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Trump’s Tariffs Are Already Reducing Car Imports and Idling Factories

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Trump’s Tariffs Are Already Reducing Car Imports and Idling Factories


President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles, which went into effect last week, are already sending tremors through the auto industry, prompting companies to stop shipping cars to the United States, shut down factories in Canada and Mexico and lay off workers in Michigan and other states.

Jaguar Land Rover, based in Britain, said it would temporarily stop exporting its luxury cars to the United States. Stellantis idled factories in Canada and Mexico that make Chrysler and Jeep vehicles and laid off 900 U.S. workers who supplied those factories with engines and other parts.

Audi, the luxury division of Volkswagen, also paused exports of cars to the United States from Europe, telling dealers to sell whatever they still had on their lots.

If other carmakers make similar moves, the economic impact could be severe, leading to higher car prices and widespread layoffs. The tariffs on cars are among the first of several industry-specific levies that Mr. Trump has in his sights and could offer early clues about how businesses will respond to his trade policies, including whether they raise prices or increase manufacturing in the United States. The president has said he also wants to tax the imports of medicines and computer chips.

Applying the new tariff to imported cars could increase their cost to consumers by thousands of dollars, sharply reducing demand for those vehicles. For some Jaguar Land Rover or Audi models, the tariffs could amount to more than $20,000 per car.

While much of the initial impact of the tariffs has been disruptive, in at least one case Mr. Trump’s duties have had the intended effect of increasing production in the United States. General Motors said late last week that it would increase production of light trucks at a factory near Fort Wayne, Ind.

The longer-term impact of the 25 percent tariffs is unclear. Many automakers are still trying to figure out how to avoid increasing prices so much that consumers can no longer afford new cars. Investors are pessimistic. Shares of Ford Motor, G.M. and Tesla have fallen in the past several days of trading.

“Everyone in the automotive supply chain is focused on what they can do to minimize the tariff impact to their own balance sheets and to prices,” said Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus, an online shopping site.

But carmakers have never before had to deal with the imposition of such high tariffs with such little notice. Nor have they had as little insight into what the president will do next, analysts and dealers said.

“The traditional playbook is not enough,” said Lenny LaRocca, who leads the auto industry team at the consulting firm KPMG.

Mr. LaRocca predicted that automakers would increasingly focus on producing larger, heavier sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Those vehicles, many of which are assembled in U.S. factories, are usually the most profitable and give companies more room to absorb the cost of tariffs rather than passing it on to customers.

Many modern assembly lines are able to produce several models, giving companies flexibility to shift to the most profitable vehicles and to abandon vehicles that don’t make as much money. Mercedes-Benz has said it will take advantage of flexible assembly lines at its factory in Alabama.

This strategy comes with downsides. It may be harder for car buyers to find moderately priced new cars. Already, the average price of a new car is almost $50,000.

Analysts say this much is clear: Tariffs will not prompt companies to open new factories or reopen closed plants right away. Companies won’t take that expensive step until they are sure that the tariffs are permanent and that investing hundreds of millions — or billions — of dollars in new production capacity will pay off.

“I haven’t seen any big moves,” Mr. LaRocca said. “It’s wait and see.”

Some carmakers and suppliers expanded their U.S. operations before Mr. Trump took office. Often, they were reacting to the coronavirus pandemic, when it became risky to rely on distant factories for critical parts. Others made big investments in factories that make electric vehicles or E.V. batteries to take advantage of incentives offered by the Biden administration.

ZF, a German parts maker, spent $500 million last year to expand a factory in South Carolina that produces transmissions for BMW and other automakers. And in recent years G.M. has opened two U.S. battery factories with a South Korean partner, LG Energy Solution, to make the most important component of electric vehicles.

In the short run, some foreign carmakers may simply stop sending vehicles to the United States, either because they can no longer make a profit or because they can make more money elsewhere. That may be the case with Jaguar Land Rover. The company, known for luxury sport utility vehicles made in Britain, sells about one-fifth of its cars in the United States.

If other companies stop selling certain models to Americans, consumers will have fewer vehicles to choose from and the remaining automakers will have more leeway to raise prices.

So far, however, the tariffs have not led to widespread price increases for new cars. Hyundai Motor said last week that it would not raise the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of Hyundai and Genesis cars until June 2.

Of course, car dealers can raise prices even if an automaker pledges not to. That happened a lot during the pandemic, when shortages of computer chips and other parts limited the supply of new vehicles.

Dealers and automakers have reported brisk sales in recent days as people have rushed to buy vehicles before the tariffs took effect. The average time that a vehicle spent on the lot fell from 77 days at the end of January to fewer than 50 days at the beginning of April, according to CarGurus.

Demand has been especially high for Japanese brands like Honda, Subaru and Nissan, apparently because buyers assume they are imported, said Sean Hogan, the vice president of Sierra Auto Group, which owns a dozen dealerships in Southern California. All three Japanese companies have factories in the United States, though they do import some cars.

Another tariff shock will come on May 3, when the Trump administration will apply tariffs to auto parts. That means that even cars made in the United States will be affected because virtually all vehicles contain components from abroad. Repairs will also become more expensive.

“The educated public is definitely making some moves to get ahead of the tariffs, which I think is smart,” Mr. Hogan said.

But the long-term impact of Mr. Trump’s trade policies is still impossible to predict, he said. “This administration moves pretty fast, and you really don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Mr. Hogan added. “Buckle up.”

Neal E. Boudette and Melissa Eddy contributed reporting.



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Tempted by Trump’s Tariffs to Panic-Buy? Don’t.

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Tempted by Trump’s Tariffs to Panic-Buy? Don’t.


I went to Costco on a tariff run, and did not stock up on anything.

