Author: starbpo

The pressure on consumers of steel and aluminum imports, which had already been subject to a 25% duty since March, increased when U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on those imports early on Wednesday. The president’s recent trade action “will further increase the cost of canned goods at the grocery store,” according to the Can Manufacturers Institute, a lobbying group for metal can manufacturers. The group also said that it will affect “millions of American families relying on canned foods picked and packed by U.S. farmers, food producers, and can makers.” After federal judges delayed and then reinstated his…

Even while the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are still steadfastly committed to increasing U.S. energy production, Americans may soon feel the pain at the gas pump and on their electricity bills. The reason for this is that a new bill that is gaining traction in the Senate would impose harsh tariffs on any nation that imports uranium, oil, and other energy items from Russia. This could cause disruptions in the global energy markets and raise the cost of everything from power to gasoline. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican and the measure’s primary supporter, has referred to the legislation as…

You can take a more comprehensive strategy by using exchange-traded funds to own baskets of companies if you think now is the best time to buy oil stocks. However, you must exercise greater caution if you want to invest in particular businesses engaged in the production and delivery of oil. You might start your investigation by examining information that could reduce risk. It was impossible to predict how much effort Iran’s leadership would put into carrying out threats to close the Strait of Hormuz or otherwise restrict the flow of oil after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear installations. The Strait…

The “intricacies” of a preliminary U.S.-China trade agreement were the subject of a “very good phone call” that lasted almost an hour and a half, according to President Donald Trump, who claimed he spoke with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday. During the call, Trump indicated that he had made headway on a major source of contention: American access to China’s rare-earth metals, or REMX, which are essential for high-tech products like electric cars. However, he provided no information on how he resolved the issue, so investors and business executives will continue to monitor it. Trump stated in a social…

The delicate balance reached in the House may be threatened by changes to state and local tax deductions. Two weeks after the House narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s massive tax plan, the Senate has started to make changes to the legislation’s structure. Some are now cautioning that the structure may collapse due to changes in that chamber. A House agreement that increased the amount of state and local taxes that Americans can deduct from their federal returns has drawn harsh criticism from senators. The bill’s House version increased the state and local tax deduction maximum from $10,000 to $40,000, with…

It’s turning out to be the breakup of the decade in a Washington full of wealthy people and powerful figures. And everyone on the planet can witness it occurring. On Thursday, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, his former close advisor and major political backer, started a savage public spat that may have long-term effects on the richest man in the world, the president, and the Republican Party as a whole. The two dodged almost everything, with Musk suggesting that the president should be impeached, Trump threatening Musk’s businesses, and Musk even bringing up accusations against Jeffrey Epstein. It’s turning…

One of the many measures in the Republican tax and spending megabill that was passed by the House of Representatives last month, which has more than 1,000 pages of text, is to stop the distribution of 1099-K tax forms to employees or vendors who make more than $600 annually. During a House hearing last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Republican Representative Carol Miller of West Virginia praised this specific provision. During the hearing on Wednesday, Miller informed Bessent, “Republicans have worked to restore the 1099-K threshold to the time-tested standard of $20,000 and 200 transactions by including my Saving…

New York House Republicans criticized Senate GOP leaders on Monday for allegedly supporting a plan to maintain the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, which could jeopardize President Donald Trump’s signature tax bill before it even reaches the Senate floor. This move revealed a new Republican rift over taxes. The Senate Finance Committee will include a $10,000 cap as an initial “negotiating mark” in its legislative text later Monday, according to a story published by Punchbowl News on Monday. However, several Republicans in the House don’t like the gamble. Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York wrote on…

This year, six electric cars made the top 10 for the first time in Cars.com’s long-running index, which evaluates cars based on criteria like domestic part sourcing and U.S.-based assembly. According to Cars.com, “knowing what’s made here and what that really means has never been more important.” This development coincides with the planned U.S. conversion to electric vehicles encountering some significant roadblocks. Having a “majority electric” top 10 for the first time is significant, but only to a certain extent, according to the main researcher for Cars.com’s 2025 American-Made Index. “I wouldn’t want to suggest that this is the turning…

Senate Republicans have released a comprehensive plan to restructure the Medicaid program, but policy analysts caution that the changes might cause hospital systems to suffer much more and lose even more coverage than the House of Representatives’ aggressive proposal last month. As part of the party’s larger effort to pass new tax and spending legislation supported by President Donald Trump, the Senate Finance Committee released the text, which reveals that the legislation intends to cut Medicaid spending by up to $1 trillion over ten years, or $200 billion more than the House version. Numerous healthcare researchers and providers were taken…