Tag: commerce

Federal ethics agency refuses to certify financial disclosure from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

The government’s top ethics watchdog disclosed Tuesday that it had refused to certify a financial disclosure report from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “The report is not certified,” OGE Director Emory Rounds said in a filing, explaining that a previous document the watchdog received from Ross indicated he “no longer held BankUnited stock.” “While I am disappointed that my report was not certified, I remain committed to complying with my ethics agreement and adhering to the guidance of Commerce

The government’s top ethics watchdog disclosed Tuesday that it had refused to certify a financial disclosure report from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “The report is not certified,” OGE Director Emory Rounds said in a filing, explaining that a previous document the watchdog received from Ross indicated he “no longer held BankUnited stock.” “While I am disappointed that my report was not certified, I remain committed to complying with my ethics agreement and adhering to the guidance of Commerce
Federal ethics agency refuses to certify financial disclosure from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-20  Authors: jeff daniels, mike blake
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, refuses, financial, federal, 2017, ross, secretary, stock, 2018, sell, ethics, reported, disclosure, shares, wilbur, certify, commerce, bankunited

Federal ethics agency refuses to certify financial disclosure from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

The government’s top ethics watchdog disclosed Tuesday that it had refused to certify a financial disclosure report from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

In a filing, the Office of Government Ethics said it wouldn’t certify the 2018 annual filing by Ross because he didn’t divest stock in a bank despite stating otherwise. The move could have legal ramifications for Ross and add to pressure for a federal probe.

“The report is not certified,” OGE Director Emory Rounds said in a filing, explaining that a previous document the watchdog received from Ross indicated he “no longer held BankUnited stock.” However, Rounds said an Oct. 31 document “demonstrates that he did” still hold the shares and as a result, “the filer was therefore not in compliance with his ethics agreement at the time of the report.”

A federal ethics agreement required that Ross divest stock worth between $1,000 and $15,000 in BankUnited by the end of May 2017, or within 90 days of the Senate confirming him to the Commerce post. He previously reported selling the stock twice, first in May 2017 and again in August 2018 as part of an annual disclosure required by OGE.

However, Ross didn’t sell the stock in the agreed upon time period in 2017 and then made the two filings indicating he did, the Center for Public Integrity first reported in December 2018. The nonprofit, which obtained the OGE documents, claimed Ross’s failure to sell the stock was “the latest in a series of inaccurate statements and omissions in Ross’ personal financial statements.”

OGE guidelines allow the Justice Department to impose civil fines or take criminal action in cases where an individual “knowingly” files false information.

“While I am disappointed that my report was not certified, I remain committed to complying with my ethics agreement and adhering to the guidance of Commerce ethics officials,” Ross said Tuesday in a statement. He said the BankUnited stock he owned was awarded when he was a director of the Florida-based bank from 2009 and 2014.

Ross said the “100 shares were worth approximately $3,700, an amount that federal regulations deem de minimis and below the threshold of a possible conflict of interest. Therefore, even if a BankUnited matter had come before the Department while I owned the shares — and I have not been made aware of any such matter — I would not have been disqualified from working on it.”

The Commerce secretary further explained that the shares “were held in book entry form by BankUnited’s stock transfer agent. I previously reported selling the shares on May 31, 2017 based on a mistaken belief that the agent executed my sell order on that date. As soon as I learned that the shares had not been sold, I again took action to direct their sale and disclosed the sale of these 100 shares on October 31, 2018, correcting the only known error in my annual report.”

There have been calls before for an investigation on stock-related issues involving Ross, including claims he may have violated a criminal conflict of interest law.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-20  Authors: jeff daniels, mike blake
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, refuses, financial, federal, 2017, ross, secretary, stock, 2018, sell, ethics, reported, disclosure, shares, wilbur, certify, commerce, bankunited

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US-China trade war: Deal needs enforcement, says Chamber of Commerce

Pledges from Beijing to buy more American goods and fix some economic structural issues are meaningless victories for the U.S. if Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t also create ways to enforce a trade agreement with China, according to a top official from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That comes as Chinese negotiators ready for the next round of trade talks, set to begin Tuesday in Washington. “Without enforcement, this deal fails,” he told CNBC’s Eunice Yoon in Beijing. Enforcement mechanism

