Trump Tariffs

Global markets were buoyed on Monday morning by expectations of another Fed rate cut and growing optimism that the US and China are moving closer to a trade deal, following comments from President Donald Trump.

The optimism wiped out gains in safe-haven assets such as gold futures and boosted stock exchanges across the globe.

Yet, leading European benchmark indexes opened mostly flat, except for Milan’s FTSE MIB, which was up by 0.61%. Madrid IBEX 35 also gained 0.37% by around 11:00 CEST.

At the same time, European benchmark STOXX 600, as well as the FTSE 100 in London, remained nearly flat. The DAX in Frankfurt gained 0.15% while Paris’ CAC 40 lost less than 0.1%. This came after credit rating agency Moody’s changed France’s outlook from stable to negative on Friday.

Investors in Europe are closely watching for signs of economic health, with one of the strongest indicators — the first reading of the eurozone’s third-quarter GDP — due on Thursday.

On the same day, the European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to hold its monetary policy meeting. Given that inflation in the bloc has remained around the bank’s 2% target, the ECB is expected to hold interest rates steady this week for its third straight meeting. The key deposit rate has been at 2% since June.

US-China relations

Across the globe on Monday, US futures were mostly up in pre-market trading. This came as Asian shares rallied too, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 topping 50,000 for the first time.

Later this week, the US President has a scheduled meeting with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (known as APEC), to discuss the trade deal between the world’s two strongest economies.

US and Chinese officials confirmed on Sunday that they had reached an initial consensus for Trump and President Xi Jinping to finalise during a meeting later in the week.

“I have a lot of respect for President Xi,” Trump told reporters after visiting Malaysia for a summit of Southeast Asian nations, where he reached preliminary trade agreements with Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

“I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump said.

And investors see it as a strong signal. According to Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management: “This isn’t just photo-op diplomacy. Behind the showmanship, Washington and Beijing’s top trade lieutenants have quietly mapped out a framework that might, just might, keep the world’s two largest economies from tearing up the field again.”

The enthusiasm brought about a shift in risk-taking among investors, demonstrated by a fall in gold futures. The safe-haven asset’s continuous contract fell by almost 2% on Monday morning, as an ounce was priced at $4,055.50.

The euro and Japanese yen remained flat against the US dollar. One euro was traded at $1.1638, while the greenback cost ¥152.8070. The British pound climbed 0.26% against the US dollar, and the rate was at $1.3345.

Crude oil prices fell after European markets opened, with both benchmarks trading nearly 1% lower. The US benchmark WTI crude’s price was $61.06 a barrel, and Brent was at $65.47.

In other dealings, leading cryptocurrencies were up. CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) gained 4.86% and climbed to $115,395.34. Ethereum cost $4,171.84, up by 4.82% on Monday morning in Europe.

Another Fed rate cut on the cards, coupled with Big Tech reports

Wall Street hit record highs on Friday, after lower-than-expected inflation numbers from the US fuelled further hope that the Federal Reserve is about to cut interest rates further this Wednesday.

The data on inflation was encouraging because it could mean less pain for lower- and middle-income households struggling with still-high increases in prices. Even more importantly for Wall Street, it could also clear the way for the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates in hopes of giving a boost to the slowing job market.

The Fed just cut its main interest rate last month for the first time this year, but it’s been hesitant to promise more relief because lower rates can make inflation worse, beyond boosting the economy and prices for investments.

Meanwhile, a flood of big tech companies’ earnings is on its way this week, with Microsoft, Meta and Google-parent Alphabet reporting on Wednesday. Apple and Amazon’s numbers are due to be released on Thursday.

Better-than-expected profits could fuel hopes for steady growth in the US. Information is scarce about the current state of the world’s biggest economy due to the prolonged government shutdown.

Published on
16/10/2025 – 11:19 GMT+2

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In the global trade storm unleashed since US President Donald Trump’s return to power, Italian pasta producers are feeling very much alone — while their case is a special one.

On 4 September, the US Department of Commerce announced preliminary tariffs of 91.74% on 13 pasta brands.

