US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
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What you need to know today
47th US President
President Donald J. Trump was sworn in at the White House on Monday and started signing a bunch of executive orders. He issued “I’m sorry” to those charged in connection with the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021; suspended, for at least 75 days, the implementation of legislation that would have prohibited TikTok in the United States; and created the Department of Government Effectiveness or DOGE under Elon Musk.
A national energy emergency has been declared
Trump on Monday declared a national energy emergency — part of a comprehensive program aimed at increasing fossil fuel production — and ordered the US to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. He also scrapped various climate goals of the Biden administration, such as achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Trump targets tariffs
Trump told reporters on Monday that he was considering the imposition 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canadaand are scheduled to enter into force on February 1. He also issued a trade memorandum directing federal agencies to carefully study trade policies with other nationsespecially China, Canada and Mexico — but the memorandum did not introduce new tariffs.
Biden’s pardons
Former US President Joe Biden on Monday issued preventive pardons for several family members, citing concerns that they will be the target of “baseless and politically motivated investigations”. Biden also issued pardons for Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, members of Congress who were investigating Riot on the Capitol on January 6 and others that he said were under the threat of being “unfoundedly” targeted for political purposes.
Asian markets rise after inauguration
US markets were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Mostly stock futures on the edge of lower Tuesday after Trump indicated he was considering imposing tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Asia-Pacific markets progressive tuesday. in Hong Kong Hang Seng index added almost 1%, while Korean Kospi index decreased by around 0.1% as the country’s wholesale inflation rate for December rose by 1.7% on an annual basis.
[PRO] The second time echoes the first?
Trump’s second term might have the same effects on certain asset classes as it was in the first round, according to some on Wall Street. To find out, CNBC Pro looked at the performance of several funds during the first 100 days of Trump’s final term as president and asked analysts how the funds would fare.
Conclusion
Since then, Donald Trump has started running officially becomes the 47th President of the United Statessigning numerous executive orders just after his inauguration. These are the two main issues that investors will be watching.
Tariffs
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff,'” Trump told the Economic Club of Chicago in October. On Monday, Trump said he was considering the imposition Tariffs of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico until February 1. During the campaign, Trump promised to impose a universal tariff up to 20% on all imports to the USA and more than 60% on Chinese products.
Tariffs are imposed by governments ostensibly to protect domestic industry. Companies that import goods pay what they are essentially a taxcost increase. This encourages them to look for local suppliers instead.
Because supply chains are so globally integrated and much of the manufacturing takes place outside the US, it may be difficult for companies to shift production to local shores. Higher costs are therefore likely to be passed on to the consumer in the form of price increases.
In other words, tariffs could lead to higher inflation.
Deportations
At a pre-inauguration event called the “Make America Great Again Victory Rally,” Trump pledged to his supporters that “the invasion of our country will be stopped”. Like tariffs, stricter immigration policies—or outright deportations—are usually enacted to protect the domestic economy (among other reasons).
The theory is that with fewer people competing for each job opening, it will be easier to get a job.
But many parts of the US economy, such as construction and agriculture, are where undocumented immigrants workwho take on jobs undesirable to residents. Even documented immigrants are crucial to high-skilled sectors such as technology – as evidenced by Elon Musk’s clash with Trump supporters over H-1B visas.
If reliable sources of labor disappear overnight, companies will have to raise wages to attract talent, which could reopen the prospect of a terrifying wage-price spiral.
Other policies
Trump has promised many other economic measures, such as cutting corporate taxes, legitimizing cryptocurrency and withdrawing subsidies for green energy.
Tariffs, however, could have the biggest impact on the economy and financial institutions globally.
— CNBC’s Sam Meredith, Ryan Ermey, Annie Nova, Rebecca Picciotto, Evelyn Cheng and Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.
