The Trump administration would look at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks with Beijing, Reuters reported. That followed a Wall Street Journal report citing a senior White House official as saying that U.S. tariffs on China were likely to come down to between roughly 50% and 60%.

Trump said on Tuesday that a trade deal with China could “substantially” cut tariffs. The prospect of negotiations between Washington and Beijing, currently locked in an escalating tit-for-tat tariff war, lifted market sentiment.

Stocks extended gains after the WSJ report, building on early momentum after Trump said he had “no intention” of firing Powell, walking back on his comment that the Fed chair’s termination could not come “fast enough.”

Trump Criticism of Powell Fueled Concerns

Trump’s criticism of Powell had fueled concerns about the central bank’s autonomy, leading to sharp losses in U.S. assets, including stocks and the dollar, earlier in the week.

“There seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel here in terms of the trade war, investors are beginning to feel more confident that perhaps the worst of the trade rhetoric is over and are beginning to focus on some of the fundamentals, like the earnings,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

Among key earnings, Tesla leapt nearly 8%. The EV-maker reported better-than-expected profit for its core auto business. CEO Elon Musk said he would step back from his involvement in the Trump administration to focus on running his numerous companies.

At 10:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,082.18 points, or 2.76%, to 40,269.16, the S&P 500 gained 172.17 points, or 3.26%, to 5,459.49, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 691.40 points, or 4.24%, to 16,991.82.

The consumer discretionary and information technology stocks led broad-based gains, up 5.2% and 4.6% respectively, helping the tech-heavy Nasdaq largely outperform peers.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index leapt 5.6%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 rose 3.5%.

The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, touched its lowest since April 3.

Softening of China Tariffs

The apparent softening on China tariffs was a welcome sign for markets battered by Trump’s erratic trade policies. The S&P 500 has dropped more than 11% from its February record high. However, it jumped nearly 6% over the last two sessions.

However, given the continued uncertainty, some market participants remain skeptical of the recent rally.

“Unless the president or the administration comes out with consistent statements – and by consistent, I mean by more than (a) 24-hour news cycle – this is a temporary rally,” said Peter Andersen, founder, Andersen Capital Management.

Boeing gained 7.2% after reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.

Meanwhile, data showed U.S. business activity slowed to a 16-month low in April.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 8.56-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 5.92-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted two new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 31 new highs and 19 new lows.

—

(Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Purvi Agarwal and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Pooja Desai)

The post Tariff Optimism Fuels Wall Street Gains as Trump Eases Stance on Powell appeared first on GV Wire.

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of President Donald Trump’s broad imposition of tariffs on imported goods.

“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy, driving up prices and threatening jobs,” Newsom said in a statement.

The tariffs could have all of those negative impacts, but California’s economy was already sluggish.

As Gabe Petek, the Legislature’s budget analyst, said in a January response to Newsom’s state revenue forecast, “These gains are not tied to improvements in the state’s broader economy, which has been lackluster, with elevated unemployment, a stagnant job market outside of government and healthcare, and sluggish consumer spending.”

California has more than a million unemployed workers and its unemployment rate is tied for second-highest among the states.

Key Industries Facing Headwinds

“Jobs growth remains concentrated in government and government supported health care and social services while other private industries in total continue to shed jobs,” according to the Center for Jobs and the Economy, an arm of the California Business Roundtable trade group.

Virtually every major segment of California’s economy has been facing stiff headwinds in recent years, but the only one enjoying political notice has been Southern California’s film industry, which is seeing other states and nations lure production away with lower costs and subsidies.

“Those business decisions have considerable consequences for the industry’s thousands of middle-class workers: the camera operators, set decorators and lighting technicians who make movies and television happen,” the New York Times reported.

Newsom and the Legislature are planning a major increase in state subsidies to keep production in California, but it may be too little and too late.

