Paying for power

Daily update

Taiwan has made an agreement with the US that will see US importers paying a 15% tariff on Taiwanese products. The 15% number might have additional significance—if the US Supreme Court rules some tariffs illegal, one alternative route is for President Trump to impose a universal 15% tariff. Taiwan pledged to increase investment in the US—some of this will be already planned investment, and markets have learned not to take such announcements as definitive.
German and Italian final December consumer price inflation figures are not likely to move financial markets. These figures almost never change from the initial reading, and barely even register as background noise.
US industrial and manufacturing production data is due. Electricity output has added to industrial production, but the demand for power has also been adding to electricity prices (fueling the affordability crisis). Trump has urged that technology companies be made to bid for power in a special auction in some areas, to help fund new power plants. The question is whether there is enough equipment to build such plants quickly.
Many areas of US manufacturing have seen output slow in 2025, including sectors subject to tariffs. Production gains have been focused in a relatively small number of areas.