If upheld, the tariffs would take effect in January 2026, delivering a significant blow to Italy, which exported nearly €700 million worth of pasta to the United States in 2024.

Admittedly, the case is not new. It originated in 1996, when US pasta producers accused Italian manufacturers of dumping — selling their products in the American market at prices lower than those in Italy.

Since then, Italian producers have been regularly subject to tariffs, but never of the magnitude now decided by the Trump administration.

Combined with the 15% duties that now apply to EU imports into the US, the total tariff burden would reach 106.74% if implemented. The pasta makers say this is brutal.

“It’s unfair, it’s a protectionist action of the US against Italian pasta,” Margherita Mastromauro, president of Unione Italiana Food, the largest association of food producers in Italy, told Euronews.

“We need help, because a large part of our companies are involved. With a duty so high, it means that all these companies will not export until the new review will be done.”

The investigation concerned the period between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024, Italian producers hope the review of the year 2025 will bring them some relief. But for now, the future remains uncertain.

Can the fight become political?

The companies have been scrambling to get these tariffs lifted since September.

Two of them, Garofalo and La Molisana, have taken legal action against the decision.

The Italian government and the European Commission have begun to get involved. However, room for manoeuvre remains limited in what is, according to the president of Unione Italiana Food, more a “legal” than a “political” matter.

The Italian Foreign Ministry has said the duties were “disproportionate” and has joined the case as an “interested party” to weigh in favour of this key sector of Italy’s economy.

On its side, the Commission told Euronews that the issue could be raised within the framework of the new dialogue initiated with the Trump administration on tariffs, since the agreement reached in July ended weeks of discord between the two sides of the Atlantic.

But an EU official also conceded that, unlike the unilateral tariffs imposed on other European products — which violate rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) — the US anti-dumping action against pasta appears to be done traditionally, as a trade defence mechanism allowed by the WTO, which regulates international trade between its member countries.

“We are closely monitoring the case, and if there are flaws in the investigation, we will question it and we will raise the issue with the WTO,” the official told Euronews.

If that were the case, it could lead to retaliatory measures from the EU.

Socialist Italian MEP Brando Benifei, who leads the parliamentary delegation for relations with the US, condemned the US action that he considers “clearly discriminatory”.

“This has to be solved and we urge the Commission to act through,” Benifei told Euronews.

Published on
29/09/2025 – 16:54 GMT+2

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The sword of Damocles hanging for several months over the global film industry located outside the US appears to have fallen: US president Donald Trump announced on Monday that he wants to impose a 100% tax on films made abroad.

“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit!” Trump wrote on his social media Truth Social, adding: “Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT.”

In May 2024, Trump authorised the US Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff on all movies not produced in the US.

Representatives of the EU film industry who spoke to Euronews feared at the time that they might be overlooked by the EU in its trade negotiations with the US.

Since then, a trade agreement concluded in July made no mention of the film industry – a service sector not covered by blanket tariffs of 15% that were slapped on all US-bound EU goods.

The EU film industry faces criticism from major American streaming platforms which claim EU rules are too protective of the interests of the European industry.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents US film, television, and streaming industries, has its sights set on the EU legislation imposing quotas requiring video on demand services operating in the EU to reserve 30% of their catalogue for European work and obligations to invest in European works made by EU member states. They had written to the Trump administration in March 2024 to defend their cause.

In 2023, 4.8 million European movies were screened in the US, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The European Commission has been approached for comment.

Published on 15/09/2025 – 15:34 GMT+2
•Updated
15:53

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A French liberal MEP has gathered signatures from 20 other lawmakers for a letter seen by Euronews calling on the European Commission to review its commitment made under the EU-US trade agreement to purchase US energy.

In the document— soon to be sent to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen—the MEPs led by Christophe Grudler of Renew call on the EU executive to reconsider its pledge to buy $750 billion worth of US energy products over the next three years.

These products include liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil, nuclear fuels, and small modular reactors (SMRs). The signatories argue the deal will undermine the EU’s climate goals, industrial competitiveness, and strategic sovereignty.

