European auto shares rally after US-Japan trade deal
The European Union said on Wednesday it plans to hit the US with 30% tariffs on $117 billion worth of goods in the event that no deal is made and if President Trump decides to follow through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc's exports after Aug.1.
Bloomberg News reported the European Commission will combine $24 billion in approved tariffs with a proposed $83 billion US goods list into one countermeasure package.
President Trump said on Tuesday during an official meeting at the White House with members of Congress, that the US and Japan had reached a trade deal.
“I just signed the largest deal in history with Japan," Trump said during the meeting. The president said the agreement includes a 15% tariff on imported goods from Japan, and the country will invest $550 billion into the US.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said the US had also struck a trade deal with the Philippines, which will see the country's imports face a 19% tariff into the US. Trump said US exports will face no import tax in the Philippines as part of the deal.
The White House unveiled new details of a confirmed trade agreement with Indonesia too. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reports that a 19% tariff will apply to Indonesian goods, as well as a 40% rate on any “transhipped” goods. Officials said no tax would apply to "99%" of US imports.
The deal developments come as prospects for larger pacts with India and the European Union have soured. An interim deal between the US and India before an Aug. 1 deadline looks increasingly unlikely, according to Reuters.
Trump is reportedly pushing for higher blanket tariffs on imports from the EU, throwing a wrench in negotiations ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for sweeping duties to take effect. He has threatened 30% tariffs on all imports.
Last week, Trump said he would soon send letters to over 150 smaller US trade partners, setting blanket tariff rates for that large group. Trump has already sent letters to over 20 trade partners outlining tariffs on goods imported from their countries.
Earlier in July, Trump announced a 35% tariff on Canadian goods and followed that up with promises of 30% duties on Mexico and the EU. The letters have at times upended months of careful negotiations, with Trump saying he is both open to reaching different deals but also touting his letters as "the deals" themselves.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said he expected many deals to take shape over the next several days.
Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world.
Bloomberg news reported that the European Union announced on Wednesday it plans to hit the US with 30% tariffs on $117 billion worth of goods in the event that no deal is made and if President Trump decides to follow through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc's exports after Aug.1.
A European Commission spokesman said that the first part of countermeasures would combine an already approved list of tariffs on $24 billion of US goods and a previously proposed list on an additional on $83 billion of American products into one package.
The US exports, which would include goods such as Boeing aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey would all face heavy tariffs that match Trump's 30% threat.
The tariffs would be prepared to come into force next month but only if there is no deal and the US implements its levies after the August deadline, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
Bloomberg News reports:
Shares in major European carmakers rose on Wednesday, tracking a steep rally in some of their Asian rivals, after Tokyo struck a trade deal with the United States, fuelling optimism for a similar agreement with Europe.
Volvo Car (VOLCAR-B.ST) jumped around 7% to its highest since mid-May. Germany's Porsche (PAH3.DE, POAHY) , BMW (BMW.DE), Mercedes Benz (MBG.DE), Volkswagen (VOW3.DE, VOW.DE) all rose between 3.8% and 6.8%. Shares in Stellantis (STLA, STLAP.PA, 8TI.DE) and Renault (RNO.PA) were up around 3%.
The European auto stocks index rose 3.4% by 0706 GMT, the most among other sectoral indices, compared with a 0.9% rise in the regional STOXX 600 index (^STOXX) .
Read more here.
At least four ships are rushing to reach US ports before August to avoid new import tariffs, a report from Bloomberg News claimed on Wednesday.
Bloomberg News:
The shipments represent the final scramble by merchants to cash in on a lucrative arbitrage trade that has upended the global copper market since US President Donald Trump first floated the idea of copper tariffs. The urgency to secure imports increased in the past two weeks after Trump announced the levy would be 50% starting Aug. 1.
Bulk carrier Kiating left Australia’s Townsville port last Wednesday carrying 8,000 metric tons of refined cargo and is destined to reach Hawaii by July 30, according to shipping data provider Kpler. The firm can’t identify who owns the cargo, but it said two other recent US-bound shipments from the port contained copper from Glencore Plc’s Mount Isa Mines.
