Author: News Room

Oil prices continued to sink on Wednesday after China said it would match President Trump’s tariffs blow for blow. The U.S. price dropped as low as $55 a barrel before recovering somewhat.The slide in crude prices signals deteriorating confidence in the strength of the economy. And while lower oil prices benefit consumers by, ultimately, reducing prices at the pump, they are a big problem for U.S. oil producers, many of which will struggle to make money drilling new wells at these levels.For now, many companies are waiting to see whether prices remain between $50 and $60 before adjusting drilling or…

Even as President Trump heaped additional tariffs on China, his barrage of trade levies on countries across Asia and unpredictability about what he might do next has encouraged some companies to hunker down in China, exactly the opposite of what he had hoped.Mr. Trump has steadily ratcheted up the pressure on China. As of Wednesday, his new tariffs on China exceed 100 percent, including a last-minute escalation serving as punishment for Beijing’s retaliation on earlier levies.However, unlike what happened during his first term, Mr. Trump has accompanied the tariff campaign on China with steep import duties on dozens of other…

Bob McManus, the trenchant editorial page editor of The New York Post and a columnist for other conservative publications who prided himself on his unambiguous common-sense commentary about public policy and other topics, died on Saturday in Manhattan. He was 81.The cause of his death, in a hospital, was complications of bile duct cancer, said his wife, Mary McManus.An influential and respected editorialist, Mr. McManus pulled no punches but still managed to be widely liked.He could unleash a fusillade of zingers against public officials and other prominent targets he branded phonies or hypocrites. But he could also leaven his caustic…

In Lesotho, the small southern African nation that is among the countries hardest hit by President Trump’s new tariffs, business owners were meeting on Wednesday to strategize their response.For a country with an economy worth just $2.1 billion, few options are on the table.Mr. Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Lesotho, owing to the trade deficit between the country of 2.3 million people and the United States. Only Saint Pierre, a sparsely populated French archipelago off the coast of Canada, was hit the same tariff increase.On Wednesday, Lesotho’s private sector was looking to the government for answers. The government,…

In Lesotho, the small southern African nation that is among the countries hardest hit by President Trump’s new tariffs, business owners were meeting on Wednesday to strategize their response.For a country with an economy worth just $2.1 billion, few options are on the table.Mr. Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Lesotho, owing to the trade deficit between the country of 2.3 million people and the United States. Only Saint Pierre, a sparsely populated French archipelago off the coast of Canada, was hit the same tariff increase.On Wednesday, Lesotho’s private sector was looking to the government for answers. The government,…

The parallels between President Trump and Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, are growing starker. Ms. Truss triggered market turmoil in 2022 after she proposed sweeping tax cuts that she proposed to pay for with massive government borrowing. Ms. Truss was ultimately doomed by fears of a credit crisis after yields on British government bonds spiked.Now, yields on U.S. Treasuries are beginning to rise. On Wednesday, in the hours after Mr. Trump’s latest tariffs went into effect, including levies of more than 100 percent on China, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to as high as 4.5 percent,…

Millions of small investors have piled into India’s stock market in recent years, eager to build wealth by betting on the country’s economic growth. Catchy advertising and easy-to-open online trading accounts have wooed young people and retirees alike, demystifying investing and fueling the exuberance.This week, many of those investors got a rude shock — and an introduction to the pitfalls of globalization — when Indian markets buckled from fears that President Trump’s new tariff regime would induce a global recession.On Monday, the Indian stock market lost around $170 billion in value as its two biggest indexes plummeted, mirroring global markets…

The Chinese government on Wednesday issued a lengthy denunciation of American trade policies, accusing the United States of years of protectionism and of violating the trade agreement the two sides had negotiated late in President Trump’s first term.The document was issued by Beijing’s cabinet information office several hours after Mr. Trump raised to 104 percent the extra tariffs on Chinese goods that he has imposed in his second term.The missive assailed the United States for preparing to impose additional 90 percent tariffs on May 2 on low-value parcels from China, which enter the United States with no customs inspection and…

The European Union plans to vote on Wednesday afternoon on its first retaliation measures in response to President Trump’s tariffs, moving closer to placing increased duties on a range of manufactured goods and farm products that would take effect in phases starting next week.The list up for consideration is a slightly trimmed down version of one that was announced in mid-March in response to Mr. Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. E.U. officials have spent recent weeks consulting with policymakers and industries from across the 27-nation bloc in an effort to minimize how much the countermeasures would harm Europeans.The final list…

For just about everyone in Asia, President Trump’s latest round of severe tariffs is a disaster. Everyone but Liu Gang, who sees this moment as a chance to double down on his electronics factory in the Philippines.“I tell companies: ‘Come to the Philippines,’” Mr. Liu said as he competed to be heard above the din of several machines, weighing 400 tons each, stamping out metal parts for Fujitsu A.T.M.s on the factory floor downstairs.Mr. Trump’s harshest tariffs went into effect on Wednesday on products that are made in China and some of its rising manufacturing rivals in Southeast Asia: Vietnam,…