It’s not just American consumers who are set to pay for Donald Trump’s trade war. Small US companies—critical to the economy as a source of more than half of its job creation—are about to get clobbered, too.

The US Chamber of Commerce estimated this month that the country has about 236,000 small-business importers—those with fewer than 500 employees. In 2023, the goods they bought from abroad were worth more than $868 billion.

They now face a combined annual tariff hit of $202 billion and are finding it difficult to navigate all the red tape required to comply with the president’s levies (the legality of which is yet another variable, given ongoing litigation).

For example, the latest tariff numbers from the White House, ranging from 10% to 50%, brought with them a need for business owners to increase customs bonds—guarantees they must buy from surety providers to ensure the government receives its tariff revenue, other taxes and any potential penalties.

Big firms often have in-house resources to handle additional bureaucratic hurdles, but compliance and forecasting are “where the smaller companies are really struggling,” said Erin Williamson of Geodis, a leading global logistics firm. “They may not have that internal compliance group or the infrastructure to really sit back and say, ‘OK, this is going to be the impact to us. How do we pivot?’” —David E. Rovella

What You Need to Know Today

Trump moved to accelerate his effort to concentrate power by announcing he would take control of Washington DC’s police department and deploy federal security forces and 800 National Guard troops, using as justification false claims regarding crime there.

Violent crime in Washington reached a 30-year low in 2024, the Justice Department announced weeks before Trump took office in January. The Republican also made false statements about the prevalence of crime in other cities, including Chicago and New York, all run by Democratic mayors, as the basis for threats to send federal agents or troops onto their streets as well. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said Trump’s comments were “hyperbolic and false.”

Demonstrators display a banner in front of the White House on Monday as Donald Trump announced he would take control of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, despite historically low violent crime in the nation’s capital. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Earlier this year, Trump federalized National Guard troops over the objections of local law enforcement in California, ostensibly to quell largely peaceful protests against often-violent immigration raids by masked federal agents. A federal court was due to hear arguments on Monday in a lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom alleging Trump’s use of the military was illegal.

Trump, 79, made today’s announcement in Washington at a time when he is grappling with sustained criticism from his followers over the handling of files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Trump had a long acquaintance. Bloomberg recently reported the Federal Bureau of Investigation redacted Trump’s name and those of other high-profile individuals from those files.

Student loans are the last thing Stephen Jakubowski is worried about. The 32-year-old doesn’t have a job right now. And he can barely afford his rent and groceries, not to mention the payments on his credit card debt and personal loans. With his budget stretched, Jakubowski is ignoring his $10,000 in federal loans from a roughly two-year stint at San Diego Christian College more than a decade ago, joining millions of other former students who are skipping the bills.

Americans with a collective $1.6 trillion in student loans are finally required to make payments again, following five years of pandemic-era leniency measures from the US government. Efforts by President Joe Biden to scale back student debt were repeatedly blocked by Republicans and the Supreme Court.

But only a third of those now receiving bills are actually paying them, with the rest either unable or unwilling to comply.

Norway’s $1.9 trillion sovereign wealth fund has divested from 11 Israeli companies and is terminating all contracts with external managers in Israel following public outcry over its investments linked to the war in Gaza. Pressure on Norges Bank Investment Management has grown in recent months, reflecting domestic concern over the suffering in the Palestinian enclave. The fund held stock in some 61 Israeli companies as of the end of June this year.

“We are taking these measures in a very special conflict situation,” NBIM Chief Executive Officer Nicolai Tangen said, describing what’s happening in Gaza as “a serious humanitarian crisis.” The move follows a finance ministry review of the NBIM’s holdings in Israel.

Over the weekend, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves to assert greater control over the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces killed several journalists in a targeted strike, the Associated Press reported.

An Israeli protestor in Tel Aviv this weekend shouts from a prison van after being detained by police during a demonstration calling for the release of hostages and an end to the war in Gaza. Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg

Russia’s second largest bank is seeing a sustained deterioration in profits made from lending, feeding concern at the bank over its stability amid the economic pressures from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

VTB Bank’s net interest income slumped 49% to 146.8 billion rubles ($1.9 billion) in the six months to June from a year earlier, the latest decline for its core credit operation. The Russian government has relied heavily on banks, especially state-owned ones like VTB, to help finance the war effort. Such a drop is rare among comparable lenders worldwide, and senior managers at the bank are signaling privately that the data don’t reflect the true seriousness of the situation.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

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