Port data show that the Kiating was originally scheduled to land in New Orleans, but changed its destination to Hawaii after Trump’s announcement — cutting its likely voyage time by almost 20 days. Even so, the cargo owner will be in a race against time to register the metal with the local customs office once the vessel arrives.
Read more here.
Enphase Energy (ENPH) said on Tuesday that steep import tariffs had impacted its gross margin, causing the solar panel maker's shares to fall 6% in premarket trading on Wednesday.
Enphase forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday and said President Donald Trump's import tariffs had impacted its earnings.
Reuters reports:
US trade officials in April finalized steep tariffs on most solar cells imported from Southeast Asia, after American manufacturers complained that companies from the region were flooding the market with unfairly cheap goods.
Renewable energy companies such as Enphase are also facing significant uncertainty as Trump pushes to repeal or modify tax credits for solar and wind energy projects.
Enphase said it sees the nation’s residential market shrinking 20% next year as tax credits for homeowners end under President Donald Trump’s sweeping economic legislation.
Read more here.
Bloomberg News reports:
Taiwan’s trade negotiators have arrived in the US for talks aimed at clinching a trade deal with President Donald Trump’s team and averting a threatened 32% tariff.
“At this very moment, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun and the negotiation team are in Washington, DC, conducting the fourth round of face-to-face tariff talks,” President Lai Ching-te said in a statement Wednesday, vowing to both deepen relations while safeguarding Taiwan’s own interests.
Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun and trade negotiator Yang Jen-ni are striving to reach a deal in this round of talks, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday, asking not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Exchanges have been “constructive,” the person added, while noting the final tariff rate is Trump’s decision and still remains unclear.
Read more here.
Shares of Japanese automakers pumped after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan, lowering the previously discussed 25% auto tariffs on Japanese vehicles to 15%.
Trump hailed the deal as the “largest Deal ever,” claiming Japan would invest $550 billion in the US and allow greater access to its markets, including for American autos, trucks, and agricultural goods.
Honda (HMC) surged 9.8%, Toyota (TM) jumped 13.9%, Nissan (7222.T) gained over 5%, and Mazda (7261.T) soared 17.7%. Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T) rose over 12%.
According to Japan's NHK, the revised tariff structure includes a 12.5% cut plus a 2.5% “Most Favored Nation” base rate. The move comes as Japanese auto exports to the US have suffered, plunging 26.7% in June.
Read more here.
President Trump announced overnight that his team and Japan have finally reached a trade deal, which includes a 15% tariff on imported goods from Japan, and the country will invest $550 billion into the US.
Trump, who made the announcement during a White House reception with members of Congress and later on Truth Social, called it the \\"largest trade deal in history\\" in reference to Japan.
The deal wasn’t easy to achieve. Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had hoped to speak with Trump at the G-7 meeting back in June, but earlier this month Trump said Japan was \\"spoiled\\" and doubted a deal would happen.
The two sides have come a long way, with Ishiba remaining stoic yet firm to maintain his country’s trust while trying to reach an agreement with the US.
Bloomberg News reports:
The agreement, touted by Trump after he secured breakthroughs in a final 75-minute Oval Office meeting Tuesday with Japanese negotiators, spares the nation from a threatened 25% tariff that was set to take effect next week.
“They had their top people here and we worked on it long and hard, and it’s a great deal for everybody,” Trump said at a White House event Tuesday evening.
Under the deal, automobiles and parts would be subjected to the same 15% rate as Japan’s other exports, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in Tokyo, amid local media reports that he’s planning to step down in the wake of the agreement following a poor showing for his party in an election on Sunday.
In return, Japan will accept cars and trucks built to US motor vehicle safety standards, without subjecting them to additional requirements — a potentially major step to selling more American-built vehicles in the country. The auto sector tariff had been one of the main sticking points in the negotiations.
Read more here.
