The Trump team probably wants to seek direct talks with North Korea’s dictator. The energy company Total is putting a huge wind power project on hold. All developments in the news blog.
Trump is considering Greer for US trade representative
1:47 a.m.: US President-elect Donald Trump is considering appointing Jamieson Greer as US Trade Representative, according to a report. The Bloomberg agency reported this on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Greer, a lawyer with experience in international trade law, served as chief of staff to then-Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer during Trump’s first term. Greer’s potential appointment follows Trump’s recent announcement of Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary. Trump said last week that Lutnick would assume “direct responsibility” for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.
The appointment of these key positions suggests that Trump wants to continue his previous trade policies. During his first term in office, Trump imposed numerous restrictions on the Commerce Department, particularly in the semiconductor sector. A possible nomination of Greer has not yet been officially confirmed and would require the approval of the Senate, in which Trump’s Republicans have the majority.
0.57 a.m.: US Treasury bond prices fell on Tuesday. The futures contract for ten-year papers (T-Note Future) fell by 0.25 percent to 110.25 points. The yield on ten-year federal bonds rose to 4.32 percent.
Inflation expectations on the market increased slightly again. The reason is the announcement by US President-elect Donald Trump that he would impose high import tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada as well as additional tariffs on goods from China on his first day in office.
For the USA, punitive tariffs were not without negative consequences, wrote Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank: “Imports are becoming more expensive, inflation is rising, which in turn is putting a strain on real household income.” The central bank would also have to rethink its monetary easing policy if inflation increases again.
0.52 a.m.: After the election of Donald Trump as US President, the French energy company TotalEnergies has temporarily stopped a large wind power project off the east coast of the USA. “In the area of offshore wind energy, I have decided to put the project on hold,” said company boss Patrick Pouyanne on Tuesday. “In four years we will see things better.”
The French energy company founded a joint venture in October 2023 to develop an offshore wind power project off the coast of the US states of New York and New Jersey. Total holds 56 percent of the shares, the partners Corio Generation and Rise Light & Power 27.7 percent and 16.3 percent. According to the company, the project should have a capacity of up to 3,000 megawatts, enough for almost a million households.
Before his election, Trump promised to cut back on climate subsidies from the previous administration.
0.41 a.m.: After weeks of delays, US President-elect Donald Trump has initiated the formal transition process to take office. As Trump’s future chief of staff Susie Wiles announced on Tuesday, a corresponding memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with the White House. “This agreement will enable our designated Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including deploying transition teams to all departments and agencies, and effect an orderly transition of power,” Wiles said. The agreement allows Trump’s team to coordinate directly with federal authorities and gain access to important documents.
However, the transition team deviated from previous practices in some respects: it decided not to sign the traditional ethics pledge and instead declared that it had its own ethics plan that “meets the requirements for a smooth transition into the Trump administration.” Contrary to standard practice, FBI background checks are not supposed to be conducted for security clearances. The team said it already had sufficient security measures in place and “does not require additional government and bureaucratic supervision.” The use of General Services Administration (GSA) office space will be waived in order to save taxpayer money. Trump’s team announced that the transition would be privately financed and not supported by government resources.
The US presidential office under President Joe Biden expressed concern about these deviations, but said it wanted to continue the handover process to avoid further delays. Republican President Trump will take office on January 20th.