It was tempting. Mark Cuban was on social media telling people it was not a “bad idea” to stock up on consumables as President Trump’s trade war unfolded. I love beating the system as much as the next person — it’s my literal beat in journalism.

But let’s really think this one through for a minute.

First of all, these tariffs may not persist at anything like the amounts currently in the headlines. For stocking up to make sense, you have to assume that price increases will be significant and last for at least a medium amount of time.

But let’s assume that both these things happen. Say you have a $1,000 grocery bill each month, and it somehow goes to $1,500 by Memorial Day. While predicting a 50 percent spike feels like a stretch, that extra $500 would be real money.

But you also need to have real money — extra real money — to lay a bunch of things away in your residence. Many people don’t, and going into debt to buy extras of everything will probably erase any savings.

Mr. Cuban, via email, said he had made buying shampoo, soap and razor blades in multiples work somehow, even when he wasn’t wealthy. “I started doing it in college when I read the book ‘The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need,’” he said. “When you can save money by buying more than one of something, that’s a guaranteed return.”

It can be, if you use it. Most of what we eat, however, is perishable. Many of us waste some of what we purchase. Buying more could mean wasting more food — and more money.

Then there’s the practical problem, where we need to invoke the deadpan comedian Steven Wright. “You can’t have everything,” he once said. “Where would you put it?” In an extra freezer maybe, but then you’re spending hundreds of dollars more.

As for larger goods, speeding up a car or furniture purchase if you are going to need either thing in a year or two feels risky, especially if you’re borrowing sooner than you might have or pulling money out of beaten-down stocks to do so.

That said, some opportunities to save money may present themselves unexpectedly. On Thursday, Ford dropped many prices, seeking headlines and competitive advantage. It could reverse those prices just as easily.

We do not know what is going to happen next, and neither does Mr. Trump or the people who surround him. You may be worried about the shortages that occurred in 2020. The supply chain is indeed vast and unpredictable, since toilet paper requires wood pulp and berries need packaging. It is also possible that niche manufacturers will choose not to produce or export if it is unprofitable to do so.

Mr. Trump’s advisers, however, are mostly thinking about the money. Peter Navarro, a senior trade adviser, is out in public making 10-year, $6 trillion tariff revenue projections, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes the stock market will do “extremely well” over the medium and long terms.

You see what Mr. Lutnick did there, right? The short term might be bad. Or not, though so far it sure seems that way. He doesn’t want to make a short-term prediction, because he has no earthly idea what the markets will do tomorrow or next week, let alone what will happen to the prices consumers pay. What he does know is that in a year or three, most people will have forgotten what he said on Thursday.

The futility of forecasting (and the limited utility in listening to people who engage in projectile projections) comes in part because we don’t know how countries are going to react to the U.S. tariffs, or how much courage Mr. Trump will have in maintaining them. Remember, he backed down pretty quickly not long ago when President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico got tough in response to his attempt to rough up her country. On Thursday, she boasted of her “preferential treatment.”

At a Costco in Brooklyn, it was business as usual. I watched a few hundred carts exiting, none of which contained unusual amounts of toilet paper or anything else.

There was just one person I could find trying to get ahead of the tariffs. Mizan Rahman had a dolly filled with Ensure and PediaSure, which he was buying to resell at Fresh Halal Meat and Grocery a few miles away. He had already loaded up on basmati rice.

Unlike many Brooklyn residents, he has a basement below the store that he can use. He also has a credit card with zero percent interest for the rest of the year to pay for this bit of hedging.

“You have to do something,” he said. “Trump is getting crazy now.”

Maybe you have to do something if you’re a business owner and you have the basement and the credit. But in general, the first rule of unexpected news moments is this: Don’t just do something. Stand there.

So I stood there, watching, and found little hoarding. Then I sat there with the hordes at the store’s red benches and had one of Costco’s $1.50 hot dogs. The price has not risen in decades. Three years ago, an executive said it never would, either.

If it does, that might be a reason to panic.

Tara Siegel Bernard contributed reporting.





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Monday Briefing: China Pauses Crucial Exports

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Monday Briefing: China Pauses Crucial Exports


China has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries. The move is in retaliation for President Trump’s sharp increase in tariffs.

The metals and the special magnets made with them can now be shipped out of China only with special export licenses. But Beijing has barely started setting up a system for issuing the licenses. Industry executives said that supplies of minerals and products outside the country could run low.

Trump’s rapidly escalating trade war with China has scrambled prospects for many global businesses. And there is no end in sight, my colleagues Ana Swanson and Ben Casselman report.

The U.S. administration has been waiting for the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to call Trump, but Beijing appears wary of putting Xi in an unpredictable situation with the U.S. president.

Charm offensive: Today, Xi will arrive in Vietnam, his first stop on a weeklong tour that will also take him to Malaysia and Cambodia. He is expected to oversee the signing of around 40 agreements, including deals that would advance plans for Vietnam to accept Chinese loans for part of an $8.3 billion railway connecting northern Vietnam with China.

Two Russian ballistic missiles slammed into the city center of Sumy, Ukraine, where people had gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday. At least 34, including two children, were killed yesterday in what appeared to be the deadliest attack against civilians this year.

Video of the Russian strike and its aftermath showed mangled and bloodied bodies lying motionless, burning cars and debris covering the road, as screams and sirens wailed in the background.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the attack showed that Moscow had no real interest in a cease-fire despite the Trump administration’s efforts to broker one. Kyiv has warned that Russia is preparing to push into the Sumy region, in Ukraine’s northeast, and open a new front in the war.

Politics: Petro Poroshenko, a former president who now leads an opposition party, spoke to our Kyiv bureau chief about prospects for peace talks. He has recently stepped up his criticism of Zelensky.