Tech Sector Troubles

Meanwhile, “The substantial loss of technology jobs in the Bay Area so far this year is a huge shock to the Bay Area economy and labor market,” Scott Anderson, chief economist with BMO Capital Markets, recently told the East Bay Times. “The technology job loss trend has been in place for some time now, but the deterioration in the first two months of the year is concerning.”

Tariffs could hit Southern California’s most important economic driver — the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and the warehouse complexes in the region’s interior — especially hard. But this sector was already facing rising costs that undercut its competitiveness.

The Goods Movement Alliance, a coalition of business groups, is backing Newsom’s challenge to tariffs, but also cites the state’s policies, industrial electricity rates twice the national average and high gasoline and diesel fuel prices as negative factors, as well as new pollution controls on ships and anti-warehousing legislation.

California’s largest-in-the-nation agricultural industry, including its famous winemaking sector, is also shrinking, largely due to uncertain water supplies, labor shortages and the same high costs for electricity and fuel that the logistics industry faces.

The Public Policy Institute of California has estimated that, “even in the best-case scenario, some 500,000 acres may need to be fallowed in the San Joaquin Valley” due to restrictions on pumping irrigation water from underground aquifers.

Government Sector Also Strained

Finally, even though government has been California’s foremost employment driver — including government-financed medical services — in recent years, it is also facing bleak times. The state budget is mired in what fiscal experts call a “structural deficit” and virtually every major city, some counties and large school districts are in the same pickle. Los Angeles and San Francisco are particularly plagued after several years of of overspending and their leaders, such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, are warning that layoffs may be inevitable.

Trump’s tariffs might make things worse, but California’s economic woes predate Trump. Much of it was self-inflicted.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Make Your Voice Heard

GV Wire encourages vigorous debate from people and organizations on local, state, and national issues. Submit your op-ed to bmcewen@gvwire.com for consideration.

The post California’s Economy Was Already Sluggish Before Trump’s Global Tariffs appeared first on GV Wire.

Roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans and soon could be subject to having their wages garnished.

Referrals for collection had been put on hold since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the U.S. government also paused federal student loan payments and interest accrual as a temporary relief measure. That grace period was extended multiple times by the Biden administration and ended in October.

One of the borrowers facing more severe consequences is Kat Hanchon, who works in higher education information technology in Michigan.

“My stomach dropped immediately as soon as I read (the news),” said Hanchon, 33. “I wanted to throw up because I already live paycheck to paycheck.”

Hanchon said she owes nearly $85,000 in debt between their undergraduate and master’s degrees. And even with an income-driven repayment plan, Hanchon said she could not afford to pay those loans off on top of other expenses including a mortgage and medical bills.

The last time Hanchon remembers being able to make a student loan payment was September 2024. “I couldn’t even afford the like $55 that they were trying to charge me … because it’s that tight of a budget,” she said.

The department says it will soon begin sending notices on collection efforts, but there are options for borrowers to get out of default.

Here are some key things to know.

How Will Involuntary Collection Work?

Beginning May 5, the department will begin involuntary collection through the Treasury Department’s offset program. Borrowers who have student loans in default will receive communication from Federal Student Aid in the upcoming weeks with information about their options, according to the Education Department.

Involuntary collection means the government can garnish wages, intercept tax refunds and seize portions of Social Security checks and other benefit payments to go toward paying back the loan.

What Is the Difference Between Delinquent and Default in My Student Loans?

A student loan becomes delinquent when a borrower doesn’t make a payment 90 days after its due date. If you continue to be delinquent on your loan for 270 days — or roughly nine months — then your loan goes into default.

While being delinquent affects your credit score, going into default has more serious consequences such as wage garnishment.

What Happens When a Loan Goes Into Default?

When you fall behind on a loan by 270 days, the loan appears on your credit report as being in default. Once a loan is in default the government will send the borrower into collections.

What Can I Do Right Now if My Student Loan Is in Default?

The Education Department is recommending borrowers visit its Default Resolution Group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation.

Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute for Student Loan Advisors, recommends loan rehabilitation as an option.