President Trump and his team released new details of a pact announced last week with Indonesia, confirming plans for a 19% tariff on the country and adding a 40% rate on any “transhipped” goods.
The more complete framework of the deal is further confirmation of an agreement with America’s 23rd largest trading partner that will avert 32% tariffs that Trump threatened previously. It also stipulates that “Indonesia is going to drop its tariffs to 0% on over 99% of its trade,” a senior White House official said Tuesday.
The official added that the deal includes the elimination of non-tariff barriers that Trump’s team say hinders American companies, including in areas like pre-shipment inspection requirements, motor vehicle safety standards, and restrictions around US medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
The exact definition of how Trump defines transshipped goods has been a matter of some debate in recent weeks. The deal with Indonesia includes goods not just re-labeled but made with a significant portion of components from a third country and then assembled in Indonesia. It's a provision also included in a recent deal with Vietnam and is clearly aimed at China.
Indonesian negotiators previously confirmed that a deal had been struck but not all details, with the country president’s spokesperson telling Reuters the negotiations had been “an extraordinary struggle.”
President Trump said Tuesday the US had reached a trade deal with the Philippines following its president's visit to the White House.
He posted on Truth Social:
President Ferdinand Marcos, of the Philippines, is just leaving the White House, with all of his many Representatives. It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% Tariff. In addition, we will work together Militarily. It was a Great Honor to be with the President. He is Highly Respected in his Country, as he should be. He is also a very good, and tough, negotiator. We extend our warmest regards to the wonderful people of The Philippines!
This doesn't seem to move the needle much for the Philippines, whose imports to the US will see a 19% tariff instead of the 20% Trump had threatened from Aug. 1.
The Philippines is the US's 29th-largest trade partner.
Fascinating angle from Bloomberg:
At least four ships carrying copper are trying to reach US ports before August to get ahead of planned import tariffs on the metal.
The shipments represent the final scramble by merchants to cash in on a lucrative arbitrage trade that has upended the global copper market since US President Donald Trump first floated the idea of copper tariffs. The urgency to secure imports increased in the past two weeks after Trump announced the levy would be 50% starting Aug. 1.
Bulk carrier Kiating left Australia’s Townsville port last Wednesday carrying 8,000 metric tons of refined cargo and is destined to reach Hawaii by July 30, according to shipping data provider Kpler. The firm can’t identify who owns the cargo, but it said two other recent US-bound shipments from the port contained copper from Glencore Plc’s Mount Isa Mines.
Port data show that the Kiating was originally scheduled to land in New Orleans, but changed its destination to Hawaii after Trump’s announcement — cutting its likely voyage time by almost 20 days. Even so, the cargo owner will be in a race against time to register the metal with the local customs office once the vessel arrives.
“It’s hard to say how efficient clearance will be in Hawaii, given that it’s such an atypical destination for this cargo,” said Ben Ayre, lead dry-bulk shipping analyst at Kpler.
Read more here.
Coca-Cola's (KO) CFO said the company is managing President Trump's tariffs.
\\"June turned out to be a disappointing month,\\" Coca-Cola CFO John Murphy told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday. He noted that tariffs continue to create uncertainty heading into the second half of the year.
\\"We think we can manage absorbing any of the impacts with the various levers that we have at our disposal. It's always a local decision as to how to utilize those levers, but right now, it's something that we factored into our rest of year guidance.\\"
Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma reports that Coca-Cola reported earnings for its second quarter that topped forecasts.
... adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.87, higher than the $0.83 analysts had expected, according to Bloomberg data.
Adjusted revenue in the quarter tallied $12.62 billion compared to forecasts for $12.55 billion. The company said its 5% increase in net revenues was driven by a 6% increase in prices and its mix of goods sold, along with a 1% decline in concentrate sales.
The company also updated its guidance, saying it now expects adjusted earnings per share to rise 3% against the $2.88 it reported a year ago. Its revenue for the year is now expected to face a 1%-2% currency headwind, with organic sales still forecast to rise 5%-6% for the year.