The Trump administration revived talks with Saudi officials over a deal that would give Saudi Arabia access to U.S. nuclear technology and potentially allow the country to enrich uranium.

“We’ve not reached the details on an agreement, but it certainly looks like there is a pathway to do that,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said yesterday in Riyadh. For years, Saudi Arabia has pressed the U.S. to help it develop a nuclear energy program, as Saudi officials look beyond oil to provide energy and diversify the economy.

Iran: After a first meeting, U.S. and Iranian officials agreed to move forward in their talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program. A second meeting is planned for Saturday.

As climate change melts ice in the Arctic, the region is becoming more accessible and contested. The world’s major militaries from the U.S., Russia, China and Europe are all training for a winter war.

A reporter and a photographer traveled to Finland to watch the war games unfold.

Lives lived: Irmgard Furchner, whose role as a teenage secretary at a Nazi concentration camp led to her conviction as an accessory to more than 10,000 murders, died at 99.

Mario Vargas Llosa, the Nobel Prize-winning author whose novels reverberated far beyond his native Peru, died at 89.

Three times a day, a fog drifts from nozzles hidden in flower beds and rolls down the hills in the Khao Yai Art Forest in Thailand. Created by the Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, this is one of many works by global artists there that transcend nature.

The art forest, which opened in February, focuses on site-specific works, farming and Buddhism. The project’s owner, Marisa Chearavanont, was driven to buy the site by her search for healing in nature after the Covid lockdown. Take a look.

Cook: This rich, slow-roasted lamb is complemented by a sauce of roasted grapes and bright lemon.

Read: Our critics and editors recommend these eight new books.

Watch: The new season of Netflix’s “Black Mirror” mocks streaming services.

Travel: Lofoten, Norway, is a dreamy base for adventure.



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Teenager Charged With Killing Mother and Stepfather in a Plan to Assassinate Trump

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Teenager Charged With Killing Mother and Stepfather in a Plan to Assassinate Trump


A Wisconsin teenager has been charged in the killing of his mother and stepfather in what the federal authorities described as an attempt to obtain the money and autonomy he believed was necessary for a plot to kill President Trump and overthrow the government.

The teenager, Nikita Casap, 17, was arrested last month in the deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, 35, and stepfather, Donald Mayer, 51, according to the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies at the family’s home in Waukesha, about 17 miles southwest of Milwaukee, after receiving a call on Feb. 28 requesting a welfare check, the department said.

According to federal documents unsealed on Friday, the fatal shootings were part of a plan by Mr. Casap, who identified with a right-wing terrorist network known as the Order of Nine Angels, to assassinate President Trump in what he believed would “foment a political revolution in the United States,” federal investigators said.

Mr. Casap also paid, at least in part, for a drone and explosives that he planned to use in an attack, according to the documents, which were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Mr. Casap’s lawyers could not be immediately reached on Sunday for comment.

A self-described “manifesto,” found on Mr. Casap’s phone and detailed in the federal documents, contained images and praise of Adolf Hitler, as well as instructions to others to make bombs.

“By getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president, that is guaranteed to bring in some chaos,” Mr. Casap wrote.

According to the federal documents, sheriff’s deputies found the body of Ms. Casap covered in blankets on Feb. 28 while responding to a call from Mr. Mayer’s mother, who said that she had been unable to contact the family, and that Mr. Casap had not been at school in two weeks.

During a secondary search of the residence, deputies found Mr. Mayer’s body also covered in blankets, according to the documents. They also located a receipt for a .357 Magnum handgun, which was not in the home.

Based on cellphone records, security footage and witness statements, the authorities determined that Mr. Mayer was killed on Feb. 11 at about 6:30 p.m., and that Ms. Casap was killed about two hours later, according to the documents.

Security camera footage taken on Feb. 12 showed Mr. Casap, who was traveling with the family dog, at a truck stop in Walcott, Iowa, in Mr. Mayer’s car, according to the documents.

On Feb. 28, Mr. Mayer’s car was listed as stolen. That day, officers with the WaKeeney, Kan., Police Department stopped Mr. Casap and saw a .357 Magnum handgun on the front passenger floorboard, according to the documents.

Officers also found ammunition, the wallets and phones of both his mother and stepfather and “large amounts” of cash in dollars and euros.

Mr. Casap was charged with theft and possession of a firearm. He was later charged with several other felonies, including two counts of first-degree homicide and two counts of hiding a corpse, according to the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 7.



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Rating the favourites to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or: Is Raphinha now in pole position?

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Rating the favourites to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or: Is Raphinha now in pole position?


We’re into the defining stretch of the 2024-25 season, with trophies to be won, European spots up for grabs and relegations to be avoided. All of Europe’s domestic leagues and UEFA’s three club competitions are nearing completion, which not only prompts conversation about the end-of-year awards but the next Ballon d’Or too.

At its roots, the Ballon d’Or is a subjective award. Handed out every October to honour the best player in the game over the previous 12 months, it is decided by votes from 100 journalists, one from each of the countries in the top 100 of the FIFA world rankings. Yet, for both players and fans, it remains arguably the best way to judge and reward individual performance. Lionel Messi has the most wins, with eight, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo (five) and then Michel Platini, the late Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten on three each.

So, with around six months to go before this year’s winner is crowned, here’s a considered analysis of those players The Athletic currently considers the main contenders. We will update these rankings regularly, so expect to see plenty of movement as individual form waxes and wanes over the rest of this season and into the next one.

