Stocks flat as investors eye economic data amid Trump tariff fight

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration’s tariffs are incentivizing investment in the U.S., while China is "doing very poorly right now." 

"I heard Samsung is – now because of the tariffs – they're going to build massive facilities in the United States," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. "If we didn't do the tariffs, they wouldn't be doing that." 

Trump said earlier this month that he has attracted over $7 trillion in private investments since being elected, from companies like Apple, Eli Lilly, and Stargate, as well as countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Japan.

"We have more money being spent than at any time in the history of our country. We're up to close to $8 trillion, I think I can say," he told reporters Wednesday. "And that includes chip companies, car companies. Every form of manufacturing, high-tech companies. Nobody's ever seen anything like it."

This is an excerpt from a story by FOX Business' Greg Norman

President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed his predecessor for a volatile stock market amid an unexpected contraction of the U.S. economy in the first quarter – but voiced that the economy is still poised for rapid growth.

Stocks fell on Wednesday after new data showed the economy contracted for the first time in three years.

"This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s," the president wrote on Truth Social. "I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers," Trump continued. "Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’"

This is an excerpt from an article by FOX Business' Michael Dorgan

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed that price growth slowed in March, with inflation trending closer to the central bank's target rate.

The Commerce Department on Wednesday reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index was flat compared with the prior month and grew 2.3% on an annual basis. Those figures were largely in line with the estimates of economists polled by LSEG, which predicted flat monthly price growth and annual inflation to be 2.2%.

Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was also flat from a month ago and grew 2.6% on an annual basis. LSEG economists predicted a slight monthly increase of 0.1%, while their annual estimate was in line with the report.

This is an excerpt from an article by FOX Business' Eric Revell

Companies in the private sector added 62,000 jobs in April, payroll processing firm ADP said Wednesday.

The figure is well below economists’ estimates of 115,000 jobs and down sharply from the prior month’s reading of 155,000.

"Unease is the word of the day. Employers are trying to reconcile policy and consumer uncertainty with a run of mostly positive economic data," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. "It can be difficult to make hiring decisions in such an environment."

The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter as President Donald Trump's economic agenda took effect, according to new data released on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its advance estimate for first quarter gross domestic product (GDP), which found the U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter, which runs from January through March.

Economists surveyed by LSEG had expected the economy to grow at a 0.3% rate in the quarter. The first quarter's 0.3% contraction was slower than the 2.4% GDP growth recorded in the fourth quarter. The quarterly contraction was the first since the first quarter of 2022.

The decline in GDP was attributed primarily to an increase in imports, which count as a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, as well as a decrease in government spending. Those shifts were partially offset by increases in investment, consumer spending and exports.

This is an excerpt from an article by FOX Business' Eric Revell

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said the economic challenge sparked by President Donald Trump's "chaos and uncertainty" is the biggest issue facing the Peach State, stressing that the president's uncertain economic policy is impacting how businesses and residents make decisions for the future.

Ossoff, preparing to run for re-election in 2026, potentially against Georgia's popular Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who has yet to announce if he will join the race. Ossoff is the only Democrat seeking reelection who represents a state that Trump won last year, making him a top target for Republicans hoping to maintain their Senate majority.

The senator, who has recently intensified his criticisms of Trump, warned this weekend that businesses and households in Georgia are struggling to plan for the future because of constant changes in the federal government's trade and economic moves.

"Businesses are unable to invest with an understanding of what the rules of international trade will be from one hour or week or month to the next," Ossoff told The Associated Press. "Households are unable to plan their annual budgets because there’s so much chaos and uncertainty in the implementation of federal economic policy."

"This administration needs to clearly define its economic objectives, and it needs to competently implement its plan, whatever that plan may be," he continued. "The fact that the White House does not even know what its policy is, and is with such unpredictability and chaos, lurching from one policy to the other, is putting the state’s economy at serious economic risk."

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Landon Mion

British sportscar maker Aston Martin has limited its exports of vehicles to the U.S. this week, citing President Donald Trump's tariff campaign.

Officials for the company said they are “carefully monitoring the evolving US tariff situation” and would “respond to changes in the operating environment as they materialize," according to the Guardian.

Car manufacturers currently face a 25% tariff to send their products to the U.S. as of Trump's April 3 order, though he said this week that he plans to loosen those tariffs in the near future.

A source within the Trump administration said the decision follows the auto industry's good-faith efforts to move manufacturing back to the US, adding that Trump wants to give them a "runway" with their business.

Fox Business' Christine Shaw contributed to this report

Shipments from China to the U.S. are down this week as American businesses are cancelling orders, postponing expansion plans and generally waiting out President Donald Trump's tariff plans.

Trump imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese imports earlier this month, launching the two nations into a trade war. Many companies are halting their orders from Chinese supplies, straining the Chinese economy and potentially raising prices in the U.S.

China has responded with its own retaliatory tariffs, and no trade deal is in sight. Chinese officials have denied that there have been any negotiations between Beijing and Washington since Trump imposed the tariff plan.