Publications

According to the Wall Street Journal, Japan is examining ways to retaliate against the U.S. for recent steel tariffs. Officials have said that Japan may tell the World Trade Organization that it has the right to impose tariffs on U.S. goods equivalent to the damage it is suffering from the steel tariffs, an approach China has pursued. WSJ

Janet Adamy of the Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. birthrate has dropped to a thirty-year low. Adamy writes that the severe lack of births could exacerbate the problems associated with an aging population, including having fewer wage-earners to pay into programs like Social Security and Medicare. WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump’s goal of rewriting NAFTA in 2018 now appears unattainable after negotiators failed to reach a deal this week. House Speaker Paul Ryan had set this Thursday as an informal deadline for the negotiations, as legislative approval for any new agreement may be harder to obtain after July elections in Mexico and November elections in the U.S. WSJ

According to the Financial Times, U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad says that the U.S. and China are “still very far apart” on trade negotiations. Key sticking points include a timetable for when China will remove automobile tariffs and will open its domestic financial sector to foreign companies. FT

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. and China are discussing a deal that would give Chinese telecom firm ZTE relief from recent sanctions in return for the removal of Chinese tariffs on U.S. agricultural products. The negotiations, which come after the imposition of potentially-crippling sanctions on ZTE, could also include easing of Chinese roadblocks to U.S. tech firms operating in China. WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports that Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said Monday that an improving economy may mean that the Fed needs to raise rates more quickly than she previously expected. Mester also said that she expects above-trend growth this year and next year, and that the Fed should continue removing monetary policy accommodation to avoid risks to financial stability. WSJ

According to the Wall Street Journal, gas prices are heading for $3 a gallon, which would mark the highest prices in more than three years. Analysts expect that rising fuel prices could dent consumer spending elsewhere by an annualized $38 billion as consumers face higher prices at the pump. WSJ

Greg Ip of the Wall Street Journal writes that rising interest rates in the U.S. are becoming a threat to many emerging market economies. Ip points to the fact that many emerging markets have dollar-denominated debt and imports, both of which become more expensive as the Fed raises interest domestic interest rates. WSJ