1) Raphinha (Barcelona and Brazil)

Why’s he in the top 10? Raphinha leads La Liga players in goal contributions across all club competitions with 28 goals and 20 assists in his 45 games. Few could have foreseen the Brazilian having a season of this nature when he was battling relegation from the Premier League with Leeds United this time three years ago, but if Barcelona go on to complete a historic treble, few would argue against him receiving the Ballon d’Or in October.

This week Raphinha had to settle for a half-hour appearance off the bench in a 1-1 home draw against Real Betis last Saturday, with his minutes being carefully managed since he returned from international duty in South America last month. Restored to the starting XI for the visit of Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, Raphinha scored the game’s opening goal from about two inches out before assisting both Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal as Barcelona won 4-0. He is now up to a club record 19 goal contributions in the Champions League this season, matching Lionel Messi’s career-best tally from 2011-12.

Up next Barcelona return to domestic action on Saturday away at Leganes with revenge on their mind after losing 1-0 to the relegation-threatened side in December and with Raphinha on the hunt for just his third La Liga goal of 2025. That is followed by a visit to Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday for what looks like a dead-rubber of a second leg.

2) Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain and France)

Why’s he in the top 10? After displaying flashes of brilliance for years, Dembele has finally added consistency to his game this season. He has 32 goals in 41 club appearances, including 21 in 19 since the turn of the year (to go with scoring for France against Croatia last month too). Turning 28 next month, Dembele is one of the senior players in PSG’s youth-infused project under Luis Enrique, which is finally taking off, with the team in contention for a treble, including a Ligue 1 campaign where they are yet to lose after 28 of the 34 matches.

This week Dembele came off the bench for the final half-hour of PSG’s title-clinching win against Angers on Saturday before dazzling in the 3-1 defeat of visitors Aston Villa four days later in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. He crowned an impressive display by assisting Nuno Mendes for a potentially pivotal third goal in stoppage time.

Up next PSG have no match this weekend, so don’t play again until the return leg against Villa on Tuesday. With the home side needing to attack to claw back that two-goal deficit, Dembele should find plenty of opportunities on the counter.


Dembele underlined his Ballon d’Or credentials once more against Villa (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

3) Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain)

Why’s he in the top 10? The cult of Yamal seems to grow every week as he shows off new skills while improving on those we’ve already seen. Whatever he touches seems to turn to gold. He has a record of 14 goals and 17 assists for Barcelona this season, to go with a sumptuous goal for Spain in their Nations League quarter-finals win over the Netherlands in March.

This week Yamal cut a frustrated figure last weekend against Betis, with some rarely-seen heavy touches and misplaced passes as Barca tried to break through a disciplined defence. But it was a good learning experience for him, and he proceeded to toy with Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini in midweek before scoring the game’s final goal with an impudent toe-poke.

Up next Yamal will be key if Barcelona are to continue their La Liga title charge at Leganes — the second leg against Dortmund a few days later is now a mere formality with that four-goal lead.


Yamal had another outstanding game in the Champions League on Wednesday (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)

4) Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England)

Why’s he in the top 10? The Bundesliga is proving far too easy for Kane. Having scored 36 league goals in his 2023-24 debut season after a move from the Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur, he is on 23 this time, helping put Bayern six points clear at the top with six games to go after surprisingly losing the title to Bayer Leverkusen a year ago. Vincent Kompany’s side are also in the last eight of the Champions League, where Kane has 10 goals in his 12 appearances. He also scored twice for England in their March double-header.

This week Kane scored Bayern’s go-ahead goal in a 3-1 win against Augsburg last Friday, heading home from Michael Olise’s 60th-minute cross. He struggled on Tuesday against visitors Inter in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, though, hitting the post in the first half from his best chance as Bayern lost 2-1.


Kane scoring against Augsburg last weekend (Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)

Up next Kane and Co are at home on Saturday against Dortmund, who he has scored seven goals against in seven games for Spurs and now Bayern. While Der Klassiker is usually an A-list fixture, their focus will undoubtedly be more on turning the Inter tie around at San Siro on Wednesday than domestic matters.

5) Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid and France)

Why’s he in the top 10? Mbappe is approaching the end of one of the best debut seasons ever by a Madrid forward, with 32 goals in 47 games across all competitions despite some growing pains early on. As he has found his feet, the Frenchman has overtaken Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham as the talisman of the team.

This week Last weekend saw a humbling for the La Liga champions as Valencia beat them at the Bernabeu for the first time in 17 years. Mbappe toiled with minimal luck against goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili as Madrid fell four points behind leaders Barcelona with eight games to go. If that 2-1 defeat was a shock to the system, Tuesday brought full-fledged electrocution as Arsenal thrashed Madrid 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg of a quarter-final to leave their hopes of back-to-back Champions League titles dangling by a thread. Mbappe missed two presentable chances in the first half before being shut out for much of the second.

Up next A trip north to Alaves, who are fighting relegation from La Liga, on Sunday could be the ideal match to either return to form or deepen the sense of crisis at Madrid. That will be followed by Wednesday’s return leg against Arsenal, a fixture which will require Mbappe to channel his inner 2021-22 Karim Benzema.


Mbappe endured a difficult night in north London on Tuesday (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

6) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)

Why’s he in the top 10? When your statistics are being compared to those of Messi and Ronaldo, it’s an indication you’re having an all-timer of a season. Salah has gone off the boil rather in the past month but still has 44 goal contributions (27 goals and 17 assists) in the Premier League alone, with Liverpool looking primed to win the title. There will be no other trophies for them in 2024-25, but this is undoubtedly one of the greatest individual seasons played out on English turf.

This week Liverpool suffered a rare league defeat on Sunday, beaten 3-2 at Fulham in a match where Salah was kept quiet for the second time in a week after the 1-0 derby win against Everton. He ended the week much more brightly, though, with confirmation of a new two-year contract.

