Trump Trade: Reciprocal tariffs could hit Brazilian ethanol

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

RECIPROCAL TARIFFS: President Donald Trump signed a memorandum ordering his advisers to calculate new tariff levels for other countries globally, directing his advisers to come up with new tariff levels that take into account a range of trade barriers and other economic approaches adopted by America’s trading partners, reported The New York Times’ Ana Swanson. The president has said the step was necessary to even out America’s “unfair” relationships, but made clear that his ultimate goal was to force companies to bring their manufacturing back to the United States, being quoted as having said during remarks in the Oval Office: “If you build your product in the United States, there are no tariffs.” Howard Lutnick, the president’s nominee for commerce secretary, and Jamieson Greer, his pick for trade representative, will come up with the numbers “quickly,” in concert with other advisers, an unnamed White House official is quoted as having said in a call with reporters.

BRAZILIAN ETHANOL: Donald Trump is planning to take action against Brazilian ethanol imports, Fox News has reported. Fox has learned that Trump intends to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on Brazilian production, the news service stated ahead of the president holding his press conference from the Oval Office to announce his signing of a memorandum ordering his advisers to calculate new tariff levels for other countries globally. Shares of REX American (REX) and Green Plains (GPRE) were up in Thursday trading on the news.

BUY AMERICAN WEAPONS: President Donald Trump’s administration told allies in the U.K. and Europe it wants them to buy American weapons and military equipment in order to maintain the NATO alliance, Alex Wickham and Ellen Milligan of Bloomberg report, citing European officials familiar with the matter. The request has been made several times by U.S. officials to their European counterparts, the people said. Additionally, Trump’s team suggested it wanted Europe to buy more American energy as well, the sources told Bloomberg. Publicly traded companies in the space include BAE Systems (BAESY), Boeing (BA), General Dynamics (GD), HII (HII), L3Harris Technologies (LHX), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC) and RTX (RTX).

PLAN ON HOLD: The State Department said that it had put plans to buy armored electric vehicles on hold after reports that the $400M order would go to Tesla (TSLA), whose CEO Elon Musk is a close adviser of President Trump, reported The New York Times’ Jack Ewing. “The solicitation is on hold, and there are no current plans to issue it,” the State Department is quoted as having said.

U.S. STEEL DEAL: Shares of United States Steel (X) were fractionally lower on Thursday after President Donald Trump made comments distancing himself from his prior offer to negotiate an investment by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel (NPSCY). “I think maybe more than anybody else the steel companies, and the aluminum companies, they’re in love with what’s happened and this will eventually be the car companies, chip companies,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “As you know, in Pennsylvania, US Steel is through the roof. They’re all through the roof. That’s why I didn’t want US Steel to make a deal with Japan or anybody else. I think US Steel right now has all the power. The tariffs have given US Steel a new lease on life,” Trump added. Trump declined to repeat his previous pledge to help negotiate an investment from Nippon Steel, saying “I don’t know” when asked if he still planned to facilitate talks, according to Bloomberg.