US President Donald Trump rattled a new market Tuesday in his ongoing global trade war, announcing plans to implement a 50% levy on copper. The statement predictably sent copper futures in New York surging to their largest intraday gain in decades. The new threat comes a day after Trump retreated on his promised “reciprocal” tariffs, which he already delayed once before, while announcing new threatened rates for more than a dozen countries. On Tuesday, he insisted this new delay would be the last one. —Jordan Parker Erb

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Consumer expectations for future inflation have returned to pre-tariff levels, according to monthly survey data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The June survey showed median expectations for consumer price increases one year ahead decreased for the second straight month in June, falling back to 3%. Estimates for annualized inflation three and five years ahead remained unchanged at 3% and 2.6%. A series of reports from the federal government over the past four months have shown inflation to be lower than that predicted by economists, who fear Trump’s trade war will reignite price rises.

According to a study from a different Federal Reserve Bank, this one in Dallas, the Trump administration’s immigration policies will lower US economic growth by almost a full percentage point this year. Per the analysis, the drastic drop in immigrants across the southern border and increased efforts to deport more foreign-born workers could subtract about 0.8 percentage point from gross domestic product in 2025.

Under a “mass deportation” scenario in which 1 million immigrants are removed per year by the end of 2027, annual GDP growth would be almost 0.9 percentage point lower by the end of 2025, and 1.5 percentage points lower by the end of 2027, the researchers found.

The deluge in Texas last week that killed more than 100 people ranks as one of the deadliest and costliest flash floods in US history, highlighting the mounting threat to communities that aren’t prepared for extreme rainfall triggered by accelerating global warming. Though it’s too early to know the exact financial toll of the flooding, a preliminary estimate from AccuWeather puts the total damage and economic loss at $18 billion to $22 billion, a figure that includes direct and indirect impacts as well as long-term effects on businesses like tourism.

The area, known locally as “Flash Flood Alley” due to a history of deadly deluges, lacked public alarms or warning sirens that could have woken people up overnight and sent them to higher ground, partly due to the expense required to set them up. Cuts by the Trump administration at federal weather agencies are also coming under scrutiny in relation to the disaster.

Bank of America lost another key investor. Kuwait Investment Authority, the trillion-dollar sovereign fund of the oil-rich gulf state, sold a $3.1 billion stake in the bank. The wealth fund’s backing goes back to January 2008 when it injected $2 billion into the troubled Merrill Lynch, making it one of Merrill Lynch’s largest backers at the time. Bank of America famously agreed to buy Merrill later that year. KIA’s decision to offload the stock comes amid a wider pullback from some financial-services investments. For Bank of America, the move follows a retreat by Warren Buffett, who has been shrinking a much larger holding in the bank.

SpaceX is said to be discussing plans to raise money and sell insider shares in a deal that would value Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker around $400 billion. The valuation would mark a significant premium to the $350 billion high-mark set during SpaceX’s share buyback in December. It would put the privately held firm on par with the market capitalizations of some of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, including Home Depot and Palantir.

SpaceX’s strategy involves launching a primary fundraising round during which it would sell new shares to investors. One of SpaceX’s fundraising rounds, in 2021, took in some $850 million. Separately, SpaceX also plans a so-called tender or secondary offering, through which employees and some early shareholders can sell shares.

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