Up next Liverpool host West Ham United on Sunday and may have a chance to extend their lead at the top of the table if Arsenal rotate players for their home match against Brentford the previous evening. Salah is due a bounce-back game having not scored a non-penalty goal in the league since February 23 and 16th-placed West Ham present the ideal opportunity for him to cut loose.

7) Alessandro Bastoni (Inter and Italy)

Why’s he in the top 10? Bastoni has been a near ever-present for treble-chasing Inter, racking up 3,193 minutes across competitions, the most by any of their outfield player. In addition to his defensive prowess, he averages the second-most pass attempts per 90 minutes (76.6) among all Serie A centre-backs this season.

This week Bastoni played only the first half away at struggling Parma last Saturday as a precaution because of a knee issue. Inter were 2-0 up at the break but conceded twice in nine minutes without him to draw the game. He then played the full 90 at Bayern in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday, helping his team to an impressive 2-1 win.

Up next Bastoni and Inter will look to extend their three-point lead in Serie A when they entertain 15th-placed Cagliari on Saturday before the rematch with Bayern, also at San Siro, on Wednesday.

8) Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona and Poland)

Why’s he in the top 10? After facing questions over his Barcelona future at the end of last season, the 36-year-old Lewandowski has spearheaded their treble charge in this one. He is the only player in Europe’s top five leagues to get to 40 goals across all competitions and has a barely believable 123 times in 116 matches under Hansi Flick over three seasons with Bayern and now Barca.

This week Lewandowski, like his attacking partners, struggled in that 1-1 draw with Betis but came to the fore in midweek against Dortmund, another of his former clubs. He scored with a close-range header to make it 2-0, then powered home Barcelona’s third as they put one foot and a couple of toes in the Champions League semi-finals.

Up next Leganes are one of just three teams Lewandowski has faced in La Liga without scoring (although in his defence, he’s only played against them once), a record he will want to change on Saturday. A rest could do him good too, though, if Flick decides he wants him fresh for the trip to Dortmund.


Lewandowski is one of three Barcelona forwards in our top 10 currently (Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images)

9) Pedri (Barcelona and Spain)

Why’s he in the top 10? The front three understandably take the headlines but most of Barcelona’s good play stems from Pedri, their midfield engine. His first fully-fit season since 2019-20 has delivered one good performance after the other for Barca and Spain with excellent passes, non-stop running, defensive interventions — and the occasional goal, too.

This week Pedri was another restricted by Betis’ system but found more joy against Dortmund’s inexperienced midfield.

Up next Unlike his attacking team-mates, who might get a rest, you are almost guaranteed to see Pedri start against both Leganes and Dortmund.

10) Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid and England)

Why’s he in the top 10? Bellingham has struggled with inconsistency compared to his 2023-24 debut season with Madrid but still has 11 goals and 10 assists from midfield in 36 matches across La Liga and the Champions League. Madrid have struggled with their balance and their attack’s best moments have come when Bellingham has pulled the strings and made his signature late runs into the box.

This week Bellingham assisted Vinicius Jr’s equaliser against Valencia, and created two great openings in the first half against Arsenal before fading after the break.

Up next Alaves have been one of Bellingham’s favourite opponents — he has a goal and three assists from his three matches against them — but Madrid need him at his absolute best for the Arsenal game in midweek as they aim to conjure another Bernabeu miracle.

(Photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)



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Trump Signals New Tariffs on Chips, Calling Exclusions Temporary

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Trump Signals New Tariffs on Chips, Calling Exclusions Temporary


President Trump signaled on Sunday that he would pursue new tariffs on the powerful computer chips inside smartphones and other technologies, just two days after his administration excluded a variety of electronics from the steep import taxes recently applied on goods arriving from China.

The push came as Mr. Trump’s top economic advisers scrambled to explain their shifting strategy, after having insisted for weeks that they would shield no company or industry from any of the fees they have levied in a bid to reset U.S. trade relationships.

The reprieve for technology companies arrived in the form of a Customs and Border Protection rule issued late Friday that spared high-tech imports from Mr. Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, including those on China. While the president paused a set of punishing levies on nearly 60 countries last week, his administration has forged ahead with a new 145 percent tax on Chinese exports, announcing it after Beijing retaliated against the United States.

The exclusions in the C.B.P. rule covered a wide slate of products, such as computers, smartphones, modems and flash drives, and it represented a major victory for Apple, and other U.S. technology giants, which rely on Chinese factories to help manufacture important components and popular devices. Apple executives had even been in contact with Trump administration officials about the Chinese tariffs in recent days, according to two people with knowledge of the company’s efforts. The company declined to comment.

But on Sunday, Mr. Trump and his top aides cast the exemptions in a different light, framing them as only a temporary break while the government prepares more targeted import taxes on key technologies. The administration is expected to take the first step toward enacting the new tariffs as soon as next week, opening an investigation to determine the effects of semiconductor imports on national security.

The approach appears to mirror the process that yielded Mr. Trump’s tariffs on other specific products and sectors, including the high fees he imposed on foreign cars and auto parts this year. On social media, the president signaled Sunday that the scope of his next inquiry would be broad, “taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.”

“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” Mr. Trump added.

Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, said earlier Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Mr. Trump could announce new tariffs “in the next month or two” that would target not only semiconductors but also pharmaceutical imports, another priority for the administration.

Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that it was “always the case” that some of these high-tech imports would be subject to their own tariffs, separate from those broadly imposed on countries in response to their trade practices.

“Semiconductors are a key important part of a lot of defense equipment,” Mr. Hassett added, saying, “I don’t think anything really should be a surprise.”

And Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, described the move on CBS’s “Face the Nation” as more of a mechanical change, saying of semiconductors that it is “not that they won’t be subject to tariffs” but that they are being done under a “different regime.”

