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2018年5月29日 星期二

Overnight Finance: Trump move raises trade tensions with China | Starbucks closes stores for anti-bias training | GOP tax law writers flocking to K Street | Centrist Dems tout Dodd-Frank rollback

 
 
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Welcome to Overnight Finance! It's a short week in Washington, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty going on in the wonderful world of markets, taxes, finances and trade. I'm Niv Elis, filling in for Sylvan Lane.

 

See something I missed? Let Sylvan know (he'll be back tomorrow) at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @NivElis. And if you like our newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis.

 

THE BIG DEAL: The Trump administration said it's moving ahead with actions to crack down on Chinese trade practices by June 30.

In a press release, the White House said President Trump is planning further export controls against China to counter Chinese intellectual property theft, including tariffs on Chinese tech exports believed to contain stolen American intellectual property.

"To protect our national security, the United States will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology," the statement reads.

The numbers: A 25 percent tariff will be levied on $50 billion of tech goods imported from China, and the U.S. pledges in the statement to continue litigating the issue in front of the World Trade Organization. The list of affected goods will be released by June 15, the statement says.

How it could play abroad: The move is sure to raise tensions between the U.S. and China who have been saber-rattling on trade.

How it could play at home: The latest move could inflame tensions between the President and Congressional Republicans, who see trade in very different terms. Most recently, Trump raised Congressional ire with threats to impose tariffs on cars. 

The Hill's Vicki Needham has the info you need here

 

LEADING THE DAY

Another wild day for the Dow: The Dow Jones took a nearly 400-point dip on Tuesday, losing 1.6 percent of its value as leading banks took a tumble over concerns about a decline in global credit. The S&P 500 closed down 1.1percent. 

For months, the stock markets have swung wildly, as traders struggle to guess what policy steps the U.S. will take and to value assets that inflated wildly following President Trump's election. The S&P's closing value on Tuesday was in line with the first week of January, marking nearly four months of stagnant growth and volatility.

 

Taxwriters head to K Street: Republican aides in Congress who were instrumental in writing the sweeping tax law last year are hitting the exits to take jobs in the lobbying industry. 

At least a half dozen high-profile GOP staffers have departed or are departing Capitol Hill, swapping jobs in the legislative branch for plum postings at firms like Akin Gump and Squire Patton Boggs. 

The exile from Congress includes top aides for the House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and the offices of Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

The Hill's Naomi Jagoda and Megan Wilson track the moves from the Capitol to the cash-rich jobs on K Street.

 

More fallout from the tax cut package: Companies substantially increased their contributions to defined-benefit pension plans in 2017, likely because of the new tax law that President Trump signed in December, according to a new paper from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The tax law cuts the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, starting in 2018. The rate reduction provided an incentive for corporations to boost their deductions in 2017 -- including the deduction for pension contributions -- so that they can take those deductions at the higher rate.

 

But for one industry... taxes are still a buzzkill: Representatives of the cannabis industry are ramping up their lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to take action on taxes that affect their industry.

The main request in meetings with members of Congress this week: overturning a regulation that prevents legal cannabis companies, in particular, from deducting operating expenses.

Members of the industry have been disappointed that the GOP tax overhaul passed in December did not clear away the regulation. And while many don't expect legislative action this year, given the fall midterm elections, industry advocates are holding out hope for Democratic-sponsored bills that could see movement in 2019.

Read my report here.

 

Meanwhile, looking to the midterms: Democrats are aiming at the center, talking up their support for the first major revision to the Dodd-Frank Act since it was implemented in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Three vulnerable Senate Democrats hailing from states President Trump won in the 2016 election are touting their work on a new bipartisan banking law, portraying it as proof of their independence in Washington.

Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.) co-authored the bipartisan legislation, signed by Trump on Thursday, that eases the regulatory oversight Dodd-Frank imposed on banks and credit unions.

The senators say their bill is a prime example of their ability to work across party lines and solve problems, a message they are eager to bring back to voters in their home states.

"One-size-fits-all rules from Washington have been strangling Montana's Main Street economy and threatening our rural way of life," Tester said after the House passed the bill on Tuesday, sending it to Trump.

Read Sylvan's story here

 

Another financial crisis on the way? Billionaire investor and Democratic mega-donor George Soros thinks so. On Tuesday, he warned that a new worldwide financial crisis could be coming, citing instabilities within the European Union and trade tensions with the U.S. 

 

Coffee, to go: Starbucks on Tuesday afternoon closed over 8,000 stores to give its employees company-wide training in avoiding bias, in a public effort to make amends for an embarrassing racial incident.

"Our hope is that these learning sessions and discussions will make a difference within and beyond our stores," Starbucks executive vice president Rossann Williams said in a note to partners about the training sessions.

Starbucks expected 175,000 employees to undergo the training, which focused on recognizing racial bias. But roughly 7,000 licensed stores, in locations such as grocery stores or airports, remained open. Starbucks said it was making the training materials available to those locations as well.

The closing could cost Starbucks as much as $12 million in profits, by some estimates.

The training sessions come after an incident put Starbucks on the front lines of a national discussion about race.

I have more on the important day for Starbucks here.

 

ON TAP TOMORROW

  • Federal Reserve Board holds an open meeting on the notice of proposed rulemaking for its Volcker Rule rewrite, 3 p.m.

 

OPINION

 

GOOD TO KNOW

  • Brookings: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was a missed opportunity to establish a sustainable tax code.
  • Italian politics are setting the stock market on edge, as Italian President Sergio Mattarella blocks the formation of an anti-euro government, according to CNBC.
  • That recent Supreme Court decision on sports betting has startups salivating, according to Bloomberg.
  • Food chain Pret A Manger gets scooped up by JAB Holdings, according to the Financial Times

 

ODDS AND ENDS

 
 
 
 
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