Trump Names Heritage’s EJ Antoni To Lead Bureau Of Labor Statistics

One of China’s biggest copper fabricators is set to reap a windfall from President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost US production of the metal.Zhejiang Hailiang Co., a major manufacturer of copper tubes used in autos, airconditioning and plumbing, might seem an unlikely winner from “America First” protectionism. But its stock has jumped nearly 20% since the Trump administration imposed tariffs at the end of July on imports valued at more than $15 billion last year.

While Washington and Beijing joust over trade, investors have zeroed in on Hailiang’s footprint in the US. The company said in 2020 it’s aiming for 100,000 tons of annual capacity at its plant in Houston. The factory had 30,000 tons as of last year. In an emailed response to questions, Hailiang said last week the expansion is proceeding, without elaborating.The firm’s shares have outperformed other Chinese copper producers, as well as the broader CSI 300 Index, which has fallen slightly over the period. Hailiang’s total annual capacity is around 1.5 million tons.

The 50% duty on semi-finished copper, which will disrupt sales to the US while putting a premium on metal fashioned locally, may only be the first step in a Trump-led realignment of the global copper industry. The White House also ordered officials to come up with a plan in 90 days to slap tariffs on an array of other copper-intensive goods.The US imported at least 600,000 tons of semi-finished copper last year. That’s nearly a third of its total demand, according to Citic Securities Co. As those imports become more costly, Hailiang’s US factory is expected to deliver “exceptional profits,” the brokerage said in a note.

The plant in Houston is part of a network that also includes bases in Indonesia and Morocco. Although China is the world’s biggest market for copper, the company has expanded internationally to hedge against a slowing economy at home and the risks posed by trade hostilities with western countries.The effort may now be about to pay off after an earlier stumble. The Houston plant suffered a net loss of 35 million yuan ($4.9 million) last year due to higher labor and material costs, and expenses related to its expansion, according to Hailiang’s earnings report. That was a weight on companywide net income, which dropped 37% to 703 million yuan.

The company could also benefit from its proposed acquisition of a domestic peer. It said in December it planned to buy an undisclosed stake in Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, which also has a copper tube plant in Pine Hill, Alabama.Beijing’s campaign to end deflation helped spur positive feedback in markets from equities to commodity prices. Still, strategists at Citigroup aren’t convinced that it’s time to chase the stock rally.President Donald Trump’s direct request for China to quadruple its soybean orders is a reminder of the perilous state of 2025-2026 US exports, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.Even as the green hydrogen boom fizzles globally, a handful of projects in Asia are keeping alive hopes that the technology may someday help decarbonize polluting industries.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

New Zealand’s concrete production slipped to the lowest level in more than 10 years as cooling economic growth and global uncertainty curb home construction and investment in new commercial buildings.Output fell to 3.7 million cubic meters in the 12 months through June, Statistics New Zealand said Tuesday in Wellington. That’s down 5.9% from a year earlier and the weakest annual reading since late 2014.

A construction slowdown is contributing to a sluggish recovery from a deep recession last year, with at least two local economists forecasting the economy failed to grow in the second quarter. A steady reduction in interest rates — which the Reserve Bank is tipped to continue later this month — has so far failed to spark home-building, while businesses remain reluctant to invest in new offices and warehouses.Economists expect cheaper borrowing costs will eventually encourage building, which will see the pace of the economic expansion pick up in the second half of the year.

The number of home-building consents in the 12 months through June rose 1% from the year earlier, suggesting that demand may be finding a floor. Still, the total permitted floor area of non-residential construction fell 5.2% in the June year.The RBNZ is tipped to cut the Official Cash Rate to 3% from 3.25% on Aug. 20 but economists are split whether further cuts are likely. Investors see about a 60% likelihood the benchmark will fall to 2.75% by the end of the year, swaps data show.

Today’s report showed concrete production has slowed from an annual peak of almost 4.8 million cubic meters in late 2022. Output in the three months ended June 30 fell 10% from the year-earlier quarter to 891,909 cubic meters.

