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    Tariffs blow to Brazil, a departure at X, and Nvidia's milestone

     
    Today's trade story

    Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs

    What happened
    President Donald Trump yesterday announced plans to impose a 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports, in part due to the treatment of its far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro (pictured above). In a letter posted on social media, Trump accused Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of leading a "witch hunt" against Bolsonaro, who is facing prosecution over his alleged role in a plot to overturn the country's 2022 election. The threatened tariffs on Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy, would be the highest yet imposed on any nation by the Trump administration.

    Who said what
    In his letter to the Brazilian president, commonly known as Lula, Trump blasted the treatment of his ally Bolsonaro as an "international disgrace" and said his trial "should end IMMEDIATELY!" In response, Lula said Brazil would "not accept being abused by anyone."

    This tariffs hike is clearly "tied to the fact that Lula beat Trump's friend," former U.S. trade official Brad Setser told Reuters, and it "shows the danger of having tariffs that are under the unilateral control of one man." This is "about punishment, not trade," said Bloomberg, and Trump is emboldened by "the lack of any serious negative effects" so far from his trade war. 

    What next?
    Brazil imported over $42 billion in goods to the U.S. last year, from crude oil to steel and coffee, but this 50% blanket tariff threatens "the potential collapse of a trading relationship with one of the few countries where the U.S. runs a trade surplus," said Axios. Trump's letter said the new rate would take effect on August 1.

     
     
    Today's TECH story

    X CEO Yaccarino quits after two years

    What happened
    Elon Musk's handpicked choice to lead his X social media platform yesterday announced her resignation after a two-year tenure as CEO. Linda Yaccarino (pictured above) leaves less than four months after Musk consolidated the company into his xAI artificial intelligence project, a move that "raised questions" about her "role in the new company going forward," said CNN.

    Who said what
    Running X has been a "challenge," said The New York Times, "especially with the platform facing constant questions over its content." While Musk has been "largely unapologetic" about offensive content on X, Yaccarino spent much of her time at the company "appeasing lawmakers and advertisers." 

    Yaccarino was a "striking foil" to the "mercurial and controversy-courting Musk," said NPR. In her X post announcing her resignation, she thanked Musk for "entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around and transforming X into the everything app." In a brief response, Musk said: "Thank you for your contributions."

    What next?
    Yaccarino has yet to offer an official explanation for her exit, and neither she nor Musk has said who might replace her at X. 

     
     
    Today's markets Story

    Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestone

    What happened
    Nvidia yesterday became the world's first public company to achieve a $4 trillion market value. The success of the U.S. chipmaker, which finished the day at $3.97 trillion, has been buoyed by skyrocketing global demand for artificial intelligence, for which Nvidia is "building the bulk of the hardware," said CNBC.  

    Who said what
    Under the helm of CEO Jensen Huang (pictured above), Nvidia crossed the $1 trillion market value threshold in June 2023, "and tripled it in about a year," said Reuters. The tech giant is now "worth more than the combined value of the Canadian and Mexican stock markets," after beating Apple and Microsoft to the £4 trillion mark.

    Nvidia's success proves AI is "pretty much the future of technology," Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, told the news agency. It also shows Nvidia is seeing off competition from China's cheaper rival AI model DeepSeek. 

    What next?
    The next "catalyst that could propel Nvidia's shares even higher" is the company's earnings report due at the end of August, Bloomberg said. A new Nvidia AI chip made specifically for China is expected by September and could help determine whether the firm can "retain a position in a crucial overseas market" amid global trade tensions, said the Financial Times. 

     
     

    It's not all bad

    Tennis balls once used at Wimbledon are getting a second life as tiny homes for England's harvest mice. At the end of the tournament, thousands of balls are donated to Wildlife Trusts, a collection of 46 wildlife charities that turn them into shelters for the rodents. The harvest mouse uses tall grass to weave its nest, said Country Living, but "modern agricultural practices" have "dramatically" reduced its habitat, paving the way for this inventive alternative.

     
     
    Under the radar

    Japan's surnames conundrum

    It's a question many couples wrestle with when getting married: Do they take their partner's surname or keep their own? But while it's common in many countries for couples to take a single surname after marriage, in Japan it's a legal requirement. The law, dating from Japan's Meiji era, which ended in 1912, does not explicitly state that a woman must take her husband's name, rather than a man taking his wife's, but 95% of women do. 

    The law "hinders women's advancement," according to Japan's largest business lobby, Keidanren. As women "rise in the workplace," the status quo is causing "resentment," said The Economist. "Name changes are a pain for people who have toiled to build a strong reputation." 

    The law is also alleged to be a factor behind Japan's low birth rate. A survey by Asuniwa, an NGO that advocates for a selective dual-surname system, found that almost 30% of people in "de facto" marriages would legally tie the knot if the law changed. This number could be as high as 590,000 people, so in a country where having a child out of wedlock is still taboo, this would lead to more births, the argument goes. 

    But the issue has "become totemic for a chunk of the Japanese political right," with conservative hardliners arguing that a change in the law would "confuse kids and loosen family bonds." One speaker at a recent gathering of the ultra-conservative Nippon Kaigi group said efforts to change name rules were part of a "communist plot" to "tear apart traditional values and destroy the country."

     
     
    On this day

    July 10, 2019

    Volkswagen finished production of its compact Beetle A5, officially bringing the company's Beetle production to an end. The model, first introduced in 1938, was known for its distinctive half-shell shape and became one of the most iconic cars in the history of automobiles. Volkswagen has since sold more than 100 million Beetles, according to the company.  

     
     
    TODAY'S newspaperS

    'Trump slashes social safety net'

    Trump's domestic policy law "extends federal tax cuts" and "slashes the social safety net," says The New York Times, and it will have a "seismic effect" on health care. "White House ups Harvard fight," with the university's "accreditation challenged" and "subpoenas issued for international students' data," says The Boston Globe. "Records are made to be broken," says the Arizona Republic, after the temperature in Phoenix "soared" to 118 degrees Fahrenheit. In Texas, "more rain and tears as search pushes on" for flood survivors, says the Austin American-Statesman. 

    ► See the newspaper front pages

     
     
    Tall tale

    Fake it 'til you make it

    A four-piece band of "shaggy-haired rockers" that blew up overnight is actually powered by AI, said CBC. The Velvet Sundown released its first album in June and quickly climbed the Spotify charts, but "savvy listeners" realized the band never performed in public or gave interviews, and its album art has the "hallmarks of generative AI." Over the weekend, Velvet Sundown's Spotify bio was updated to confirm the band's music is made with AI "guided by human creative direction."

     
     

    Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Jessica Hullinger, Justin Klawans, Summer Meza, Chas Newkey-Burden, Rafi Schwartz and Kari Wilkin, with illustration by Julia Wytrazek.

    Image credits, from top: Mauro Pimentel / AFP via Getty Images; Benjamin Girette / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images; illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images
     

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