Author: News Room

Oil prices plunged Thursday on fears that President Trump’s latest round of tariffs would slow economic growth around the world, curbing demand for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other forms of energy.The U.S. oil price was down more than 7 percent Thursday morning, trading below $67 a barrel, or around mid-March levels. Prices for many metals, including copper, silver and gold, also fell sharply.Mr. Trump had sought to insulate the U.S. energy industry from a trade war by exempting energy and certain minerals from the tariffs he announced on Wednesday. But the broader impact of his tariffs will likely outweigh…

For years, countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand have worked to turn themselves into alternatives to China for factories making the bags, electronics, shoes and auto parts that eventually end up in the United States.That is now poised to change after President Trump on Wednesday aimed his most punishing tariffs at countries in Southeast Asia.The news came as a hammer blow to American companies that have come to depend on factories in the region amid growing U.S.-China trade tensions. Some were asking: Where to now?“This is much worse than what most of us had anticipated,” said Sonal Varma, chief economist…

How the tariffs are going down President Trump on Wednesday described his sweeping barrage of tariffs on about 60 countries, unveiled with great pomp in the Rose Garden, as “kind.”The global response to the reciprocal tariffs — including an additional 34 percent levy on goods from China and 20 percent on those from the European Union — has been anything but.Policymakers reacted with fury as corporate bosses brace for the biggest disruption to global trade in decades. The new trade duties are dismaying investors, too, as they appear far worse than expected. Even some Senate Republicans are pushing back.The latest:…

Laptop computers from Taiwan, wine from Italy, frozen shrimp from India, Nike sneakers from Vietnam and Irish butter.These products are found in homes across the United States, a testament to America’s enduring role as a champion of free trade and its standing as the most lucrative market for goods from around the world.They are now among the vast categories of goods subject to additional taxes after President Trump, on Wednesday, imposed universal tariffs on all U.S. trade partners as well as additional, heavier duties on 60 countries he deemed the “worst offenders” of unfair trade practices.In a sharp shift away…

April 3, 2025, 4:05 a.m. ETAn electronic board showing Nikkei share average in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday.Credit…Kim Kyung-Hoon/ReutersAfter being smacked with double-digit percentage tariffs by a key ally, Japan finds itself with few retaliatory options.Since President Trump began threatening broad tariffs in January, Japan has pursued a conciliatory strategy, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledging in February to boost U.S. investment to $1 trillion.Up until the day before Mr. Trump’s tariff announcements on Wednesday, prominent business executives in Tokyo said they were hopeful Japan would be spared. Those hopes were dashed when Mr. Trump said U.S. imports from Japan would…

After being smacked with double-digit percentage tariffs by a key ally, Japan finds itself with few retaliatory options.Since President Trump began threatening broad tariffs in January, Japan has pursued a conciliatory strategy, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledging in February to boost U.S. investment to $1 trillion.Up until the day before Mr. Trump’s tariff announcements on Wednesday, prominent business executives in Tokyo said they were hopeful Japan would be spared. Those hopes were dashed when Mr. Trump said U.S. imports from Japan would face a 24 percent tariff. Last week, he said that cars, Japan’s top export to the United…

Richard Bernstein, a former correspondent and critic for The New York Times whose deep knowledge of Asia and Europe illuminated reporting from Tiananmen Square to the Bastille, and who wrote things as he saw them in 10 books driven by unflinching intellectual curiosity, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 80.His death, in a hospital, was caused by pancreatic cancer, diagnosed less than eight weeks ago, his son, Elias Bernstein, said. Mr. Bernstein lived in Brooklyn.Over more than two decades at The Times, Mr. Bernstein brought deep historical knowledge, a gracious writing style and a stubborn contrarian streak to subjects…

President Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on Wednesday afternoon, announcing a minimum 10 percent tariff on all trading partners as well as so-called reciprocal actions on dozens of other countries, including some of America’s biggest trading partners.In announcing the new tariffs, his most expansive to date, Mr. Trump said that the global tariffs would help correct decades of unfair relationships and stop other countries from ripping off the United States.China, for example, will add a new 34 percent tariff on top of a previous blanket import tax imposed on the country’s goods earlier this year. Vietnam’s imports will be taxed at…

Tariffs on imported vehicles took effect Thursday, a policy that President Trump said would spur investments and jobs in the United States but that analysts say will raise new car prices by thousands of dollars.The 25 percent duty applies to all cars assembled outside the United States. Starting May 3, the tariff will also apply to imported auto parts, which will add to the cost of cars assembled domestically as well as auto repairs.There will be a partial exemption for cars made in Mexico or Canada that meet the terms of free trade agreements with those countries. Carmakers will not…

Markets around the world shuddered on Thursday after President Trump announced across-the-board 10 percent tariffs on all U.S. trading partners except Canada and Mexico, as well as even higher tariffs on dozens of America’s other main trading partners.Futures on the S&P 500, which allow investors to trade the index outside normal trading hours, slumped over 3 percent. Asian markets fell sharply, with benchmark indexes dropping more than 3 percent in Japan, and nearly 2 percent in Hong Kong and South Korea.The slide came after Mr. Trump, speaking at a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday, announced a new 10…