Read more here.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Tuesday that he plans to meet his Chinese counterpart next week and discuss an extension of an August 12 deadline for higher tariffs. Both China and the US reached a trade truce in London last month to prevent escalating tariffs.
Reuters reports:
\\"I think we've actually moved to a new level with China, where it's very constructive and very we're able - we're going to be able - to get a lot of things done now that trade has kind of settled in at a good level,\\" Bessent said
Bessent told Fox Business that trade with China was in \\"a very good place\\" and the meetings in Stockholm would take place next Monday and Tuesday.
Read more here.
US aerospace and defense giant RTX (RTX) cut its 2025 profit forecast on Tuesday, citing President Trump's trade war as the major reason. Shares of the company fell 3% in premarket trading.
Reuters reports:
Trump's imposition of tariffs on imports of aluminum (ALI=F) and steel has shrouded the markets with uncertainty, threatening to add pressure on an already-strained supply chain.
RTX had warned of an $850 million hit from the trade war, though it was based on the assumption that steel and aluminum tariffs remain at 25%, China tariffs remain at 145% and global reciprocal tariffs remain at 10%.
Since then, levies on steel and aluminum have doubled to 50% and Trump has unveiled new tariffs on most trading partners, but those on China have significantly reduced.
RTX now expects adjusted profit between $5.80 and $5.95 per share for 2025, down from its prior forecast of $6.00 and $6.15 per share.
Read more here.
Tariffs have started to hit US automaker General Motors (GM), who reported a fall in second quarter core profit of 32% to $3 billion on Tuesday. The automaker said tariffs have sapped $1.1 billion from results as it continues to grapple with President Trump's challenging trade war.
Reuters reports:
The automaker's revenue in the quarter ended June 30 fell nearly 2% to about $47 billion from a year ago. Its quarterly adjusted earnings per share fell to $2.53 compared with $3.06 a year earlier.
Analysts on average expected the company to notch a quarterly adjusted profit of $2.44 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. Shares of the company fell about 4% in premarket trade.
The largest U.S. automaker by sales said it expects the tariff impact to worsen in the third quarter and stuck to a previous estimate that trade headwinds threaten to hit the bottom line by $4 billion to $5 billion. GM said it could take steps to mitigate at least 30% of that impact.
Read more here.
American imports to Canada have dropped sharply due to Canadian provinces' boycott of US spirits amid the ongoing trade war with the United States, according to a Canadian liquor trade group.
Reuters reports:
Sales of US spirits in Canada dropped 66.3% between March 5, when provinces announced they would stop carrying the products in retail stores, and the end of April, according to an analysis by Spirits Canada.
The group, which represents Canadian manufacturers and marketers of distilled spirits, said total spirits sales in Canada fell 12.8% during the same period.
\\"The North American spirits sector is highly interconnected, and the immediate and continued removal of all U.S. spirits products from Canadian shelves is deeply problematic for spirits producers on both sides of the border,\\" said Cal Bricker, president and CEO of Spirits Canada.
Several Canadian provinces pulled U.S. spirits from liquor stores in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of a 25% tariff on certain imports.
Read more here.
Pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca (AZN) announced it plans to invest $50 billion in US manufacturing by 2030, in the hopes it will avoid steep tariffs on imported components manufactured abroad.
Yahoo Finance's senior reporter Anjalee Khemlani looks at how AstraZeneca's latest US investment keeps pace with its big pharma rivals.
UK-based AstraZeneca said it currently relies on the US market for 42% of its revenue, but CEO Pascal Soriot told Yahoo Finance he hopes to increase the US market share to 50% of revenues with this move. AstraZeneca, known for vaccines and its oncology drugs Tagrisso and Imfinzi, is now also eyeing cardio-metabolic diseases — thanks to the rise in popularity of GLP-1s.
The strategy to invest billions in manufacturing is one being deployed by the industry in order to curry favor with President Donald Trump and his reshoring agenda. This is in hopes of avoiding strict tariffs on imported drug components manufactured abroad. Soriot told Yahoo Finance he isn't as worried about exposure to tariffs, and believes the tax and economic incentives the U.S. offers is enough to spur the transition to more U.S.-based manufacturing.
