US inflation rose in June as Trump’s tariffs start to show in prices
Inflation accelerated in June as the impacts of Donald Trump’s tariffs slowly started to show in US prices.Business leaders have said for months that the high, volatile rates of Trump’s tariffs will force companies to raise consumer prices.Prices remained stable in the spring, particularly as many of Trump’s highest tariffs were paused; however, they started increasing in May and have continued to rise in June.Annual inflation rose to 2.7% in June, up from 2.
4% in May, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the prices of a basket of goods and services each month.Core CPI, which leaves out energy and food prices, ticked up slightly to 2.9%, compared with 2.8% in May.The prices of appliances, furniture and toys, products typically manufactured outside the US, all rose.
Food prices increased by 3%, with the price of beef rising by more than 2% over the month, coffee up 2.2% and citrus fruit prices rising 2.3%.While the price of eggs has been dropping over the last few months, a dozen eggs are still 27% more expensive than last year.Inflation remains far below the price peaks seen three years ago, when price increases reached as high as 9%, and even a year ago, when increases were closer to 3%.
But tariffs have appeared to halt inflation’s downward path.According to the Yale Budget Lab, Americans now face an average tariff rate of 18.7% – the highest rate since 1933.That includes 30% tariffs on China, a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, 25% on auto parts and a universal 10% tariff on all imports.The levies currently in effect do not include those Trump is threatening to impose on other large US trading partners.
Over the weekend, Trump threatened the EU and Mexico with 30% tariffs and Canada with a 35% tariff.Brazil is set to face 50% tariffs as punishment for the trial of the Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, who is facing charges of attempting a coup.Prices will probably be pushed up much higher should these tariff rates go into effect, but it is unclear if and when that could happen.Trump initially set negotiation deadlines to 9 July, but pushed it back to 1 August as the date approached.Trump’s trade advisers have said they aim to end negotiations by Labor Day at the beginning of September.
Reacting to the latest inflation news, Trump renewed his call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.“Consumer Prices LOW.Bring down the Fed Rate, NOW!!!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.As prices remain volatile, the Fed appears unlikely to adjust interest rates anytime soon, despite cutting rates three times in the fall.Fed officials, including the central bank’s chair, Jerome Powell, have said that price increases are expected to continue in the summer, drawing away from the Fed’s 2% inflation target.
BAE Systems says it is ‘confident’ of receiving orders for Typhoon jets
The British weapons manufacturer BAE Systems has said it is confident of receiving further export orders for the Typhoon fighter jet, a development that would secure the future of several hundred jobs at its factory in Lancashire.The company is hoping for as many as 150 more orders for the jet, with up to two-thirds of those expected to be assembled in the UK. It comes after Unite, a union representing manufacturing workers, raised concerns over the future of the assembly line at Warton.Richard Hamilton, who leads work on the Typhoon for BAE Systems, said he was “really confident” of future orders, with Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia the likely buyers.FTSE 100 manufacturer BAE Systems is the UK’s dominant defence maker, producing weapons ranging from tanks, to warships and nuclear submarines, as well as fighter jets
FTSE 100 breaks 9,000-point barrier to reach new high
Britain’s blue-chip stock index has risen through the 9,000-point mark to reach a new high.The FTSE 100 share index hit 9,016.98 points in early trading on Tuesday, taking its gains during 2025 to more than 10%.Analysts said the London stock market had benefited from a range of factors this year, including a move by some investors to diversify away from US shares because of concerns about Donald Trump’s economic policies.The US president’s trade war has also helped UK stocks, as Britain is one of the few countries to have reached a trade deal guaranteeing lower tariffs
Elmo’s X account posts racist and antisemitic messages after being hacked
Hackers gained access to the X account of the puppet Elmo over the weekend and used it to post racist and antisemitic threats as well as make profane references to Jeffrey Epstein. Sesame Workshop was still trying to regain full control on Monday over the red character’s account.“Elmo’s X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account,” a Sesame Workshop spokesperson said on Monday. Sesame Workshop is the non-profit behind Sesame Street and Elmo
Musk’s giant Tesla factory casts shadow on lives in a quiet corner of Germany
Politics of carmaker’s owner has soured sentiments in Grünheide, south-east of Berlin, where the factory promised jobs and revitalisationWhen Elon Musk advised Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in elections last year, Manu Hoyer – who lives in the small town where the billionaire had built Tesla’s European production hub – wrote to the state premier to complain.“How can you do business with someone who supports rightwing extremism?” she asked Dietmar Woidke, the Social Democrat leader of the eastern state of Brandenburg, who had backed the setting up of the Tesla Giga factory in Grünheide.Hoyer said that in Woidke’s “disappointing, but predictable” answer, he denied the charge. “He said he didn’t know him personally. As if that excused him
Future British & Irish Lions tour of France on the agenda at Melbourne summit
A British & Irish Lions tour of France could move a step closer next week when executives hold talks over “a new business model” in Melbourne before the second Test of the series against Australia.Abdel Benazzi, the vice-president of the French federation (FFR), held informal discussions with Lions executives in Dublin before the warm-up match against Argentina, and he will travel to Australia next week to further press his nation’s claims of facing the touring side again, having previously done so in 1989. France have emerged as leading contenders to face the Lions in a warm-up match before the tour of New Zealand in 2029 and, according to Benazzi, could also fulfil the same role before the inaugural women’s tour in 2027, also to New Zealand.More recently, however, there has been a groundswell of support for a tour of France, with leading Top 14 sides such as Toulouse and Bordeaux offering the prospect of competitive warm-up matches before a mouthwatering series against Les Bleus in contrast to the currently one-sided tour of Australia. The former Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips last week became the most recent former Lion to throw his weight behind the prospect, suggesting a tour of France would be a “gamechanger”
Cherished champion and statesman: Usyk focuses on Ukraine before titles
On Monday afternoon, in central London, Oleksandr Usyk looked resplendent on an open-topped black bus as he prepared to send loaded messages to Daniel Dubois, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. High in the air he held three fingers on his right hand to signify his intention to become a three-time undisputed world champion. It was a typical sporting gesture and underlined his determination to defeat Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night and follow his earlier achievements in winning all the belts as a cruiserweight and then, last year, becoming the first boxer to unify the world heavyweight division this century.Usyk remains the WBA, WBC and WBO champion but boxing politics forced him to vacate his IBF title soon after he beat Tyson Fury in their magnificent first world title unification fight 14 months ago in Riyadh. He looks ready now for the dangerous challenge of Dubois, the new IBF champion, but Usyk’s arrival in London was a timely reminder of the far more significant role he plays in Ukraine
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