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Chinas top leaders have pledged to help companies slammed by higher U.S. tariffs but held back on major moves after trade talks with the U.S. this week kept businesses and planners in limbo. At their summer economic planning meeting, the powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party pledged to stabilize foreign trade and investment. We must assist foreign trade enterprises that have been severely impacted, strengthen financing support, and promote the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, the official Xinhua News Agency said in reporting the closed door meeting. It mentioned export tax rebates and free trade pilot zones but gave no other specifics. The inconclusive outcome of two days of trade talks in Stockholm, Sweden, leaves open the question of higher tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said the two sides had agreed to work on extending a deadline for higher tariffs. The U.S. side said the extension was discussed, but not decided. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters after the talks that President Donald Trump would decide whether to extend the Aug. 12 deadline for reaching an agreement or to let tariffs that have been paused for 90 days to boomerang back to a higher level. We haven’t given the sign-off, Bessent said, though he emphasized that the talks had been very constructive. China remains one of the biggest challenges for the Trump administration after it has struck deals over elevated tariff rates with other key trading partners including Britain, Japan and the European Union. Many analysts had expected that the Stockholm talks would result in an extension of current tariff levels, which currently stand at a U.S. tariff of 30% on Chinese goods and a Chinese tariff of 10% on U.S. products, far lower than the triple-digit percentage rates raised in April. The truce in the tariffs war to allow time for talks, agreed on in early May to allow time for negotiations, allowed exporters and other traders to ramp up shipments in hopes of beating any higher tariffs that might follow. The meeting headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping mostly reiterated Beijing’s priorities for the year, including a need to unleash domestic demand which has lagged, leading to a surge of exports by industries unable to find growth at home. It also stressed the need to promote jobs and prevent a large scale relapse into poverty. The economy has demonstrated strong vitality and resilience, the Xinhua report said. But it acknowledged many risks and challenges. That includes reining in brutal competition that has led to damaging price wars among automakers and some other manufacturers and managing excess capacity in some industries, it said. China’s economy expanded at a 5.2% annual pace in April-June, slowing slightly from the previous quarter. But analysts have said actual growth may have been significantly slower. Even with the hiatus in higher tariffs, companies are feeling a pinch. Industrial profits in China fell 1.8% in the first half of the year and 4.3% in June, according to data released earlier this week. It’s unclear what level of tariffs might eventually be imposed on Chinese exports to the United States. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Thursday that Beijing hopes the U.S. side would follow through on the important consensus reached between Trump and Xi in a phone call to promote stable relations between the world’s two largest economies. But Guo reiterated China’s stance on its U.S. objections to its purchases of oil and gas from Russia, which Bessent raised during the talks in Stockholm, threatening more tariffs. China will take reasonable measures to ensure energy security in accordance with its national interests, Guo said. There are no winners in a tariff war. Coercion and pressure will not solve the problem. China will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests. Elaine Kurtenbach, AP business writer
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Its hot. Everyone is sweating, and anyone who chooses to venture into the world armed with nothing but natural deodorant knows theyre playing a risky game. But online, the backlash against natural deodorant has begun. When someone tells you their deodorant is natural (but you already knew), TikToker Mads Mitch posted back in May. The comments section was split: Some natural-deodorant defenders loyally stood by their favorites, while others pointed out they probably didnt have goodor honestfriends. @mad_mitch This is satire!!!!!! Im sure you smell lovely!!! pls dont take this seriously thank u original sound – mads mitch For those self-aware enough to know they stink, many have switched back to the hard stuff. I legitimately smelled like onion, one TikTok user said of her natural deodorant journey. Another hopped on the Hoziers Yell trend, writing: Going back to my clinical strength 72 hour secret after a year of convincing myself I didn’t smell while using a million different natural deodorants. @gabriellembeauregard Miss me with that woowoo deodorant for real #naturaldeoderant #secretclinicalstrength Northern Attitude – Noah Kahan & Hozier The natural deodorant waveBig Stinky, as some have called itwent mainstream in recent years after countless articles detailing the supposedly harmful effects of antiperspirants gained traction. Because antiperspirants stop odor by physically clogging pores with ingredients like aluminum chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium, these ingredients were quickly labeled toxic by natural beauty advocates. Some even claimed they could lead to Alzheimers disease or cancer. Aluminum-free options soon flooded the market, from Salt & Stones popular Santal & Vetiver scent to Wilds refillable sticks. Formulated with natural ingredients like baking soda, shea, and coconut oil, they promised to keep wearers both smelling fresh and toxin-free. The only downside? Most of the time, they dont work. Now, a growing number of people are making the switch back to the tried-and-true: Degree, Secret, Dove, andbetter yetmens deodorants (which, for some reason, always seem to work better) and encouraging others to join them. While former natural-deodorant wearers will be relieved to no longer walk around with their elbows glued to their sides, theres more good news: science has found no definitive evidence that regular deodorants or antiperspirants are any worse for your health than natural deodorants. Ultimately, the deodorant you choose to wear is a matter of personal preference. Just make sure youre considerate of those around you.
