U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday denied a newspaper report that said his aides were exploring tariff plans that would only cover critical imports. …The Washington Post, citing three sources familiar with the matter, reported earlier Monday that Trump aides were exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security, in what would represent a marked shift from the promises Trump made during the 2024 presidential campaign. European stocks and currencies had rallied sharply on Monday. …Preliminary discussions have largely focused on several key sectors that the Trump team wants to bring back to the United States, the Post reported. “Those include the defense industrial supply chain (through tariffs on steel, iron, aluminum and copper); critical medical supplies; and energy production (batteries, rare earth minerals and even solar panels),” two of the people said, according to the Post.
US mortgage rates climbed closer to 7%, threatening to squeeze buyers trying to crack into the housing market. The average on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.91% as of Jan. 2, up from 6.85% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac data released Thursday. A measure from the Mortgage Bankers Association advanced 8 basis points to 6.97% in the period ended Dec. 27, a nearly six-month high. High borrowing costs are weighing on affordability. …“It’s not exactly a good way to start the new year,” said Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American Financial Corp. “Industry experts are coming to the consensus that 2025 is another year of higher for longer for the housing market. It’s not great news.” Mortgage rates tend to track Treasury yields, which continued to climb in late December after Federal Reserve policymakers projected a slower pace of interest-rate cuts in 2025 amid sticky inflation.
Rollercoaster market moves in the final days of 2024 offered a blunt reminder that investors are heading into a year of living dangerously. Stocks and bonds lurched lower after the Federal Reserve’s final policy meeting of the year, spooked by the notion that the central bank may be unable to keep cutting rates (as it had previously expected to) because of still-simmering inflation. The key is what Fed chair Jay Powell was careful not to say but what every fund manager knows: Donald Trump’s economic agenda could be bad for growth, fuel inflation, or even both. So for the first time in many years, investors have what they call “two-way risk” in the Fed policy. The central bank might be able to keep on cutting — the hunch is that this would be Trump’s preference. But it’s not outlandish to suggest it might start raising rates again instead. 
WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled a new program to support American wood processing facilities. USDA Rural Development is partnering with USDA Forest Service to provide funding through the new 
Sporting aviator sunglasses and standing in front of a lectern last month in Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon, outgoing President Joe Biden spoke of the importance of safeguarding the world’s carbon-rich forests — a message he delivered numerous times throughout his tenure. …“Despite Biden’s rhetorical flourishes about the importance of preserving and restoring old-growth forest ecosystems, his administration has led the charge to open more and more of these areas to commercial logging,” said John Talberth, president and senior economist at the Center for Sustainable Economy (CSE), a nonprofit think tank. …The Forest Service did not respond to questions about whether it expects to finalize a national old-growth amendment before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. …Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told The Associated Press that it would be “a serious mistake for the country to take a step backwards now that we’ve taken significant steps forward.” …As long as the Forest Service remains under the Department of Agriculture, things are unlikely to change, Talberth said.
Just days after Christmas in 1973 President Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act, establishing one of the strongest conservation laws in history. …The Northern Spotted Owl has proven to be the most controversial of animal species listed. Its “threatened” designation in the late 1980s sparked legal battles between logging companies and environmental groups later named the Timber Wars. …The Northwest Forest Plan was amended in a monumental compromise between environmental groups and the timber industry in 2022 when Governor Kate Brown singed into law the Private Forest Accord. …The Forest Service has proposed additional amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan that may open up millions of acres of western lands to logging. The final environmental impact statement of that plan will be released in 2025 under the Trump administration, which has promised extensive deregulation. The Northern Spotted Owl remains listed as endangered.