Borrowers in default must ask their loan servicer to be placed into such a program. Typically, servicers ask for proof of income and expenses to calculate a payment amount. Once a borrower has paid on time for nine months in a row, they are taken out of default, Mayotte said. A loan rehabilitation can only be done once.

What Does Forbearance Mean?

Student loan forbearance is a temporary pause on your student loan payments granted to borrowers who are experiencing financial difficulties. To apply for forbearance, borrowers must contact their loan servicer.

Borrowers can be granted forbearance by their loan servicer for up to 12 months but interest will continue to accrue during this period.

Forbearance is not an option for borrowers whose student loans are in default. However, they are an option if you are delinquent on your loan.

How Can a Borrower Find the Status of Their Student Loans?

Borrowers need to know the status of their student loans in order to find out if they are in default, said Kate Wood, student loans expert at NerdWallet.

To find the status of a student loan and their loan servicer information, borrowers need to access their studentaid.gov account. Since the Education Department is going to send notices about involuntary collections through email, borrowers want to make sure all their personal information is updated such as email and physical address, Wood recommended.

Can Involuntary Collections Affect My Supplemental Security Income?

Yes, benefits from Social Security are considered income and can be affected by involuntary collections.

How Does Delinquency Affect My Credit Score?

Borrowers who are delinquent on their student loans take a massive hit on their credit scores, said Wood. Those who are delinquent on their student loans might see a drop of one hundred points or more to their credit score. A delinquency stays on your credit report for seven years.

Credit scores are used in many aspects of people’s financial lives such as access to credit cards, buying a house or renting an apartment.

Can I Apply to Income-Driven Repayment Plans?

Income-driven repayment plans applications are currently open. These plans base your monthly student loan payment amount on your income and family size.

The Biden administration’s SAVE program is no longer open for applications since it was challenged in court. However, those who got accepted into the SAVE program are currently in administrative forbearance, meaning they don’t have to make payments.

To review income-driven repayment plan options, you can check the loan simulator at studentaid.gov.

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

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The S&P 500 was 2.8% higher in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,071 points, or 2.8%, as of 12:24 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 3.3% higher. Every major index has so far recovered from their sharp drop on Monday.

The value of the U.S. dollar also stabilized after sliding against the euro and other competitors, while Treasury yields held steadier. Sharp, unusual moves in those markets have recently raised worries that Trump’s policies are making investors more skeptical that U.S. investments still deserve their reputations as the world’s safest.

Related Story: Fed’s Powell: Economy Slowing in Q1, Can Wait for Greater Clarity

Economic Worries Persist Despite Rally

The only prediction many Wall Street strategists are willing to make is that financial markets will continue to jerk up and down as hopes rise and fall that Trump may negotiate deals with other countries to lower his tariffs. Otherwise, many investors expect the economy to fall into a recession.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its forecast for global economic growth this year to 2.8%, down from 3.3%. But Vice President JD Vance also said he made progress with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, on trade talks Monday.

Some signs of nervousness remain in financial markets. Gold continued to rise, for example, as it holds onto its reputation as a safer investment when fear is dominating markets.

Strong Corporate Earnings Boost Stocks

A suite of better-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies, meanwhile, drove U.S. stocks higher.

Equifax jumped 14.5% after reporting better profit for the first three months of 2025 than analysts expected. It also said it would send more cash to its shareholders by increasing its dividend and buying up to $3 billion of its stock over the next four years.

3M climbed 8.1% after the maker of Scotch tape and Command strips said it made more in profit from each $1 of revenue during the start of the year than it expected. The company also stood by its forecast for profit for the full year, though it said tariffs may drag down its earnings per share by up to 40 cents per share.

Homebuilder PulteGroup rose 8.2% after it likewise delivered a stronger profit for the start of 2025 than analysts expected.

