Author: News Room

Oil producing countries are bracing for a bumpy ride this year, with a precipitous drop in prices to the lowest levels in four years seen as the initial, alarming sign of looming turmoil.A price drop benefits any country seeking to cut its fuel bill. But in oil producing nations, lower prices can feed economic troubles, and sometimes political unrest, as governments slash spending.Analysts who had already been predicting lower oil prices because of softening demand amid increased global production said the possibility of a tariff trade war and the overall climate of uncertainty could well deepen producers’ woes.“The steep price…

Warren E. Buffett took a shot at President Trump’s efforts to use tariffs to batter global commerce on Saturday, as his $1.1 trillion conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, braced for potential hits from American trade policies.“Trade should not be a weapon,” Mr. Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting, a perennially popular event that has been nicknamed the Woodstock of capitalism. “I don’t think it’s right and I don’t think it’s wise.”Mr. Buffett’s comments were long awaited by Berkshire’s shareholders, tens of thousands of whom flocked to the company’s hometown in Omaha to hear directly from the investor — particularly on Mr.…

Oil prices are falling. Economists are cutting forecasts for global economic growth. Oil giants are reporting lower profits.But on Saturday, eight countries that belong to the oil cartel known as OPEC Plus said they would add about 411,000 barrels of oil a day in June. The move, which follows a similar step by the group to increase oil production at their April meeting, is a major shift in policy that will ripple through the wider energy industry, hitting profits of oil companies and forcing cutbacks.The group said in a statement that the market was “healthy” and noted that oil inventories…

We import a few raw materials for our manufactured products such as yttrium oxide, which is derived from a rare earth metal. We also import technical ceramic parts mainly produced by two exceptional suppliers from China. One immediate effect of the tariff is that we had a shipment of raw materials en route when the 145 percent tariff was imposed — so our cost has just increased dramatically.We also have 15 to 20 transactions pending with Chinese suppliers of technical ceramic parts, and our margins will be trimmed significantly — by as much as 35 to 45 percent.We are now…

Before Zygmund Furmaniuk’s aunt Mary died in 2023, she set up a trust to hold her assets and to distribute her estate, which was valued at nearly $1 million.A retired chemistry teacher, Mary Furmaniuk was single and had no children. Creating the trust, Mr. Furmaniuk said, was her way of making sure her assets ended up where she wanted them — with him and three other nieces and nephews. But even though his aunt had a will, the arrangement caused considerable frustration for Mr. Furmaniuk, of Belmont, Mass., and one of his cousins, who were co-executors.The hard part wasn’t figuring…

The United States imposed 25 percent tariffs on imported auto parts on Saturday that could sharply raise prices for new and used vehicles as well as for repairs and insurance.The latest tariffs, which President Trump ordered in March as part of his plan to promote domestic manufacturing, come after the 25 percent levies on imported cars that took effect in early April.This second round of duties on imported parts will have a broader impact because even cars made in the United States often have engines, transmissions, batteries or other components produced in other countries.The administration said on Tuesday that the…

The expansion of the loophole for tariff-free shipments of goods nearly a decade ago gave rise to Temu, Shein and other low-cost online retailers offering items straight from Chinese factories at unfathomable discounts.It also unleashed something else — a cascade of billions of dollars of digital advertising that provided a windfall for Meta, Alphabet and other technology industry giants. Temu and Shein, jockeying for the attention of American shoppers, blanketed seemingly every inch of the internet with their ads. In the last two years, only Amazon spent more on online advertising in the United States than Shein or Temu.Now, the…

As trade tensions flared between the world’s largest economies, communication between the United States and China has been so shaky that the two superpowers cannot even agree on whether they are talking at all.At a White House economic briefing this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demurred multiple times when pressed about President Trump’s recent claim that President Xi Jinping of China had called him. Although top economic officials might usually be aware of such high-level talks, Mr. Bessent insisted that he was not logging the president’s calls.“I have a lot of jobs around the White House; running the switchboard isn’t…

Flying into or out of Newark Liberty International Airport has brought plenty of misery in the last week, with cancellations, delays stretching well past five hours and flight diversions that have stranded travelers far from their destinations.Passengers are reporting on social media that they have missed flights and spent hours stuck on the tarmac aboard planes. Some are still struggling to make new travel arrangements.The disruptions, which stretched into Friday with delays averaging over two hours, have highlighted ongoing air traffic control staffing issues. The troubles prompted United Airlines, Newark’s largest carrier, to cut nearly three dozen round-trip flights per…

President Trump on Friday proposed slashing $163 billion in federal spending next fiscal year, a drastic retrenchment in the role and reach of government that, if enacted, would eliminate a vast set of climate, education, health and housing programs, including some that benefit the poor.Issuing his first budget proposal since returning to office, Mr. Trump sketched out a dim view of Washington. His blueprint depicted many core government functions as woke, weaponized, wasteful or radical, as the president looked to justify his request that Congress chop domestic spending to its lowest level in the modern era.Mr. Trump proposed cutting funding…