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I’m a night owl, so I’m interested when I come across studies about what happens to people who habitually stay up late. Sometimes they can be disturbing, and sometimes they’re innocuous. But sometimes — like the latest one I’ve read — they come with a silver lining. Today’s study comes to us from the medical school at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. It involves tracking the sleep habits and health outcomes of nearly 24,000 people over 10 full years. Let’s give you the results up front: good, bad, and the reason to look on the bright side. Writing in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, the Dutch researchers said they tracked the sleep habits and the degree to which they displayed cognitive decline over the same period. The results were disconcerting on their face for night owls; people who habitually stay up late wound up with faster cognitive decline than those who go to bed early. But, there was an unexpected twist. The less education night owls had, the less likely they were to experience similar levels of cognitive decline over the study period. That finding begs for an explanation, and researcher Ana Wenzler, a Ph.D. candidate in the university’s department of epidemiology, offered a few: First, as we saw in another recent study, people who stay up late are less likely than their early-to-bed peers to exercise during the day. Second, people who go to bed early simply sleep through many of the times when other people smoke, drink, and eat unhealthy foods most often. Finally — and this might be the most interesting — the increased correlation between more education and more cognitive decline for night owls might stem from the fact that, statistically, more educated people wind up trapped in a daytime work hours environment, even when their natural rhythms might be better served by a different schedule. As Wenzler explained in an accompanying statement: “That probably has to do with their sleep rhythm. They are often people who have to go back to work early in the morning and are therefore more likely to sleep too short, giving their brains too little rest. We suspect that lower- or middle-educated people are more likely to have a job that allows them to take their sleep rhythm into account, such as a job in the hospitality industry or one with night shifts. If this is not possible, your brain does not get enough rest and you are more likely to adopt bad habits. It would be nice if more consideration was given to evening people who now have to work early: for example, by giving them the option of starting later.” This is the part I look at as a silver lining. Because, even as workplaces have evolved during the 10 years or so that the study period covered, many highly educated night owls have, in fact, adjusted. More of us work remotely, more of us work for ourselves, and more of us have worked out flexibility. We’ve actually given ourselves “the option of starting later” if it fits our schedules better. In my personal situation, that’s exactly what’s happened. If you go back to the earlier parts of my career, I was chained to an inflexible schedule at work. As an example, I had a job that required me to battle a Los Angeles commute and be sitting at my desk by 7:30 a.m. each day. Let’s just say it was a struggle. Today, I’m fortunate in that I answer to nobody but myself, and so I set my own hours. I probably put in a lot more time each week than I once did when I was on someone else’s schedule, but the hours I work are better suited to my natural chronotype (or “biological clock”). Of course, we’re hearing about this study just as many big companies are swinging the pendulum back the other way, requiring employees to be in the office more often, and limiting remote work and flexibility. Maybe that’s a competitive opportunity if you’re running a business. Great employees come in all chronotypes: night owls and early birds alike. Call it another silver lining. By Bill Murphy Jr. This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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