“Increasing LNG imports from US shale gas directly undermines our climate agenda and our methane emissions regulation,” the letter says, adding: “LNG is highly polluting when liquefied, shipped across the Atlantic and regasified. Such dependence is a climate time-bomb.”

The initiative was launched by Christophe Grudler, a French MEP from the liberal Renew group.

The letter also warns that beyond energy concerns, the deal risks exposing the EU to “political blackmail”, the US demanding changes to EU climate policies, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, under which the bloc will apply levies on the carbon footprint of foreign imports from 1 January 2026.

The energy purchase commitment forms part of the EU-US agreement reached over the summer.

Some MEPs view the arrangement as deeply unbalanced, given that the US continues to impose 15% tariffs on EU goods, while the EU has agreed to make major investments in the US, including in the energy and defence sectors.

‘Economic imbalance’

In their letter to the Commission, MEPs also slam what they describe as the “economic imbalance” created by the pledge to purchase $250 billion’s worth of energy over three years. 

The letter describes this figure as “astronomical” adding: “To put this in perspective, the entire Competitiveness Fund proposed in the MFF amounts to €362 billion over seven years. How can we ask European companies to massively buy from the US while urging them to strengthen our competitiveness at home?”

The inclusion of US small modular reactors in the deal has also raised concerns among MEPs.

“At a time when the EU is building its own SMR supply chain, opening the door to US competitors is total nonsense.”

They further stress that commercial decisions “should remain the prerogative of companies, not be preempted by political pledges.”

Published on
03/09/2025 – 8:00 GMT+2

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MEPs are set to complain widely about the EU-US trade agreement when they confront Commission trade chief and agreement negotiator Sabine Weyand during a Parliamentary hearing on the deal on Wednesday.  

“While clearly we understand that the EU has chosen stability, diplomacy and to keep a cool-minded approach, however this cannot translate into the acceptance of an unfair and asymmetric trade relation with our American friends and partners,” Italian MEP Brando Benifei.

“As it is now, it is not acceptable,” Benifei told Euronews, speaking on behalf of his Socialists & Democrats group.

Last week the Commission proposed reducing tariffs on most US industrial goods, as well as less sensitive agricultural products, to 0%, as it began implementing the agreement reached with the US at the end of August. At the same time, the agreement provides that the EU will pay a 15% tariff on its exports to the US.

The Commission’s legislative proposal must now navigate its way through the Parliament and the EU Council for approval.

The Greens are also speaking out against an unbalanced agreement and rejecting the Commission’s argument that it will ensure stable trade relations with the US.

“The deal has major disadvantages for the EU,” German Green MEP Anna Cavazzini said, adding: “The only ‘gain’ that the Commission is selling us is stability. However, Trump’s incessant demands and new tariff threats are turning this process into a waste of time.”

Just after the agreement was concluded, US President Donald Trump threatened countries with digital legislation — like the EU — with tariffs, accusing them of directly targeting Big Tech.

According to the German MEP, the proposal to reduce EU tariffs on US imports will clearly “not have a smooth sailing through the European Parliament.”

The agreement, which is still under discussion within the Parliament’s largest group, the centre-right EPP, has nonetheless failed to win the full support of some of its individual members within the parliamentary committee on trade.

“Capitulation”

“This is an outright capitulation — we’re committing to colossal sums for investments and pledges to purchase billions worth of chips and military equipment, while granting the US 0% tariffs,” French MEP Celine Imart (EPP) said, “all this for the reindustrialisation of the US !”

Swedish MEP Jörgen Warborn, who coordinates the work of the EPP within the trade committee, is more cautious.

“It is hard to put yourself in the situation of the negotiators of the Commission,” he told Euronews, adding: “It is good that we have a framework agreement, because hopefully this can give us more stability. But at the same time, I don’t see the deal as balanced as I would have hoped it to be.”

Within Renew, the liberal group at the Parliament, some MEPs are also angry. The treatment granted to US agricultural products — benefiting from 0% tariffs or favourable quotas for certain items — is not going down well.

