The daily business briefing: April 27, 2017
Trump vows to renegotiate NAFTA instead of scrapping it, United hikes payments for bumped passengers as high as $10,000, and more
- 1. Trump says he will renegotiate NAFTA, not scrap it
- 2. United hikes payments for bumped passengers as high as $10,000
- 3. Trump unveils tax plan with cuts for businesses and families
- 4. U.S. broadens investigation of China's Huawei over dealings with sanctioned nations
- 5. Mnuchin says Trump 'has no intention' of releasing taxes
1. Trump says he will renegotiate NAFTA, not scrap it
President Trump told Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday that the U.S. has no plan to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, "at this time," but he will renegotiate it. The White House said that Trump had agreed not to pull out of the trade deal and his counterparts in Mexico and Canada "agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries." The conversations came after reports that the White House was in the late stages of writing an order to terminate the 1994 trade deal, which allows for the free flow of goods and services between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico without tariffs. Trump vowed during his campaign that he would renegotiate the trade deal, calling it a "job killer" that was "very, very bad for our country."
2. United hikes payments for bumped passengers as high as $10,000
United Airlines said Thursday that it would raise the maximum payment to passengers who give up seats on overbooked flights to $10,000. The company also vowed to increase training for its employees, and cut back on the practice of selling tickets outnumbering the seats on planes. The moves came after the airline faced an angry backlash after a video was posted online showing a passenger being violently dragged out of his seat and off of a plane in Chicago after he refused to give up his seat for a member of a partner airline's flight crew. "People are upset," United CEO Oscar Munoz said, "and I suspect that there are a lot of people potentially thinking of not flying us."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. Trump unveils tax plan with cuts for businesses and families
President Trump on Wednesday proposed sharp tax cuts for businesses and individuals, promising that the overhaul would help pay for itself by dramatically boosting economic growth. Critics, however, said that the steep reductions would inflate the federal deficit. Trump proposed reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. The plan also would double the standard amount that individual taxpayers can deduct, potentially saving middle class families thousands of dollars a year. The proposal, a one-page sketch short on detail, also would allow private business owners to claim the new lower rate for their take-home pay. It would reduce the number of tax brackets for individuals from seven to three, and lower the top tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent.
The Associated Press The New York Times
4. U.S. broadens investigation of China's Huawei over dealings with sanctioned nations
U.S. officials are widening an investigation into whether Chinese technology giant Huawei violated American trade controls on Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria, The New York Times reported, citing a previously unreported Treasury Department subpoena sent to Huawei in December. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Treasury Department agency overseeing international sanctions, got involved after the Department of Commerce issued a subpoena to Huawei last summer. Huawei has not been accused of committing crimes, but the investigation comes at a sensitive time, as the Trump administration pressures China to reduce trade with North Korea as leverage to get the Hermit Kingdom to rein in its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
5. Mnuchin says Trump 'has no intention' of releasing taxes
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that President Donald Trump "has no intention" of releasing his tax returns. Going back decades, Trump's predecessors in the White House have released their tax returns. Trump has kept his private, although during his campaign he promised to make them public once the Internal Revenue Service had completed an audit. The IRS and tax lawyers say nothing prevents someone under audit from releasing their own tax documents. On Wednesday, Mnuchin said Americans already have "plenty of information" on Trump's finances.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Indie film's 'very brief' use of AI sparks backlash and calls for boycotts
Talking Points Did the creators of a new horror movie make a deal with the artificial intelligence devil?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Could Taylor Swift swing the election?
Today's Big Question The pop star has outsized influence — and that extends beyond the music industry
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold Published
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain Prize
Speed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 24, 2024
Business Briefing The S&P 500 sets a third straight record, Netflix adds more subscribers than expected, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 23, 2024
Business Briefing The Dow and S&P 500 set fresh records, Bitcoin falls as ETF enthusiasm fades, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 22, 2024
Business Briefing FAA recommends inspections of a second Boeing 737 model, Macy's rejects Arkhouse bid, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Geopolitics and the economy in 2024
Talking Point The West is banking on a year of falling inflation. Don't rule out a shock
By The Week UK Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 19, 2024
Business Briefing Macy's to cut 2,350 jobs, Congress averts a government shutdown, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 18, 2024
Business Briefing Shell suspends shipments in the Red Sea, December retail sales beat expectations, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 17, 2024
Business Briefing Judge blocks JetBlue-Spirit merger plan, Goldman Sachs beats expectations with wealth-management boost, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The daily business briefing: January 16, 2024
Business Briefing Boeing steps up inspections on 737 Max 9 jets, Zelenskyy fights for world leaders' attention at Davos, and more
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published