Good morning. China hits back at Donald Trump over tariffs. Your renovation is about to get more pricey as lumber tariffs kick in. And the average sticker price of a new car rose above $50,000 for the first time. Listen to the day’s top stories.
Market data may be delayed depending on provider agreements.
China sanctioned the US units of a South Korean shipping giant and threatened further retaliatory measures on the industry. While earlier signaling it’s keeping communications channels open, this is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat moves as Beijing and Washington jockey for leverage before expected trade talks.
An American Express card. Photographer: Mike Stewart/AP
Credit card companies are going all out to win the richest shoppers in the US to their high-fee, perk-laden premium offerings.
Since the summer, both Chase and American Express have raised the annual fee on their high-end cards—to an eye-watering $795 and $895 respectively— promising thousands of dollars in rewards in return.
Those perks, like DoorDash memberships, early access to concert tickets, Lululemon gear and hundreds of dollars’ worth of hotel credits, are amped up with the promise that everything you buy will be turned into points or miles that you might eventually use to book a fantasy vacation.
The battle is growing as American consumers become more economically divided. With the richest 10% of US households now accounting for almost half the country’s consumer purchases, the business of issuing credit cards to the rich is turning into big-game hunting for banks.
So which to choose? Take our quiz to discover the best perks for your buck.
The Big Take
Eric and Donald Jr. outside the Nasdaq exchange in New York in August. Photographer: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
The banker behind the Trumps: One of the newest tenants of Trump Tower in New York City is a startup investment bank called Dominari Holdings Inc, located only two stories below the headquarters of the Trump Organization. Dominari’s president, Kyle Wool, has already helped Donald Jr. and Eric make more than half a billion dollars.
The battle over how AI is built—and who gets paid along the way—must be resolved to benefit both art and technology, Dave Lee writes. The AI copyright war could be its undoing, and only the US can end it.