“I’m outraged by the whole situation. Yes, of course, there are the US’s promises when it comes to defence, but this agreement truly exposes our total dependence, which forces us to sign just about anything,” Belgian MEP Benoit Cassart (Renew), who is also a farmer, said, adding: “I disagree with those who think the EU has ‘won’ just because things didn’t turn out worse. If that’s the logic, then next time the US will start at 50% and we’ll end up with 40% tariffs on all our exports.”

French MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, who coordinates Renew in the committee, considers too that “there is a widespread feeling that we [the EU] failed to put any real leverage on the table.”

Published on
02/09/2025 – 13:52 GMT+2

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Gold jumped to a record $3,508.50 (€3,015.08) an ounce on Tuesday, fuelled by expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut and mounting uncertainty for investors.

The precious metal is seen as a haven for investors, with demand for it surging when trust in the stability of paper currencies or financial markets dips.

Earlier this year, gold prices surged when US President Donald Trump announced a raft of controversial tariffs against other countries.

Gold’s record-high value underscores deep unease over the global outlook and questions about the Fed’s independence as US President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on policymakers.

Dollar is no longer the ‘gold standard’

The rise in gold prices has come as part of a multiyear rally for precious metals.

Central banks from Asia to the Middle East have been accelerating their purchases for the fourth year in a row, adding a powerful tailwind to prices, with predictions being that at least 1,000 metric tonnes of gold will be purchased by governments for their gold reserves.

The move reveals a decreasing reliance on the US dollar at a time when Washington’s fiscal trajectory and political battles are clouding its standing as the world’s reserve currency.

A survey of 73 central banks conducted by the World Gold Council revealed that 95% of them are expected to increase their gold holdings over the next 12 months, while nearly three-quarters of them are anticipated to shrink their dollar reserves.

China, who is still locked in negotiations with the US over a more favourable trade deal, has been accumulating gold on a monthly basis, recording its ninth straight month of purchases in July.

De-dollarisation will hurt the world’s most reliable currency

For much of modern history, most national currencies were tied directly to gold — namely, governments guaranteed that paper money could be exchanged for a fixed weight of gold they had stored in their reserves.

Everyday transactions were carried out with paper money because it was far simpler than calculating gold values or carrying bullion, while governments backed those notes with gold held securely in their vaults.

After World War II, dozens of Allied nations gathered in Bretton Woods in New Hampshire to host the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference.

They decided to create the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and established a system where the US dollar was pegged to gold at $35 an ounce.

In other words, one dollar represented 1/35th of an ounce. At the time, this peg gave the dollar unmatched credibility because the US then held most of the world’s gold reserves.

It provided stability for global trade and investment for about 27 years, until the US abandoned the gold peg in 1971, collapsing the Bretton Woods system.

Ghosts of Bretton Woods

Bretton Woods collapsed in 1971 when the US deficit and inflation drained gold reserves, making the $35 peg unsustainable.

President Richard Nixon ended dollar convertibility at the time, forcing currencies to float freely.

Once currencies began floating after Bretton Woods, foreign exchange or Forex markets became the arena where their values were set.

Instead of governments guaranteeing fixed rates, traders, banks and central banks now buy and sell currencies against one another, with prices at times shifting by the second.

Now, US policies are once again influencing the gold-buying habits of central banks, and it is particularly symbolic that gold has surged past $3,500 an ounce — an increase of more than 10,000% from the $35 peg set under Bretton Woods after World War II.

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The EU Commission made its opening move in implementing the trade agreement reached on August 21 with the United States, but the legislative proposal for tariff reductions on a wide range of US industrial and agricultural products will face a tricky path through the European Parliament which will start considering the measure next week.

This legislative move should offer immediate relief to the EU automotive sector, as the US committed to retroactively lower its 27.5% tariffs on EU cars to 15% from 1 August, once the Commission proposed the legislation. 

Among the concessions granted to the US, the Commission’s proposal provides for reducing tariffs to 0% on the vast majority of US industrial products – ranging from machinery to pharmaceutical products, some chemicals, plastics and fertilizers – for which the EU aims to break its dependence on Russia. The proposal also targets some agri-products, such as fruits, juices and certain seeds.

