Editor

By Arriana McLymore, Greg Bensinger NEW YORK (Reuters) -Amazon’s Prime Day is losing its luster among a critical group: sellers. Some third-party merchants who previously sold China-made goods during Amazon’s premier July shopping event are sitting it out this year or reducing the amount of discounted merchandise they offer. The planned pullback, which hasn’t been previously reported, is a way for sellers to protect profit margins amid the U.S.-China trade war triggered by steep tariffs … Read more…

By Zaheer Kachwala and Aditya Soni (Reuters) -IBM will invest $150 billion in the U.S., including on facilities for quantum computer production, over the next five years, the latest American technology company to back the Trump administration’s push for local manufacturing. The company’s announcement on Monday follows similar pledges by tech giants such as Nvidia and Apple, both of which have said they would spend about $500 billion each in the country over the next … Read more…

By Lisandra Paraguassu RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Foreign ministers from the BRICS group of developing nations met on Monday to discuss a shared defense of the global trade system, coordinating their response to the barrage of new tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. The meeting in Rio de Janeiro is expected to produce a joint statement criticizing “unilateral measures” on trade from the group formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and … Read more…

By Julia Harte (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s April 9 decision to hike tariffs on China hit as Steve Egan, a promotional product distributor in Tampa, Florida, was in the middle of ordering 5,000 rubber ducks from a Chinese vendor. The ducks were for a local non-profit that wanted to hand them out at parades and special events. Overnight, the ducks’ cost jumped from 29 to 45 cents apiece, according to Egan.  That order is now … Read more…

By Nathan Layne and Tim Reid (Reuters) -The Social Security Administration could lose thousands more staff beyond the 7,000 already targeted for cuts due to a move by the Trump administration to reclassify government employees, making them easier to fire, worker advocates said on Friday. President Donald Trump said last week his administration would proceed with plans to designate tens of thousands of federal workers as “at will” employees involved in policy decisions, stripping them … Read more…

By Nathan Layne (Reuters) -The White House wants to defund a bipartisan board that advises the president and Congress on Social Security policy, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the Trump administration moves to cut costs and eliminate independent voices in government. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has notified staff at the Social Security Advisory Board that it plans to cut the board’s annual budget from around $3 million … Read more…

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) -A packed upcoming week for markets will test a U.S. stocks rebound, with investors focused on a wave of corporate results led by Apple and Microsoft, while the prospect of global trade developments threatens to cause volatility at any time. The monthly U.S. employment report, data on first-quarter U.S. economic growth and an inflation update add to the potential market-sensitive events in the coming week, as investors weigh whether … Read more…

By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, was arrested on fraud charges in 2010 and faced lawsuits in two states for writing $2 million in bad checks to casinos, according to government records and court filings. Isaacman is a billionaire pilot and astronaut who founded Shift4 Payments company as a teen-ager and commanded the first civilian space crew in 2021 aboard a SpaceX capsule. Isaacman’s nomination is scheduled … Read more…