2025-05-10 08:42

NEW DELHI, May 10 (Reuters) - Monsoon rains are expected to hit India's southern coast on May 27, five days earlier than usual, marking the earliest arrival in at least five years, the weather office said, raising hopes for bumper harvests of crops such as rice, corn, and soybean. The monsoon, the lifeblood of the country's $4 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain that India needs to water farms and recharge aquifers and reservoirs. Nearly half of India's farmland, without any irrigation cover, depends on the annual June-September rains to grow a number of crops. Sign up here. Forecasts of early and abundant monsoon rains are expected to alleviate concerns about potential risks to food supplies amid the current military conflict between India, the world's most populous nation, and its neighbour Pakistan. Summer rains usually begin to lash the southernmost coasts of Kerala state around June 1 and spread across the whole country by mid-July, triggering the planting of crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, and sugarcane. The monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on May 27, with a model error of plus/minus four days, the India Meteorological Department said on Saturday. Last year, the monsoon reached the coast of Kerala on May 30, and overall summer rains were the highest since 2020, helping the country recover from a drought of 2023. The India Meteorological Department last month forecast above-average monsoon rains for the second straight year in 2025. The department defines average or normal rainfall as ranging between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 87 cm (35 inches) for the four-month season. Early monsoon rains will encourage farmers in India, the world's largest rice exporter, to start planting earlier. Reuters reported last week that a bumper crop would limit any rebound in global rice prices this year. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-monsoon-rains-arrive-early-brightening-outlook-crops-2025-05-10/

2025-05-09 23:44

HOUSTON, May 9 (Reuters) - (This May 9 story has been corrected to clarify that the additional review was ordered by FERC, not by the U.S. Court of Appeals, and to delete a reference to the court ordering FERC to reconsider the ramifications of the CP2 project on air quality, in paragraph 5) U.S. federal regulators recommended in a final environmental report that Venture Global's (VG.N) , opens new tab proposed CP2 liquefied natural gas export project in Louisiana get the go-ahead, according to a government document filed on Friday. Sign up here. If constructed, CP2 will be the single largest LNG export facility in the U.S. and help the country remain the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas. Venture Global already obtained approval to construct the 28 million tonnes per annum plant, but was forced to conduct an additional environmental review of air quality impact following a court ruling. The study concluded that the project should be allowed to continue, the document from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission showed. The additional review followed an August 2024 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that quashed FERC approval of rival LNG exporter NextDecade's (NEXT.O) , opens new tab plant at the Port of Brownsville, Texas. In light of the court ruling, FERC decided to review the CP2 project's impact on air quality. CP2 has been at the center of a fight between the energy sector and environmentalists seeking to limit future LNG projects on the U.S. Gulf Coast. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/us-federal-regulators-recommend-venture-globals-cp2-get-greenlight-proceed-2025-05-09/