Pledges from Beijing to buy more American goods and fix some economic structural issues are meaningless victories for the U.S. if Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t also create ways to enforce a trade agreement with China, according to a top official from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That comes as Chinese negotiators ready for the next round of trade talks, set to begin Tuesday in Washington. “Without enforcement, this deal fails,” he told CNBC’s Eunice Yoon in Beijing. Enforcement mechanism
US-China trade war: Deal needs enforcement, says Chamber of Commerce Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-19  Authors: huileng tan, mark schiefelbein, pool
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, trade, tariffs, enforcement, brilliant, war, commerce, beijing, needs, uschina, deal, china, according, need, chamber, trumps

US-China trade war: Deal needs enforcement, says Chamber of Commerce

Pledges from Beijing to buy more American goods and fix some economic structural issues are meaningless victories for the U.S. if Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t also create ways to enforce a trade agreement with China, according to a top official from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

That comes as Chinese negotiators ready for the next round of trade talks, set to begin Tuesday in Washington. So far, reports indicate, the two countries have found common ground on China decreasing its trade surplus with the U.S. through more purchases, but sticking points remain on issues such as intellectual property theft and the subsidies Beijing gives to its domestic firms.

Still, even if Trump’s team can realize its goals on those fronts, it will all come down to whether both countries actually live up to their commitments, according to Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“Without enforcement, this deal fails,” he told CNBC’s Eunice Yoon in Beijing. “Implementation and enforcement are going to be two key elements — so you need to have implementation, you need to have follow-through, but you need to have enforcement mechanisms that will ensure that both sides have trust that this deal is sustaining and verifiable.”

Enforcement mechanisms could include a “snapback” in tariffs if China doesn’t live up to the terms of the deal, he said. Another option, according to Brilliant, would be for the U.S. to “delay the reduction of tariffs being reduced from 10 percent down to zero” contingent on Beijing’s adherence to the agreement.

Such measures are unlikely to be well received by the Chinese negotiators, and multiple media reports indicate that remains one of the biggest sticking points in the ongoing discussion. Still, Brilliant emphasized that the business community is hoping some sort of agreement will come together.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-19  Authors: huileng tan, mark schiefelbein, pool
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, trade, tariffs, enforcement, brilliant, war, commerce, beijing, needs, uschina, deal, china, according, need, chamber, trumps

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PayPal CEO predicts digital payments industry will mature into a $100 trillion market

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CNBC that the digital payments industry may become a $100 trillion market as the financial technology sector continues to grow rapidly. “We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world,” he said. “There’s an explosion in digital commerce and we’re riding that wave. “People are thinking about how can they use technology to better serve customers,” Schulman said. Zelle is the digital payments network owned by seven bank

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CNBC that the digital payments industry may become a $100 trillion market as the financial technology sector continues to grow rapidly. “We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world,” he said. “There’s an explosion in digital commerce and we’re riding that wave. “People are thinking about how can they use technology to better serve customers,” Schulman said. Zelle is the digital payments network owned by seven bank
PayPal CEO predicts digital payments industry will mature into a $100 trillion market Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-19  Authors: tyler clifford
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, ceo, paypal, mature, 100, payments, customers, zelle, digital, commerce, company, market, serve, venmo, industry, predicts, trillion, schulman

PayPal CEO predicts digital payments industry will mature into a $100 trillion market

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CNBC that the digital payments industry may become a $100 trillion market as the financial technology sector continues to grow rapidly.

“It could be, you know, a $100 trillion market,” he said in an interview with Wilfred Frost on “Closing Bell” Tuesday. “That’s sort of the market — total adjustable market — we’re playing into. We may have, like, 1-2 percent share of that market today.

And as Venmo, PayPal’s popular mobile payments service, continues to partner with more merchants, he said there are no signs that disappointing holiday sales and a potential global slowdown will negatively affect the sector. The number of payments processed on the platform surged 80 percent year over year in the last quarter and Schulman thinks the company could process more than $100 billion worth of transactions in 2019.

“We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world,” he said. “There’s an explosion in digital commerce and we’re riding that wave. What we see is pretty positive.”

To support its growth, Schulman pointed out that Venmo has been focused on building partnerships with companies across a number of industries to better serve customers. The company already works with names like Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Alibaba.

