the week ahead
The Fed chairman will testify before panels in the House and Senate, and the Commerce Department will holding hearings on auto tariffs.
ECONOMY
Fed chairman to testify before 2 Congressional committees.The Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome H. Powell, will face questions about interest rates, inflation projections, the health of the financial sector and President Trump's trade war when he testifies before a Senate committee on Tuesday and a House committee on Wednesday.
— Jim Tankersley
TRADE
E.U.’s treaty with Japan will counterbalance U.S. protectionism.Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, which represents the European Union’s heads of government, will visit Tokyo on Tuesday to sign an agreement with Japan to lower trade barriers. The treaty is the latest example of how the European Union is aggressively pursuing free trade agreements as a counterweight to American protectionism. Among those expected to benefit from the accord are European wine and cheese makers, whose products will no longer be subject to tariffs when entering Japan. The signing ceremony with Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, had been scheduled for a week earlier in Brussels but was postponed because of catastrophic flooding in Japan.
— Jack Ewing
TECHNOLOGY
Google faces fines from the E.U. for antitrust violations.European authorities are expected to hit Google with a multibillion-dollar fine on Wednesday for violating antitrust laws by using its dominance in the smartphone market to box out rivals. Google has been a frequent target of European regulators, who have been more aggressive in taking on Silicon Valley giants than their counterparts in the United States. Last year, Google was fined $2.7 billion in another antitrust case, and Apple, Facebook and the chip maker Qualcomm have also been penalized by the European Commission in recent years. In the decision to be announced this week, the European competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, is expected to rule that Google unfairly required handset makers using its Android smartphone operating system to prioritize Google services like search over its rivals’ offerings.
— Adam Satariano
TRADE
Trump administration will hold hearings on proposed auto tariffs.The Commerce Department will hold a hearing on Thursday in its ongoing investigation into whether imports of automobiles and auto parts compromise American national security, an inquiry that could ultimately result in sweeping tariffs on roughly $350 billion of imported products. The hearing will include testimony from dozens of domestic and international companies, industry groups and officials from other countries and the Department of Defense, which the Commerce Department said it would weigh before making a recommendation on possible tariffs. President Trump has threatened to place a 20 percent tariff on foreign automobiles, a measure that would fall heaviest on American allies. In 2017, 98 percent of passenger vehicles imported into the United States came from Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Japan or South Korea.
— Ana Swanson
TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft to report results of cloud computing shift.Microsoft is an older tech company that looks surprisingly youthful these days. The software maker has successfully navigated the shift to selling its products as an internet service, so-called cloud computing. When the company reports its quarterly results on Thursday, analysts will be focusing on the growth trends in two businesses. The first is Azure, Microsoft’s service for cloud-based computer processing and storage, a market where the company is a strong No. 2, behind Amazon. The other is Office 365, the cloud version of the company’s popular office productivity apps like Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
— Steve Lohr
MANUFACTURING
G.E. reports earnings on success of spinoff.The big moves at General Electric are over. Last month, John Flannery, the chief executive, declared that the new, smaller G.E. would make jet engines, electric power generators and wind turbines. The rest will be gone eventually. G.E. reports its second-quarter results on Friday. Things to look for: signs that its operating performance is picking up — like higher cash flow and an improvement in its ailing power business.
— Steve Lohr
trade
Treasury secretary will discuss trade relations at G20 meeting.Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, returns to Buenos Aires on Friday for the next round of the G20 finance ministers meetings. Once again, he will be in the position of doing damage control for President Trump, who just concluded a contentious NATO summit in Brussels. Mr. Mnuchin will be under pressure from finance ministers at the gathering to offer relief from America’s steel and aluminum tariffs, which have set off a trade dispute with the European Union. The Treasury secretary is also visiting Brazil and Puerto Rico on the trip.
— Alan Rappeport
