Economy

Tariff crisis Trump's tariff policy
US imposes 25 percent tariffs on Brazil

The US has imposed 25 percent tariffs on Brazil, which will be the first country to be covered by Trump's new trade strategy, news agencies report.

The new tariffs are expected to come into effect on July 22 and could eventually include India, China, the EU, Japan and South Korea, as President Trump tries to shape a new trade policy after the US Supreme Court rejected his global tariffs, writes Reuters.

At the same time, the government has made more exemptions from the tariffs than expected, including for coffee, beef, iron ore, certain fruits, aircraft parts and some goods that are not manufactured in the US.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva condemns the tariffs, writes TT.

Middle East crisis  Strait of Hormuz
Sources: Chevron and Iraq want to bypass Hormuz with pipeline

The US oil giant Chevron is in advanced talks with Iraq about forming a consortium to build an oil pipeline network through Syria as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, sources told the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Chevron is said to want to form the consortium together with Los Angeles-based TI Capital and a company owned by the Syrian-Qatari billionaire brothers Al-Khayyat.

On Thursday, Chevron is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding to develop two oil fields in southern Iraq. At the same time, the company is negotiating an oil pipeline from southern Iraq to the northern oil city of Kirkuk and a second pipeline from Kirkuk to the Syrian Mediterranean port of Baniyas.

The talks come as Iraq's oil exports have been hit hard by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the FT reports.

Drug Development
FDA Approves New Pill for High Cholesterol

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Merck's cholesterol-lowering drug Lipfendra, the first of its kind in tablet form, reports the Wall Street Journal.

In studies, the drug has lowered "bad" LDL cholesterol by up to 60 percent over six months in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease.

Lipfendra is intended to be used in conjunction with standard statin treatment and will provide a stronger cholesterol reduction than statins alone can achieve, according to Merck CEO Robert Davis.

The pharmaceutical giant's shares rose just over 3 percent on Wall Street after the announcement.

The Gig Economy
Uber Buys Foodora's Owner Delivery Hero

Uber is buying German Delivery Hero, which owns food delivery company Foodora, for 41.50 euros per share. The deal strengthens Uber's position in the fight for the food delivery market outside the US, where it mainly competes with Doordash, which owns Wolt, among other things.

Uber's purchase of Delivery Hero must be approved by a majority of Delivery Hero's shareholders and requires approval from competition authorities to be completed.

The AI ​​race
Lowered credit rating squeezes Oracle in the AI ​​race

Oracle's massive AI investments are squeezing finances and the company risks falling behind rivals such as Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon, writes Bloomberg.

Oracle is investing around $250 billion in new data centers, which is draining cash flow and squeezing the balance sheet. This recently prompted S&P Global Ratings to lower the company's credit rating to one step above junk status.

The downgrade makes it more expensive for Oracle to borrow. At the same time, investors want to see that the AI ​​investments start to yield returns before the company takes on more debt.

– They are in a difficult situation, says DWS Americas fixed income manager George Catrambone to the news agency.

Sanjac Alpha's investment manager Andrew Wells believes that Oracle is under pressure and must choose between making bondholders or shareholders happy.

Money laundering scandal at Swedbank
Swedbank has settled with the US – pays half a billion

Swedbank has reached an agreement with authorities in the state of New York to pay 50 million dollars, equivalent to approximately 482 million kronor, for insufficient information provision in 2016 and 2018.

This concludes all investigations linked to the bank's historical shortcomings, Swedbank writes in a press release.

The investigations have been conducted in Sweden, Estonia and the US and concerned the bank's work against money laundering and terrorist financing as well as information provision during 2007–2019.

The latest investigation concerns events from a decade ago.

- We can now put it behind us, says CEO Jens Henriksson in a statement.

The cost will be reported in the third quarter.