“People are thinking about how can they use technology to better serve customers,” Schulman said. “I think it’s going to be less and less about how does one company hyper-serve customers. I think the new way of the world going forward is how do companies take the best of their platforms [and] put them together to better serve companies.”

He also touched on competition brewing with fintech services like Zelle, casting away doubts that it would make it any harder for Venmo to thrive. Zelle is the digital payments network owned by seven banks including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America.

Schulman sees it as a sign that companies are deciding to work together more and share platforms, noting that Venmo also collaborates with other financial institutions. The differences between Venmo and Zelle, he pointed out, are how customers use both platforms. The average Venmo transaction is about $50 and done as many as five times a week. Zelle, on the other hand, handles larger transactions, typically $250 about once a month, he said.

PayPal had a roughly $111 billion market cap as of Tuesday.

“P2P, or peer-to-peer payments, is exploding in the market. It’s a multi-hundred-billion-dollar marketplace. This will definitely not be a winner take all,” Schulman said. “I think the two will live side by side and it won’t be a winner take all”

Additionally, PayPal is tapping into marketplaces around the globe and Asia is one of its fastest-growing regions, Schulman said. Those countries include India, China and Japan. Building relationships with online markets like Amazon and Alibaba, where they are seeing 40 percent year-over-year growth, has been a key strategy for the digital commerce company to offset slowing growth that has affected eBay, PayPal’s former parent company that it continues to partner with, he said. Shares of eBay are down nearly 15 percent over the past 12 months.

“But the real secret to Venmo is that its not just a payment transaction,” Schulman said. “It really is tying into this desire in the millennial generation to tie into your social network. So its really a social experience.”

That includes issuing debit cards to customers and the chance to use the service at retailers. Schulman doesn’t expect Venmo to be profitable at least for the next two quarters, but he said that partnerships have allowed the company to monetize the service and that it could be “a very profitable one for us over the medium to long term.”

Schulman also hinted in the interview that Venmo could be doing more to further leverage social media.

“There is more and more we can do with Facebook,” he said. “They can take the best of our platform assets to serve their customers in ways they want to.”

PayPal shares have risen 13 percent this year and surged more than 21 percent over the past 12 months. The stock advanced modestly Tuesday to $95.02.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-19  Authors: tyler clifford
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, ceo, paypal, mature, 100, payments, customers, zelle, digital, commerce, company, market, serve, venmo, industry, predicts, trillion, schulman

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PayPal CEO predicts digital payments industry will mature into a $100 trillion market

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CNBC that the digital payments industry may become a $100 trillion market as the financial technology sector continues to grow rapidly. “We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world,” he said. “There’s an explosion in digital commerce and we’re riding that wave. “People are thinking about how can they use technology to better serve customers,” Schulman said. Zelle is the digital payments network owned by seven bank

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CNBC that the digital payments industry may become a $100 trillion market as the financial technology sector continues to grow rapidly. “We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world,” he said. “There’s an explosion in digital commerce and we’re riding that wave. “People are thinking about how can they use technology to better serve customers,” Schulman said. Zelle is the digital payments network owned by seven bank
PayPal CEO predicts digital payments industry will mature into a $100 trillion market Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-19  Authors: tyler clifford
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, ceo, paypal, mature, 100, payments, customers, zelle, digital, commerce, company, market, serve, venmo, industry, predicts, trillion, schulman

PayPal CEO predicts digital payments industry will mature into a $100 trillion market

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CNBC that the digital payments industry may become a $100 trillion market as the financial technology sector continues to grow rapidly.

“It could be, you know, a $100 trillion market,” he said in an interview with Wilfred Frost on “Closing Bell” Tuesday. “That’s sort of the market — total adjustable market — we’re playing into. We may have, like, 1-2 percent share of that market today.

And as Venmo, PayPal’s popular mobile payments service, continues to partner with more merchants, he said there are no signs that disappointing holiday sales and a potential global slowdown will negatively affect the sector. The number of payments processed on the platform surged 80 percent year over year in the last quarter and Schulman thinks the company could process more than $100 billion worth of transactions in 2019.

“We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world,” he said. “There’s an explosion in digital commerce and we’re riding that wave. What we see is pretty positive.”

