Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:
1. TARIFF OPPOSITION FROM TECH HEAVYWEIGHTS: Dell Technologies (DELL), HP (HPQ), Intel (INTC), and Microsoft (MSFT) are collaborating to oppose President Trump's proposed tariffs on laptop computers and tablets among $300B in Chinese goods targeted for such tariffs, Mark Niquette of Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The companies submitted joint comments saying they were against the proposed tariff escalation, noting that it would harm consumer products and industry while failing to address China's trade practices, Niquette said. The companies added that the tariffs are set to hit during the peak holiday and back-to-school sales period. "The tariffs will harm U.S. technology leaders, hindering their ability to innovate and compete in a global marketplace," they said.
Also on Thursday, Apple said in a letter to United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that it urged the U.S. not to impose tariffs of up to 25% percent on a fourth set of products imported from China. "The proposed tariff list covers all of Apple's major products, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and AppleTV, as well as the parts and batteries used to repair products in the United States. The proposed tariffs also cover accessories that Apple makes for these devices, such as monitors and keyboards... U.S. tariffs on Apple's products would result in a reduction of Apple's U.S. economic contribution. U.S. tariffs would also weigh on Apple's global competitiveness. The Chinese producers we compete with in global markets do not have a significant presence in the U.S. market, and so would not be impacted by U.S. tariffs. Neither would our other major non-U.S. competitors. A U.S. tariff would, therefore, tilt the playing field in favor of our global competitors," the company stated.
This comes just days after Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee that tariffs on Chinese goods may not be enough to force China to make the economic changes demanded by the U.S., but the trade barriers are the only recourse given the failure of negotiations, according to Reuters. "I don't know if it will get them to stop cheating, tariffs alone," Lighthizer said.
2. U.S.-CHINA MEETINGS: Negotiating teams led by U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He are expected to meet as early as Tuesday in advance of the G20 summit, said the South China Morning Post, citing a source. A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday that the lead negotiators on both sides would talk to follow up on an earlier conversation between Presidents Trump and Xi, but did not give greater detail, the report added. On Tuesday, President Trump tweeted, "Had a very good telephone conversation with President Xi of China. We will be having an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan. Our respective teams will begin talks prior to our meeting."
3. USMCA PACT: Mexico's Senate has voted in favor of broad changes to trade rules between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, making the country the first of the three parties to ratify the agreement meant to replace NAFTA, Anthony Harrup and William Mauldin of the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week. Senators voted 114-4 with three abstentions to ratify the pact, rebranded as the USMCA, which was signed last November by the heads of state of the three nations, the authors noted.
4. HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVE ORDER: According to a Wall Street Journal story by Stephanie Armour on Thursday, President Donald Trump is planning to release an executive order early next week to compel the disclosure of prices in health care, according to people familiar with the matter. The order will direct federal agencies to initiate regulations and guidance that could require insurers, doctors, hospitals and others in the industry to provide information about the negotiated and often discounted cost of care, sources said. Publicly traded companies in the space include Anthem (ANTM), CVS Health (CVS), Centene (CNC), Cigna (CI), Health Net (HNT), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH), UnitedHealth (UNH), WellCare (WCG), Community Health (CYH), HCA Healthcare (HCA), LifePoint (LPNT), Tenet (THC) and Universal Health (UHS).
"Week in Review" is The Fly's weekly recap of its recurring series of "Trump Effect" exclusive stories.
Dell Technologies
-0.54 (-0.99%)
HP Inc.
-0.15 (-0.72%)
Intel
+0.3 (+0.64%)
Microsoft
+0.09 (+0.07%)
Ticker changed to ELV
+2.3 (+0.79%)
CVS Health
-0.19 (-0.35%)
Centene
+0.99 (+1.79%)
Cigna
+1.34 (+0.84%)
HNT
+
Humana
+11.5 (+4.44%)
Molina Healthcare
+4.41 (+3.01%)
UnitedHealth
+4.53 (+1.83%)
WCG
+
Community Health
+0.22 (+8.84%)
HCA Healthcare
+0.01 (+0.01%)
LPNT
+
Tenet Healthcare
-0.135 (-0.65%)
Universal Health
+0.87 (+0.70%)