View from the observatory in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, October 20, 2025.
Jiang Chong | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Donald Trump has used tariffs in creative ways: to thwart drug trafficking (ostensibly), to maintain national security objectives (ostensibly), and now to facilitate the legislative process of other countries.
President Trump announced on Monday that he would increase tariffs on some South Korean products, citing delays in implementing the South Korean government’s trade deal with the United States signed in October. Tariffs on cars, medicine and timber will rise from 15% to 25%.
While the United States continues to erect barriers with its economic partners, other countries are also building trade corridors with each other.
India announced on Monday that negotiations on a trade deal with the European Union (EU) have been concluded. According to Reuters, the agreement is expected to be formally signed within about six months and come into force within a year.
U.S. bellicose moves could further alienate the U.S. from allies and the global economy, and this concern is reflected in the U.S. dollar indexthe lowest since September, and gold and silver prices continue to rise.
But U.S. stocks remain resilient as investors position themselves above the profits of big technology companies. Apple, Meta and Microsoft were the main drivers of Monday’s market rally, and these companies are scheduled to report their last quarter results later this week.
All eyes now turn to the US Federal Reserve, which will announce its interest rate decisions in the coming days. The central bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold, but Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference could shed light on President Trump’s attacks on the Fed’s independence, and Trump could time his announcement of the next Fed chair on the same day.
For investors, it adds another variable to an already busy week of earnings, data and political noise.
What you need to know today
President Trump said he would raise certain tariffs on South Korea. President Trump announced on Monday that he would raise tariffs on imported cars, medicine and lumber from 15% to 25%, citing delays in South Korea’s Congress approving a trade deal with the United States.
Nvidia invests $2 billion in CoreWeave. purchased by chip manufacturer coreweave The Class A common stock is priced at $87.20 per share, a discount from Friday’s closing price of $92.98, according to Monday’s release. Coreweave stock rose nearly 6% on Monday.
The memory chip shortage will continue until 2027. says Sasin Ghazi, CEO of Synopsys, a semiconductor tool designer. Ghazi told CNBC last week that most of the top players’ memories are “directly fed into the AI infrastructure.”
A positive day for US stocks. On Monday, major indexes rose on the back of gains. apple, meta and microsoftahead of its earnings report later this week. pan-european Stocks 600 Added 0.2%. ASML, LVMH and deutsche bank I will report the results this week.
(PRO) The other side of silver’s new high. The precious metal rose 5.9% on Monday, pushing the price to $109.10. Analysts say there are two main reasons behind the record-breaking.
