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THE HEADLINES
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DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE, DOUBLE YOUR FUN
Number 45 tweeted (now deleted) that if the EU does not remove their import duties and barriers on US goods that he plans to place a 20% tariff on any European vehicles headed for the back to back World War champs.
So, how did we get here?
Back in March, the US announced a 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum to any country that the US imports from … except for the EU. Then the negotiations with the EU fell apart, meaning that they too would be subject to the tariffs.
In retaliation, the EU issued 25% duties on three out of the six most American products: Harley Davison, Levi Jeans, and Bourbon. The missing products? Baseball, apple pie, and freedom.
So now we’re here. Trump tweets that if the EU doesn’t remove those duties that he will impose a 20% tariff. The EU has threatened equal retaliation to affected trading partners if the US indeed goes through with the tariff. Buckle up folks, this should be interesting.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “Do you think at the G7 summit last week they played ‘1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a Trade War?”
VIENNA (MIDDLE) FINGER
You down with O.P.E.C.? The biggest takeaway from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ week-long slog of meetings, ass kissing, and most likely more than one attempt at blatant bribery in Vienna is the proposed increase in production.
Amid pressure to reel in rising oil prices, a committee of OPEC ministers committed to increasing output by “roughly” 1M barrels per day.
The meetings, of course, weren’t without drama: everyone’s avoiding Iran likes its got SARs, the rounding errors make Enron immaterial and Saudi Arabia, the only country with capacity, coming out as the big winner.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “OPEC is the commodities market equivalent of FIFA. Its members are mostly Bond villain types and eventually, the whole corrupt house of cards will come tumbling down.”
IN OTHER NEWS
- According to a Supreme Court decision, law enforcement generally needs a warrant to access cellphone tower records. Someone should let Adnan Syed know.
- The “co-pilot” in an autonomous Uber vehicle which killed a pedestrian in March was watching an episode of The Voice instead of keeping her eyes on the road. She may face manslaughter charges. “With all due respect your honor, Kelly Clarkson is a judge this season.”
- No one is sure why, but Chanel has released financials for the first time in its 108 year history. The bottom line? A LOT of people have way too much money. The company reported $10B in revenue.
- In 2016 Apple updated the MacBook Pro’s keyboard and the redesign has gone about as well as the life of an F1 key at Moelis. After being sued, Apple has decided to make things right by repairing keyboards for free.
- US indices were mixed Friday:
- DOW: +0.49%
- S&P 500: +0.19%
- NASDAQ: -0.26%