How Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger got caught in Trump's trade war with China
China has blacklisted the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, which could force the company to shut down stores and manufacturing in an early repercussion of President Donald Trump’s trade war. China added PVH Corp. to its “unreliable entities” list on Tuesday, which allows the Chinese government to fine the retailer, prohibit import and export activities, revoke work permits, and deny employees the ability to enter the country, among other deliberately vague powers. While China’s Ministry of Commerce began investigating PVH in September for allegedly refusing to source cotton from the Xinjiang region, which has become notorious for its Uyghur detention camps, Beijing officially placed the company on its blacklist on Tuesday. The announcement came just days after Trump slapped a 10% tariff on imports from China, and came along with a slew of other retaliatory measures against the U.S., including new duties on energy imports and farm gear.
Amazon set to pass Walmart in revenue for first time
Amazon long ago passed Walmart in terms of market cap, but the e-commerce giant is finally poised to leapfrog its brick-and-mortar rival by another key metric: revenue. For the past dozen years, Walmart held the distinction of being the top revenue generator each quarter. In 2012, it overtook oil giant Exxon Mobil, according to LSEG senior research analyst Tajinder Dhillon. Walmart remained in the lead after oil prices tumbled in subsequent years from their previously lofty levels of more than $100 per barrel. In its earnings release after the close of trading Thursday, Amazon is expected to report revenue of $187 billion, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG. Walmart reports on Feb. 20, and is projected to announce sales of $180 billion.
All Quiksilver, Billabong and Volcom stores to close in U.S.
All Quiksilver, Billabong and Volcom stores in the United States will close after their operator filed for bankruptcy protection. Altogether over 100 stores for the brands, that sell apparel for skaters, surfers and snowboarders, will close their doors. Liberated Brands filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. “The Liberated team has worked tirelessly over the last year to propel these iconic brands forward, but a volatile global economy, consumer spending changes amid a rising cost of living, and inflationary pressures have all taken a heavy toll,” Liberated Brands in a statement, according to Financier Worldwide. “Despite this difficult change, we are encouraged that many of our talented associates have found new opportunities with other license holders that will carry these great brands into the future.”
Cracker Barrel eggs on Waffle House over surcharge: 'Nothing hospitable about that'
Cracker Barrel isn’t scrambling to catch up with soaring egg prices. On the contrary, the restaurant chain is trying to poach customers with a rewards program after Waffle House announced a 50-cent egg surcharge this week. Waffle House's surcharge went into effect Monday, and Cracker Barrel wasted no time whisking away concerns that it would follow suit. "A surcharge on eggs? Well, there’s nothing hospitable about that," Cracker Barrel said Wednesday in a release. "At Cracker Barrel, country hospitality is as important to us as a hearty breakfast — and that means not charging extra for eggs."
OpenAI considering 16 states for data center campuses as part of Trump's Stargate project
OpenAI said on Thursday that the company is considering building data center campuses in 16 states that have indicated “real interest” in the project, which is linked to President Donald Trump’s Stargate plans. On a call with reporters, OpenAI executives said it sent out a request for proposals (RFP) to states less than a week ago. “A project of this size represents an opportunity to both re-industrialize parts of the country, but also to help revitalize where the American Dream is going to go in this intelligence age,” Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s vice president of global policy, said on the call.
Trump detests the U.S. trade deficit. Here's what it means.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the nation’s trade deficit, which the Commerce Department reported Wednesday reached a new record high. But the same Commerce report showed the value of American exports had also hit a new record, indicating there’s still strong demand for U.S. goods and services abroad. A trade deficit simply means a country is importing more than it is exporting. As the Congressional Research Service reported in 2018, Trump’s fixation on reversing the deficit “contrasts with the views of most economists.”
U.S. lawmakers move to ban China's DeepSeek from government devices
A bipartisan congressional bill is being introduced to ban China's DeepSeek artificial intelligence software from government devices. U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., are introducing the legislation on national security grounds, saying the company's technology presents an espionage risk. “The technology race with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not one the United States can afford to lose,” LaHood said in a statement. “The national security threat that DeepSeek — a CCP-affiliated company — poses to the United States is alarming.” He said DeepSeek’s generative AI program can acquire the data of U.S. users and store the information for unidentified use by Chinese authorities.
OpenAI's ChatGPT briefly goes down for users across the globe
ChatGPT users around the globe were reportedly experiencing issues with the OpenAI chatbot late Wednesday. According to Down Detector, users began reporting problems at OpenAI around 8:30 p.m. The San Francisco-based company said it was investigating the issues as users from Japan to Australia were reporting issues. Around 15 minutes later, the company said it was "starting to see recovery in API and Sora," adding: "We are continuing to investigate this issue."
GM cuts 50% of Cruise staff after ending robotaxi business
General Motors is laying off roughly half of the employees who remain at its discontinued Cruise robotaxi business. The plans come two months after GM said it would no longer fund Cruise after spending more than $10 billion since acquiring the self-driving car business in 2016. “Today, Cruise shared the difficult decision to part ways with approximately 50% of its workforce,” Cruise said in an emailed statement. “We are grateful for their passion and contributions to help us reach this stage, and our focus is on supporting them into their next chapter with severance packages and career support.”
Job openings decline sharply in December to 7.6 million, below forecast
Job openings slid in December while hiring, voluntary quits and layoffs held steady, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Available positions tumbled to 7.6 million, the lowest since September, and below the Dow Jones estimate for 8 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The decline left the ratio of open jobs to available workers at 1.1 to 1. Though the report runs a month behind other jobs data, the Federal Reserve watches it closely for signs of a slack or tight labor market.