“This is not costly for us,” a senior EU official said, pointing out that existing tariffs levied by the bloc on these products are very low.

The Commission has also declared privileged access to its market for certain agricultural products, whose tariffs will be reduced — such as certain vegetables, fruits and grape juices.

Tariff-rate quotas are also planned for 20 product groups, including pork (25,000 tonnes), dairy products (10,000 tonnes), cheese (10,000 tonnes), and soybeans (400,000 tonnes), which will benefit from 0% tariffs below the set thresholds.

Despite a trade agreement widely seen as heavily tilted in favour of the US — with the EU facing 15% tariffs under the deal — Brussels foresees the possibility of suspending these tariff advantages on US products if the US fails to implement the 21 August agreement, or if a sudden surge in US imports on the European market poses serious risks to EU industry.

The legislative proposal needs the buy-in of the European co-legislator, the European Parliament and the EU Council, which represents the member states.

MEPs responsible for monitoring trade issues will meet for what promises to be a heated session on 3 September, with some having criticised the deal as unbalanced. Sabine Weyand, Director-General of DG Trade and one of the chief negotiators, will attend to answer their questions.

“Politically, some MEPs saw the conclusion of the agreement as a humiliation and a surrender,” French liberal MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne told Euronews, adding: “Especially since we were promised predictability — yet Trump is already threatening tariffs on countries implementing digital legislation. The Commission is clearly uncomfortable.”

On top of the proposal on tariffs reduction, the MEPs are waiting for a second legislative proposal on the whole deal.

“We need to understand the agreement much better before we can be decisive and say yes or no,” Swedish MEP Jörgen Warborn (EPP) told Euronews, “I’m myself concerned because I have not yet understood whether the deal was compatible with WTO rules.”

According to WTO rules, any country that grants a preferential tariff to one country must extend those terms to others.

“There is a lot of turbulence when it comes to trade at these times. We need a rule-based space and not that the EU is part of breaking WTO rules,” Warborn added.

Within the S&D group, some are betting on the continuation of the negotiations to improve the deal.

“The deal is quite unbalanced and we need to see real effort from the EU Commission to obtain more exemptions and a clear path for an agreement on steel and aluminium,” a lawmaker from S&D said, adding: “Otherwise we should go back to the possible countermeasures.”

The deal published on August 21 does not address the aluminium and steel sectors, which remain subject to tariffs of up to 50%.

Published on
28/08/2025 – 7:45 GMT+2

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The EU should speed negotiation of a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system with the US to avoid existing exorbitant tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminium, the director general of the European Steel Association, EUROFER, has told Euronews adding that such a deal could also help with cooperation on Chinese overcapacities in the sector.

Such TRQ systems enable specific quantities of steel and aluminium to be imported at a lower or zero tariff rate, with any additional amount subject to a much higher tariff rate.

“Tariff-rate quotas are the only opening we have with the US,” Axel Eggert told Euronews, adding: “They are not perfect, but at least we still can export to the US, whereas now it’s completely different.”

The tariff-rate quota system for steel and aluminium was introduced under the Biden administration to replace the 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminium imposed by the first Trump administration. It allowed up to 3.3 million tons of EU steel and 384,000 tons of aluminium into the US tariff-free, with the tariffs applying to any further amounts. However, since his return to office, US President Donald Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium, which were raised to 50% in June and extended on 19 August to some 400 steel derivatives.

After weeks of tariff disputes targeting all EU industrial products—not just steel and aluminium—the US and the EU reached an agreement setting tariffs on EU goods at 15%, with the notable exception of steel and aluminium.

However, the joint statement does state that the parties “intend to consider the possibility to cooperate on ring-fencing their respective domestic markets from overcapacity, while ensuring secure supply chains between each other, including through tariff-rate quota solutions.”

“We would have hoped that there was a clear obligation for the US to keep the tariff-rate quota which we had before,” Eggert said. “That was our objective and that was also the Commission’s objective, but the Commission simply didn’t get it.”