\\"I think tariffs are an issue, and a threat for some companies. To some extent, we are insulated, and we will be further insulated with the investments we are making now,\\" Soriot said.
The commitment is the largest investment to date, according to the company in a statement Monday. It includes expansions of current sites, including in Maryland and Massachusetts, as well as a new facility in Virginia.
\\"The cornerstone of this landmark investment is a new multi-billion dollar US manufacturing facility that will produce drug substances for the Company’s innovative weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat, oral PCSK9 and combination small molecule products,\\" the company said. \\"The new state-of-the-art centre will produce small molecules, peptides and oligonucleotides.\\"
Read more here
China's growth could be eroded due to President Trump's efforts to target the country via its trading partners across global supply chains, according to Bloomberg Economics.
China is using other countries like Vietnam and Mexico more to make products for the US, a trend that accelerated after Trump's first trade war. China's share of total value- added manufacturing of goods destined for the US via Vietnam and Mexico surged 22% in 2023 from 14% in 2017.
Bloomberg News reports:
If Trump is successful in targeting transshipments via higher levies or supply chain requirements, it would threaten 70% of China’s exports to the US and more than 2.1% of the Asian country’s gross domestic product, the analysts found. There’s a risk of additional economic damage if the restrictions weigh on countries’ desire to do business with China, they said.
“Trade flows via third countries are substantial and have helped cushion the blow from existing US tariffs,” Bloomberg Economics analysts Chang Shu, Rana Sajedi and David Qu wrote in a research note Tuesday. “Tighter controls on these shipments would increase the damage from the trade war and could erode growth opportunities in the long term.”
Read more here.
Hopes for a US-India trade deal before the August 1 deadline are fading, with talks stuck over cuts to farm and dairy tariffs, according to sources.
Reuters reports:
\\"An interim deal before August 1 looks difficult, though virtual discussions are ongoing,\\" one of the Indian government sources said, adding a US delegation was expected to visit New Delhi soon to continue negotiations.
US President Donald Trump threatened a 26% tariff on Indian imports in April but paused implementation to allow for talks. That pause ends on August 1, though India has yet to receive a formal tariff letter, unlike over 20 other countries.
India's trade delegation, led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, returned from Washington after a fifth round of talks without a breakthrough.
Read more here.
Orange juice prices join the list of products that could see price increases as a result of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Bloomberg reports:
A US orange juice distributor is suing over President Donald Trump’s move to impose a 50% tariff on Brazil starting next month.
Johanna Foods Inc. is arguing that Trump’s reasons for the levy increase — including support for Brazil’s former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro — don’t present “unusual and extraordinary” threats that give him emergency authority to circumvent Congress’ taxing power.
The New Jersey-based company estimates that the Brazil tariffs would increase its costs for not-from-concentrate orange juice from Brazil by $68 million over the next 12 months and raise retail costs for consumers between 20-25%. According to the complaint, Brazil supplies more than half of all orange juice sold in the US.
Read more here.
President Trump's August 1 tariff deadline is steadily approaching, and trading partners are preparing for multiple outcomes. Brazil, for example, is increasingly open to the possibility that a trade deal won't be reached in time.
Reuters reported:
Brazil's finance minister said on Monday his country would not give up negotiating with the U.S. but acknowledged that a trade deal may fail to be reached by August 1, when President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods are due to take effect.
\\"That could happen,\\" Fernando Haddad told radio station CBN in an interview, saying Latin America's largest economy was still awaiting a response from Washington on trade proposals initially submitted in May.
Trump announced the steep tariffs earlier this month, citing what he called a \\"witch hunt\\" against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial on charges of plotting a coup, and trade practices he said were unfair.
Haddad said Brazil had contingency plans to deal with any potential tariffs, and could ultimately redirect more than half its current U.S. exports to other markets.
\\"But that would take time,\\" he cautioned.
Read more here.