2025-05-09 22:54

Judge temporarily blocks land transfer, pending Supreme Court decision Apache Stronghold opposes mine on religious grounds Rio Tinto sees project as crucial for energy transition May 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from transferring land to Rio Tinto (RIO.L) , opens new tab and BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab for a copper mine opposed by Native Americans, citing the Supreme Court's ongoing deliberations in the complex case. The long-running fight over the Resolution Copper project pits the religious rights of Arizona's San Carlos Apache people against rising demand for copper for the energy transition and Washington's drive to expand minerals production. Sign up here. In an 18-page order, U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said the Apache Stronghold - a nonprofit group of the Apache and their allies - is likely to succeed in its appeal to the Supreme Court and thus the land transfer should be halted for now. "It is abundantly clear that the balance of equities tips sharply in (Apache Stronghold's) favor, and that even in the short term, they have established a likelihood of irreparable harm should the transfer proceed," Logan said. The dispute centers on the federally owned Oak Flat Campground where many Apache worship their deities. The site sits atop a reserve of more than 40 billion pounds (18.1 million metric tons) of copper, a crucial component of electric vehicles and nearly every electronic device. The Resolution project would, if built, cause a crater 2 miles (3 km) wide and 1,000 feet (304 m) deep that would slowly engulf that worship site. Since 2021, courts have rejected a request by the Apache to block the transfer. The rulings deferred to a 2014 decision made by the U.S. Congress and then-President Barack Obama. President Donald Trump started the land transfer in his first term, a move undone by successor Joe Biden while the issue wound its way through courts. The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering whether to take the case. The Supreme Court has said at least 13 times it will continue to deliberate on the appeal request, an unusually long time frame. Meanwhile, Trump last month restarted the land transfer process, with his administration aiming to complete it as soon as June 16, a move that prompted the emergency request to Logan. Logan said in his Friday ruling "there is good reason to anticipate" that the Supreme Court will take the case, adding that Rio and BHP's promises they would maintain public access to the land for as long as safely possible "are insufficient," as they are not legally binding. Logan swept aside a Rio executive's testimony - made at a hearing earlier this week - of the $2.7 billion spent on Resolution thus far and an additional $11 million a month on maintenance as the company's "voluntary choice." In a statement to Reuters, Rio said it was reviewing the district court's ruling. "This short-term order ... changes nothing about the merits of the legal issues currently before the Supreme Court," said a Rio spokesperson. BHP, which owns 45% of the project to Rio's 55%, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wendsler Nosie, one of Apache Stronghold's leaders, said he was "grateful the judge stopped this land grab in its tracks so that the Supreme Court has time to protect Oak Flat from destruction." https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-temporarily-blocks-land-exchange-rio-tinto-bhp-copper-mine-opposed-by-2025-05-09/

2025-05-09 22:30

May 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday urged Congress to raise the federal government's debt limit by mid-July to avoid a default that would upend global markets. Bessent told congressional leaders that they needed to extend the U.S. government's borrowing authority before August, warning that there is a "reasonable probability" the federal government would run short of cash to cover its obligations at that point. Sign up here. "A failure to suspend or increase the debt limit would wreak havoc on our financial system and diminish America's security and global leadership position," Bessent wrote in a letter. The U.S. debt currently stands at $36.2 trillion, according to the Treasury Department, above the $36.1 trillion limit set by Congress in January. The Treasury Department has been using temporary financial measures to avoid default, but Bessent warned that it will not be able to do so indefinitely. Republicans who control the House of Representatives and the Senate are trying to advance a sweeping package of tax cuts and spending hikes that would also raise the debt limit by at least $4 trillion. Republicans aim to pass that package by July 4. Lawmakers have repeatedly taken negotiations over raising the government's borrowing limit to the last minute, a trend that has rattled financial markets and led the major credit agencies to on the federal government's creditworthiness. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-treasury-secretary-urges-congress-raise-debt-limit-by-mid-july-2025-05-09/

2025-05-09 21:56

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday it has opened a national security investigation into the import of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts. The "Section 232" investigation, which was opened on May 1 but not publicly disclosed previously, could be used as a basis of even higher tariffs on imported planes, engines and parts. Several airlines said they were unaware of the probe before it was disclosed late on Friday. Sign up here. Airlines and manufacturers have been lobbying President Donald Trump to restore the tariff-free regime under the 1979 Civil Aircraft Agreement, under which the U.S. sector enjoyed a $75 billion annual trade surplus. Most imported airplanes and components from around the world now face 10% tariffs. A deal in principle struck with the United Kingdom on Thursday will allow British-made Rolls-Royce (RR.L) , opens new tab engines to enter the U.S. duty-free, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. The commerce department said on Friday it wants public comment within three weeks on a series of questions including on "the impact of foreign government subsidies and predatory trade practices on the competitiveness of the commercial aircraft and jet engine industry." Aerospace Industries Association CEO Eric Fanning said in response the group will engage with the department "to identify opportunities to strengthen our domestic supply chain while also maintaining the trade framework that has enabled our global leadership in aerospace." Airline executives have raised the possibility of returning leased planes and deferring aircraft deliveries. Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) , opens new tab is also unwilling to pay tariffs on aircraft deliveries. U.S. assembled planes are not immune, as aircraft makers must pay levies on imported parts. Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab is paying 10% duty on supplies from Italy and Japan. United Airlines (UAL.O) , opens new tab CEO Scott Kirby said last month that Airbus (AIR.PA) , opens new tab has had to pay tariffs on planes it is building in Alabama. Airbus and Boeing did not immediately comment on Friday. Aerospace industry officials say their situation differs from other industries, as their sector exports more than $135 billion of products annually. GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp told Reuters in April he met with Trump and explained to him how the industry's decades-old duty-free status helped it produce the highest trade balance of any sector. The company said on Friday it "will continue to work with the administration on efforts to preserve America's global leadership in aerospace." Last month, the department opened a similar probe into the national security impact of imports of medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks and related parts. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-opens-national-security-probe-into-imported-commercial-jets-engines-2025-05-09/