To support its growth, Schulman pointed out that Venmo has been focused on building partnerships with companies across a number of industries to better serve customers. The company already works with names like Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Alibaba.

“People are thinking about how can they use technology to better serve customers,” Schulman said. “I think it’s going to be less and less about how does one company hyper-serve customers. I think the new way of the world going forward is how do companies take the best of their platforms [and] put them together to better serve companies.”

He also touched on competition brewing with fintech services like Zelle, casting away doubts that it would make it any harder for Venmo to thrive. Zelle is the digital payments network owned by seven banks including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America.

Schulman sees it as a sign that companies are deciding to work together more and share platforms, noting that Venmo also collaborates with other financial institutions. The differences between Venmo and Zelle, he pointed out, are how customers use both platforms. The average Venmo transaction is about $50 and done as many as five times a week. Zelle, on the other hand, handles larger transactions, typically $250 about once a month, he said.

PayPal had a roughly $111 billion market cap as of Tuesday.

“P2P, or peer-to-peer payments, is exploding in the market. It’s a multi-hundred-billion-dollar marketplace. This will definitely not be a winner take all,” Schulman said. “I think the two will live side by side and it won’t be a winner take all”

Additionally, PayPal is tapping into marketplaces around the globe and Asia is one of its fastest-growing regions, Schulman said. Those countries include India, China and Japan. Building relationships with online markets like Amazon and Alibaba, where they are seeing 40 percent year-over-year growth, has been a key strategy for the digital commerce company to offset slowing growth that has affected eBay, PayPal’s former parent company that it continues to partner with, he said. Shares of eBay are down nearly 15 percent over the past 12 months.

“But the real secret to Venmo is that its not just a payment transaction,” Schulman said. “It really is tying into this desire in the millennial generation to tie into your social network. So its really a social experience.”

That includes issuing debit cards to customers and the chance to use the service at retailers. Schulman doesn’t expect Venmo to be profitable at least for the next two quarters, but he said that partnerships have allowed the company to monetize the service and that it could be “a very profitable one for us over the medium to long term.”

Schulman also hinted in the interview that Venmo could be doing more to further leverage social media.

“There is more and more we can do with Facebook,” he said. “They can take the best of our platform assets to serve their customers in ways they want to.”

PayPal shares have risen 13 percent this year and surged more than 21 percent over the past 12 months. The stock advanced modestly Tuesday to $95.02.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-19  Authors: tyler clifford
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, ceo, paypal, mature, 100, payments, customers, zelle, digital, commerce, company, market, serve, venmo, industry, predicts, trillion, schulman

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China’s consumption growth in 2019 will ‘very likely’ slow further, says commerce ministry

Consumption growth in China is “very likely” to slow further this year as the economy cools, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday, underlining the rising risks facing the Asian giant as it navigates a trade war with the United States. “The medium- to long-term accumulated contradictions and risks throughout economic development are going to become more prominent in 2019,” Wang Bin, a commerce ministry official told reporters during a briefing. “The pressure facing the consumer market will incre

Consumption growth in China is “very likely” to slow further this year as the economy cools, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday, underlining the rising risks facing the Asian giant as it navigates a trade war with the United States. “The medium- to long-term accumulated contradictions and risks throughout economic development are going to become more prominent in 2019,” Wang Bin, a commerce ministry official told reporters during a briefing. “The pressure facing the consumer market will incre
China’s consumption growth in 2019 will ‘very likely’ slow further, says commerce ministry Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-12  Authors: tomohiro ohsumi, bloomberg, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, commerce, risks, economic, facing, growth, sales, likely, consumption, ministry, market, trade, chinas, 2019, slow

China's consumption growth in 2019 will 'very likely' slow further, says commerce ministry

Consumption growth in China is “very likely” to slow further this year as the economy cools, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday, underlining the rising risks facing the Asian giant as it navigates a trade war with the United States.

Chinese authorities have already rolled out a flurry of support measures to temper the effects of the trade dispute on businesses and investment, and are counting on the nation’s vast consumer base to cushion a broader economic slowdown.

“The medium- to long-term accumulated contradictions and risks throughout economic development are going to become more prominent in 2019,” Wang Bin, a commerce ministry official told reporters during a briefing.

