2025-04-07 17:36
MEXICO CITY, April 7 (Reuters) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday her government would like to avoid imposing tariffs on the United States in response to President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plans, though she said they could not be ruled out. Mexico, which ships nearly 80% of its exports to the United States, was not included on Trump's list of global, across-the-board tariffs announced on nations last week, which Sheinbaum hailed as a major success. Sign up here. Still, Mexico is subject to Trump's previously imposed tariffs of 25% on steel, aluminum and automobiles, as well as on goods that do not comply with the regional USMCA trade pact. "As much as possible, we would like to avoid imposing reciprocal tariffs," Sheinbaum said in a morning press conference. She added that Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard would travel to Washington to meet with U.S. officials, as he has done in recent weeks. Sheinbaum said slapping a retaliatory tariff of 25% on U.S. steel and aluminum shipments "would represent price increases in Mexico." "We aren't ruling it out, but we prefer to continue with dialogue," she added. Mexican officials have said U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs are unjustified as Mexico imports more in the sector from the U.S. than it exports to the U.S. The nation's peso and main stock index weakened more than 1% by mid-morning on Monday, part of a market plunge worldwide as Trump threatened to further increase tariffs on China. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-would-like-avoid-imposing-reciprocal-tariffs-us-2025-04-07/
2025-04-07 17:08
Kugler says Fed's priority is to keep inflation in check Trump's tariffs have increased recession fears, sent stock markets plunging Rising prices painful for households, Kugler says April 7 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler on Monday said that some of the recent rise in goods and market-services inflation may be "anticipatory" of the effect of the Trump administration's tariffs, adding that the Fed's focus should be on keeping inflation in check. "It should be a priority to make sure that inflation doesn't move up," Kugler said at the conclusion of a lecture on inflation dynamics to a Harvard University economics class. She noted that short-term inflation expectations have risen but longer-term they remain well-anchored. Sign up here. "We want to keep it that way," she said. "We, all colleagues at the Fed, are very committed still to our 2% target and want to keep inflation expectations well anchored, which should be a priority now." The Fed has kept its policy rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range since December, when it delivered the last of a series of interest-rate cuts aimed at making sure that monetary policy wasn't overly restrictive in the face of what was then falling inflation. Since the beginning of the year, progress towards the Fed's 2% inflation target has been barely detectable, and measures of underlying inflation have risen, pushed up by core goods prices and market-services inflation. At the same time, Kugler said, economic activity in the first quarter may turn out to have been stronger than anticipated, as households rushed to buy things like cars ahead of widely anticipated tariffs. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a slew of import levies that were far higher than businesses and world governments had expected, sending global stocks plunging on fear of recession and ratcheting up expectations that the Fed will lower interest rates to cushion the blow for the United States. So far Fed officials have given no sense they are leaning that way, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying last week that tariffs do raise the likelihood of both slower growth and higher inflation, but that it's too soon to know the correct monetary policy response. As Kugler spoke, Trump threatened additional tariffs on China after that country said it was retaliating against last week's tariffs with higher tariffs of its own. Asked by a Harvard student about that threat, Kugler said, and repeated several times for emphasis, that she would not comment on Trump's remarks, or on the advisability of the policies themselves, or on short-term financial market movements, or on fiscal or trade policy more generally. But asked by a different student about their parents' fear that tariffs will increase the price of eggs, dresses and other goods, Kugler leaned into the need to fight inflation. While it remains to be seen how much businesses end up passing higher costs from the new tariffs onto consumers, she said, "I do understand that's painful, which is exactly why we think we need to keep focus on that." https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/feds-kugler-making-sure-inflation-doesnt-rise-is-priority-2025-04-07/
2025-04-07 16:55