It’s been benefiting from the sharp moves in the bond market. The unusual drops for Treasury yields recently are translating into lower rates for mortgages for potential customers. The drops for stock prices that are happening at the same time, though, are likely also scaring potential buyers.

CEO Ryan Marshall said buyers “remain caught between a strong desire for homeownership and the affordability challenges of high selling prices and monthly payments that are stretched.”

Related Story: Wall Street Tumbles, Nvidia Slumps After New US Chip Export Controls

Tariffs Impact Individual Company Performance

Tesla rose 6.5% ahead of its earnings report, which is scheduled to arrive after trading ends for the day. That trimmed its loss for the year so far roughly 40%.

Elon Musk’s electric car company has already reported its first-quarter car sales dropped by 13% from the year before. It’s been hurt by vandalism, widespread protests and calls for a consumer boycott amid a backlash to Musk’s high-profile role in the White House overseeing a cost-cutting purge of U.S. government agencies.

Stocks also showed how Trump’s tariffs could create winners and losers in a remade global economy.

First Solar jumped 12.6% after the U.S. Department of Commerce finalized harsher-than-expected solar tariffs on some southeast Asian communities.

Defense contractors had some of the market’s sharpest losses after RTX said U.S. tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, along with other products, could mean an $850 million hit to its profit this year. RTX, which builds airplane engines and military equipment, fell 8.7% even though it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter.

Kimberly-Clark lost 1.8% even though the maker of Huggies and Kleenex likewise reported a better-than-expected profit.

CEO Mike Hsu said that “the current environment will now mean greater costs across our global supply chain” versus what it expected at the start of the year, and the company lowered its forecast for an underlying measure of profit this year.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.38% from 4.42% late Monday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in modest moves across Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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Spot gold was trading around $3,428 per ounce by 1417 GMT, after hitting a record $3,500.05 earlier in the session.

Trump said on Monday the U.S. economy could slow down unless interest rates are lowered immediately, repeating his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell as being slow to act and calling him a “major loser”.

That was followed by a furious flight from U.S. assets which undermined Wall Street and the dollar, while concerns about the independence of the Federal Reserve piled fresh pressure on Treasuries. [USD/] [MKTS/GLOB]

“Gold is recalibrating to reflect what can only be described as epic changes in the global financial system. And those changes are a widespread and fundamental shift in confidence in the world’s reserve currency and its bond markets,” said independent analyst Ross Norman.

Bullion, renowned as a hedge against uncertainties and a highly liquid asset, has surged more than $800 since the start of the year. It surpassed $3,300 last Wednesday, and its strong momentum pushed it up by nearly $200 in just a few days.

Central Bank Demand

Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, said central bank demand “is very likely chasing gold’s move higher, because Trump 2.0’s chaos only hardens gold’s appeal as a geopolitical asset”.

In the final quarter of 2024, when Trump won the U.S. election, central bank purchases accelerated 54% year-on-year to 333 tons, according to an estimate from the World Gold Council.

Data showed that China’s central bank added gold to its reserves in March for the fifth straight month. China is considering setting up overseas warehouses to aid international settlement of specific products on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, its central bank said.

Likely to Be Short-Lived

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs increased its year-end gold forecast to $3,700. It added that if central bank buying averages 100 tonnes/month, it estimates gold could reach $3,810 by end-2025.

ANZ last week also raised its year-end gold price forecast to $3,600.

Asked about a pause in the rally, analysts and experts said any correction is likely to be short-lived, and greater gains are most likely on the horizon if instability persists.

“It is hard just now to see a scenario where gold could correct sharply lower as a physical floor of Johnny-come-lately buyers would support or cushion the decline,” said Norman.

Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said a major road block for gold “would be a less confrontative President Trump, either on the side of trade or on the side of monetary policy – both of which seem rather unlikely at the moment”.

Spot gold has hit 28 record highs so far in 2025, of which 16 are above the $3,000/oz milestone. Prices are up 31% so far this year, after ending 2024 with a 27% annual rise.