“The pressure facing the consumer market will increase and consumption growth is very likely to slow further.”

Wang said softness in retail sales last year, which saw growth averaging 9 percent for the slowest in 15 years, was due to “periodic” weakness in car sales and housing-related spending, though other categories continue to post “relatively normal” growth.

Sales in the world’s biggest auto market shrank for the first time since the 1990s.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-12  Authors: tomohiro ohsumi, bloomberg, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, commerce, risks, economic, facing, growth, sales, likely, consumption, ministry, market, trade, chinas, 2019, slow

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China retail earnings up 8.5 percent during new year holiday, Commerce Ministry says

China’s retailer and catering enterprises earned over 1 trillion yuan ($148.3 billion) during the Lunar New Year holiday, defying an economic slump to rise 8.5 percent from last year, the country’s commerce ministry said late on Sunday. The increase was down to the rapid growth in sales of new-year gifts, traditional foods, electronic products and local speciality products over a six-day holiday period ending on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a notice on its website. Domestic tourism

China’s retailer and catering enterprises earned over 1 trillion yuan ($148.3 billion) during the Lunar New Year holiday, defying an economic slump to rise 8.5 percent from last year, the country’s commerce ministry said late on Sunday. The increase was down to the rapid growth in sales of new-year gifts, traditional foods, electronic products and local speciality products over a six-day holiday period ending on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a notice on its website. Domestic tourism
China retail earnings up 8.5 percent during new year holiday, Commerce Ministry says Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-11  Authors: vcg, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, websitedomestic, billion, yuan, retail, trips, xinhua, 85, earnings, products, official, holiday, commerce, china, ministry

China retail earnings up 8.5 percent during new year holiday, Commerce Ministry says

China’s retailer and catering enterprises earned over 1 trillion yuan ($148.3 billion) during the Lunar New Year holiday, defying an economic slump to rise 8.5 percent from last year, the country’s commerce ministry said late on Sunday.

The increase was down to the rapid growth in sales of new-year gifts, traditional foods, electronic products and local speciality products over a six-day holiday period ending on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a notice on its website.

Domestic tourism during the new year break generated total revenues of 513.9 billion yuan, up 8.2 percent on the year, with the number of trips rising 7.6 percent to 415 million, the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday, citing official data.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-02-11  Authors: vcg, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, websitedomestic, billion, yuan, retail, trips, xinhua, 85, earnings, products, official, holiday, commerce, china, ministry

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Wilbur Ross to testify to Congress in March about census question

Lawmakers will grill Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in March about a “wide range” of topics, including Ross’ role in the Trump administration’s plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Cummings’ letter. Ross, whose department oversees the census, had argued that the question was necessary in order to uphold certain provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Civil rights groups have argued that the propo

Lawmakers will grill Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in March about a “wide range” of topics, including Ross’ role in the Trump administration’s plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Cummings’ letter. Ross, whose department oversees the census, had argued that the question was necessary in order to uphold certain provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Civil rights groups have argued that the propo
Wilbur Ross to testify to Congress in March about census question Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-01-22  Authors: kevin breuninger, kevin lamarque
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, department, question, ross, secretary, congress, administration, citizenship, wilbur, census, commerce, cummings, trump, testify

Wilbur Ross to testify to Congress in March about census question

Lawmakers will grill Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in March about a “wide range” of topics, including Ross’ role in the Trump administration’s plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

Ross agreed to testify “voluntarily and without a subpoena” after weeks of discussions, House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in a statement Tuesday. A spokesman for Cummings confirmed to CNBC that the hearing will be public.

“Committee Members expect Secretary Ross to provide complete and truthful answers to a wide range of questions, including questions regarding the ongoing preparations for the census, the addition of a citizenship question, and other topics,” Cummings said in the statement.

He also noted that the majority-Democrat committee expects Ross, who has served in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet since the early days of his administration, to comply with multiple outstanding requests for documents that have been “withheld” by the Commerce Department.

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Cummings’ letter. But a spokesperson told NBC News that the department “is working with Chairman Cummings and Ranking Member Jordan to determine a mutually-agreeable date for the Secretary to appear before the Committee.”

