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Tariffs paid by midsize US companies tripled last year

WASHINGTON — Tariffs paid by midsize U.S. businesses tripled over the course of past year, new research tied to one of America’s leading banks showed on Thursday — more evidence that President Donald Trump’s push to charge higher taxes on imports is causing economic disruption. The additional taxes have meant that companies that employ a combined 48 million people in the U.S. — the kinds of businesses that Trump had promised to revive — have had to find ways to absorb the new expense, by passing it along to customers in the form of higher prices, employing fewer workers or ...

Ticker: Commerce Dept. says trade deficit declined in 2025

The U.S. trade deficit slipped modestly in 2025, a year in which President Donald Trump upended global commerce by slapping double digit tariffs on imports from most countries. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the gap the between the goods and services the U.S. sells other countries and what it buys from them narrowed to just over $901 billion from $904 billion in 2024. Average US long-term mortgage rate dips The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slipped this week to its lowest level in more than three years, but remains around 6% in the same narrow range it has been ...

US applications for jobless aid fall

WASHINGTON — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain at historically low levels. The number of Americans filing for jobless aid for the week ending Feb. 14 fell by 23,000 to 206,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s significantly fewer than the 225,000 new applications that analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast. Filings for unemployment benefits are viewed as representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. Earlier this month, the Labor ...

Grandson of Reese’s inventor accuses Hershey of cutting corners

The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Co., accusing the candy company of hurting the Reese’s brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products. Hershey acknowledges some recipe changes but said Wednesday that it was trying to meet ...

Public health groups sue EPA over repeal of finding

A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, challenging the rescinding of a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. A rule finalized by the EPA last week revoked a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor ...

FDA to end 2-study rule for drugs

The Food and Drug Administration plans to drop its longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies to win approval for new drugs, the latest change from Trump administration officials vowing to speed up the availability of certain medical products. Going forward, the FDA’s “default position” will be to require one study for new drugs and other novel health products, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and a top deputy, Dr. Vinay Prasad, wrote in a New England Journal of Medicine piece published Wednesday. The announcement is the latest example of Makary and his team changing ...