From MarketWatch: Bessent says U.S. would have to give huge refunds if tariffs overturned
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said the U.S....
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said the U.S. could end up giving massive refunds if the U.S. Supreme Court finds the Trump administration’s tariffs are illegal, and denied that the tariffs are effectively a tax on American consumers.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bessent said he’s confident that the tariffs will be upheld by the Supreme Court. But even if they’re not, “there are numerous other avenues that we can take,” he told host Kristen Welker, though that would “diminish President Trump’s negotiating position.”
“We would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs, which would be terrible for the treasury,” Bessent said, according to a transcript. “If the court says it, we’d have to do it.”
When asked straight up if he would acknowledge that tariffs are a tax on American consumers, Bessent replied: “No, I don’t.”
More specifically, Bessent brushed off a Goldman Sachs report from August that found 86% of the tariff revenue collected so far has been paid by U.S. businesses and consumers.
OPEC+ agrees to another oil production boost in October
OPEC+ agreed Sunday to further increase oil production...
OPEC+ agreed Sunday to further increase oil production in October, in an ongoing move to regain market share at the expense of prices.
Eight members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Saudi Arabia, met briefly on Sunday and agreed to raise production by 137,000 barrels a day next month.
Still, the October increase is less than recent monthly increases, as OPEC+ moves to unwind a series of previous production cuts a year ahead of schedule.
In a statement Sunday, OPEC+ said it will return 1.65 million barrels per day worth of production “in part or in full, subject to evolving market conditions and in a gradual manner.” The delegates will meet next on Oct. 5.
Oil prices have fallen this year, with U.S. benchmark prices down 14%, but they’ve largely held above $60 a barrel despite forecasts for steeper declines to the $40 level.
Pentagon sends fighter jets to target cartels in the Caribbean
The Department of Defense—rebranded the ...
The Department of Defense—rebranded the Department of War by President Donald Trump yesterday—deployed 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to combat Latin American drug cartels. The move followed reports two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over one of three Navy vessels dispatched last month as part of the crackdown.
Anthropic to pay $1.5b to settle authors’ copyright claims. In...
Anthropic to pay $1.5b to settle authors’ copyright claims. In the first major settlement by an AI company over training its model on copyrighted works, Anthropic has agreed to shell out $1.5 billion to resolve claims by authors that it downloaded pirated copies of their books for training. The settlement must still be approved by a judge, but if it had gone to trial and lost the case, Anthropic could have faced $1 trillion in damages to the authors of 7 million books, per Bloomberg. The deal comes as dozens of suits remain pending against Anthropic and its competitors in the AI space over the use of intellectual property to train their models.
Tylenol-maker Kenvue’s stock fell yesterday after the Wall Street Journal reported that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to release a report linking taking the painkiller during pregnancy to autism. The company said it has evaluated the science and believes “there is no causal link.”
President Trump signed an executive order to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, signaling a willingness to go on the offensive.
Warner Bros. became the latest Hollywood studio to sue Midjourney, claiming the AI image generator created images and videos of copyrighted characters like Superman and Bugs Bunny.
Roblox announced plans to launch its own TikTok-style short-form video app in a bid to capture whatever it doesn’t already have of kids’ attention.