Aiming squarely at markets and your money, President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders; but, what will they really do? Here, MarketWatch examines Trump’s first week of his second term and analyzes how his actions can affect your wallet—as well as maybe your phone.
Digital coins
Trump’s Thursday order establishing a working committee charged with overseeing the distribution and functioning of digital assets delighted crypto investors. One industry member told MarketWatch that U.S. digital-asset policy is undergoing a “sea change”.
The order guides the working group to assess the establishment of a national digital-asset stockpile. The possible building of a stockpile could come from crypto obtained under law enforcement by the federal authorities. Should the U.S. government, which has periodically sold crypto it acquired from illegal activity, stop doing so, it might provide a tailwind for digital assets (BTCUSD), observed Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, general counsel of crypto-infrastructure business StarkWare.
Tariffs and trade
Trump’s first week’s inaction on tariffs was as noteworthy as his scant activity overall.
Indeed, his executive order on a “America First” trade strategy covered tariffs in the form of a new, so-called External Revenue Service for duty collecting and other policies.
Trump has allowed some wriggle room, though, even although he has maintained much of his severe rhetoric on tariffs. Trump threatened taxes of 60% during his presidential campaign on China, for example; this week, he spoke on a 10% level, although he did at one time propose rising to 100%. And he said he “always liked” President Xi Jinping of China to world business and government officials assembled in Davos, Switzerland.
Following the inauguration, Tuesday’s first trading day saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rise 1.2% and the S&P 500 SPX increase 0.9% as investors applauded Trump’s subdued tone on tariffs. On Thursday, the S&P 500 recorded its first record close of his second term.
On Monday, Trump said his government considered imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on February 1. For those who follow tariffs, April 1 also seems to be a significant date since it is the due date in his executive order for a study on the causes of ongoing U.S. trade imbalances together with suggested remedies.
Energy – and a link to interest rates
Among the energy-related orders Trump signed were one labeled as “unleashing American energy” and another declaring a national energy crisis. His directives directed reversing the Biden administration’s delay on permitting new liquefied-natural-gas export projects, relaxing production limitations for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and rejecting a tailpipe-emissions rule Republicans have attacked as a “EV mandate.” Trump also directed a stop to leasing and approving of FAN projects including wind energy.
Saying he believes it should subsequently result in interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, Trump said in his Davos speech on Thursday that he would ask Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to drop oil prices (CL00). “With oil prices going down, I’ll demand that interest rates drop right away,” he remarked.
Analysts have predicted Trump could provide cheaper pricing for fossil fuels (RB00), but “mixed” performance for XLE’s oil and gas company stocks.
TikHub acquires additional time.
Thanks to one of Trump 2.0’s executive orders, TikHub kept running for current U.S. users even after a brief closure Sunday. The directive tells his attorney general not to enforce a national-security statute aimed at the Chinese-owned app for 75 days while Trump works to assist in a sale addressing security concerns.
Designed to close TikHub in the United States as long as ByteDance Ltd., the law, known as Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is meant to be enforced It became operative Sunday after passing Congress last year with broad support from Republicans and Democrats.
Analysts, however, do not believe that sharing would be seamless in the wake of Trump’s directive since customers of TikHub and publicly traded rivals SOCL await to see whether ByteDance will divestment takes place. Businesses running app stores or otherwise supporting distribution and upkeep of TikHub might be fined up to $850 billion under the law. Operating under Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL) Google business haven’t been letting would-be TikHub new users download the app. Reacting to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, Apple’s store has sent a notice that the business is “obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates”.
