President Trump made one of the biggest gambles of his presidency Tuesday by initiating sweeping tariffs with no clear rationale on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, triggering a trade war that risks undermining the United States economy. His actions have upended diplomatic relations with America’s largest trading partners, sent markets tumbling, and provoked retaliation…
The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are preparing an unusual legislative maneuver in an effort to eliminate one of the country’s most ambitious climate policies, an order that was designed to shift the auto industry toward electric cars. They plan to vote to overturn a California ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars…
Even by Washington standards, the second Trump presidency has begun in frenetic fashion: mass firings at federal agencies, tariff threats against allies and foes alike, and haggling over how to get a Republican budget through a narrowly divided Congress. Business leaders and corporate investors are confident that things will turn out fine, at least for…
President Trump’s move this weekend to slap sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is threatening to fracture the global trading system and a world economic order that once revolved around a U.S. economy that prized open investment and free markets. The speed and scope of the import duties that Mr. Trump unveiled in executive…
The 119th Congress began, as it so often has in recent years, with calls from Republican politicians for wrestling down the national debt, which is near a record level relative to the size of the economy. But this time, the G.O.P. had company: Progressive economists and budget wonks, who have often dismissed finger-wagging about debt…
Owners of electric cars in Vermont recently got a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles with some bad news. Starting Jan. 1 they would have to pay $178 a year to register their cars, twice as much as owners of vehicles with internal combustion engines. In imposing the higher fee, Vermont became the latest…
President Donald J. Trump’s plan to return Denali, the Alaska Native name for North America’s tallest peak, to its earlier name, Mount McKinley, has run into opposition from Alaska lawmakers. Shortly after taking the oath of office on Monday, Mr. Trump surprised many in the state when he announced “we will restore the name of…
If President Trump has his way, the auto industry’s transition to electric vehicles will soon slam into reverse. He will erase tax credits for electric-vehicle purchases, federal grants for chargers, and subsidies and loans to help retool assembly lines and build battery factories. Executive orders issued by Mr. Trump on Inauguration Day amount to a…
Sales of electric vehicles have been rising steadily over the past few years, in part because of a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 that makes buying such cars and trucks more affordable. But understanding which cars it applies to and under what circumstances can be confusing. And all of those rules could change…
To a large extent, the electric vehicle market in the United States runs on Democratic policies. There are federal tax credits for car buyers. Subsidies for battery manufacturing. Cheap loans to build electric car factories. Grants for chargers. Regulations that push automakers to sell more vehicles with no tailpipe emissions. All of that support —…