The Trump administration had already excluded various types of semiconductors from the reciprocal tariffs as of April 2. But the chaotic changes in tariffs and exclusions in recent days bewildered businesses that depend on trade with China. Some investors and chief executives publicly praised the decision to walk back tariffs on electronics, which represent roughly a quarter of U.S. imports from China.

“A willingness to adjust a strategy based on new facts and data is a sign of the strength of a leader,” Bill Ackman, the chief executive of the hedge fund Pershing Square, wrote on social media. “It is not an indication of weakness.”

Still, there appears to be no quick end to the trade conflict with China in sight. And the potential for new tariffs on chips threatened to cast another pall over the tech industry, even as major lobbying groups representing Intel, Nvidia and other companies have encouraged the Trump administration to strike trade deals that ultimately lower trade barriers globally.

Asked about the possibility of upcoming tariffs on chips on Saturday, Mr. Trump said, “I’ll give you that answer on Monday.”

“We’ll be very specific,” he added. “But we’re taking in a lot of money. As a country we’re taking in a lot of money.”

Dan Ives, an analyst for Wedbush Securities, said in a note to investors on Sunday that “the mass confusion created by this constant news flow out of the White House is dizzying for the industry and investors and creating massive uncertainty and chaos for companies trying to plan their supply chain, inventory and demand.”

Ultimately, new taxes on chip imports could make it more expensive for U.S. companies to produce smartphones and other devices, cutting into their profits or forcing them to raise prices on American consumers. For Apple, in particular, the tit for tat between the United States and China caused the tech giant to lose more than $770 billion in market capitalization in just the opening days of Mr. Trump’s trade war.

Since then, the two nations have continued to retaliate against each other, causing financial markets around the world to whipsaw in the face of a persistent and costly standoff. U.S. consumers even appeared to rush out to purchase new iPhones last week, anticipating that a protracted trade conflict could push up prices.



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What Antitrust ‘Reformers’ Got Wrong

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Lina Khan and her allies tried to remake antitrust law. Trump’s team is likely putting an end to that.



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Stocks Notch Gains After More Tariff Whiplash

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Stocks Notch Gains After More Tariff Whiplash


Markets in Asia moved higher on Monday after a weekend that brought more shifts in strategy from President Trump about tariffs.

Stocks in Japan rose a little over 1 percent while benchmarks went up 2 percent in Hong Kong and less than 1 percent in mainland China.

S&P 500 stock futures, which let investors bet on how the index might perform when it opens in New York, were about 0.50 percent higher.

The modest rally followed another chaotic week on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 starting with losses but ending with its best weekly performance since November 2022. The gains were driven by Mr. Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that he would pause for 90 days the “reciprocal” tariffs he had imposed on dozens of countries just a week earlier.

On Friday night, after Mr. Trump had repeatedly said he would spare no industry, U.S. customs officials exempted a host of technology products imported from China. That means smartphones, semiconductors, computers and other equipment would not face most of the 145 percent tariffs Mr. Trump has imposed on China.

The carve outs were viewed as a win for Apple and other American tech giants because tech products and components are a key part of American imports from China. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce on Sunday called it a “small step” in “correcting” the tariffs Mr. Trump has put on China.

But on Sunday, President Trump signaled that the exemption would be temporary and that he would pursue new tariffs on semiconductors and other technologies.

Financial markets around the world have whipsawed in recent weeks because of the chaotic rollout of tariffs, which Mr. Trump believes will spur domestic manufacturing. America’s trading partners have scrambled to respond to the extraordinary array of tariffs Mr. Trump has announced, including a 10 percent tax on virtually all U.S. imports. Consumer confidence in the United States has plunged to levels not seen in years.

Some analysts and business leaders have warned that Mr. Trump’s tariffs have already begun weighing on the economy.

“Even a quick tariff resolution with key partners leaves the economy under pressure from structurally higher trade costs and consumer spending headwinds,” Citibank’s equity analysts wrote in a research note on Sunday.

Investors and analysts have also become concerned about sharp swings in the U.S. government bond market, known as the Treasury market.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which is one of the most important interest rates in the world, underpinning debt markets around the world, rose to roughly 4.5 percent on Friday, from less than 4 percent the week before.

Such a sharp rise in yield, which corresponds to a sharp drop in price, is unusual, and signaled a broad shift away from U.S. markets, with the U.S. dollar falling in tandem.

The market swings, propelled by major policy shifts from the White House, have left some in the market feeling paralyzed. Consumers and business leaders have reported feeling similarly stuck, uncertain about the future.

“Right now, we can say with a straight face that the world may look vastly different in a year or two’s time than any other environment we have lived through,” said Henry Peabody, a strategist at Riverhead Research. He added that equities would need to fall further to offer “a margin of safety” before he would recommend buying into the market again. Until then, he said, “It’s hurry up and wait.”



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How Do the iPhone 16E and Google Pixel 9A Compare to More Expensive Models?

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How Do the iPhone 16E and Google Pixel 9A Compare to More Expensive Models?


With all the talk about tariffs driving up costs, the word “cheaper” should bring comfort to just about anyone. That’s why I’m delighted to share that the cheaper smartphone from Google has arrived, a few months after Apple released a somewhat cheaper entry-level iPhone — and that both products are very good.

Google this week released the Pixel 9a, the $500 sibling of its $800 flagship smartphone, the Pixel 9. It competes directly with the $600 iPhone 16e released in February, the cheaper version of Apple’s $800 iPhone 16.

Both of the new phones have the staples that people care most about — great cameras, nice screens, zippy speeds, modern software and long battery life. To cut costs, they omit some fancier extras, like advanced camera features.

