Brazilian farmers are in the midst of collecting their biggest corn harvest ever, and American supplies are also plentiful -- setting the stage for a stiff battle to win world buyers in the second half of the year.
The United States economy added a solid 209,000 jobs in July, exceeding economists’ estimates as the labor market shows few signs of slowing down. The unemployment rate last month fell to 4.3% from 4.4%, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
United States president Donald Trump urged the Mexican president to stop publicly saying he would not pay for a proposed border wall, according to transcripts. Mr. Trump admonished Enrique Peña Nieto for publicly denouncing the wall during a 27 January phone call, transcripts obtained by the Washington Post show.
United States president Donald Trump grudgingly signed into law new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, a move Moscow said amounted to a full-scale trade war and an end to hopes for better ties with the Trump administration. Congress overwhelmingly approved the legislation last week, passing a measure that conflict with the Republican president's desire to improve relations with Moscow.
United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, over what it called his illegitimate election of an assembly to rewrite the constitution. All of Maduro's assets in the United States are frozen and Americans are forbidden from doing any business with him.
The United States economy gathered speed in the second quarter of the year, growing at an annualized pace of 2.6%. The pick-up was helped by consumer spending in the quarter expanding at a pace of 2.8%, and businesses stepping up spending on equipment.
President Donald Trump has named General John Kelly, who currently heads the Department of Homeland Security, as his next chief of staff. The announcement, made on Twitter on Friday afternoon, removes Reince Priebus from the role.
United States President Donald Trump named two possible candidates to run the Federal Reserve over the next few years: current Fed Chair Janet Yellen and Trump's economic adviser Gary Cohn, according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
The Carrier factory where a president-elect Donald J. Trump boasted of having crafted a deal to save jobs from moving to Mexico has begun laying off workers. 338 employees at the Carrier Corporation fan coil manufacturing facility in Indianapolis will be let go Friday under the previously announced plan, the company said in a statement.
United States President Donald Trump has triggered a shake-up by appointing Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci as his White House communications director. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer quit, reportedly in response to the move, which was announced on 21 July. He had been partially filling the communications role since the previous incumbent Michael Dubke resigned in May.