The daily business briefing: October 2, 2018

1. Trump says Canada, Mexico trade deal is proof his tariffs work

President Trump on Monday touted his administration's trade deal with Canada and Mexico as proof that his insistence on renegotiating trade deals and pressuring trading partners into being more fair to the U.S. was paying off. "Without tariffs, we wouldn't be talking about a deal," Trump said. "Just for those babies out there that talk about tariffs — that includes Congress, 'Please don't charge tariffs' — without tariffs, we wouldn't be standing here." The deal, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), is an update to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump called the "worst trade deal ever made." It lets U.S. dairy products be traded tariff-free with Canada, and requires more car manufacturing by "high-wage workers" like those in U.S. plants.

CNN

2. Amazon sets minimum wage at $15 an hour

Amazon announced Tuesday that it would set its minimum wage at $15 an hour for all 350,000 of its U.S. employees, effective next month. The online retail giant also said those already making $15 an hour could get a raise. The move came after Amazon faced criticism from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others over its treatment of warehouse workers. "We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead," Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. Bezos challenged rivals to hike wages, too. Target has announced that it aims to raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2020, and Walmart announced in January that it would hike its minimum wage to $11.

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3. Tesla shares soar after deal with regulators

Tesla shares shot up by 17 percent on Monday after the electric car maker reached a surprise settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that let CEO Elon Musk keep his position despite allegations that he had misled investors with a controversial tweet. Hours after news broke about the deal, Musk told employees that Tesla was "very close" to turning a profit after months of problems increasing production of its first mass market vehicle, the Model 3. The gains marked the biggest one-day jump for Tesla stock in five years. Also on Monday, the electric vehicle blog Electrek reported that Tesla had produced a record 80,000 vehicles in its third quarter, including 53,000 Model 3 sedans.

MarketWatch Fox Business

4. World stocks fall as relief fades over North America trade deal

Global stocks mostly fell on Tuesday as relief faded over the deal between the U.S. and Canada on a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement. As lingering trade tensions between the U.S. and China came back into focus, Germany's DAX fell by 1 percent and France's CAC 40 dropped by 1.2 percent, while Britain's FTSE lost 0.6 percent. U.S. stocks also headed for a lower open, with futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 falling by 0.4 percent. Both gained on Monday after the announcement that Canada would be joining the deal struck by the U.S. and Mexico last month. The Dow closed 0.7 percent higher on Monday, and the S&P 500 gained nearly 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.1 percent.

The Associated Press

5. U.S. factory activity slows slightly but remains strong

The Institute for Supply Management's index of U.S. factory activity fell back from a more than 14-year high in September due to a slowing in growth in new orders. The index edged down to 59.8, down 1.5 points from 61.3 in August, although supply bottlenecks appeared to be easing. Anything over 50 indicates that manufacturing is growing. "It may not be the best of times for manufacturers, but it is pretty close to that," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. The ISM described demand as "robust" but said factories remained "overwhelmingly concerned about tariff-related activity, including how reciprocal tariffs will impact company revenue and current manufacturing locations."

Reuters