2025-08-08 18:41
Aug 8 (Reuters) - Imports into the United States fell more than expected in June as concerns around shifting tariff policies hit retailers, raising fears of fewer product options in stores for shoppers, data from the National Retail Federation showed on Friday. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The data comes as several of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs went into effect this week. As of August 7, duties range from 10% to 50%, with India, Brazil, and Switzerland facing some of the highest rates. Sign up here. Since April's "Liberation Day" announcement of a 10% baseline tariff, Trump has adjusted rates frequently. A temporary truce with China in May reduced tariffs to 30%, but new hikes resumed in July. BY THE NUMBERS U.S. ports covered by NRF's report handled 1.96 million 20-foot containers or its equivalent in June, which was down 8.4% year-over-year, but up 0.7% from May. That was a bigger drop from the NRF forecast from a month ago , opens new tab. The trade body had then projected ports would handle 2.06 million TEU in June, up 5.9% from May but down 3.7% year over year. Moreover, import cargo volume at major container ports in the U.S. is tentatively expected to end 2025 5.6% below 2024's volume, NRF's forecast showed , opens new tab on Friday. CONTEXT Apparel retailers, including Under Armour (UAA.N) , opens new tab, Deckers Outdoor (DECK.N) , opens new tab have reported tariff impacts in the past couple of months and are taking steps to diversify their supply chain to avoid tariffs on goods routed through or sourced from Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam. KEY QUOTE "The uncertainty around tariffs has impacted retailers' ability to forecast holiday orders and shipments. As tariff rates increase, consumers will ultimately face higher prices and less choice and availability during the holiday season," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "We need binding trade agreements that open markets by lowering tariffs, not raising them." Tariffs will result in higher prices for U.S. consumers, less hiring, lower business investment and a slower economy, he added. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/us-imports-fall-more-than-expected-june-tariff-concerns-trade-body-data-shows-2025-08-08/
2025-08-08 18:24
NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it ended its case accusing Ripple Labs of selling unregistered securities, leaving a $125 million fine intact and ending one of the cryptocurrency industry's highest-profile lawsuits. Ripple and the SEC agreed on Thursday to dismiss their appeals of the fine imposed by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan and her injunction against the sale of Ripple's XRP token to institutional investors. Sign up here. XRP is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value, trailing bitcoin and Ethereum, according to the market service CoinMarketCap. The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, near the end of U.S. President Donald Trump's first White House term, accusing it of selling XRP tokens without registering them as securities. In a mixed ruling in July 2023, Torres said XRP was covered by securities laws when sold to institutional investors, while XRP that Ripple sold on public exchanges was not. She imposed the fine in August 2024. Following Trump's reelection, a more crypto-friendly SEC began retreating from some enforcement cases, and together with Ripple asked Torres to lift the injunction and reduce the fine to $50 million. She refused, saying neither side came close to showing "exceptional circumstances" that outweighed the public interest in enforcing the injunction and $125 million fine. The SEC said the dismissal of the appeals means the injunction and fine remain in effect. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's chief legal officer, in a post on X referred to the SEC's actions and said the dismissals mark "the end" of the case. Since Trump reentered the White House, the SEC has also ended civil lawsuits against crypto exchanges Binance, Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab and Kraken. The case is SEC v Ripple Labs Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-10832. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/sec-ends-lawsuit-against-ripple-company-pay-125-million-fine-2025-08-08/
2025-08-08 18:12
WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve now faces risks to both its inflation and jobs goals, with policymakers needing to balance which seems the more serious threat in deciding whether it is appropriate to reduce interest rates, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said on Friday. Between tariffs pushing up prices and job growth slowing, "there are risks on both sides of our mandate, and when that happens, when you have risks on both sides, you have to take a balanced approach, which means you have to think about the likelihood of missing on each side of the mandate, the size of the potential miss, and how long that miss will be in place," Musalem said to an economic group in Mississippi. "That's the balancing act that we're doing right now." Sign up here. Musalem, a voter on interest rate policy this year, did not say whether he feels the policy rate of interest should be reduced at the Fed's September 16-17 meeting. He voted in favor of keeping the policy rate steady in the current 4.25% to 4.5% range at the Fed meeting last week. That meeting, however, was followed two days later by a jobs report that showed employment growth slowed in July and that far fewer jobs had been added in prior months than initially estimated. The unemployment rate rose. Musalem said he still felt there was a risk the Trump administration's new import tariffs could lead to persistent inflation, but that the Fed now had to guard against an employment slowdown as well - a difficult situation for central bankers whose efforts to loosen or constrain the flow of credit in the economy can influence inflation and employment in opposing ways. "It is likely that most of the impact of tariffs on inflation will be short lived and will fade...But there's a reasonable probability that there may be some persistence," Musalem said. "The labor market right now looks good," he said, but added that "growth has been lower than potential for the first half of the year, and is expected to continue along those lines for the second half of the year, and that poses risks to the labor market." Investors expect the Fed to cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point in September and again in December. https://www.reuters.com/business/feds-musalem-there-are-risks-now-both-inflation-jobs-goals-2025-08-08/