April 7 (Reuters) - U.S.-listed shares of crypto companies tumbled on Monday, mirroring a sharp drop in bitcoin as escalating tariff tensions and fears of a global trade war triggered a broad retreat from risk assets. Bitcoin fell as much as 5.5% to hit its lowest in 2025. Strategy (MSTR.O) , opens new tab, which holds billions worth of the token on its balance sheet, fell more than 10% and gave back much of the gains from the previous session. Sign up here. Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab dropped 5%. Robinhood (HOOD.O) , opens new tab slid as much as 14% after Barclays slashed its price target, citing concerns the crypto market turmoil could weigh on the company's transaction revenue this quarter. It pared losses in the afternoon. The pair have surrendered most of their gains since Donald Trump's victory in November, reflecting the challenges the industry is facing months after it rallied on the president's promise to make the U.S. "the crypto capital of the planet". "High risk-off sentiment is canceling out optimism about a more clement environment for coins," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. Though not directly hit by the new levies, crypto firms are still feeling the effects as the steepest trade barriers in over a century sap investor sentiment across markets. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman warned on Sunday the U.S. might be heading towards an "economic nuclear winter". The slide could also shake investors' faith in bitcoin's role as a safe-haven during times of turbulence. Advocates have long promoted the token as a hedge against both market volatility and currency fluctuations. "Crypto is not that unique from a market asset class perspective. It is a good old-fashioned risk asset. It has to decouple if it's going to be useful," said crypto entrepreneur Trevor Koverko. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/us-crypto-stocks-plunge-bitcoin-hits-new-2025-low-2025-04-07/
2025-04-07 15:54
ABUJA, April 7 (Reuters) - A Nigerian court has adjourned a tax evasion case against Binance to April 30 to allow the local tax authority to respond to a request by the cryptocurrency exchange to annul an order for court documents to be served on it by email, a lawyer for Binance said on Monday. The lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, asked the court to set aside the order because the tax authority did not obtain a leave from the court to serve court documents on Binance outside Nigeria. Binance does not have a physical office in Nigeria. Sign up here. "On the whole the order for the substituted service as granted by the court on February 11, 2025 on Binance who is ... registered under the laws of Cayman Islands and resident in Cayman Islands is improper and should be set aside," Ikwuazom said. Nigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel Binance to pay $79.5 billion for economic losses it says were caused by its operations in the country and $2 billion in back taxes, according to court documents. Authorities blame Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, for Nigeria's currency instability and detained two of its executives in 2024 after cryptocurrency websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the local naira currency. Binance, which is not registered in Nigeria, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it is working with Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service to resolve potential historic tax liabilities. The inland revenue service alleges in documents seen by Reuters that Binance has a "significant economic presence" in Nigeria and is therefore liable for corporate income tax. It is seeking a court declaration that Binance pay income taxes for 2022 and 2023, plus a 10% annual penalty on unpaid amounts. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerian-court-adjourns-binance-executives-tax-evasion-trial-april-30-2025-04-07/
2025-04-07 15:30
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he will impose an additional 50% tariff on China if Beijing does not withdraw its retaliatory tariffs on the United States. "Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-threatens-additional-tariffs-china-terminates-talks-2025-04-07/
2025-04-07 15:12
Reuters Tariffs Live Page NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's most watched gauge of investor anxiety jumped to a new eight-month high on Monday as U.S. stocks extended their selloff from last week on worries over the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy. The Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX) , opens new tab - an options-based gauge of investor anxiety - jumped as much as 14.82 points to 60.13, its highest since August 5. The index, dubbed Wall Street's 'fear gauge,' was last up 4.52 points at 49.83, after registering its highest closing level in five years on Friday. Sign up here. The index rose as Wall Street's main equity indexes opened sharply lower, with the S&P 500 close to confirming it is in a bear market - a drop of 20% from a record high. The benchmark index recovered ground to trade up 0.7% in choppy price action after CNBC reported White House officials were not aware of U.S. President Donald Trump considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China. "The tariff episode has definitely rocketed VIX into panic territory," Jim Carroll, portfolio manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth, said. "The big question now is when we recover and how quickly," he said. The VIX logged a record jump in August as traders rushed to hedge against market volatility during a global selloff fueled by U.S. recession fears. The index went on to mark a record retreat, however, as investors were quick to return to strategies that bank on low stock volatility. "Tariff resolution is likely to be protracted, so I don't think we see the rapid collapse of volatility that happened last August," Carroll said. Still, the VIX's latest jump puts it at levels that in the past have marked a crescendo in selling that could at least result in a pause in the market's slide. "Readings of this magnitude are not only historically rare, but they also often overlap near major capitulation points in market sell-offs," Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, said in a note. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/wall-street-fear-gauge-flashes-red-stocks-extend-selloff-2025-04-07/
