🇺🇸🤝 US/China’s New “Done” Trade Deal

Happy Wednesday all,

I hope you are all well. I have been getting back into content creation and you should be seeing some YouTube videos on the channel shortly. One thing I am trying to work on this summer is to consistently get out 2 videos per week on the YouTube channel - and perhaps 1 out of those 2 videos per week is slightly more casual or news-related in nature.

In personal news, I am officially running the Chicago Marathon with a charity bib from After School Matters - a nonprofit that helps support over 19,000 underserved teens in the Chicago area. I’ve personally done a lot of high school, college, and summer workshops to teach financial literacy to students, and I always find it enjoyable and fulfilling. I do have a fundraising goal of $3,000 in order to run the marathon, so to support the cause of financial literacy for teens - just click on this link. Any donation is appreciated, and if you donate $50+, as a bonus, I will personally reply to any personal finance/investing/retirement/personal question you have via email. Just reply to this email after you’ve donated with your question and I will get you an answer when I can :)

Donate here: https://fundraisers.hakuapp.com/humphrey-yang

Enjoy this week’s Hump Days!

- Humphrey & Rickie

👀 Eye-Catching Headlines

Elon Musk says Tesla robotaxi rides in Austin ‘tentatively’ set to begin June 22 (CNBC)

Google offers buyouts to employees across the company, including Search (CNBC)

GM to invest $4 billion in U.S. plants amid tariffs for Mexican-produced vehicles (CNBC)

Is the Immigration Crackdown Already Showing Up in the Labor Market? (WSJ)

X’s Sales Pitch: Give Us Your Ad Business or We’ll Sue (WSJ)

News Sites Are Getting Crushed by Google’s New AI Tools (WSJ)

The Weekly Brief

Inflation Rises Less Than Expected as Tariffs Yet To Hit Prices

• In May, inflation in the United States slowed for the fourth consecutive month, with core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rising by only 0.1% from April.

• This was below economists' forecasts and brought the annual core inflation rate to 2.8%. The data suggests that companies have been hesitant to pass on the costs of recent tariffs to consumers.

  • This trend was broad-based, with prices for goods like new and used cars and apparel declining, while the growth in services prices slowed, partly due to lower airfares and hotel costs.

• Prices for groceries rose 0.3% after falling in April. While consumers saw higher costs for fish and bacon, egg prices dropped almost 3%. Ground beef prices rose due to a record low cattle herd and high demand.

• In addition to declines in travel categories, recreational services such as admissions to sporting events declined, in a sign of a pullback in discretionary spending.

Trump Says China Will Supply Rare Earths in ‘Done’ Trade Deal

• President Donald Trump announced that a trade framework with China has been finalized, pending his and President Xi Jinping's formal approval.

  • According to Trump's social media posts, the deal involves China supplying rare earths and magnets up front, while the U.S. will continue to allow Chinese students into its universities.

• Trump's posts suggested that China must act first on rare earth shipments before the US reciprocates by easing technology export controls.

  • He also mentioned a complex tariff structure, but it remains unclear if the 90-day tariff truce agreed on last month is still in effect or if further reductions are possible.

US, Mexico Near Deal to Cut Steel Duties and Cap Imports

• The United States and Mexico are nearing a deal to modify President Trump's recently imposed 50% tariffs on steel. The potential agreement would establish a tariff-rate quota system, allowing Mexican steel to be imported into the U.S. duty-free up to a certain volume based on historical trade levels.

  • News of the potential deal led to a drop in the stock prices of U.S. steel producers like Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor.

• This potential deal follows Trump's recent decision to double steel duties to 50%, a move he stated was to protect the domestic industry, particularly in light of the approved purchase of U.S. Steel by a Japanese company. While U.S. steelmakers supported the hike, many businesses that use steel have pushed for relief.

  • Last year, the U.S. imported about 3.2 million metric tons of steel from Mexico, which represented 12% of total U.S. steel shipments.

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