—

(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad and Anjana Anil in Bengaluru. Editing by Veronica Brown and Jan Harvey)

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Potential price hikes, changes in sourcing locations and new U.S. plants are among the actions planned since Trump unveiled the tariffs and threatened potentially more levies.

Higher Prices

• Best Buy warned of the possibility of higher prices for American shoppers. “The giant wildcard obviously is how the consumers are going to react to the price increases,” CFO Matt Bilunas said on a call with analysts.
• Target also warned about potential price hikes as it depends on lots of vegetables and fruit from Mexico during winter, CEO Brian Cornell said. “But if there’s a 25% tariff, those prices will go up … certainly over the next week,” he said.

Sourcing Shift

• Target will move more of its sourcing for its store brands, which include All in Motion and Cat & Jack, to countries in the Western Hemisphere like Guatemala and Honduras, and away from China where 30% of those products are made. It expects to further reduce that dependence to 25% next year.
• Kroger is working with its merchandising and sourcing teams to diversify the supplier base for some commodities in its fresh business, possibly shifting to geographies that will be less affected by the tariffs to keep prices low, CFO Todd Foley said on an earnings call.
• Costco executives said the retailer’s so-called treasure hunt structure allows it to adjust its merchandise mix more easily than others, and possibly source products from countries that are not subject to tariffs. “With our flexibility, there are not many items we can’t find something else to replace – or something else to bring in – in that category,” CEO Ron Vachris said.
• Alcoa has said it would likely reroute its Canada-made aluminum to Europe to avoid U.S. tariffs, and send its Australian output to the U.S. “We would be optimizing our global system based on any new tariff structures … there is a potential for metal to come out of Australia and go into U.S. if there is a massive tariff dislocation,” CEO William Oplinger told Reuters in an interview in January.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise said the server maker would leverage its global supply chain to mitigate aspects of an expected impact and adjust prices as well.
• Bratz dolls maker MGA Entertainment, a major supplier of toys to Walmart and Target, told Reuters earlier this month that it was speeding up its shift out of China and taking steps to move 40% of its manufacturing to India, Vietnam and Indonesia within about six months.

US Shift

• South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group announced a $21 billion investment in the United States. The investment includes a new $5.8 billion Hyundai Steel plant in Louisiana that will produce over 2.7 million metric tons of steel annually.
• Honda has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling car models, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
• Pfizer said it might move overseas manufacturing to its existing plants in the U.S., if required. “If something happens, we will try to mitigate it by transferring from manufacturing sites outside to the manufacturing sites (in the U.S.),” CEO Albert Bourla said at the TD Cowen healthcare conference.
• Swiss engineering group ABB is expanding its local production in the United States and other countries to mitigate the impact of tariffs imposed by Trump, CEO Morten Wierod said in April.

New Investments

• Apple in late February unveiled $500 billion in U.S. investments in the next four years that will include a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers.
• Drugmaker Eli Lilly said in late February it planned to spend at least $27 billion to build four new manufacturing plants in the U.S. over the next five years.
• Johnson & Johnson said in late March it planned to invest over $55 billion over the next four years to establish manufacturing facilities and research infrastructure in the United States.
• Schneider Electric plans to invest over $700 million in its U.S. operations over the next two years. The investment will focus on bolstering the U.S. energy infrastructure to power AI growth, boost domestic manufacturing and strengthen energy security, according to the company.
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said in April it had entered into a deal valued at more than $3 billion with contract drug developer Fujifilm Diosynth to nearly double its U.S. manufacturing capacity.

—

(Compiled by Bangalore Newsroom; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila, Anil D’Silva and Shounak Dasgupta)

The post How Companies Are Responding to Trump’s Tariffs appeared first on GV Wire.

Brent crude futures slipped $1.54, or 2.3%, to $66.42 a barrel by 1230 GMT after closing up 3.2% on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.10 a barrel, down $1.58, or 2.4%, after settling up 3.54% in the previous session. Thursday was the last settlement day last week because of the Good Friday holiday.

