Samsung Cuts US Jobs, Tariff Wars Escalate and More: This Week in Economics

It’s been another eventful week on the economic front, with tariff battles, corporate restructuring and regulatory appointments setting the stage for what’s ahead.

Here’s a quick recap of the major economic stories that came in over the week.

Samsung Lays Off Hundreds of US Employees While Relocating Headquarters to Texas: Report Samsung Electronics Co.

Ltd. (OTC: SSNLF ) reportedly cut jobs across its U.S. display, phone, and consumer electronics operations in New Jersey and Texas.

The company confirmed 739 positions in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, were affected as Samsung Electronics America relocates its headquarters to Plano, Texas, with most employees offered relocation while others were laid off.

The cuts come even as Samsung’s chip unit posted a record first-quarter operating profit, underscoring a divide between AI-driven chip growth and struggles in its mobile division.

Read the full article here.

Exclusive: Don’t Buy Crude ETFs for the Refining Crunch — Veteran Trader Warns of a ‘Temporary Crude Surplus’ Veteran trader Baron Lamarre warned that current market conditions reflect a temporary crude surplus colliding with a separate product shortage, not a genuine refining capacity crunch.

He cautioned against leaning on broad commodity funds like United States Oil Fund (NYSE: USO ) and United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSE: BNO ) to trade the story, citing contango risk and negative roll costs.

Lamarre outlined a range of crude price scenarios depending on how the Strait of Hormuz situation develops, from a $80–$100 Brent baseline to $110–$120 in a full chokepoint closure.

Read the full article here. ‘Canada Was Just the First One To Find That Out’: Top Economist Warns Trump’s Tariffs Are a Global Trade War Test Case Economist Justin Wolfers argued that President Donald Trump ‘s 50% tariff on Canadian goods is less about Canada and more a warning shot to roughly 60 other nations ahead of a broader global trade war.

The tariffs, enacted under a rarely used Depression-era trade law, bypass the USMCA entirely and hit unrelated goods like honey, hockey sticks, and cement.

Wolfers estimated the levies could cost the typical American household $50 to $150 annually, even as the S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY ) and Nasdaq have posted solid year-to-date gains.

Read the full article here.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Taps Amazon and Meta Antitrust Foe Lina Khan for Key Economic Role as Wall Street Watches for a Regulatory Shift New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, a prominent critic of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META ), to lead the board of the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

Mamdani praised Khan for providing “the blueprint for a government that delivers for working people,” while former deputy mayor Anthony Shorris will serve as the agency’s president and CEO.

Read the full article here.

Trump Hits 60 Countries with 10% to 12.5% Tariffs as Temporary Levies Expire President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners as a temporary global levy expired, targeting countries with weak enforcement against forced-labor goods.

The new duties rely on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 after the Supreme Court struck down earlier emergency tariffs, with exemptions for oil, gas, fertilizer, and USMCA-compliant goods.

Read the full article here.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published editors.

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