There will be two key issues in the week ahead–continuation of the much-debated tariff and trade issues between the U.S. and China and the initial public offering of luxury resale platform The RealReal.
Tariffs: The USTR hearings on the proposed Section 301 tariff list–the proposed 25 percent tariff to be implemented on $300 billion of goods that include apparel, footwear and some textiles–will resume on Monday and conclude on Tuesday. Following the close of the hearings, there is a mandatory 7-day rebuttal period.
Meanwhile, representatives from the U.S. and China are continuing discussions on trade issues ahead of the G-20 summit in Osaka on June 28-29, where President Trump is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping. President Trump has said he’ll have a decision within two weeks of the G-20 meeting on whether the proposed tariffs will be implemented.
Separately, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Monday will publish in the Federal Register the procedures for applying for an exclusion to the Tranche 3 tariffs that were put in place on Chinese imports last September. If a request is granted, it will allow the applicant to obtain a refund for duties paid starting from Sept. 24, 2018, when the tariff was implemented.
IPO: With Levi Strauss & Co. and Revolve having completed their public offerings, next out of the gate will be The RealReal Inc. The resale marketplace has already set the terms for its $270 million IPO, with the per-share offering price set at between $17 and $19. The IPO would be coming at a good time, given that the equity markets for the past two weeks have been trading mostly on the upswing, compared with the volatility from a few weeks back when there was concern about tariffs on imports from both China and Mexico.
Consumer Confidence: The Conference Board will report on June’s Consumer Confidence Index on Tuesday. It’ll give a good read on whether consumers are still confident heading into the summer months–or not. And that might be one factor for the Federal Reserve to consider in terms of whether it should lower interest rates when the Federal Open Market Committee meets next month.
Government Reports: On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis releases the Personal Income and Outlays report for May, giving a reading on how much consumers spent on apparel and footwear.