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Trump Delays Move to Lower Tariffs on Beef Imports

By Mark Maurer | WSJ Leadership Institute

Good morning, CFOs. The Trump administration said it would delay a plan to address high beef prices; Microsoft CEO testifies in Elon Musk megatrial; and small online retailers get creative with returns.

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Ground beef prices are up 40% from five years ago. CHENEY ORR/REUTERS

The Trump administration said it would delay a plan to address high beef prices, which would have suspended tariffs on imported beef.

President Trump had planned to sign Monday a pair of executive orders to lower tariffs on beef and reduce regulations on American cattle producers. On Monday evening a White House official said the actions had been delayed as the administration finalizes details, report Patrick Thomas, Gavin Bade and Lindsay Wise.

The delay followed outcry from some congressional Republicans and cattle ranchers, typically a solid part of Trump’s base. The Wall Street Journal earlier Monday reported Trump’s plans to sign the orders.

Past rollbacks: Last fall, President Trump exempted many food products from his so-called reciprocal tariffs, and in January he delayed planned increases on lumber products and furniture.

The president also reconfigured steel and aluminum tariffs this year in hopes of making compliance more manageable for companies, though the move ended up raising the amount of levies paid for some metal products.

CFO beat: Companies such as Wendy's, Texas Roadhouse, McDonald’s and Shake Shack have discussed higher beef prices on recent earnings calls.

Texas Roadhouse CFO Michael Lenihan last week said: “Our second-quarter expectation for commodity inflation is still our highest expectation for the year, but we would say it's more of the 7% to 8% inflation range now for Q2. And it really is beef and has caused the change in our expectations that almost all, if not the lion's share of it.”

Read more here. 

 

Correction: The Trump administration has announced a delay in its plan to suspend tariffs to address high beef prices. An earlier version of the newsletter incorrectly said in the subject line that beef tariffs were suspended.

 
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The Day Ahead

📆 Earnings

  • On Holding 

📈 Economic Indicators

The National Federation of Independent Business releases its Small Business Optimism Index for April.

The BLS releases the CPI for April.

 
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What Else Matters to CFOs

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella arriving at the courthouse in Oakland, Calif., on Monday. KARL MONDON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella took the stand in a landmark trial, testifying at length about OpenAI’s temporary ouster of Sam Altman in a case pitting the tech giant and the startup against billionaire Elon Musk.

After Altman was briefly pushed out of OpenAI by its board members in November 2023, Nadella said he pledged his support to potential new leaders but also wanted to ensure that Altman and others didn’t create a competing company or join Google.

Key quote: “That was obviously very concerning to me,” said Nadella. “Given all of that competition, I just wanted to make sure we could hang on to the band that created all this technology.”

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📰 Other headlines 

  • EBay Rejects GameStop’s $56 Billion Takeover Proposal
  • An FCC Commissioner Tells Disney the Agency Is on a Campaign to Censor It
  • Small Online Shops Get Creative With Returns to Win Over Picky Shoppers
  • Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs.
  • Victoria’s Secret Accuses Major Investor of Spying to Get Sales Data
  • Byron Allen to Acquire Majority Stake in BuzzFeed for $120 Million
  • The Insider-Trading Scandal That Is Rocking M&A Law Firms
  • JPMorgan and the Delicate Art of Paying Off Employees
  • Elon Musk’s Grok Is Losing Ground in AI Race

📈 Earnings wrapup

  • GoPro Loss Widens Amid Review of Possible Sale
  • Mosaic Pulls Guidance, Cuts Spending as Fertilizer Costs Surge

For more earnings news, click here.

 ‏‏‎ ‎

“I never bought into the TACO meme. But NACHO looks right. Hormuz won’t open until the economic damage from its closure becomes much more severe.”

—Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman wrote in a recent post that helped popularize the term, which stands for “Not A Chance Hormuz Opens.” TACO stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
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About Us

The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.

 
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