The hearing, which Cummings’ statement says is set for Thursday, March 14, comes a week after a federal court in New York blocked the Trump administration’s plans to include a question in the 10-year national survey asking respondents about their citizenship. The Trump administration is appealing that ruling.

Ross, whose department oversees the census, had argued that the question was necessary in order to uphold certain provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

The Cabinet secretary “cherry-picked” evidence, “acted irrationally” and failed to justify the planned policy shift, U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman wrote in his conclusion. Furman added that the plaintiffs did not meet their burden of proof in claiming that Ross’ decision was “motivated by invidious discrimination.”

The results of the census are used to distribute congressional district seats, a process that is fiercely contested and scrutinized by watchdogs, advocacy groups and political parties. Civil rights groups have argued that the proposed citizenship question — “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” — could create a chilling effect that would result in a lower count of minority respondents, especially Latinos.

The question has appeared in various forms on past censuses. But it has not appeared on the “complete” survey since 1950, The Washington Post reported, though it has been included on other forms in subsequent years.

Some Democrats in Congress have also questioned Ross’ prior testimony before the Ways and Means Committee — in particular his assertion that the Justice Department “initiated” the citizenship question request.

Ross has also been accused by a campaign-finance watchdog of possibly violating criminal conflict-of-interest laws by holding stock in companies potentially affected by Trump administration actions in which he was involved.

The Campaign Legal Center flagged Ross’ role in a Trump administration investigation on whether to impose steel tariffs while Ross held stock in his former investment management firm, which has a “major interest” in Chinese steel. The center also questioned why Ross did not initially disclose his stake in another steel-based manufacturer, Greenbriar, and shipping company Navigator.

The watchdog asked the Commerce Department’s inspector general’s office to conduct an investigation.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2019-01-22  Authors: kevin breuninger, kevin lamarque
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, department, question, ross, secretary, congress, administration, citizenship, wilbur, census, commerce, cummings, trump, testify

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White House considering new executive order to bar Huawei, ZTE purchases

President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China’s Huawei and ZTE, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. It would be the latest step by the Trump administration to cut Huawei Technologies and ZTE, two of China’s biggest network equipment companies, out of the U.S. market. The executive order would invoke the International Emergency Economic

President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China’s Huawei and ZTE, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. It would be the latest step by the Trump administration to cut Huawei Technologies and ZTE, two of China’s biggest network equipment companies, out of the U.S. market. The executive order would invoke the International Emergency Economic
White House considering new executive order to bar Huawei, ZTE purchases Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-12-27  Authors: aly song
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, companies, executive, national, equipment, huawei, sources, considering, emergency, house, white, bar, commerce, zte, order, purchases

White House considering new executive order to bar Huawei, ZTE purchases

President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China’s Huawei and ZTE, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

It would be the latest step by the Trump administration to cut Huawei Technologies and ZTE, two of China’s biggest network equipment companies, out of the U.S. market. The United States alleges that the two companies work at the behest of the Chinese government and that their equipment could be used to spy on Americans.

The executive order, which has been under consideration for more than eight months, could be issued as early as January and would direct the Commerce Department to block U.S. companies from buying equipment from foreign telecommunications makers that pose significant national security risks, sources from the telecoms industry and the administration said.

While the order is unlikely to name Huawei or ZTE, a source said it is expected that Commerce officials would interpret it as authorization to limit the spread of equipment made by the two companies. The sources said the text for the order has not been finalized.

The executive order would invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States.

The issue has new urgency as U.S. wireless carriers look for partners as they prepare to adopt next generation 5G wireless networks.

The order follows the passage of a defense policy bill in August that barred the U.S. government itself from using Huawei and ZTE equipment.

Huawei and ZTE did not return requests for comment. Both in the past have denied allegations their products are used to spy.

