logo
episode-header-image
Jun 7
18m 27s

Swamp Notes: Trump’s big play to save st...

Financial Times
About this episode

US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on steel to 50 per cent this week. He’s also allowing Japan’s Nippon to buy the US Steel Corporation. The moves are meant to bring back manufacturing to America’s steel industry. But will they? FT senior trade writer Alan Beattie and Zehra Munir, the FT’s industrial reporter, discuss whether Trump can make good on a popular promise. 


Mentioned in this podcast:

It’s always steel — tariffs provide Trump with a familiar trade weapon

Donald Trump’s US Steel gamble: Pennsylvania workers warm to Nippon tie-up

Sign up for the FT’s Trade Secrets newsletter here

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

Credit: The White House YouTube channel


Swamp Notes is produced by Katya Kumkova, Henry Larson and Lauren Fedor. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson. 


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Jerome Powell triggers market bets on a September rate cut
Jay Powell signalled a monetary policy shift during a high-profile Jackson Hole speech last week, and European investors are pouring money into new air defence technology. Plus, Spanish bank Santander is seeking to become a big player in Wall Street’s Spac market. Mentioned in th ... Show More
11m 49s
Aug 22
The return of ‘pump and dump’ stock scams
EU officials are accelerating plans for a digital euro, and the US Department of Justice has called for Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to be removed from her post. Plus, investors lost billions of dollars in July in what could be pump and dump stock scams. Mentioned in this p ... Show More
11m 4s
Aug 21
Can Target get its ‘swagger’ back?
Chinese regulators are pushing back against US AI chips, Target shares fell more than 6 per cent after the retail group picked an insider to be its new chief executive, and UK inflation accelerated more than expected to 3.8 per cent in July. Plus, China is making a big push for v ... Show More
11m 36s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
Trump threatens tariffs on all US steel and aluminium imports
President Trump has said he'll announce further tariffs on America’s trading partners in the coming days, including a 25% charge on all steel and aluminium imports. We'll hear from the country most exposed - Canada.Also on the programme: Can an Artificial Intelligence summit in P ... Show More
47m 25s
Aug 8
Introducing Swamp Notes: The real cost of gutting USAID
Political Fix is on a break this week. In its absence, we're taking the opportunity to introduce you to its sister podcast, Swamp Notes, the weekly US politics podcast from the Financial Times. Six months after the Trump administration gutted the US Agency for International Devel ... Show More
19m 4s
Apr 2025
Trump's Triumphant Stock Market Surge & the Battle for Texas Water
Oval Office Visit Senator Ted Cruz's Visit: Senator Cruz spent about two hours with President Trump in the Oval Office, discussing various topics and receiving a challenge coin from the President. Stock Market Surge Tariffs and Stock Market Impact: President Trump paused tariffs ... Show More
36m 2s
Feb 2025
Making sense of Trump's tariffs. With Dani Rodrik
Tariffs have historically been an important tool of industrial policy. They were used in the last century by east Asian nations to promote infant industries, and are being used today by the EU to help spur the energy transition. But do Donald Trump’s threats to impose a 25% acros ... Show More
36m 17s
Jul 10
What to Expect From Trump’s New Trade Drama
After months of delaying his most extreme tariffs, President Trump is now threatening to revive the most aggressive version of his global trade war.America’s trading partners, investors and consumers are bracing for impact.The Times journalists Natalie Kitroeff, Ana Swanson, Magg ... Show More
31m 14s
Jan 2025
Trump’s Tariff Wars
At a White House press briefing on Tuesday, the Trump administration maintained that it would impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1. This comes after announcing a 10 percent duty on China earlier in the week. Trade and capital expert Brad Setser i ... Show More
49m 19s
Jul 8
Copper Prices Hit Record High as Trump Unveils 50% Tariffs
P.M. Edition for July 8. During a cabinet meeting today, President Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper and threatened the European Union with steep tariffs if it doesn't reach a trade deal with the U.S. WSJ reporter Kim Mackrael says the EU’s member states are split as to how ... Show More
13m 23s
Aug 5
The deal with Trump's deals
Trump's been cutting trade deals left and right, saying they're the key to unlocking an era of economic prosperity. New data does not back him up. This episode was produced by Rebeca Ibarra, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir ... Show More
25m 52s
Jan 2025
Ep. 2121 - TRUMP IS BACK!!!
Donald J. Trump returns to the Oval Office as the 47th President of the United States; we review all the action in Washington DC, from the inaugural address to the parties; and Trump gets to work with a massive slate of executive actions.  Click here to join the member-exclusive ... Show More
44m 37s
Aug 11
What C.E.O.s Really Think About Trump’s Tariffs
Last week, President Trump hit many countries with yet another round of punishing tariffs. So far, the economy has been resilient in the face of his trade war, but it’s unclear how long that will last.Andrew Ross Sorkin, editor-at-large of DealBook, discusses what C.E.O.s are tel ... Show More
28m 36s