EUROFER’s boss also said that the US and EU can make common cause in fighting Chinese overcapacities in the steel sector.

According to OECD figures, there was a global overcapacity of steel of 600 million tons last year, and by next year there should be overcapacities of 720 million tonnes.

“China is subsidising its steel industry,” Eggert said, pointing out that the Asian giant has an excess capacity of more than 500 million tons.

When Trump imposed 25% tariffs on global steel and aluminium in March, it was swallowed by cheap Chinese products, he added, which explains why the US tariffs were then raised to 50%.

The issue of overcapacity was an integral part of the negotiations in recent months between the US and the EU, with the Commission pushing for cooperation between the two sides.

“If you have the two biggest markets in the world, the US and the EU, then you have such market power that you don’t let in any steam from companies which produce overcapacity,” Eggert predicts. “Then of course they have to reduce the overcapacities.”

In 2021, the Biden administration and the EU Commission started negotiating an agreement — the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium (GASSA) — to fight overcapacities and promote lower-carbon production in the steel and aluminium sectors. But the negotiation was interrupted after Trump returned to power.

“There is a possibility [to bring it back], because the US administration has worked this out in great detail already,” Eggert said, pointing out that one sticking point which remained was the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a fee on some polluting goods imported into the EU, which the US opposes.

By&nbspEuronews&nbspwith&nbspAP

Published on 13/08/2025 – 12:38 GMT+2
•Updated
12:54

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Shares charged higher in Europe and Asia on Wednesday after US stocks hit new records when data that showed inflation across the United States improved slightly last month.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added to its record set a day earlier.

The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.2%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed.

A recent rally in share prices has been driven partly by relief over an extended truce in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, and partly by persisting hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Those were reinforced by a moderation in the consumer price index in July.

Germany’s DAX rose 0.8% to 24,207.78 and the CAC 40 in Paris picked up 0.4% to 7,784.63. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher, to 9,157.26.

Asian markets

“Asia woke up in full risk-on mode, riding the coattails of a US session that looked like someone hit the ‘infinite bid’ button after CPI didn’t blow the inflation doors off,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

China and the US agreed to a 90 day extension, from 12 August, of their pause in drastically higher tariff rates on each others’ exports to allow more time for talks on a broad trade agreement. Although uncertainty over what the negotiations will yield remains, the truce has relieved pressure on companies and countries across Asia that rely heavily in supply chains routed through China.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 2.6% to 25,613.67, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.5% to 3,683.46.

In Japan, relief over the Trump administration’s confirmation that its exports will face a flat 15% US import duty has driven strong buying of computer chip-related companies and other exporters.

The Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% to 43,274.67.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.1% to 3,224.37. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.6% to 8,827.10.

Taiwan’s Taiex was up 0.9% and the Sensex in India gained 0.5%. In Bangkok, the SET climbed 1% after the Bank of Thailand cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5%.

US markets

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.1% to top its all-time high set two weeks ago. It closed at 6,445.76.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.1% to 44,458.61, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4% to set its own record of 21,681.90.

The better-than-expected report on inflation raised hopes the Federal Reserve will have the leeway to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September.

Tuesday’s report said US consumers paid prices for groceries, gasoline and other costs of living that were overall 2.7% higher in July than in the previous year. That’s the same inflation rate as June’s, and it was below the 2.8% that economists expected.

Lower rates would give a boost to investment prices and to the economy by making it cheaper for US households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment. President Donald Trump has angrily been calling for cuts to help the economy, often insulting the Fed’s chair personally while doing so.

The Fed has hesitated, worried that Trump’s tariffs could make inflation much worse.

The Fed will get one more report on inflation and another on the US job market, before its next meeting, which ends 17 September. The most recent jobs report was a stunner, coming in much weaker than economists expected.

Critics say the broad US stock market is looking expensive after its surge from a bottom in April. That’s putting pressure on companies to deliver continued growth in profit.

In other dealings early Wednesday, US benchmark crude oil dropped 26 cents to $62.91 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 20 cents to $65.92 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 147.24 Japanese yen from 147.84 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1727 from $1.1677.