Is it a wise idea to save some bucks, or better to spend more on the fancier phones? To find out, I strapped on a fanny pack and carried all four phones with me for the last week to run tests.

The upshot: As is often the case, you get what you pay for. The $800 phones are slightly better in terms of features and performance than the cheaper versions, and the $600 iPhone is faster and has a better camera than the $500 Pixel.

But more important, the cheaper Pixel and iPhone were nearly indistinguishable from their $800 counterparts in several of my tests. In some cases, like battery life, the cheaper phones were even better.

The future of phone prices remains uncertain, but costs will probably go up. On Wednesday, when President Trump announced a pause on most “reciprocal” tariffs, he raised tariffs on China, where many phones are manufactured. So plenty of us may soon be motivated to compromise and consider less expensive alternatives.

Apple declined to comment on whether it would increase prices of its iPhones, but analysts estimate that tariffs could drive up the cost of some iPhone 16 Pro models to anywhere from $1,300 to $2,300. Google said there were no planned changes to the $500 price for the Pixel 9a, but it declined to comment on whether it would amend the price of its $800 Pixel 9.

The cheaper iPhone and Pixel look nearly identical to their more expensive siblings. Here’s a rundown of how they compare:

  • The screens on the phones are the same size. (The iPhones measure 6.1 diagonal inches, and the Pixels measure 6.3 diagonal inches). The iPhone 16e’s screen is slightly dimmer than the iPhone 16’s, but the difference is hardly noticeable.

  • Both cheaper phones lack some camera features found on the more expensive versions. The Pixel 9a’s camera sensor is smaller than the Pixel 9’s, meaning it will capture less detail and light. The iPhone 16e’s camera has one camera lens instead of two, so it can’t create certain types of special effects, such as “ultrawide” photos with a broader field of view for scenic shots of the Grand Canyon.

  • Both less expensive phones are slightly less powerful than their nicer counterparts. All four phones include the same computer processors. But the Pixel 9a has less memory for running multiple apps at the same time, and the iPhone 16e has a slightly weaker graphics processing unit for running games with heavy animation.

  • The iPhone 16e lacks the iPhone 16’s MagSafe feature, which uses a magnet to attach accessories such as power chargers and wallets to the back of the phone. The phone can still be charged wirelessly, however, using a slower charging standard called Qi.

  • Both phones can take advantage of artificial intelligence. The iPhone 16e can use Apple Intelligence to summarize text, generate images and remove photo bombers from pictures. And the Pixel 9a can run Google’s A.I., including the Gemini chatbot and similar photo editing tools. But both companies are still developing their A.I. software, which remains largely unfinished, so this feature may not be that important to most phone users.

Long battery life is high on the priority list for people buying a new phone, and the cheaper Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e are the clear winners here. They have larger batteries partly because they have more space for them, since the phones lack some features found in their more-expensive counterparts.

The iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a lasted about a day and a half with general use, including web browsing, photo shooting and video playing, before their batteries were depleted. The iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 both lasted about a day.

The downsides of buying cheaper phones were most pronounced in their cameras.

I took my corgi, Max, to a park to take photos of him in various lighting conditions, including bright daylight, in the shade and in partly shaded areas. In general, photos taken with both the Pixel 9a and Pixel 9 looked consistently clear, with accurate colors.

But the Pixel 9a’s weaknesses were visible in more challenging lighting conditions, such as when Max sat on a shaded path with sunlight filtering through the trees. The Pixel 9a struggled to distinguish the light from the shade, and Max looked blown out by the sun. (The Pixel 9 did fine in this situation.)

When I tested the iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 cameras, they excelled in all these tests, and the results were nearly indistinguishable.

Both iPhones outperformed the Pixel phones in shooting videos. Videos recorded of Max strolling through the park were clearer and smoother on the iPhones; the Pixel phones’ videos looked choppier.

So the main downside of the cheaper iPhone camera is simply what it can’t do. Because the iPhone 16e lacks a second lens, I wasn’t able to take an ultrawide shot of Max running in a field of grass.

The more expensive phones slightly outperformed the cheaper phones in terms of speed.

According to the speed-testing app Geekbench, the Pixel 9a is about 4 percent slower than the Pixel 9, and the iPhone 16e is 3 percent slower than the iPhone 16.

In real-world use of the phones, most people probably won’t notice a difference. When I put the phones side by side and launched different apps and games, their performance felt about the same to me.

If you care mostly about having a smartphone with long battery life and a good camera, you’d be happy with either the iPhone 16e or Pixel 9a. But if you care a lot about any of the premium features missing from the cheaper phones, such as taking more detailed, better-looking photos or using Apple’s MagSafe to charge your iPhone, then spending more is still a fine idea.

Just get ready to think of a smartphone as a longer-term investment, similar to a car, since prices are likely to go up soon.



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With the Worst U.S. Stock Market In Years, Try Some Old-Fashioned Investments

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With the Worst U.S. Stock Market In Years, Try Some Old-Fashioned Investments


The mood has darkened in the U.S. stock market, and no wonder. Pessimism about the Trump tariffs has set off painful declines.

But the picture has been less dire for people with investments outside the U.S. stock market. Holding plenty of bonds and including stakes in international stock markets were keys to stability and, maybe, even modestly positive returns in the first three months of the year. While there is no guarantee that this approach will work as well in the future, it has held its own over many years and is, I think, a sound strategy for most people.

Just look at what we’ve recently experienced. The quarterly numbers from Morningstar, a financial markets research firm, show that old-fashioned diversified investments like those favored in retirement accounts posted much better returns than the big-name tech stocks, like Tesla and Nvidia, that had buoyed the U.S. stock market over much of the previous couple of years. Tesla, whose chief executive, Elon Musk, has become a lightning rod for critics of the Trump administration, lost more than 35 percent in the three months that ended on Monday. Nvidia, a star of the artificial intelligence boom, lost nearly 19 percent.

