President Donald Trump issued new tariffs on imports from 60 countries, citing inadequate enforcement of bans on goods made with forced labor, while exempting products like oil, gas and fertilizer. President Donald Trump is going ahead with new double-digit tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners just as the clock runs out Friday on stopgap levies he imposed after a stinging defeat at the Supreme Court.
markets ticked modestly higher in premarket trading and oil prices retreated for the first time in a week, even as heavy fighting in the Middle East again threatened to slow the global flow of oil and gas.S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4%. Even with the gains Friday, all three indexes are on track to finish the week with losses.Looming over markets has been the deepening crisis in the Middle East, worries over an artificial intelligence bubble and another round of tariff hikes by U.S. is imposing taxes of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners, accounting for 99% of U.S.
imports, saying they failed to fully enforce bans on goods produced by forced labor, the Trump administration said Thursday.That move came just as the clock was running out Friday on stopgap levies the president imposed after a stinging defeat for other such tariffs at the Supreme Court.Such uncertainties have helped push the U.S. dollar to a 40-year high against the Japanese yen. A dollar bought 163.79 yen early Friday, down from 163.85 yen and a level last seen in 1986.After shooting to $102 per barrel a day earlier, Brent crude, the international standard, was down $3.02 at $97.67.
Before the Iran war began in late February it was trading around $72 per barrel.U.S. benchmark crude slipped $2.43 to $89.76 per barrel. Even with Friday's decline, both standards are up more than 10% this week.Attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea threatened another avenue that oil companies use to move their crude from the Middle East to customers worldwide, along with the Strait of Hormuz.Underscoring the importance of the sea route for the economy, Trump threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are backed by Iran, if they keep attacking ships.Gasoline prices tend to follow oil prices higher, and the average cost for a gallon of regular gas surpassed $4.10 overnight, according to AAA.
That's still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran expanded, but it's almost a dollar higher than last year at this time.Higher gas prices generally exacerbate broader inflation and could force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates, which would slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and other investments… Oil surged to $100 per barrel after Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. And, President Trump overnight replaced expiring tariffs with a slew of new ones.(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)
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