The White House also did not return a request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal first reported in early May that the order was under consideration, but it was never issued.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-12-27  Authors: aly song
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, companies, executive, national, equipment, huawei, sources, considering, emergency, house, white, bar, commerce, zte, order, purchases

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China says it has made plans with the US for a face-to-face trade meeting in January

China and the United States have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, as the world’s two biggest economies advanced efforts to resolve a months-long trade war. Consultations through “intensive” telephone calls will continue in the meantime, Gao Feng, spokesman at the commerce ministry, told reporters, adding that talks have been steadily moving forward despite the Christmas break in the United States. “Even as the U.S si

China and the United States have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, as the world’s two biggest economies advanced efforts to resolve a months-long trade war. Consultations through “intensive” telephone calls will continue in the meantime, Gao Feng, spokesman at the commerce ministry, told reporters, adding that talks have been steadily moving forward despite the Christmas break in the United States. “Even as the U.S si
China says it has made plans with the US for a face-to-face trade meeting in January Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-12-27  Authors: fred dufour, afp, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, consultations, ministry, commerce, scheduled, christmas, asked, united, china, trade, meeting, facetoface, plans, gao

China says it has made plans with the US for a face-to-face trade meeting in January

China and the United States have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, as the world’s two biggest economies advanced efforts to resolve a months-long trade war.

Consultations through “intensive” telephone calls will continue in the meantime, Gao Feng, spokesman at the commerce ministry, told reporters, adding that talks have been steadily moving forward despite the Christmas break in the United States.

“Even as the U.S side is in the Christmas holiday period, China and U.S. economic and trade teams have been in close communication, and the consultations are progressing in an orderly manner as scheduled,” Gao said, when asked about progress on trade negotiations.

Gao did not comment directly when asked to confirm a media report on a U.S. trade delegation visit scheduled for the week of Jan. 7.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-12-27  Authors: fred dufour, afp, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, consultations, ministry, commerce, scheduled, christmas, asked, united, china, trade, meeting, facetoface, plans, gao

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Trump may impose tariffs on imported cars from next week

European auto stocks extended losses on Tuesday after a German magazine reported that U.S. President Donald Trump could impose tariffs on imported cars from next week. Neither White House nor the U.S. Commerce Department immediately responded to a request for comment. The Commerce Department has not publicly released any findings from its investigation into whether imported autos and parts pose a national security risk. Reuters reported that the department submitted its recommendations earlier t

European auto stocks extended losses on Tuesday after a German magazine reported that U.S. President Donald Trump could impose tariffs on imported cars from next week. Neither White House nor the U.S. Commerce Department immediately responded to a request for comment. The Commerce Department has not publicly released any findings from its investigation into whether imported autos and parts pose a national security risk. Reuters reported that the department submitted its recommendations earlier t
Trump may impose tariffs on imported cars from next week Cached Page below :
Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-11-27  Authors: patrik stollarz, afp, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, european, house, department, trump, report, impose, trade, losses, cars, white, stocks, tariffs, week, imported, commerce

Trump may impose tariffs on imported cars from next week

European auto stocks extended losses on Tuesday after a German magazine reported that U.S. President Donald Trump could impose tariffs on imported cars from next week.

Wirtschaftswoche cited “EU sources” as saying a U.S. Department of Commerce investigation report was on Trump’s desk, adding: “Trump will possibly decide on tariffs as early as next week after the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires.”

It cited the sources as saying the report recommended a 25 percent customs duty on car imports from all countries except Canada and Mexico.

However, the White House has repeatedly pledged not to move forward with imposing tariffs on the European Union or Japan as long as it is making constructive progress in trade talks.

The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 28-member European Union, declined to comment on the report in general, but did say that Wirtschaftwoche’s reference to EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom heading to Washington on Wednesday was not correct. Neither White House nor the U.S. Commerce Department immediately responded to a request for comment.

The Commerce Department has not publicly released any findings from its investigation into whether imported autos and parts pose a national security risk. Reuters reported that the department submitted its recommendations earlier this month to the White House, which did not immediately act.

Trump could take weeks or month to decide. Once he makes a decision, the White House has 15 days to impose the new tariffs.

European auto stocks extended losses after the report, falling 2.5 percent. Autos stocks are down 20 percent year-to-date as fears of tariffs and slowing growth in car sales drive investors away from the sector.

Shares in VW widened losses and were trading 4.1 percent lower. BMW shares were down 1.4 percent. Daimler shares were down 2.4 percent.

Company: cnbc, Activity: cnbc, Date: 2018-11-27  Authors: patrik stollarz, afp, getty images
Keywords: news, cnbc, companies, european, house, department, trump, report, impose, trade, losses, cars, white, stocks, tariffs, week, imported, commerce

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