Source: Bloomberg Europe

US President Donald Trump extended a tariff truce with China by another 90 days on Monday, a White House official said, staving off triple-digit duties on Chinese goods as U.S. retailers prepared for the critical end-of-year holiday season.

Trump signed an executive order delaying the start of higher tariffs until mid-November shortly after giving reporters a noncommittal answer when asked at a news conference if he planned to keep the lower tariff rates in place. On Sunday, Trump demanded China quadruple its purchases of U.S. soybeans, but it remained unclear whether Beijing had agreed.

The tariff truce between Beijing and Washington had been due to expire on Tuesday at 00:01 ET (04:01 GMT). The timing of the extension until early November buys crucial time for the seasonal autumn surge of imports for the Christmas season, including electronics, apparel and toys at lower tariff rates.

The new order prevents U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods from shooting up to 145%, while Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods were set to hit 125% - rates that would have resulted in a virtual trade embargo between the two countries. It locks in place - at least for now - a 30% tariff on Chinese imports, with Chinese duties on U.S. imports at 10%.

"We'll see what happens," Trump told a news conference earlier on Monday, highlighting what he called his good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"It's positive news. Combined with some of the de-escalatory steps both the United States and China have taken in recent weeks, it demonstrated that both sides are trying to see if they can reach some kind of a deal that would lay the groundwork for a Xi-Trump meeting this fall," said Wendy Cutler, a former senior U.S. trade official who is now a vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Trump told CNBC last week that the U.S. and China were getting very close to a trade agreement and he would meet with Xi before the end of the year if a deal was struck.

Trade 'detente' continued

The two sides in May announced a truce in their trade dispute after talks in Geneva, Switzerland, agreeing to a 90-day period to allow further talks. They met again in Stockholm, Sweden, in late July, and U.S. negotiators returned to Washington with a recommendation that Trump extend the deadline.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said repeatedly that the triple-digit import duties both sides slapped on each other's goods in the spring were untenable and had essentially imposed a trade embargo between the world's two largest economies.

"It wouldn’t be a Trump-style negotiation if it didn’t go right down to the wire," said Kelly Ann Shaw, a senior White House trade official during Trump's first term and now with law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

She said Trump had likely pressed China for further concessions before agreeing to the extension. Trump pushed for additional concessions on Sunday, urging China to quadruple its soybean purchases, although analysts questioned the feasibility of any such deal. Trump did not repeat the demand on Monday.

"The whole reason for the 90-day pause in the first place was to lay the groundwork for broader negotiations and there’s been a lot of noise about everything from soybeans to export controls to excess capacity over the weekend," Shaw said.

Ryan Majerus, a former U.S. trade official now with the King & Spalding law firm, said the news would give both sides more time to work through longstanding trade concerns.

“This will undoubtedly lower anxiety on both sides as talks continue, and as the U.S. and China work toward a framework deal in the fall," he said.

Imports from China early this year had surged to beat Trump's tariffs, but dropped steeply in June, Commerce Department data showed last week. The U.S. trade deficit with China tumbled by roughly a third in June to $9.5 billion, its narrowest since February 2004. Over five consecutive months of declines, the U.S. trade gap with China has narrowed by $22.2 billion - a 70% reduction from a year earlier.

No formal announcement was immediately released. The Treasury Department and U.S. Trade Representative's Office did not respond to requests for comment.

Washington has also been pressing Beijing to stop buying Russian oil, with Trump threatening to impose secondary tariffs on China.

Source: Theedgemarkets

The United States and China on Monday extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on Chinese goods as U.S. retailers get ready to ramp up inventories ahead of the critical end-of-year holiday season.U.S. President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had signed an executive order suspending the imposition of higher tariffs until 12:01 a.m. EST on November 10, with all other elements of the truce to remain in place.China's Commerce Ministry issued parallel moves early local China time on Tuesday, saying it would adopt and maintain all necessary measures to suspend or remove non-tariff measures.