“The U.S.-Iran talks seem relatively positive, which allows for people to start thinking about the possibility of a solution,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group. “The immediate implication would be that Iranian crude would not be off the market.”

Markets Lower Liquidity Due to Easter

Markets also have lower liquidity due to the Easter holiday, which can exacerbate price moves, he added.

In the talks, the U.S. and Iran agreed to begin drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after discussions that a U.S. official described as yielding “very good progress.”

The progress follows further sanctions by the U.S. last week against a Chinese independent oil refinery that it alleges processed Iranian crude, ramping up pressure on Tehran.

Markets also came under stress on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump last week made criticisms about the Federal Reserve. Gold prices rose to another record, with jitters rippling into energy markets due to concerns about demand, according to analysts.

“The broader trend remains tilted to the downside, as investors may struggle to find conviction in an improving supply-demand outlook, especially amid the drag from tariffs on global growth and rising supplies from OPEC+,” said IG Market Strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

OPEC+, the group of major producers including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, is still expected to increase output by 411,000 barrels per day starting in May, though some of that increase may be offset by cuts from countries that have been exceeding their quotas.

Reuters Poll Shows Tariff Policy Would Slowdown Economy

A Reuters poll on April 17 showed investors believe the tariff policy will trigger a significant slowdown in the U.S. economy this year and next, with the median probability of recession in the next 12 months approaching 50%. The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil consumer.

Investors are watching for several U.S. data releases this week, including April flash manufacturing and services PMI, for direction on the economy.

“This week’s series of PMI releases could further underscore the economic impact of tariffs, with both manufacturing and services conditions across major economies expected to soften,” IG’s Yeap said, adding oil prices face resistance at the $70 level.

—

(Reporting by Anna Hirtenstein in London. Additional reporting by Florence Tan and Trixie Yap in Singapore; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Chizu Nomiyama, Kirsten Donovan)

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Investors divested U.S. bond funds for a fifth successive week to the tune of $10.07 billion on a net basis, while in the previous week there were about $15.64 billion worth of net sales, data from LSEG Lipper showed.

U.S. short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds had a net $6.3 billion worth of disposals after a net $6.66 billion worth of sales in the previous week.

Investors also shed U.S. general domestic taxable fixed income funds of about $2.22 billion, in contrast, U.S. short-to-intermediate government and treasury funds saw a net $6.82 billion worth of inflows.

Meanwhile, U.S. investors ditched equity funds worth a net $10.62 billion, contrasting with $6.5 billion worth of net purchases in the prior week.

The tech, healthcare and consumer staples sectors were hit by a net $819 million, $514 million and $348 million worth of sales respectively during the week.

Investors also offloaded $131.74 billion worth of money market funds, extending outflows into a second consecutive week.

—

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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“With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

U.S. stocks, which opened lower on Monday on investor worries about Trump’s escalating attacks on Powell, slid further after the president’s social media post. The benchmark S&P 500 Index was down 2% on the day.

The Fed’s wait-and-see approach on interest rates has angered Trump. On Friday a Trump adviser said the administration is studying options for firing Powell, fueling concerns about the central bank’s autonomy and rattling investors grappling with an intensifying trade war.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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Greenblatt is the president and owner of Marlin Steel Wire Products in Baltimore, Maryland, which makes baskets and racks for medical device manufacturers, aerospace companies, food processing companies and others. It has 115 employees and makes its products in three locations in Maryland, Indiana and Michigan. The steel is sourced from Tennessee, Illinois and Michigan.

Currently, it’s hard to compete with baskets made overseas., Greenblatt says, because the countries he competes against have an “unfair advantage.” For example, due to European tariffs and taxes, it costs much more for a German consumer or company to buy Marlin wire baskets than it does for Americans to buy a German-made basket, creating an uneven playing field, Greenblatt said.

“It’s wildly unfair to the American worker,” he said. “And this has, by the way, been going on for decades.”

