The federal government is on track to shut down at midnight on Oct. 1. After weeks of negotiations, Republicans and Democrats appear to be no closer to finding a way to keep the government open before the deadline hits.

The two sides are so far apart that even getting together in the same room to discuss a possible solution is off the table. On Tuesday, President Trump canceled a meeting with Democratic leaders that had been planned for later this week, arguing there was no way that such a meeting could be productive given their “unserious and ridiculous demands.”

In response, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump was “afraid” of seriously discussing Democrats’ proposals. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has made a similar appeal. (Yahoo – Continue Reading)

The US lowered tariffs on auto imports from the European Union to 15% retroactive to Aug. 1, cementing terms of the framework trade agreement the two sides struck almost two months ago.

The Department of Commerce and Office of the US Trade Representative published a document online on Wednesday detailing the changes, reducing duties on a range of goods. (Bloomberg – Continue Reading)

Investors are piling into futures tied to the Federal Reserve’s benchmark overnight rate at a record clip amid the risk of strains in short-term funding markets at quarter-end.

Volumes in fed funds futures, which traders use to bet on the path of the Fed’s benchmark overnight rate, reached almost 500,000 contracts in the September maturity as of 10:30 a.m. in New York. That level surpasses the previous record for the first generic contract set on April 3, when President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement roiled markets. The futures started trading on the Chicago Board of Trade in 1988. (Bloomberg – Continue Reading)

The European Commission is working on a new proposal to impose tariffs on the Russian oil that still enters the single market via Hungary and Slovakia amid mounting pressure from Donald Trump to cut off all energy ties with Moscow for good.

The extra duties are meant to increase material costs for both nations and, therefore, stimulate the urgency to find alternative suppliers.

"We will in due course present what we have on mind with this," Olof Gill, the Commission's deputy spokesperson, said on Wednesday, noting the initiative will be separate from the 19th package of sanctions currently on the table.

The EU imposed a full ban on Russian crude and refined petroleum products in 2022 as part of its vast sanction regime in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The ban was hailed as a major step in ending the bloc's historical dependency on Moscow. (Euronews – Continue Reading)

Group of Seven (G7) members and the European Union are considering price floors to promote rare earth production, as well as taxes on some Chinese exports to incentivise investment, four sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.

Rare earths are difficult-to-extract metallic elements critical to the manufacture of products including cell phones, cars and high-tech weapons. (Reuters – Continue Reading)