2:30 PM EDT: Fed Chair Powell’s news conference, live on C-SPAN.I will forward a transcript as soon as it becomes available.
This morning’s Wall Street Journal preview leads with:
Federal Reserve officials are on track to leave interest rates unchanged at their two-day meeting ending Wednesday and could indicate they are comfortable holding them steady for a while.
The central bank in January signaled a pause in rate increases, and officials are ready to announce more details of how they will end the runoff of their $4 trillion asset portfolio later this year. The Fed has taken some action to withdraw stimulus from the economy every quarter since late 2016, and that streak will end this week.
The central bank releases its new policy statement at 2 p.m. EDT along with updated economic projections and any potential addendum to its balance sheet plans. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will start his press conference at 2:30 p.m.
See last night’s Bloomberg preview as well.
President Trump’s schedule (EDT):
11:30 AM: Daily intelligence briefing;
12:10 PM: Departs the White House, South Lawn en route to Joint Base Andrews;
2:30 PM: Delivers remarks at Joint Systems [Tank] Manufacturing Center, 1155 Buckeye Road, Lima, OH;
5:00 PM: Arrives McKinley Air Inc., 5400 Lauby Road, Suite 4, North Canton, OH;
6:00 PM: Participates in a roundtable with campaign supporters at Brookside Country Club;
6:30 PM: Attends a campaign fundraiser in Canton, Ohio; and
9:00 PM: Arrives back at the White House.
“Trump faces failing strategy on auto jobs as he heads to Ohio.” Last night’s Politico article led with:
President Donald Trump heads to Ohio Wednesday embroiled in a fight with General Motors and the United Auto Workers over the closing of GM’s Lordstown plant. But his attempts to save manufacturing jobs have battered the auto industry and could erode his loyal base in the Midwest.
Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum have cost Ford and GM about $1 billion each. GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra cited the tariffs in November when she announced the 14,000 job cuts that included the Lordstown plant’s shuttering. Potentially making things even worse, Trump is now weighing new tariffs on foreign automobiles that could threaten hundreds of thousands of additional U.S. jobs.
“The reality is auto tariffs would put Ohio into a recession,” said Dan Ujczo, a Columbus-based international trade lawyer who has been closely studying the impact of recent trade actions on Ohio companies.
Ultimately, that could jeopardize Trump’s support in the Mahoning Valley and other blue-collar Great Lakes regions that voted for him in 2016.
“He’ll lose those the second he puts auto tariffs on,” Ujczo said. “These people understand you can’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” According to a Morning Consult tracking poll, Trump’s approval rating in Ohio has fallen 19 percentage points since January 2017.
“High-Level U.S.-China Trade Talks to Resume in Final Push for Deal.” Yesterday afternoon’s Wall Street Journal article led with:
WASHINGTON—Negotiators for the U.S. and China have scheduled a new round of high-level trade talks in Beijing and Washington, aiming to close a deal by late April to end the yearlong dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin plan to fly to Beijing next week to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Trump administration officials said. The following week, a Chinese delegation led by Mr. Liu is expected to continue talks in Washington, the officials said.
People tracking the negotiations said the talks appear to be in their final stages, following a rocky patch after Chinese leaders were unnerved by President Trump’s decision to abruptly break off nuclear-disarmament talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February.
“We’re in the endgame,” said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
If the two sides continue to make progress, he said, they should be able to finish a trade deal by the end of April—or about one month later than previously expected.
The two sides are aiming for a package deal that includes substantial increases in U.S. exports to China, and Chinese pledges to boost protection of intellectual property, end pressure on U.S. companies to transfer technology to their Chinese partners and reduce subsidies for Chinese firms.
But the two sides still have important issues to resolve including how to enforce a deal and the pace at which the U.S. and China will roll back the tariffs imposed over the past year. The U.S. has levied tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, covering about half the value of Chinese exports to the U.S. Beijing has retaliated with tariffs on $110 billion of U.S. goods, about 90% of U.S. exports to China.
“Treasury Sanctions Venezuela’s State Gold Mining Company and its President for Propping Up Illegitimate Maduro Regime.” Yesterday’s announcement stated:
Washington – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated CVG Compania General de Mineria de Venezuela CA, or Minerven, the Venezuelan state-run ferrous metals mining company, and its President, Adrian Antonio Perdomo Mata, targeting the illicit gold operations that have continued to prop up the illegitimate regime of former President Nicolas Maduro. Today’s action, taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850, as amended, targets an entity and an individual that operate in the gold sector of the Venezuelan economy.
Economic Report of the President was posted here yesterday. The 705-page report had the following chapters:
Chapter 1 Evaluating the Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 2 Deregulation: Reducing the Burden of Regulatory Costs . . . . . .
Chapter 3 Expanding Labor Force Opportunities for Every American . . . .
Chapter 4 Enabling Choice and Competition in Healthcare Markets . . . . .
Chapter 5 Unleashing the Power of American Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 6 Ensuring a Balanced Financial Regulatory Landscape . . . . . . . .
Chapter 7 Adapting to Technological Change with Artificial Intelligence while Mitigating Cyber Threats. . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 8 Markets versus Socialism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 9 Reducing Poverty and Increasing Self-Sufficiency in America. .
Chapter 10 The Year in Review and the Years Ahead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Appendix A Report to the President on the Activities of the Council
of Economic Advisers During 2018. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Appendix B Statistical Tables Relating to Income, Employment,
and Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
