India proposes steep US tariff cuts as nations race to cut deals
8 Mins Read
India has reportedly offered the US steep tariff cuts but is seeking to retain high duties on some agricultural commodities, such as food grains and dairy products, according to a report in the FT on Wednesday.
India is not the only trading partner seeking a tariff reprieve. On Wednesday the EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said the European Commission is discussing with the US possible cooperation in sectors such as semiconductors, steel and aerospace and are in search of a deal to limit tariffs.
The European Union has agreed to fast-track trade talks with the US in a bid to avoid President Trump’s 50% tariffs — which, in an about-face, he announced would be delayed until July 9.
“This is a positive event, and I hope that they will, FINALLY, like my same demand to China, open up the European Nations for Trade with the United States of America,” Trump posted to social media on Tuesday. “They will BOTH be very happy, and successful, if they do!!!”
Šefčovič said the EU held “good calls” with Trump administration officials on Monday after the close trading partners moved forward with negotiations amid Trump’s tariff-fueled push to rework global trade relationships.
Earlier on Monday, the EU said that the result of the weekend phone call between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen provided “new impetus for the negotiations.” At the same time, sticking points remain.
Trump had been frustrated with the pace of negotiations, saying last week that the bloc has been “very difficult to deal with.”
Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) remains in high focus after Trump said the company would face 25% tariffs if it didn’t move iPhone production to the US. He later said that would apply to other phone makers, including Samsung (005930.KS).
German carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are in talks with the U.S. Department of Commerce on a tariff deal that would involve a mechanism to offset imports and exports, the Handelsblatt business daily reported on Wednesday.
In return for tariff relief, the companies could invest billions in the United States, the report said citing company sources. It did not give a more exact sum.
The trade truces are undoubtedly bullish — but mask unresolved issues
Yahoo Finance’s senior reporter Hamza Shaban reports on Wall Street’s dilemma with Trump’s tariffs:
Macy’s and Capri cut annual profit and revenue forecasts due to tariffs
More retailers are feeling the impact of Trump’s tariffs as both Macy’s (M) and Michael Kors parent company Capri (CAPR) lowered their annual profit and revenue forecasts on Wednesday, citing tariffs as the cause.
Capri cut its revenue forecast for 2026, signaling that tariff-related uncertainty was weighing on demand for its handbags and accessories in North America and Asia.
Macy’s followed in a similar fashion: Yahoo Finance senior reporter Brooke DiPalma said the company reaffirmed its sales guidance, but revised its earnings outlook due to uncertainty surrounding tariffs, consumer sentiments, and the competitive landscape.
Macy’s is facing multiple macro headwinds as consumer sentiment sags, costs rise with Trump’s tariffs, and trends grow toward e-commerce and direct-to-consumer.
India offers US ‘deep’ tariff cuts, but shields grain and dairy markets
India has offered steep cuts to its import tariffs on a range of goods in talks with the US, but is said to be retaining high duties on certain agricultural commodities, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
As the US and European Union negotiate a new trade deal to avoid President Trump-imposed tariffs, it’s worth taking a moment to note that the US and the EU have the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world.
According to the Council of the European Union (and converted to USD), the transatlantic trade in goods and services topped 1.8 trillion in 2023 after a post-pandemic surge:
Trump’s tariff revenue has already topped $22 billion in May
A measure of tariff revenue has spiked this month as importers paid the baseline “Liberation Day” tariffs that went into effect on April 5, along with other duties set by President Trump.
Government receipts for “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” have already topped $22.3 billion this month, according to Treasury Department data.
China calls on Asean, Gulf states to create ‘big market’
The Chinese Premier Li Qiang has urged Southeast Asian and Gulf states to help create a ‘big market’, in a bid to counter US efforts to isolate China’s economy.
Retailers pummeled by Trump’s trade war entertain more ‘take-private’ offers
Retailers, who have suffered under Trump’s tariffs, are increasingly warming to offers to sell in order to escape market volatility that has caused company valuations to seesaw in recent months, according to a report in Reuters.
Malaysia sees reducing the US’s proposed tariff to 10% as a good outcome
Malaysia’s Trade and Industry minister Zafrul Aziz said that the US reducing its proposed tariffs on Malaysia to 10% is a positive move, conceding that a previously hoped for levy of zero may not be possible.
Trump’s trade war imperils Spanish hatmaker’s business with US Orthodox Jews
Trump tariffs are staring to impact everything from retail prices to consumer spending and now, a Spanish hatmaker with a 40-year tradition of supplying felt hats to orthodox Jews in the US has become the latest casualty of the president’s trade war.
In the latest AP dispatch from Frankfurt, which details how the European Union’s chief trade negotiator said he had “good calls” with Trump administration officials on Monday, David McHugh noted that the EU “has offered Trump a ‘zero for zero’ deal in which tariffs would be removed on industrial goods including automobiles, but the U.S. administration has said it will not lower tariffs below a 10% baseline imposed on almost all its trading partners. Trump has also announced tariffs of 25% on steel and automobiles.”
That raises the question of where the negotiations, which got back on the rails over the weekend after a call between President Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, will go from here — and what Trump will have to say next time he discusses the $1.8 trillion trade relationship.
