The U.S. automotive industry has urged President Trump to maintain restrictions or ban Chinese automakers from operating in the country, citing concerns about fair competition and national security. The letter from major trade associations comes ahead of Trump's expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and contradicts Trump's recent statement that he would permit Chinese automakers to establish U.S. manufacturing plants.
The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, the highest since 1995, citing concerns that inflation could exceed its 2% target. The decision was split 7-2, with two reflationists dissenting. The hike accelerates the BOJ's normalization cycle amid rising inflation and a weak yen, with U.S. pressure supporting tighter monetary policy.
U.S. equity futures rose ahead of a Federal Reserve rate decision expected to hike rates by a quarter point with 92% odds, though White House officials argue against the increase citing cooling inflation. Asian markets showed mixed results, while oil prices surged following Saudi pipeline attacks, and Treasury yields spiked above 5% amid economic concerns.
Japan's trade deficit widened to 1.1 trillion yen in August as energy import costs surged due to high oil prices and the Iran conflict, with petroleum imports from the U.S. jumping over 1,000% year-on-year. Export growth slowed for the first time in six months but still beat expectations at 19.3%, driven by semiconductor equipment shipments to China and the U.S.
Wall Street is assessing the impact of a potential AI model development slowdown on data center infrastructure investments, after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed slowing frontier model development. Major stocks in AI infrastructure—including Oracle, GE Vernova, and Caterpillar—declined sharply on the news, while hyperscalers rush to secure debt financing amid growing pressure on data center expansion.