WHAT’S NEWS
GDPR Complaints
Companies have reported a sharp increase in questions from customers regarding the protection of customer rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules introduced on 25 May. Technology companies, media groups, retailers and banks are among those most targeted because of the vast amounts of information they hold on customers. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office received 1,106 data protection complaints in the three weeks after the rules were introduced. – FT
Auto Tariffs
EU threatens $300 billion retaliation if US moves ahead with auto tariffs. Last week President Trump threatened to slap a 20% tariff on auto imports from Europe. – ZeroHedge
Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. & its great companies and workers by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2018
According to the European Commission, imposing additional 25% tariffs on imports would cause a $13bn-$14bn hit to US gross domestic product. “As markets would become fragmented, US costs would rise, US automobile exports would suffer, US consumers would pay higher prices, and jobs would be lost.” – FT
Global automakers warned that President Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on auto imports could raise prices of imported vehicles by as much as $6000 per car and raise prices of locally made cars as well. – FT
Half the cars sold inside the US are made outside, with Mexico, Japan and Europe the largest importers, while almost one in five of the cars made at American plants go overseas. Carmakers warn of production shift to avoid tariffs. Volkswagen, for example, is ready to move ‘without hesitation’ as it raises stakes in escalating trade war. – FT
Danger of Trade Tensions
Fitch warns President Trump’s trade fight could cost the world $2 trillion in global trade. – MarketWatch
A list of new levies, imposed and threatened. – MarketWatch
According to a study, over four years, a 25% tariff on U.S. soybean imports by Beijing would result in an average 87% decline in income for a midsize Illinois grain farm. The loss would pressure farmland prices, they say, prompting a more than $500,000 decline in the farm’s net worth by 2021. – WSJ
Russia joins a global trade war by imposing tariffs on US energy, and mining imports. – ZeroHedge
Business people and analysts warn about the negative impact of tariffs upon global economy and stock markets:
Investors are also wrong to assume a trade war is bullish for the U.S. dollar. A trade ware will lessen the incentives Amercia’s trading partners have to keep propping the dollar up and to recycle their trade surplues into U.S. Treasuries!
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 2, 2018
A trade war will put downward pressure on real consumer spending and corporate profits. This will effect both the U.S. economy and future Fed policy in ways that will be very bearish for the dollar.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 2, 2018
Yield curve nearly flat 2/10 + Fed auto-tightening + QT + tariffs + high stock & bond valuations + exploding deficit = Risk, not Goldilocks.
— Jeffrey Gundlach (@TruthGundlach) July 7, 2018
Also in the News:
California’s New Data-Privacy Law
California’s new data-privacy law requires businesses to offer consumers options to opt out of sharing personal information and allows Californians the right to prohibit the sale of their personal data. – WSJ
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