What Trump Is Doing

The Trump administration has called U.S. manufacturing an “economic and national security” priority. U.S. manufacturing has been declining for decades. In June 1979, the number of manufacturing workers peaked at 19.6 million. By January of 2025, employment was down 35% to 12.8 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Small manufacturers, which make up 99% of all American manufacturing, have been hit particularly hard.

The administration has implemented some tariffs against major U.S. trading partners, while putting a hold on other tariffs pending negotiations. The Trump administration says tariffs will force companies to have more products made in the U.S. to avoid steep price increases on their imports, which will mean “better-paying American jobs,” for people making cars, appliances and other goods.

Greenblatt agrees, saying he could double his staff if “parity” in tariffs becomes a reality.

Uncertainty for Businesses

While other small manufacturing businesses also support the tariffs, other owners have concerns. The Trump tariffs threaten to upend the existing economic order and possibly push the global economy into recession. And the uneven rollout of the policy has created uncertainty for businesses, financial markets and U.S. households.

For Corry Blanc, the injection of uncertainty around the economy outstrips any potential benefit.

He started his business, Blanc Creatives in Waynesboro, Virginia, in 2012. He makes handcrafted cookware such as skillets and other kitchenware and bakeware with American steel and wood and employs 12 staffers. He gets his steel from a plant in South Carolina and a distributor in Richmond. Wood comes from local regional sawmills near the company’s headquarters in Waynesboro, Virginia.

He said he’s been fielding worried calls from customers in Canada and overseas. And he says the infrastructure isn’t in place to increase production if more people do start buying American-made goods.

Blanc said he survived the pandemic and other tough times, but conditions now are the hardest they’ve ever been.

“There’s so much uncertainty and not a lot of direction,” he said.

Michael Lyons is the founder of Rogue Industries, a company that makes wallets and other leather goods in a workshop in Standish, Maine, with a staff of nine. He uses leather from Maine and the Midwest. About 80% of his products are made in Maine and 20% are imported.

He said the uncertainty around the tariffs is outweighing any potential long-term benefit. A long-time customer from Canada recently told Lyons that he would no longer be buying from Rogue Industries because of the friction between the two countries.

“Hopefully this will pass, and he’ll be able to come back,” he said. “But I did think that was kind of an interesting indicator for him to reach out.”

Lyons would like to expand his business, but says, “at the time being, it’s probably going to be, we hold with what we have.”

Hoping for More American-Made Products

American Giant CEO Bayard Winthrop takes a more positive view. He founded his clothing company in 2011 after watching the textile industry go offshore, and seeing a lack of quality, affordable American-made clothing. He started by selling one sweatshirt, and now sells a wider range of clothing, mostly direct-to-consumer, but he also has a contract with Walmart.

He sources cotton from Southeastern states like Georgia, Florida and North Carolina and has a factory in North Carolina and a joint partnership facility in Los Angeles.

“People forget that in about 1985 that all the clothing that Americans bought was made in America,” he said. “It is only in the last 40 years that that we really pursued as a country a very aggressive approach to globalization.”

In 1991, more than half of U.S. apparel, about 56%, was made in the U.S., according to statistics from the American Apparel and Footwear Association. By 2023 that number had shrunk to less than 4%.

Winthrop hopes the tariffs will bring about a return to more American-made products.

“The imbalances between our trading, in particularly with China, particularly the textiles, it’s just shocking, to be honest with you,” he said, adding that he hopes Trump’s policies “put domestic manufacturers on a bit more of a competitive footing.”

Winthrop understands people’s concerns but said it’s important to think longer term.

“Americans are worried about tariffs, and I think there’s a lot of justification for the worry because I think the administration can be volatile and unpredictable,” he said. But he added that people should put that aside.

“The idea that we’re going to be more protective of our domestic marketplace and have an industrial policy that includes manufacturing jobs is, an old idea. It’s not a new idea,” he said.

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