The Trump administration's list of goods from China that won't be subject to a 10% tariff until Dec. 15 is made up of "products where 75% or more of the 2018 U.S. imports of that product were from China," according to an email sent to trade groups from the U.S. Trade Representative Office.
Why it matters: The initial press release from the USTR said certain items would see a delay in taxes "as part of USTR's public comment and hearing process," but it did not specify whether there was a formula involved in the two list designations. The items subject to the Sept. 1 tariff are those that are less commonly imported from China.
CBS and Viacom reached a deal on Tuesday to merge into ViacomCBS Inc., reuniting the 2 companies 13 years after they split apart.
Why it matters: The deal will bring together Viacom's nearly two dozen cable channels with CBS' flagship broadcast network and its premium cable network, Showtime. The combined scale from the merger will help the new company broker stronger distribution deals with Pay-TV providers and allow it to better compete for audience attention and ad dollars.
The Argentine peso fell 30% and its stock market sank 37% on Monday, the worst market collapse for the country in more than 2 decades. In dollar terms, Bloomberg reported it was the second-biggest 1-day rout on any of the 94 world stock exchanges it tracks since at least 1950.
Why it matters: Fund managers who have spoken to Axios over the past year say they foresee an economic collapse and wide-ranging debt defaults with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner back at the country's helm, even as vice president.
Group Nine Media is launching a slate of podcasts across its four brands — NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker and Thrillist — exclusively with iHeartMedia, one of the largest commercial podcast publishers. iHeart will co-produce all of the content, a source confirms to Axios.
Details: The partnership will kick off with 2 new original podcasts from NowThis and Thrillist set to launch this fall. The deal will eventually also include a podcast from JASH, Group Nine's LA-based Studios team.
The Spectator, the world’s oldest English-language magazine, is launching a U.S. monthly print version for the first time in its history this fall, after starting a U.S. digital presence last year.
Why it matters: The publication has been published in the U.K. continuously since it launched 1828 as a weekly. Its former editor, Boris Johnson, just took the reins as the U.K.'s new prime minister.
The impending 10% tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports targeted by President Trump in the trade war will be delayed from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15 for certain products, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Tuesday. Certain products will also be taken off the list based on "health, safety, national security and other factors."
Why it matters: The delay — for items like cellphones, laptops, video game consoles, certain toys, computer monitors, and certain items of footwear and clothing — will help accommodate the holiday rush to ship products from China, easing the financial burden on U.S. importers. The Dow spiked 2% on the news, with the share price of companies like Apple, Best Buy, Dollar Tree, Hasbro and Gap leading the surge.
The unrest in Hong Kong hit the market hard Tuesday as the Hang Seng Index fell 2.1%. The territory's flagship airline Cathay Pacific saw shares tumble 2.55%, after a 4.9% slide on Monday that pushed the stock to its lowest price in a decade.
The backdrop: Hong Kong International Airport once again stopped all flights after protesters occupied the building for a fourth straight day as part of escalating citywide protests against a law that would allow China to extradite and try citizens from Hong Kong in the mainland.
Google searches about the El Paso shooting surged more than any other recent mass shooting — but the horror, outrage and interest toward the murder of innocent lives never seems to last long enough to provoke much change.
Why it matters: Mass shootings have become more common, but fading public interest relieves pressure on lawmakers to address the underlying issues.
Hong Kong's flagship airline Cathay Pacific threatened to fire staff members who participate in "illegal" demonstrations in the city, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: The move seems designed to placate Beijing, which has required that any employees involved in the protests be removed from flights to the Chinese mainland. A fifth of the airline's flights are routed through China, meaning that a government crackdown could significantly hamper its operations.
School cafeterias are set to receive free food purchased by the Department of Agriculture to relieve farmers hurt by the U.S-China trade war, the AP reports.
The big picture: The USDA has spent $1.2 billion to buy up food to redistribute to nutrition programs through "trade mitigation" — long part of its practices to help farmers, though usually on a far smaller scale — as part of the $16 billion aid package for farmers hit hard by retaliatory tariffs.
After a rocket rise over the past five years during which it jumped from $17.81 a share in August 2015 to more than $75 a share in April, Planet Fitness' stock has been unimpressive in recent months. It sold off after the company beat earnings expectations Tuesday but missed on expected growth.
What's happening: Concern is beginning to grow about the sustainability of the company's business model, which relies on consistently bringing in members who don't actually use the gym and churning out increasing revenue from franchisees, the Wall Street Journal's Spencer Jakab writes.
A merger deal between CBS and its former sister company Viacom is imminent and might be announced as soon as this week, according to multiple reports.
Why it matters: It could be the first part of a much bigger plan for Shari Redstone, the majority shareholder of both companies. Reports suggest that Redstone is looking to acquire other entities to give the combined company more scale.
The Chinese government had put plans in place to reduce the high levels of debt in the country's economy this year, but the negative economic effects of the trade war have put those plans on the back burner and companies are again levering up, in large part with dollar-denominated debt.
Why it matters: As the yuan weakens, debts held in dollars get more expensive. That could pose a major problem for China should the economy continue to slow. It would also mean problems for the rest of the world, as China is the planet's No. 1 trading nation.
The Premier League is home to some of the world's most valuable sports teams. So, naturally, it's also home to some of the world's most valuable sports real estate: the uniforms those teams wear.
How it works: Premier League teams make money from their uniforms, or "kits," in two ways: apparel deals and sponsorship deals.
The U.S.-China trade war looks set to continue and likely escalate, bringing more tariffs to imports of Chinese goods, with the latest round adding a 10% charge to consumer products like clothing, toys and electronics.
Between the lines: Large retailers like Walmart and Target have said they will have no choice but to pass the cost of tariffs on to customers, but it's very likely the cost of the tariffs and many other increased charges won't be fully disclosed on price tags.
Many of the nation's current pathologies are taking a heavy toll on the majority-white population living in rural America, which was severely impacted by the opioid crisis and has dealt with falling populations, job losses and rising suicide rates.
Why it matters: The malaise and discontent that President Trump has tapped into goes beyond the racism we've seen over the past few weeks and includes anger at a changing world and frustration at dwindling opportunities close to home. These trends are further entrenching the rural-urban schism that came to light in the 2016 election.
Wall Street is hunkering down for a longer, more intense trade war, according to Goldman Sachs' monthly poll of more than 1,000 of the bank’s institutional and corporate trading clients, which found that most expect tariffs to hold steady as talks continue.
The backdrop: The survey, which gauges the sentiment of sophisticated investors about market-related topics, was conducted on Aug. 1-2, as President Trump said he would tax the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports next month.
