Gold bars to be exempt from tariffs, White House clarifies
Investing.com - Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods slumped in April, falling after the previous month’s sharp gains amid caution against the backdrop of a volatile trade outlook.
Orders for durable goods–items designed to last three years or more–fell 6.3% last month after a hefty revised 7.6% gain in March, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday.
Economists had forecast durable goods orders slipped 7.6% after a previously reported 9.2% gain in February.
Core durable goods, a figure which excludes transportation equipment, rose 0.2% on the month in April, better than the drop of 0.1% expected, after a revised drop of 0.2% last month.
U.S. President Donald Trump backed off over the weekend from Friday’s threat to impose 50% tariffs on EU imports next month. He instead restored a July 9 deadline to allow for talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc to produce a deal.
The U.S. president’s latest U-turn on EU tariffs reinforces how unpredictable his trade policies can be and undermines already fragile investor confidence in the U.S. economy.
The U.S. and China earlier agreed a truce to lower import taxes on goods being traded between the two countries - an agreement which marked a major de-escalation of the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.