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President Donald Trump on Friday cleared the merger of U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, after the Japanese steelmaker’s previous bid to acquire its U.S. rival had been blocked on national security grounds.

“This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

U.S. Steel’s headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh and the bulk of the investment will take place over the next 14 months, the president said. U.S. Steel shares surged more than 20% to close at $52.01 per share after Trump’s announcement.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro applauded the agreement, saying he worked with local, state and federal leaders ‘to press for the best deal to keep U.S. Steel headquartered in Pittsburgh, protect union jobs, and secure the future of steelmaking in Western Pennsylvania.’

In his own statement, Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis called the announcement ‘promising,’ but added: ‘I want to make sure everyone involved in the deal holds up their end of the bargain. I look forward to seeing the promised investments become a reality and the workers receive everything they’ve fought for.’

President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel from purchasing U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion in January, citing national security concerns. Biden said at the time that the acquisition would create a risk to supply chains that are critical for the U.S.

Trump, however, ordered a new review of the proposed acquisition in April, directing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to determine “whether further action in this matter may be appropriate.”

Trump said he would hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh on May 30.

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The once-solid relationship between President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook is breaking down over the idea of a U.S.-made iPhone.

Last week, Trump said he “had a little problem with Tim Cook,” and on Friday, he threatened to slap a 25% tariff on iPhones in a social media post.

Trump is upset with Apple’s plan to source the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. from its factory partners in India, instead of China. Cook confirmed this plan earlier this month during earnings discussions.

Trump wants Apple to build iPhones for the U.S. market in the U.S. and has continued to pressure the company and Cook.

“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday.

Analysts said it would probably make more sense for Apple to eat the cost rather than move production stateside.

“In terms of profitability, it’s way better for Apple to take the hit of a 25% tariff on iPhones sold in the US market than to move iPhone assembly lines back to US,” Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on X.

UBS analyst David Vogt said that the potential 25% tariffs were a “jarring headline” but that they would only be a “modest headwind” to Apple’s earnings, dropping annual earnings by 51 cents per share, versus a prior expectation of 34 cents per share under the current tariff landscape.

Experts have long held that a U.S.-made iPhone is impossible at worst and highly expensive at best.

Analysts have said that iPhones made in the U.S. would be much more expensive, CNBC previously reported, with some estimates ranging between $1,500 and $3,500 to buy one at retail. Labor costs would certainly rise.

But it would also be logistically complicated.

Supply chains and factories take years to build out, including installing equipment and staffing up. Parts that Apple imported to the United States for assembly might be subject to tariffs as well.

Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 but it was only in recent years that the region was capable of building Apple’s latest devices.

“We believe the concept of Apple producing iPhones in the US is a fairy tale that is not feasible,” wrote Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a note on Friday.

Other analysts were wary about predicting how Trump’s threat ultimately plays out. Apple might be able to strike a deal with the administration — despite the eroding relationship — or challenge the tariffs in court.

For now, most of Apple’s most important products are exempt from tariffs after Trump gave phones and computers a tariff waiver — even from China — in April, but Apple doesn’t know how the Trump administration’s tariffs will ultimately play out beyond June.

“We’re skeptical” that the 25% tariff will materialize, wrote Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers.

He wrote that Apple could try to preserve its roughly 41% gross margin on iPhones by raising prices in the U.S. by between $100 and $300 per phone.

It’s unclear how Trump intends to target Apple’s India-made iPhones. Rakers wrote that the administration could put specific tariffs on phone imports from India.

Apple’s operations in India continue to expand.

Foxconn, which assembles iPhones for Apple, is building a new $1.5 billion factory in India that could do some iPhone production, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

Apple declined to comment on Trump’s post.

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Walmart agreed to pay a small fine and promised to ensure its third-party resellers are unable to sell realistic looking toy guns to buyers in New York, after state Attorney General Letitia James said Tuesday that the retail giant’s online store shipped them to the state.

The settlement comes nearly a decade after Walmart, Amazon, Sears and other retailers entered into a consent order and judgment with New York’s previous attorney general, in which they agreed to keep toy guns that resemble actual deadly weapons off their shelves statewide and they paid civil penalties that topped $300,000.

The 2015 order was part of a nationwide reckoning over realistic looking toy guns in the wake of the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12 year-old Cleveland boy who was killed by police in November 2014 while holding a pellet gun.

The New York law bans retailers from selling or shipping toy guns of certain colors — black, dark blue, silver, or aluminum — that look like real weapons.

A realistic-looking toy gun Walmart shipped to New York.New York Attorney General’s Office

Toy guns sold in the state must be “made in bright colors or made entirely of transparent or translucent materials,” with businesses subject to a fine of $1,000 per violation, according to James’ office.

James said on Tuesday that an investigation by her office found that Walmart’s online store had shipped at least nine realistic-looking toy guns sold by third-party sellers to New York City, Westchester County and Western New York.

But the investigation also found that between March 2020 and November 2023, at least 46 imitation weapons that violate New York state law were purchased by consumers in the state through the Walmart.com platform, the settlement revealed.

“Realistic-looking toy guns can put communities in serious danger and that is why they are banned in New York,” James said in a statement.

“Walmart failed to prevent its third-party sellers from selling realistic-looking toy guns to New York addresses, violating our laws and putting people at risk,” she said.

“The ban on realistic-looking toy guns is meant to keep New Yorkers safe and my office will not hesitate to hold any business that violates that law accountable.”

Walmart must pay $14,000 in penalties and $2,000 in fees under the settlement, the AG’s office said.

That total of $16,000 is a tiny fraction of the approximately $49 million in net income Walmart earned on an average day in the most recent financial quarter.

CNBC has requested comment from Walmart, which neither admitted nor denied the findings by James’ office in its investigation.

As part of the settlement, Walmart is required to prohibit third parties from offering for sale or selling any of the imitation guns covered by the state law to buyers in New York.

“Walmart shall terminate the ability of a third party from being able to list and sell toy guns and imitation weapons on Walmart.com when it has determined that a third party has engaged in conduct” that violates that restriction on three separate occasions, the settlement said.

And “Walmart shall implement and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent such third parties from offering for sale, exposing for sale, or selling Prohibited Items on Walmart.com for importation, holding for sale, or distribution to New York,” the settlement says.

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