Trump on Sunday had demanded China quadruple its purchases of U.S. soybeans, but the order included no mention of any additional purchases."The United States continues to have discussions with the PRC to address the lack of trade reciprocity in our economic relationship and our resulting national and economic security concerns," Trump's executive order stated. "Through these discussions, (China) continues to take significant steps toward remedying non-reciprocal trade arrangements and addressing the concerns of the United States relating to economic and national security matters."

The tariff truce between Beijing and Washington had been due to expire on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT). The extension until early November buys crucial time for the seasonal autumn surge of imports for the Christmas season, including electronics, apparel and toys at lower tariff rates.The new order prevents U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods from shooting up to 145%, while Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods were set to hit 125% - rates that would have resulted in a virtual trade embargo between the two countries. It locks in place - at least for now - a 30% tariff on Chinese imports, with Chinese duties on U.S. imports at 10%."We'll see what happens," Trump told a news conference earlier on Monday, highlighting what he called his good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump told CNBC last week that the U.S. and China were getting very close to a trade agreement and he would meet with Xi before the end of the year if a deal was struck."It's positive news," said Wendy Cutler, a former senior U.S. trade official who is now a vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. "Combined with some of the de-escalatory steps both the United States and China have taken in recent weeks, it demonstrated that both sides are trying to see if they can reach some kind of a deal that would lay the groundwork for a Xi-Trump meeting this fall."

TRADE 'DETENTE' CONTINUED

The two sides in May announced a truce in their trade dispute after talks in Geneva, Switzerland, agreeing to a 90-day period to allow further talks. They met again in Stockholm, Sweden, in late July, and U.S. negotiators returned to Washington with a recommendation that Trump extend the deadline.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said repeatedly that the triple-digit import duties both sides slapped on each other's goods in the spring were untenable and had essentially imposed a trade embargo between the world's two largest economies."It wouldn’t be a Trump-style negotiation if it didn’t go right down to the wire," said Kelly Ann Shaw, a senior White House trade official during Trump's first term and now with law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

She said Trump had likely pressed China for further concessions before agreeing to the extension. Trump pushed for additional concessions on Sunday, urging China to quadruple its soybean purchases, although analysts questioned the feasibility of any such deal. Trump did not repeat the demand on Monday.

"The whole reason for the 90-day pause in the first place was to lay the groundwork for broader negotiations and there’s been a lot of noise about everything from soybeans to export controls to excess capacity over the weekend," Shaw said.Ryan Majerus, a former U.S. trade official now with the King & Spalding law firm, said the news would give both sides more time to work through longstanding trade concerns.“This will undoubtedly lower anxiety on both sides as talks continue, and as the U.S. and China work toward a framework deal in the fall," he said.

Imports from China early this year had surged to beat Trump's tariffs, but dropped steeply in June, Commerce Department data showed last week. The U.S. trade deficit with China tumbled by roughly a third in June to $9.5 billion, its narrowest since February 2004. Over five consecutive months of declines, the U.S. trade gap with China has narrowed by $22.2 billion - a 70% reduction from a year earlier.Washington has also been pressing Beijing to stop buying Russian oil, with Trump threatening to impose secondary tariffs on China.

Source: Reuters

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as the United States and China extended a pause on higher tariffs, easing concerns an escalation of their trade war would disrupt their economies and crimp fuel demand in the world's two largest oil consumers.

Brent crude futuresgained 26 cents, or 0.39%, to $66.89 a barrel by 0015 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futuresrose 22 cents, or 0.34%, to $64.18.

U.S. President Donald Trump extended a tariff truce with China by another 90 days, a White House official said on Monday, staving off triple-digit duties on Chinese goods as U.S. retailers prepared for the critical end-of-year holiday season.

This raised hopes that an agreement could be attained between the world's two largest economies, and could help sidestep a virtual trade embargo between them. Tariffs risk slowing down economic growth, which could sap global fuel demand and drag oil prices lower.

Investors are also looking ahead to a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

The meeting is set amid heightened U.S. pressure on Russia, with the threat of harsher penalties on Russian oil buyers such as China and India if no peace deal is reached that could upset oil trade flows.

