorder the world economy through tariffs, leading to questions about whether old playbooks still apply.On Saturday, Mr. Trump is poised to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods. That move comes on the heels of threats to impose hefty tariffs on Colombia, which were rescinded after its government complied with Mr. Trump’s demands to accept deported migrants.Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump’s nominee to oversee the Commerce Department and trade, said at a confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he favored “across-the-board” tariffs that would hit entire countries.The volume of trade policy proposals is making the Fed’s already tricky job even more difficult and sowing uncertainty about what to expect from the central bank as it tries to fully wrestle inflation back to more normal levels.Tariffs are broadly seen by economists and policymakers as likely to stoke higher prices for U.S. businesses and consumers at least initially, and over time weigh on growth. That, as well as Mr. Trump’s plans to also enact mass deportations, steep tax cuts and reduced deregulation, has complicated the path forward for the Fed, which is debating how quickly to resume rate cuts and by what magnitude after pressing pause this week.What comes next is far from clear, leaving central bank officials to parse playbooks both old and new to formulate the right strategy.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

    in Economy

    G.M. Has Plans Ready for Trump’s Canada and Mexico Tariffs

    by

    General Motors, the largest producer of cars in Mexico, won’t provide details on how it would react if President Trump imposes 25 percent tariffs from the two countries.General Motors executives are closely tracking President Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, but the company is not yet making any major changes to its strategy in North America in response to the threatened tariffs.The automaker has pulled together an “extensive playbook” of possible options but won’t put them in place “until the world changes dramatically, and we see a permanent level of tariffs going forward,” the company’s chief financial officer, Paul Jacobson, told reporters in a conference call on Monday evening.“I won’t go into the details exactly but we’ve been preparing for that and want to make sure that we are prudent and don’t overreact,” he added.Mr. Trump said last week that he planned to impose tariffs of 25 percent on goods from Canada and Mexico starting on Saturday, Feb. 1. If he followed through on those plans, the tariffs would deal a big blow to G.M. and other automakers that produce vehicles and components in those countries, and probably increase the prices of many vehicles sold in the United States.G.M. produced nearly 900,000 vehicles in Mexico in 2024, more than any other carmaker, and most of those were shipped to the United States. Among them are the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, as well as the Chevrolet Equinox sport-utility vehicle — all top-sellers and big sources of profit for the company. It also produces some Silverados and electric delivery vans in Canada.G.M. said on Tuesday that it lost $3 billion in the final three months of 2024, stemming from a $4 billion noncash expense related to a restructuring of its joint venture operations in China. The company’s revenue in the quarter rose 11 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