Business News Digest

JAMEY KEATEN

July 08, 2025

AP Business Digest

Here are the AP's top business stories that have moved or are planned to move today. All times U.S. Eastern. For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit AP Newsroom's Coverage Plan.

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UPCOMING

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US-EPA-ASBESTOS BAN

DESCRIPTION: The Trump administration won't be letting the last type of asbestos legally allowed in U.S. manufacturing stick around after all, reversing an earlier plan to reconsider a Biden administration ban.

UPCOMING: By 07/08/2025 12:30 p.m. EDT, Photo, Text

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US PHILADELPHIA LABOR STRIKE

DESCRIPTION: Coverage on merits of a possible eighth day of a city worker strike impacting trash pickup and other services in Philadelphia.

ON MERITS: By 07/08/2025 3:00 p.m. EDT, Photo, Video, Text

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NEW AND DEVELOPING

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EU--SWITZERLAND-MALARIA-INFANTS

Swiss medicines authority issues first approval for antimalarial drug for treatment of infants

SUMMARY: Switzerland's medical products authority has granted the first approval for a malaria medicine designed for small infants. It's billed as a breakthrough against a disease that takes hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Nearly all of the deaths are in Africa. Swissmedic gave its green light Tuesday to use of the medicine from Basel-based pharmaceutical company Novartis for treatment of babies with body weights between 2 and 5 kilograms or nearly 4½ to 11 pounds. It's only the third time that the Swiss agency has approved a treatment under a fast-track authorization process to help developing countries access needed treatment.

WORDS: 406 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 10:17 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:5c990638a700322d88ddbeea67bda158&mediaType=text

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US--TSA-SHOES-SECURITY

Travelers may no longer be required to remove shoes before boarding a plane

SUMMARY: For the first time in almost 20 years, travelers may no longer have to take off their shoes during security screenings at certain U.S. airports. The Transportation Security Administration is looking to abandon the requirement, according to media reports. If implemented, it would put an end to a security screening mandate put in place almost 20 years ago, several years after "shoe bomber" Richard Reid's attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001. Travel newsletter Gate Access was first to report that the security screening change is coming, with ABC News citing an internal memo sent to TSA officers last week that states the new policy lets travelers keep their shoes on during screenings at many U.S. airports beginning on Sunday.

WORDS: 322 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 10:08 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1b9fda716f7a24eddf2e706857f2b788&mediaType=text

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FINANCIAL-MARKETS

Wall Street is mixed amid Trump's new tariff deadlines

SUMMARY: Wall Street is opening mixed as investors shrug off a new U.S. tariff deadline. The S&P 500 was flat in early trading Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 47 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up 0.2%. The market slumped a day earlier after President Donald Trump announced a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea and new tariff rates on a dozen other nations scheduled to go into effect on Aug. 1. The S&P posted its biggest drop since June on Monday, but remains near the record it set last week.

WORDS: 462 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 10:07 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:22360b275c91795bcb71f43f8c77d577&mediaType=text

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EU--BRITAIN-POST OFFICE SCANDAL

At least 13 may have killed themselves over UK's Post Office wrongful convictions scandal

SUMMARY: A report says at least 13 people were thought to have taken their own lives as a result of Britain's Post Office scandal. Another 59 people contemplated suicide over the scandal which is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in U.K. history. Almost 1,000 postal employees were wrongly prosecuted or convicted of theft, fraud or false accounting over about 15 years because of a faulty computer system introduced by the Post Office. Some were imprisoned and others forced into bankruptcy. Tuesday's report was the first to be published from a wide-ranging inquiry. A further report is expected at a later date.

WORDS: 483 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 10:00 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:70a6945a3acf945ea9d121425fdd028c&mediaType=text

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TRUMP TARIFFS-COUNTRIES

A look at the countries that received Trump's tariff letters

SUMMARY: President Donald Trump has sent letters to 14 countries outlining higher tariffs they'll face if they don't make trade deals with the U.S. by Aug. 1. The letters were posted on Truth Social. Trump warned countries that they would face even higher tariffs if they retaliated by increasing their own import taxes. South Korean and Japan both had their tariffs set at 25%. Imports from Myanmar and Laos would be taxed at 40%, Cambodia and Thailand at 36%, Serbia and Bangladesh at 35%, Indonesia at 32%, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30% and Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia at 25%.

WORDS: 517 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 8:11 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:166230b4fa2be33ece1825322b34ff6a&mediaType=text

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US--TRUMP-TARIFFS

Trump sets 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea, and new import taxes on 12 other nations

SUMMARY: President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other countries. Trump provided notice of the tariffs to begin on Aug. 1 by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed to the leaders of the various countries. The letters warned them to not retaliate by increasing their own import taxes, or else the Trump administration would further increase import taxes. The higher tariffs could hinder economic growth, if not increase recession risks.

WORDS: 1561 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 7:40 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:2c725e8f06367e20f9300c1081ea4ec0&mediaType=text

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US--INVESTORS BUYING HOMES

Investors snap up growing share of US homes as traditional buyers struggle to afford one

WORDS: 477 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 6:00 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:7aa2bc78c87bfb1f292fe4321fe658cb&mediaType=text

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AS--THAILAND-CASINOS

Thailand's Cabinet withdraws a controversial bill to legalize casinos

WORDS: 313 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 5:13 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:a2e5ab856fee4d85915fa8c94e51a6f8&mediaType=text

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US--AMAZON PRIME DAY

Amazon extends Prime Day discounts to 4 days as retailers weigh tariff-related price increases

SUMMARY: Amazon's annual Prime Day sales are here again. The e-commerce giant is making the now-misnamed Prime Day a four-day event for the first time. Its promised blitz of summer deals for Prime members starts at 3:01 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday and runs until early Friday. The company launched the event in 2015 and expanded it to two days in 2019. Amazon executives declined to comment on the potential impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs on Prime Day deals. Some retail analysts expect U.S. consumers to make purchases this week out of fear that high taxes on foreign imports will make items they want more expensive later.

WORDS: 1198 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 4:08 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:9054c1cd3cb38b3bb30bc8269759c967&mediaType=text

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AS--CHINA-VISA FREE

China extends visa-free entry to more than 70 countries to draw tourists

SUMMARY: China now allows citizens from 74 countries to enter visa-free for up to 30 days. This policy aims to boost tourism, the economy, and China's global influence. The government has expanded the program significantly in recent months, adding many European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries. In 2024, over 20 million foreign visitors entered without visas, more than double the previous year. However, major African nations remain excluded. A separate transit policy permits travelers from 10 other countries, including the U.S. and U.K., to stay for 10 days under specific conditions. Tourism companies report significant growth due to these relaxed entry rules.

WORDS: 776 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 3:40 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:48ff1727c87e11becd18e6d1a113f49d&mediaType=text

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LT--MEXICO-MASS-TOURISM-PROTESTS

Mexico's president calls march against mass tourism 'xenophobic.' Critics blame government failures

SUMMARY: A fierce protest in Mexico City railing against gentrification and mass tourism was fueled by long-running government failures and active promotion to attract digital nomads, according to experts. The criticism comes after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned that Friday's protest was marked by xenophobia. It revived a debate over an influx of Americans that have increasingly flocked to the Latin American capital in recent years. Many Mexicans say they've been priced out of their neighborhoods. That came to a head when protests last week turned violent.

WORDS: 1060 - MOVED: 07/08/2025 12:51 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:3139c76f7253acec8dddca372ae66e89&mediaType=text

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