Good morning. Donald Trump unleashes a blitz of trade moves, and some surprises. Meta seizes its AI moment. And navigating the Panama Canal just got a little trickier. Listen to the day’s top stories.
Defiance pays, as Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is discovering. Some of his country’s biggest exports—from aircrafts to orange juice—won’t face more than the 10% rate previously imposed. His Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum has yet to secure a deal to avoid a 30% tariff. She’s due to speak to Trump by phone this morning, people familiar said.
Frostiness is descending between Washington and Beijing. Chinese officials summoned Nvidia over alleged security risks tied to features in its H20 chips. The abrupt shift in tone comes a day after a top Chinese diplomat heaped praise on the US, though Premier Li Qiang recently warned against “technological monopoly” in the artificial intelligence race. As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang can attest, it’s a delicate diplomatic dance between the superpowers.
Meta is seizing its AI moment with plans to step up spending on the technology. The Facebook parent and peers like Alphabet and Microsoft are relying on their legacy businesses to fund their pursuit of pricey talent and data centers, and Wall Street is happy. Microsoft’s quarterly earnings beat sent the stock soaring post-market, putting it on course to become the second company to reach a $4 trillion market cap. Nvidia got there first.
A Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam was forced to make an emergency landing in Minneapolis late Wednesday after encountering turbulence. The A330neo landed safely but 25 people had to be taken to local hospitals for evaluation and care. A spate of incidents has shone a spotlight on the problem. While the most turbulent flights of all connect Santiago in Chile to Santa Cruz in Bolivia, the roughest long-haul journeys are those leaving Tokyo.
Bloomberg Power Players New York: Set against the backdrop of the US Open Tennis Championships, we'll bring together influential voices from the business of sports to identify the next wave of disruption that could hit this multitrillion-dollar global industry. Join us on Sept. 4. Learn more.
Deep Dive: Navigating the Panama Canal
Containers and cranes at the Port of Balboa in Panama City, Panama, on Feb. 25. Photographer: Walter Hurtado/Bloomberg
Panama’s comptroller general asked the Supreme Court to void a 2021 contract extension with CK Hutchison’s Panama Ports, potentially risking a transaction that’s become a high-profile tussle between the US and China. So what’s the controversy all about?
Two terminals are key to a sensitive deal involving the sale of 43 ports to a group backed by BlackRock that would give the US firm control of Panama Ports, which operates them. Panama’s comptroller general insists they belong to the nation and opposes foreign negotiations over their future.
China’s biggest shipping company is also elbowing its way in and is set to join the global consortium that’s acquiring the ports. Not only that, it’s requesting a powerful role to secure Beijing’s blessing for the deal.
CK Hutchison was founded by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, who suddenly found himself in the middle of a geopolitical tiff when Trump called for the US to retake control of the Panama Canal during his inauguration speech in January.
So why does Trump want the waterway back and can he even do that? It’s not that simple, as Bloomberg’s Peter Millard explains.
The Big Take
Sachin Dev Duggal during the Web Summit Qatar 2024 in Doha. Photographer: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile for Web Summit Qatar via Getty Images
Once hailed as a generative AI visionary who helped Builder.ai reach a $1.5 billion valuation, Sachin Dev Duggal is now at the center of a financial scandal. Pushed out by his board and accused of inflating revenue by 300%, the globe-trotting influencer’s downfall has fueled the most spectacular collapse yet of the AI era.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg
Trump’s last-minute 25% tariff on India poses a challenge to PM Modi, Andy Mukherjee writes. (That is, if it comes into effect.) But there may be room for negotiations.