2025-08-08 17:03
SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil giant Petrobras sees little chance of paying extraordinary dividends this year, Chief Financial Officer Fernando Melgarejo said on Friday, citing lower revenues after a drop in global oil prices. Melgarejo added that the firm is not considering changes to its ordinary dividend policy. Sign up here. "With lower revenue we would have more difficulty making extraordinary dividend payments," the executive told analysts on a call following the company's second-quarter results. "Although we would very much like to have the excess cash to make an extraordinary payment, we see a low probability this year." Melgarejo reaffirmed the company's $18.5 billion capital expenditure outlook for this year, but added that some projects could be revised to take into account lower oil prices. Petrobras on Thursday announced dividends and interest on equity to shareholders of 8.66 billion reais ($1.60 billion) as it reported a second-quarter net profit of 26.7 billion reais. Brent oil prices averaged $67.82 per barrel in the second quarter, according to Petrobras, compared to $75.66 per barrel in the first three months of the year. Sao Paulo-traded preferred shares of Petrobras fell more than 5% on Friday, making the oil giant one of the worst performers on benchmark stock index Bovespa (.BVSP) , opens new tab, which slipped 0.2%. ($1 = 5.4217 reais) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brazils-petrobras-sees-low-chances-extra-dividends-this-year-2025-08-08/
2025-08-08 13:50
SAO PAULO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Brazil's government believes the economy is starting to feel the effects of high interest rates and will closely monitor data to see if those impacts are "wider than initially expected," Economic Policy Secretary Guilherme Mello said on Friday. Brazil's central bank last week held its benchmark rate at 15%, the highest in almost two decades, pausing an aggressive tightening cycle after seven consecutive hikes aimed at fighting sticky inflation, which should cool down economic activity. Sign up here. "Monetary policy is having the expected impact, perhaps even sooner than expected," Mello told an event hosted by news outlet JOTA, though adding the government for now continues to see growth this year close to 2.5%. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-economy-starting-see-impact-high-rates-official-says-2025-08-08/
2025-08-08 12:44
NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) , opens new tab is likely to shift back to its traditional Middle Eastern sources for oil if India yields to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to cut Russian imports, trade sources said. India became the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude in the aftermath of Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and is under heavy pressure from Washington to cut its energy ties with Russia. Sign up here. India's biggest buyer, Reliance, operates the world's largest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat where it can process about 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd). "If Reliance stops buying Russian crude, they will most likely turn to Middle Eastern suppliers due to geographic proximity. The good news is that OPEC is increasing crude output as part of its plan to unwind voluntary cuts," said Anh Pham, a senior analyst at LSEG. "Any hit to Russian supplies will increase their participation (in the spot market) and that would tighten spot market and raise prices. They are a giant player," said Tushar Tarun Bansal, senior director at oil consultancy Alvarez and Marsal. "They have to take more of Middle Eastern grades, mainly from Saudi Arabia and UAE. Also, they would look at buying more from Latin America such as Brazil. At times (in the past) they also bought some of the North Sea stream, they could also go back to them," Bansal said. Reliance did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comments. "Reliance has the flexibility and trading know-how to revert to pre-Ukraine war procurement, so they may agree to change sourcing," said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group. Indian state refiners paused Russian purchases in late July, Reuters reported, though Reliance continues to buy under a 500,000 bpd deal signed with Russia's Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab last year. The port of Sikka in western India, which handles Reliance imports, is scheduled to receive 22 cargoes from Russia this month, LSEG data shows. The state refiners were responding to threatened tariffs from Trump. On Wednesday the United States imposed an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, citing its continued purchases of Russian oil. That was to take effect in 21 days and would raise duties on some Indian imports to as high as 50%. It has defended its purchases from Russia, which accounted for 35% of its supply in the first half of 2025, on economic grounds, and criticised the U.S. and the European Union for singling out New Delhi. Reliance, which is controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, said in its annual report on Thursday that political and tariff-related uncertainties could hurt trade flows and the demand-supply balance. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/reliance-likely-switch-back-middle-east-oil-if-russian-supply-dries-up-2025-08-08/