2025-05-09 21:52

Warsh says Fed would sacrifice the labor market to fight inflation Warsh is seen as a front-runner to be the next Fed Chair Remarks made at Hoover Institution, linked to Bush-Reagan Republicanism Palo Alto, California May 9 (Reuters) - Kevin Warsh, an apparent frontrunner to be U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, on Friday suggested a possible pathway to the lower policy rates that Trump has repeatedly pressed the current Fed Chair Jerome Powell to deliver, and delivered a fresh dig at the Fed's conduct of monetary policy. A large and often growing Fed balance sheet can work at cross-purposes with the Fed's main policy lever of setting short-term borrowing rates, Warsh told a monetary policy panel at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, but "if the printing press could be quiet, we could have lower policy rates." Sign up here. Warsh served as Fed Governor from 2006 until 2011, when he quit because he opposed the Fed's continued balance sheet expansion as central bank overreach that encouraged the expansion of the nation's debt. The Fed is currently reducing its balance sheet. On Friday, Warsh offered an added criticism of the Fed, saying there is no "cruel choice" between the Fed's two objectives of stable prices and full employment, a reference to the idea long prevalent among many central bank policymakers that the cost of bringing down inflation is harm to the job market. "What it means is, we don't have to push the unemployment rate up to get the inflation rate to fall," Warsh said on the sidelines of the conference. "At the Fed, when they talk about how we get inflation down, what they really mean is, how do we get the unemployment rate up ... we need to throw people out of work to get the inflation rate to come down, which is nonsense. But that's embedded in economic thinking, including at the Fed." The idea that a "cruel choice" is "nonsense" is actually largely consistent with how the Fed has conducted policy over the last several years, as it brought inflation down from 40-year highs without pushing the unemployment rate above the rate that most economists feel is consistent with full employment , opens new tab. Powell has repeatedly said he does not feel the current labor market is a source of inflation, suggesting that crushing the job market would do little to lower inflation. Warsh made his remarks at a conference and an institution steeped in Bush-Reagan Republicanism, now out of favor as Trump and his ideas have come to dominate the party. The conference was convened in part to celebrate John Taylor, a Bush economic adviser and author of one of the most famous monetary policy rules; Condoleezza Rice, Bush's Secretary of State, spoke on Thursday. Warsh himself was a Bush appointee to the Fed but also has close family ties to Trump through his wife - the daughter of Trump's former donor Ronald Lauder. He shared the stage on Friday with Fed Governor Christopher Waller, a Trump appointee who has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for Fed chair. Waller has said he's prepared to lower rates swiftly should tariffs drive a slowdown in the economy and send the unemployment rate upward. Asked what the Fed should do now, if its inflation and employment mandates come into tension, Warsh demurred. "Well, that's a longer discussion," he said, heading back into the conference to hear the next speakers. https://www.reuters.com/business/ex-feds-warsh-highlights-path-lower-rates-takes-fresh-dig-fed-2025-05-09/