Trump’s tariff war roils typically quiet corner of global markets
CNN
US President Donald Trump’s efforts to “rebalance” global trade have spooked Wall Street, disquieted US Treasuries and sent investors rushing to buy gold. They have now also roiled a normally staid corner of financial markets, with major potential implications for the future of the US dollar and the global economy.
US President Donald Trump’s efforts to “rebalance” global trade have spooked Wall Street, disquieted US Treasuries and sent investors rushing to buy gold. They have now also roiled a normally staid corner of financial markets, with major potential implications for the future of the US dollar and the global economy. Since Friday, Taiwan’s currency has gained about 8% against the greenback, according to Refinitv data, an extraordinary amount over just two trading sessions because of speculation that the island has had to make trade-related concessions to the White House. And even though things are now calmer, Monday’s surge was the largest daily percentage gain in about four decades, according to Reuters, which was all the more surprising because the island’s central bank likes to keep things stable and quiet. The gyrations in Taiwan — and also in nearby Hong Kong, a city with a currency market that similarly tends to avoid the limelight — demonstrate how Trump’s trade war has already had far-reaching consequences. Yang Chin-long, governor of Taiwan’s central bank, was forced to convene a hastily arranged press conference late on Monday to shoot down rumors that the Trump administration had asked the island to strengthen its currency against the US dollar in exchange for tariff exemptions during ongoing trade talks. “Stock market commentators are urged not to comment … in a speculative manner to avoid affecting the order and stability of Taiwan’s foreign exchange market and even affecting the real economy,” he said in a statement.
The United States is considering whether to strike Iran as turmoil intensifies for the country’s authoritarian regime.
The US has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil since the US attached Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this month, according to an administration official.
President Donald Trump enacted a new 25% tariff on “certain advanced computing chips” on Wednesday, according to a White House fact sheet. That includes Nvidia’s H200 chip and AMD’s MI325X. However, chips imported to support building up the US technological supply chain would be exempt.
Verizon said some of its wireless services were down Wednesday, leaving many customers without access to voice and data services.
YouTube will now let parents limit the amount of time their teens can spend scrolling through its short-form video feature, Shorts, or block them all together.
Last month, Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson penned a first-person piece about her long year as “the federal government whisperer,” receiving tips from hundreds of federal workers. On Wednesday, the FBI searched her home, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Price hikes picked up speed for US-based businesses toward the end of last year, a potential signal that inflation has yet to peak and prices could soon rise faster for consumers.
Trump is threatening to take “strong action” against Iran just after capturing the leader of Venezuela. His administration is criminally investigating the chair of the Federal Reserve and is taking a scorched-earth approach on affordability by threatening key profit drivers for banks and institutional investors.
Perhaps no data point better encapsulates the American economy right now than this nugget from Delta’s quarterly earnings:
China recorded the world’s biggest ever trade surplus in 2025, as well as a 20% jump from 2024, capping off a year in which the world’s largest manufacturer defied US trade pressure by ramping up exports to other global markets.
Saks Global, the parent company of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, filed for bankruptcy protection late Tuesday, according to court documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas.
China on Wednesday reported a strong export run in 2025 with a record surplus of nearly $1.2 trillion, as producers braced for three more years of a Trump administration set on slowing the production powerhouse by shifting US orders to other markets.
Microsoft says it will ask to pay higher electricity bills in areas where it’s building data centers, in an effort to prevent electricity prices for local residents from rising in those areas. The move is part of a broader plan to address rising prices and other concerns sparked by the tech industry’s massive buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure across the United States.