"Any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would end the risk of disruption to Russian oil that has been hovering over the market," ANZ senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes wrote in a note.

Trump set a deadline of last Friday for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or have its oil buyers face secondary sanctions, while pressing India to reduce purchases of Russian oil.

Washington has also been pressing Beijing to stop buying Russian oil, with Trump threatening to impose secondary tariffs on China.

The risk of those sanctions being enacted has receded ahead of the August 15 Trump-Putin meeting.

Also on the radar is U.S. inflation data later in the day, that could hint at the Federal Reserve's interest rate path. Any sign that the central bank may cut rates soon would support crude prices.

Source: Reuters

The Federal Reserve’s two vice chairs, Michelle Bowman and Philip Jefferson, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan are under consideration to serve as chair of the central bank when the position opens next year, according to two administration officials.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is running the search, will interview additional candidates in the coming weeks, said the officials, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about the process. The president is expected to make his final announcement this fall, they said.

Others who remain under consideration include Kevin Hassett, a close economic adviser to Trump, Fed Governor Christopher Waller, economist Marc Sumerlin and former Fed officials Kevin Warsh and James Bullard, the people said.

Last week, Trump nominated Stephen Miran, chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a seat on the Fed’s Board of Governors that expires at the end of January. The post opened when Adriana Kugler announced her early departure.

With Miran’s nomination headed to the Senate for confirmation, the Trump team doesn’t feel the need to rush the search for a chair, the officials said.

Bessent will interview all the candidates for chair, and then make a recommendation to the president on a short-list to meet with, the officials said.

Trump, who believes interest rates are too high, has this year directed unrelenting criticism at the Fed — and especially Chair Jerome Powell, whom he picked for the job in 2017.

The Fed’s next policy meeting is scheduled for Sept. 16-17 in Washington.

But Trump’s options for replacing Powell may be more limited than is typical. Fed chairs traditionally leave the central bank when their terms run out. But Powell has declined to say whether he’ll depart in May. If he chooses, he can stay on as a governor until 2028.

That means Trump must either put his intended chair into the seat Miran will hold until January, and promote them come May, or select someone already on the Board of Governors, which includes Bowman and Jefferson.

Any nomination to place an outsider on the board, or to elevate a governor to chair, will require Senate confirmation.

Trump appointed Bowman to the Fed in 2018 and made her vice chair for supervision — the central bank’s top regulator — this year. When the Fed’s rate-setting panel held interest rates steady for a fifth straight time in July, Bowman and Waller dissented in favor of a quarter-percentage-point cut.

Jefferson was appointed to the board by President Joe Biden in 2022 and then appointed vice chair in 2023, also by Biden. He was confirmed each time with broad bipartisan support.

At the time of Jefferson’s first nomination, Hasset, a former colleague at Columbia University, had high praise for him.

“Phil Jefferson is someone I would have been 100% comfortable telling President Trump to nominate to the Federal Reserve,” Hassett said. “He’s exactly the kind of person I want at the Fed.”

Jefferson, who would be the Fed’s first Black chair, has supported the decisions taken this year to hold rates steady.

Logan was selected by directors at the Dallas Fed to take the top job there in 2022. She previously worked at the New York Fed as manager of the Fed’s massive securities portfolio. She has also supported keeping rates unchanged this year, speaking frequently about the need to guard against tariff-driven inflation.

The panel that sets rates, the Federal Open Market Committee, is composed of all seven Fed governors, the president of the New York Fed and, on a rotating basis, four of the remaining 11 regional presidents.

The Dallas president holds a vote in 2026.

Hassett has already spoken with Trump about the chairmanship, and Warsh was considered in 2017 for the role but was passed over for Powell.

Trump also considered Warsh for Treasury secretary in November. Waller has met with the Trump team, which came away impressed with his willingness to move on policy based on forecasting, rather than current data, and his deep knowledge of the Fed system as a whole, Bloomberg News reported last week.

Source: Bloomberg Europe