2025-07-16 16:48
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, July 16 (Reuters) - Brazil on Wednesday urged the U.S. to respond to a trade proposal submitted in May, reaffirming its openness to a "mutually acceptable" deal after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods starting in August. In a joint statement, Brazil's Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Ministry of Development said the government had sent a letter on Tuesday, reinforcing its May 16 negotiating proposal. Vice President Geraldo Alckmin noted on Monday that the May offer had gone unanswered. Sign up here. "In light of the urgency of the matter, the Brazilian government reiterates its interest in receiving comments from the U.S. government on the proposal," the statement said, suggesting there were "areas of negotiation where we could further explore mutually agreed solutions." Brazil also expressed "indignation" at the planned increase in tariffs from 10% to 50% on its exports to the United States, warning of a "very negative" impact on both economies. The letter from Brasilia also noted that Latin America's largest economy has run persistent trade deficits with the United States in both goods and services, totaling nearly $410 billion over the past 15 years. The statement came a day after U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced an investigation into what he described as Brazil's "unfair" trade practices. Brazil's Solicitor General Jorge Messias said on Wednesday that the U.S. had apparently launched that probe because of the weakness of the initial U.S. case for imposing the 50% tariffs. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-urges-trade-talks-with-us-after-trump-tariff-hike-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 15:55
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is open to the idea of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a source told Reuters on Wednesday. Trump polled some Republican lawmakers on firing Powell and received a positive response, the source said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/trump-open-idea-firing-fed-chair-powell-source-says-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 15:50
July 16 (Reuters) - Short-term U.S. interest-rate futures rose on Wednesday after a report that President Donald Trump is likely to fire Federal Reserve Jerome Powell soon, with traders now betting on rate cuts starting in September and at least one more by December. Trump has railed against Powell for not cutting rates. A recent Supreme Court ruling suggests no change to the long-held understanding that the law prohibits a president from firing a Fed chair over a policy difference. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/traders-boost-bets-fed-rate-cuts-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 13:42
NEW DELHI, July 16 (Reuters) - India's oil imports from Russia rose marginally in the first half of this year, with private refiners Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) , opens new tab and Nayara Energy making almost half of the overall purchases from Moscow, according to data provided by sources. India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, received about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil in January-June this year, up 1% from a year ago, the data showed. Sign up here. The two private refiners have term deals to buy Russian oil, while state companies rely on purchases from the spot market. India's purchases of Russian oil sold at discounted rates surged after Western nations imposed sanctions and stopped buying oil from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Moscow agrees a peace deal within 50 days. Indian refiners expect that any move by Trump is unlikely to disrupt oil supplies but could wipe out the thinning discount on Russian crude, as traditional and new suppliers ramp up output, refinery officials told Reuters. In January-June, Russia continued to be the top supplier to India, accounting for about 35% of India's overall supplies, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. The United States was the fifth-largest oil supplier to India, up from the sixth position it held a year earlier, the data showed. India plans to raise energy imports from the U.S. as it prepares for a trade deal with Washington to avoid stiff U.S. import tariffs. Overall, India's oil imports in January-June rose by 4.3% to about 5.2 million bpd, the data showed. In June, India's Russian oil imports rose 17.4% to about 2 million bpd from the previous month, dragging down the share of Middle Eastern producers and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-russian-oil-imports-up-slightly-january-june-data-shows-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 12:26
July 16 (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts posted a surprise increase in June, rising 0.4% from May, data from the national housing agency showed on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 283,734 units from a revised 282,705 units in May, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said. Economists had expected starts to fall to 259,000. Sign up here. (This story has been corrected to revise the units figure in May in paragraph 2) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadian-housing-starts-post-surprise-04-rise-june-2025-07-16/
2025-07-16 12:23
July 16 (Reuters) - India's markets regulator on Wednesday proposed to mandate that asset management companies use spot prices published by domestic commodity exchanges to value gold and silver. To increase transparency on the polled price for the spot market of gold and silver, Securities and Exchange Board of India, in a consultation paper, also proposed that the price polling mechanism should be made public. Sign up here. SEBI said the proposed changes are expected to bring uniformity in valuation of gold and silver throughout the mutual fund industry, and for investments made by the gold and silver exchange traded funds. It has sought feedback by August 6. The proposals are being made during a period of increased interest in safe-haven assets due to ongoing global trade uncertainties. Gold ETFs in India saw a ten-fold month-on-month jump in inflows to 20.81 billion rupees ($242.1 million) in June, hitting a five-month high. ($1 = 85.9580 Indian rupees) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/india-markets-regulator-mulls-mandating-asset-managers-use-domestic-gold-silver-2025-07-16/
