Author: usaeverydaylife

The authorities in South Korea were expecting tens of thousands of protesters to descend on central Seoul on Friday as the nation’s Constitutional Court decides the fate of President Yoon Suk Yeol.At least 14,000 police had been deployed to the area around the court, closing subway stations and locking down an area near a former royal palace that is popular with tourists and home to major businesses. Drones have been banned from the area, and schools, vendors and businesses have been ordered to close.The first protests were set to start at 10 a.m. local time, ahead of a possible decision…

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Economists, market watchers and consumers alike are still trying to understand the implications of President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday of sweeping new tariffs.The plan, part of Trump’s “Make America Wealthy Again” initiatives, features a baseline 10% tariff on all U.S. trading partners as well as duties as high as 50% on nations with which the U.S. has a trade deficit. Imports from China, South Korea and Japan, for instance, face 34%, 25% and 24% tariffs, respectively. Products from the European Union will come with a 20% levy.Reaction from investors was swift. The S&P 500 — a proxy for the…

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© Marco Bottigelli | Moment | Getty ImagesAsia-Pacific markets are set to extend declines on Friday, tracking steep losses on Wall Street after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs rattled global markets.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.06%.Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a lower open for the market. The futures contract in Chicago is currently at 33,885 and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 33,620 compared to the index’s previous close of 34,735.93.Hong Kong and China markets are closed for the Qingming Festival.A verdict by South Korea’s Constitutional Court to remove impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected later Friday. Should…

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U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and U.S. President Donald Trump.Craig Hudson | Evelyn Hockstein | ReutersNow that President Donald Trump has set out his landmark tariff plans, the Federal Reserve finds itself in a potential policy box, having to choose between fighting inflation, boosting growth — or simply avoiding the fray and letting events take their course without intervention.Should the president hold fast to his tougher-than-expected trade policy, there’s a material risk of at least near-term costs, namely the potential for higher prices and a slowdown in growth that could turn into a recession.For the Fed, that presents a…

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A Kremlin envoy on Thursday praised the Trump administration for hearing “Russia’s position on many issues” after two days of meetings in Washington that marked the first time in years that a senior Russian official had traveled to the United States for talks with American counterparts.The envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, met in the White House on Wednesday with President Trump’s senior aide on Russia negotiations, Steve Witkoff, according to a U.S. official in Washington with knowledge of the talks.Mr. Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and President Vladimir V. Putin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation, said he…

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a new set of tariffs that sent global markets tumbling. We’ll use options to hedge further market turmoil. It is true that the United States currently faces asymmetric tariffs and trade policies, which have contributed to a significant trade deficit. Establishing fair trade practices and tariffs is essential. However, supply chains cannot pivot on a dime. Reestablishing domestic manufacturing capabilities is a lengthy and costly process, so market participants likely anticipated that the administration would seek to renegotiate in a manner that provides more runway for businesses to adjust. But that’s not what happened.…

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