The daily business briefing: May 13, 2019

A U.S. flag with Chinese shipping containers in the backdrop

(Image credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Trump's top economic adviser admits U.S. consumers pay tariffs
2. Avengers: Endgame tops box office for 3rd straight weekend
3. Markets struggle following end of latest U.S.-China trade talks
4. Uber shares head into 2nd trading day 7.6 percent below IPO price
5. Amazon offers employees help starting delivery businesses

published 13 May 2019

1. Trump's top economic adviser admits U.S. consumers pay tariffs

President Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, conceded Sunday that China doesn't directly pay tariffs on Chinese goods imported to the U.S., American importers and consumers do. His statement on Fox News Sunday came after Trump insisted that China would pay the higher tariffs he imposed Friday on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. "Both sides will pay," said Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council. He said China would pay through lost exports. He backed up Trump's view that a trade war will benefit the U.S. in the long run, if it forces China to treat U.S. companies better. "You've got to do what you got to do," Kudlow said. "This is a risk we should and can take without damaging our economy in any appreciable way."

Avengers: Endgame held on for a third weekend at the top of the box office, adding $63.1 million in North American ticket sales to bring its domestic total to $723.5 million. The Walt Disney Co. Marvel blockbuster also made $102.3 million internationally, bringing its global total to nearly $2.5 billion. It remained the second biggest money-maker of all time behind Avatar, which made $2.8 billion in its theater run. This weekend, however, Endgame nearly lost the top spot to a new rival, the Warner Bros. live-action Pokemon Detective Pikachu, which earned an estimated $58 million in domestic ticket sales. It edged out Endgame internationally, with $103 million.

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U.S. stock index futures dropped early Monday as markets struggle following the end of two days of U.S.-China trade talks without a deal. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down by 1.3 percent, while those of the Nasdaq fell by 1.7 percent. President Trump said Saturday that China was "beaten so badly" by his negotiators that it was trying to stall in hopes that Democrats will win the 2020 elections and cave to Beijing. Despite the renewal of tensions with Trump's Friday tariff hike on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping probably would meet during the G-20 summit in Japan next month.

Uber shares start their second day of trading Monday 7.6 percent below their initial price in Friday's initial public offering. Uber's IPO came in the middle of a market sell-off triggered by President Trump's latest tariffs on Chinese imports, as well as a weak earnings report from Uber's smaller ride-hailing rival Lyft. "While the trade war has caused overall stock market volatility, we believe that the poor trading in Lyft was the major factor impacting Uber," said Kathleen Smith, co-founder of Renaissance Capital. "Investors are applying the valuation multiples of Lyft to Uber. And as the Lyft stock dropped, so did Uber." Lyft shares have fallen by 13.9 percent in the last three trading days, leaving the stock at its lowest point since its March IPO.

Amazon announced Monday that it would offer employees up to $10,000 to help them start and operate their own delivery businesses. The employees would get the equivalent of three months of their last gross salary to help them get started in its Delivery Service Partner program, which could cover the $10,000 budget Amazon estimated would be needed to cover Amazon vehicle leases, staff, and other overhead costs. Amazon said it also would provide employees who leave to open delivery businesses training, discounts on services, and access to the online retail giant's delivery technology. Amazon unveiled plans for the Delivery Service Partner program last summer.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.