The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office is focused on resolving complications from the Commerce Department’s broad implementation of 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum products (especially derivative products containing the metals), which companies find difficult to calculate and the EU wants reigned-in as part of its pending U.S. trade deal.
The Trump administration formally repealed the Obama-era scientific “endangerment” finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health. The EPA said the repeal and the end of vehicle emissions standards will save U.S. taxpayers $1.3T.
France adopted a new energy law which slashes wind and solar power targets and drops a mandate for state-owned Electricite de France (EDF) to shutter 14 of its 57 nuclear power plants. Finance Minister Roland Lescure commented, “Nuclear is the backbone of our electricity system.” The new 10-year framework also reduces 2035 targets for wind and solar by 20% (from 133-163GW to 105-135GW).
Environmental and political risk consultant Verisk Maplecroft published its assessment of the global dearth of critical mineral supplies. Verisk applied its Political Risk Data and Resource Nationalism Index to 10 emerging markets with major reserves of cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium, nickel and rare earth elements, and concluded Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru “sit at the center of the opportunity to rebalance tech-critical mineral supply chains.”
ECB Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said the ECB is in “monitoring mode” to assess the full impact of 2025 euro strength on the EU economy. Kazaks suggested the typical 1-year lag of the euro’s 14% H1’25 increase should impact the economy in late-spring. “This is a kind of manifestation of attention…It’s not a verbal intervention. We are not that far.” Stay tuned…
January's cost of goods and services number is giving some hope that inflation could be easing. CPI rose 2.4% from the same time last year and was down 0.3% from December 2024. Inflation now sits at xxx which the last time it was there was in April 2025.
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