Happy Friday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
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THE BIG DEAL–Trump downplays urgency of trade talks as Chinese negotiators cut US trip short
What started out as a productive day for U.S.-China trade talks quickly soured Friday as President Trump faced another setback in his long push to strike a deal with Beijing.
Chinese officials on Friday abruptly canceled plans to tour farms harmed by Beijing’s tariffs on American agricultural goods, dampening hopes of successful trade talks between the U.S. and China.
- After meeting with Trump administration officials in Washington this week, trade negotiators from China cut short a trip intended to revive negotiations between the countries.
- Chinese negotiators canceled plans to visit farms in Bozeman, Mont., and Omaha, Neb., next week, which would have signaled a willingness from Beijing to ease its tariffs on U.S. crops and begin a long-promised ramp-up of purchases from American farmers.
- Keep in mind, Beijing has used its leverage over the U.S. farm sector to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods by imposing high import taxes on pork, soybeans and other American agricultural exports.
It’s unclear what prompted the Chinese officials to cut their trip short, but the scrapped farm visits appears to be a significant setback after weeks of goodwill gestures. The White House announced Friday the exemption of more than 400 Chinese products from 25-percent tariffs imposed by Trump, which followed Beijing exempting pork and soybeans from further tariff hikes.
But Trump, who spoke to reporters shortly before the news of the canceled trips emerged, brushed off concerns about whether he could strike a deal with China before the election.
{mosads}”I don’t think I need it before the election. I think people know that we’re doing a great job,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday.
“We’re doing very well. Our economy is very strong,” Trump added. “China is being affected very badly, we’re not.”
Background: Trump faces dwindling leverage with China
LEADING THE DAY
Trump says he’s sanctioning Iran’s national bank: President Trump announced Friday that he had sanctioned Iran’s national bank, calling the penalties the “highest sanctions ever imposed on a country.”
“These are the highest sanctions ever imposed on a country, we’ve never done it to this level. It’s too bad what’s happening with Iran, it’s going to hell,” Trump told reporters, saying Tehran is “practically broke.”
- Trump made the comments to reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The announcement comes two days after Trump said he had instructed the Treasury Department to increase sanctions on Iran following attacks on two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
- The Trump administration has blamed Iran in the attacks, which took out roughly 5 percent of the global oil supply on Saturday.
- The Treasury Department said in a statement that it was sanctioning Iran’s central bank, Iran’s national development fund and Etemad Tejarate Pars Co., an Iran-based firm that U.S. officials said is used to conceal financial transfers for purchases by Iran’s defense ministry.
What that means: Essentially, it means that all of the above entities are banned from the U.S. financial system, can no longer access any U.S.-held assets, and that U.S. residents, citizens and entities are banned from doing business with Iran. That’s not likely to affect much in the U.S., but any foreign individuals or firms that do business with the targeted Iranian entities are also liable to penalties under these sanctions.
Pennsylvania, Wisconsin lost the most factory jobs in the past year: Two swing states narrowly won by President Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 were the sites of the greatest losses in manufacturing jobs between 2018 and 2019, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
Wisconsin has lost about 5,200 manufacturing jobs since August of last year. In Pennsylvania, losses of manufacturing jobs topped 7,700, according to the survey.
Trump carried the two states in 2016 despite Pennsylvania and Wisconsin having not previously voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1984.
The political cost: Trump’s path to re-election depends on him winning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan again in 2020, and these types of job losses cut against what made him so appealing to those states in 2016.
ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Tuesday:
- The House Financial Services Committee holds an oversight hearing of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), featuring all five SEC commissioners, 10 a.m.
- A House Appropriations subcommittee holds an oversight hearing of the Internal Revenue Service with Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George, 10 a.m.
- A House Financial Services subcommittee holds a hearing entitled “Examining the Racial and Gender Wealth Gap in America,” 2 p.m.
Wednesday:
- The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing entitled “Facilitating Faster Payments in the U.S,” 10 a.m.
- A House Financial Services subcommittee holds a hearing entitled “Promoting Financial Stability: Assessing Threats to the U.S. Financial System,” 10 a.m.
Thursday:
- The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled “Examining Legislation to Protect Consumers and Small Business Owners from Abusive Debt Collection Practices,” 10 a.m.
- The House Financial Services Committee’s fintech task force holds a hearing entitled “The Future of Real-Time Payments,” 2 p.m.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Walmart announced Friday it will stop selling e-cigarettes as federal and state governments crack down on the vaping industry.
- Key lawmakers left their meetings with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday expressing confidence that he will cooperate with their ongoing antitrust investigation.