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    Challenge to Trump’s Tariffs Funded by Groups Linked to Charles Koch and Leonard Leo

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    Among those opposed to President Trump’s tariffs on imports from China: a legal group funded by some of the biggest names in conservative politics.Last week, a Florida business owner challenged the Trump administration’s moves in court, arguing that her company, Simplified, which makes notebooks and planners, was harmed by the dramatic trade war with China that has only deteriorated further since the lawsuit was filed.Her lawyers are from the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a libertarian-leaning nonprofit that counts among its financial backers Donors Trust, a group with ties to the billionaire Leonard A. Leo, who is a co-chairman of the Federalist Society.The Federalist Society is an influential legal group that advised Mr. Trump through the confirmation of justices he appointed to form the current conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, though some in Mr. Trump’s circle came to believe that its leaders were out of step with the president’s political movement.Another donor to New Civil Liberties Alliance is Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist and Republican megadonor.In what appeared to be the first tariff-related lawsuit against the Trump administration, the founder of Simplified, Emily Ley, argued that President Trump overstepped his authority in February when he first imposed new import taxes on Chinese goods. Since then, China has retaliated with its own tariffs, and Mr. Trump has escalated the fight with more levies. All Chinese imports face a minimum tariff rate of 145 percent as of Thursday, a dramatic increase.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

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    Trump’s Tariff Fight With China Poses New Threat to US Farmers

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    After China unveiled steep retaliatory tariffs on American exports on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a sharp and somewhat surprising response: “So what?”The question underscored the Trump administration’s argument that America has the upper hand in a trade war with China given how reliant its economy is on exports to the United States.The United States buys far more goods from China than China buys from the United States. But Beijing’s decision to retaliate against President Trump’s punishing tariffs by raising levies on American imports to 84 percent could sting more than Mr. Bessent let on.“American companies that have been selling to China, and have been enormously successful doing that, are not going to be able to do that because of Chinese retaliation,” Sean Stein, the president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said in the hours before Mr. Trump ratcheted up his tariffs again.“Tariffs on the Chinese side and the U.S. side cover everything,” Mr. Stein added, meaning everything from aviation to medical imaging to agriculture would be affected and “trade is going to slow,” he said.The United States exported $143.5 billion of goods to China last year and imported $438.9 billion from that country, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.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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    Trump Has Added 145% Tariff to China, White House Clarifies

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    The White House on Thursday clarified that China faced a minimum tariff rate of 145 percent on all imports to the United States.A day earlier, President Trump had said that he was increasing tariffs on China to 125 percent after Beijing retaliated against his previous levies. On Thursday, the White House explained that the 125 percent is on top of a 20 percent tariff the president had previously put on goods coming from China for its role in supplying fentanyl to the United States.That is a drastic increase on a country that supplies much of what Americans buy. China is the second largest source of imports for the United States and the primary global manufacturer of cellphones, toys, computers and other products.The 145 percent figure is also just a floor, not a ceiling. That amount is on top of other pre-existing levies that Mr. Trump already put in place including:25 percent tariffs on steel, aluminum, cars and car partsTariffs of up to 25 percent on certain Chinese goods that Mr. Trump imposed during his first termTariffs of varying ranges on certain products in response to violating U.S. trade rulesThe rapid changes in tariffs have caused significant confusion for importers, many of whom depend on Chinese products, including major retailers as well as small businesses. For an importer bringing in a container of products, the difference between a 125 percent tariff and a 145 percent tariff can amount to thousands of dollars.The Trump administration has exempted goods that were already in transit from the new tariffs, meaning importers have not yet started to incur them. In the case of goods shipped by air, this will happen in the next few days, while goods moving by ship will take several weeks to arrive. 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

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    Trump’s Encouragement of Stock Investors Draws Scrutiny

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    Was the president manipulating the market with his comments, as his critics say, or reassuring Americans, as the White House maintains?President Trump began his Wednesday with some advice for those rattled by his steep tariffs.“BE COOL,” Mr. Trump told his followers on social media after the markets opened. Just a couple of minutes later he wrote, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT”Hours after that, Mr. Trump sent the markets soaring when he paused the levies for 90 days. The S&P 500 climbed several percentage points in a matter of minutes and was on its way to its best day since the recovery of the 2008 financial crisis.Soon after Mr. Trump’s pause, Democrats and government ethics experts asked the perhaps obvious question: Did Mr. Trump give the green light to his followers to cash in on a forthcoming rise in stock prices?“How is this not market manipulation?” Representative Mike Levin, Democrat of California, said on social media, referring to action that is potentially illegal. “If you’re a Trump supporter and you did what he said and you bought, then you did great. On the other hand, if you’re a retiree or a senior or somebody in the middle class over the last few days that didn’t have the tolerance for risk and you decided to sell, you got screwed.”The news of Mr. Trump’s pause came as Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, was testifying on Capitol Hill. Representative Steven Horsford, Democrat of Nevada, pressed him on Mr. Trump’s aim.“It’s not market manipulation,” Mr. Greer said. “We’re trying to reset the global trading system.”“How have you achieved any of that?” Mr. Horsford asked. “So if it’s not market manipulation, what is it? Who’s benefiting? What billionaire just got richer?”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

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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

  • 125 Shares99 Views

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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