There were gains in the first quarter in many markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia, though stocks in those regions have joined in worldwide market declines lately, as the potential for grave global damage from tariffs has sunk in.

Pessimism in the markets is often a contrarian signal — an indication that it’s time for traders to start buying because, at least in comparison with prices before a market fall, bargains are out there. Certainly, sentiment about the U.S. stock market has worsened, both among rank-and-file investors and among people who view themselves as market experts.

But timing the market on this or any other basis is hazardous. While it’s possible that the latest declines will turn out to be a market bottom, stocks may still have a long way to fall, especially if President Trump’s tariff policy leads to a protracted trade war and a domestic recession. The chances of bad outcomes have increased appreciably in the eyes of erstwhile market and economic bulls.

But for truly diversified, long-term investors, market timing is usually a mistake. I’m always invested in global stocks and bonds, and intend to keep buying regardless of the latest news on tariffs.

Mr. Trump imposed his latest series of tariffs on Wednesday, which he called Liberation Day. The enormous size of these tariffs, levied on a wide range of countries simply because they have run trade surpluses with the United States, startled the markets.

Depending on how the tariffs are carried out and whether they stand, the effective U.S. tariff rate could rise from 18 percent, according to a Goldman Sachs estimate, to around 24 percent, according to Capital Economics. That would be the highest level in 125 years. Recall that a rush around the world to raise tariffs in the 1930s made the Great Depression much worse.

The president says tariffs will help rebuild the U.S. manufacturing base and level the playing field for trade worldwide. In addition, he says tariffs will raise substantial revenue — which could allow him and his Republican supporters to cut taxes without unduly increasing the budget deficit.

My colleagues are reporting on the overall toll of the Trump tariffs, and I won’t duplicate that effort here. But in general terms, economists overwhelmingly say the net effect of tariffs is destructive, both for the United States and for many other countries, including its allies and neighbors.

The University of Chicago regularly surveys more than 80 eminent economists on important issues. In September, it asked them to respond to this statement: “Imposing tariffs results in a substantial portion of the tariffs being borne by consumers of the country that enacts the tariffs, through price increases.” Economists tend to have many different opinions, but the degree of consensus on this issue was startling: 95 percent said they “strongly agree” or “agree,” and 2 percent were “uncertain.” Only 2 percent disagreed.

The few dissenters are well represented in the Trump administration.

The higher the effective tariffs turn out to be, the greater the odds that the economy will slow and, perhaps, fall into a recession, many economists say. Recessions usually mean layoffs, wage freezes, households in distress and shriveling stock portfolios.

So of course there’s gloom in the markets. With global alliances fraying and trade conflicts erupting, is this a good time to buy stocks — or is it smarter to prepare for much bigger trouble ahead? Part of the answer will depend on Mr. Trump.

I’m hedging my bets, as I indicated in last week’s column — with a well-diversified portfolio containing low-cost index funds that track just about all tradable global stock and bond markets. That kind of portfolio did rather well in the last quarter, at least compared with domestic stock funds.

Here are some of the average numbers for the quarter, reported by Morningstar:

  • Taxable bond funds: Up 1.9 percent.

  • Municipal bond funds: Down 0.2 percent.

  • International stock funds: Up 4.7 percent.

  • Diversified asset allocation funds with 30 to 50 percent stock and most of the remainder in bonds: Up 1 percent.

And here’s how target-date retirement funds, of various vintages, did on average. Those with longer maturities tend to hold more stocks, which hindered performance this year.

  • 2025 funds, which contain large dollops of bonds: Up 1.2 percent.

  • 2030 funds, with a little bit less in bonds: Up 0.7 percent.

  • 2060 funds, which mainly hold stock: Down 0.8 percent.

Diversification reduced portfolio risk in the last quarter, though diversified strategies don’t produce the best returns.

Nvidia over the last 20 years returned an annual average of 37.8 percent. And in the first quarter, stock funds that were focused on Latin America returned an average 12.1 percent, while precious-metal funds, fueled by rising gold prices, rose 32.8 percent.

Diversified portfolios can never match the absolute best returns in any given period. But they have other virtues.

The past doesn’t predict the future, and we don’t know what will produce eye-popping returns in the years ahead. Are you willing to take the risk that you will place your bet on the wrong horse? Betting may be fun for an afternoon at the track, but it seems foolhardy for the money I’ll need down the road. So I expect to continue with the boring but effective approach that most academic research suggests is wise — broad investments in cheap index funds, divided among different categories of assets.

Hold Treasury bills or money market funds for cash that you need soon. You can get more than 4 percent on those short-term holdings now. I find that if I have enough stashed away in an easy-to-liquidate form, I am calmer, knowing that I can ride out a stock market downturn without touching the core of my portfolio.

Safeguarding your money is even more critical for people who are already in retirement or approaching the end of a regular working paycheck. High-quality bonds, taxable or municipal, depending on your own situation, are likely to be far more dependable than stocks — even dividend-paying stocks — if you need to rely on your investments for day-to-day living.

But despite their shortcomings, which are all too obvious in the middle of big market declines, stocks over the long run have been able to earn inflation-beating returns. Bonds and cash holdings won’t do that. That’s why diversified stock investments make sense for people with decades ahead of them.

These are difficult decisions, and they are especially challenging when the markets are rocky and government policies may be contrary to your own best interests.

Caution is more important than risk-taking for many people now. So check your returns, correct your course if need be and then hang on for a turbulent ride.



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