Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng has met with several U.S. finance executives in the last month as Beijing seeks to build relationships ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on China.
He Lifeng is one of China’s four vice premiers, and heads the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s economic and finance committee.
“The Chinese are seeking all possible avenues to access those now ascending to power in Washington. The Trump Team,” said Peter Alexander, founder of Shanghai-based consulting firm Z-Ben Advisors. “Back channeling is how China operates, even prefers, when building lines of communications.”
Goldman Sachs said it was aware of the reports. The two other financial firms did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.
“I do think the Wall Street folks that are coming into commerce and treasury will serve a moderating role on the trade protectionist side,” said Clark Packard, research fellow at the Cato Institute. “It’s all relative because I do think there’s going to be something protectionist on the trade side. Those voices will be the voices that work to mitigate some of that.”
“Especially at Treasury they’re pretty worried about market reaction,” Packard said. “The one thing that can truly maybe scare Trump away from a really aggressive [policy] would be the market reaction.”
U.S. stocks are on track for a relatively rare second straight year of more than 20% gains. After tumbling early this year, Chinese stocks rebounded after Beijing signaled a shift toward stimulus in late September. Chinese authorities on Monday affirmed that supportive stance in a high-level meeting.
‘Keeping its options open’
With actions such as hosting Wall Street executives and imposing export controls on critical minerals, Beijing is keeping its options open, said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, who is Maurice R. Greenberg senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “They are preparing for the worst-case scenario.”
But she cautioned that it’s unlikely that financial institutions can do much to mitigate tariffs and tensions with the U.S. “Business transactions and Wall Street executives, one way or another, they would not give up opportunities in any market as long as it fits into their profile,” Liu said.
Chinese financial media summarized He Lifeng’s meetings with the U.S. executives as sending a signal on Beijing’s willingness to open up the financial sector and attract long-term, foreign institutional investment. Foreign capital inflows are often cast by Chinese state media as a symbol of support for the domestic market.
The Chinese vice premier also met with Invesco President and CEO Andrew Schlossberg in Beijing on Nov. 12, and HSBC Group Chairman Mark Tucker on Nov. 14, according to state media. HSBC said it had nothing to add to the report. Invesco did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S.-China capital markets have been “arguably the most dynamic and inter-connected aspect” of the bilateral relationship in the last two decades, said Winston Ma, adjunct professor at NYU School of Law.
“I don’t want to get into a situation where they do and we have a dip or something, because that can always happen,” Trump told CNBC’s Jim Cramer during “Squawk on the Street.”
Trump repeatedly used the stock market as a performance barometer during his first term. In that time, the S&P 500 scaled nearly 68% — reaching all-time highs. Part of that was due to corporate tax cuts passed by the administration at the time. The Federal Reserve also maintained interest rates close to historical lows back then as it tried to spur inflation — also boosting stock prices.
President-elect Donald Trump is greeted by traders, as he walks the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York.
Alex Brandon | AP
He touted at the exchange on Thursday the possibility of lowering taxes again. “We’re gonna do things that haven’t really been done before. We’re gonna cut taxes still further,” he said. “You pay 21% if you don’t build here. If you do, we’re going to try and get it to 15%, but you have to build your product, make your product in the USA.”
Wall Street CEOs and investors such as Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon and Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman came to the NYSE for Trump’s bell-ringing ceremony. Ackman told CNBC later that “most of the country understands that the more successful businesses are, the more the stock market goes up, the more that their wages rise, the more job growth, the more opportunity, the more businesses who come to this country, it lifts all boats.”
To be sure, while Trump refrained from telling investors to buy stocks now, he maintained a bullish outlook longer term.
“I think long term this is going to be a country like no other. We had the three best years ever until Covid came,” he said after being named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Constellation Energy — The energy stock added 2% following an upgrade to buy from neutral at Bank of America. Analyst Ross Fowler said that the company was in the best position to benefit from upcoming regulatory clarity coupled with increasing demand and tightening supply. This potential is not currently baked into the company’s price, making shares undervalued, he added. Celsius Holdings — Shares of the energy drink manufacturer rose nearly 4% after JPMorgan initiated coverage of the company with an overweight rating, citing lighter inventory and a reacceleration in U.S. energy drink category growth as catalysts. Uber — Shares of the ridesharing company climbed more than 3%, rebounding from losses earlier in the week. The stock has declined for three straight days, including a 5.8% drop on Wednesday after General Motors halted funding of Cruise. The autonomous driving division had a partnership with Uber. Beverage companies — Deutsche Bank analyst Steve Powers upgraded Coca-Cola , PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper to buy from neutral. Each of the stocks moved up around 1% in premarket trading. The analyst anticipates accelerating trends in restaurant traffic and more impulse purchasing next year, which he believes should benefit the beverage and snacks industry. Adobe — The software giant tumbled 11% after issuing weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for its fiscal first quarter. Adobe anticipates revenues between $5.63 billion and $5.68 billion, versus the LSEG consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Oxford Industries — Shares of the apparel and footwear retailer declined about 4% after posting third-quarter results that fell short of expectations. The owner of retail brands such as Tommy Bahama reported adjusted losses of 11 cents per share on revenue of $308 million for the period. Analysts polled by FactSet expected it to earn 9 cents per share on $316.8 million in revenue. Chewy — The pet goods retailer’s shares fell about 3% in premarket trading after it announced a public offering of $500 million shares, which are being sold by Buddy Chester Sub. The retailer plans to concurrently purchase $50 million in shares from Buddy Chester. — CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han, Jesse Pound, Yun Li and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, testifies during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on June 14, 2023.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday announced the final version of a rule limiting banks’ ability to charge overdraft fees. It says the rule will save American consumers $5 billion annually.
The regulator said that banks could opt to charge $5 for overdrafts — a steep drop from the average fee of around $35 per transaction — or limit the fee to an amount that covers the lenders’ costs, or charge any fee while disclosing the interest rate of the loan.
“For far too long, the largest banks have exploited a legal loophole that has drained billions of dollars from Americans’ deposit accounts,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “The CFPB is cracking down on these excessive junk fees and requiring big banks to come clean about the interest rate they’re charging on overdraft loans.”
The effort, part of a flurry of activity from the CFPB in the waning days of the Biden administration, faces stiff opposition from U.S. banking groups that have successfully stymied other efforts from the regulator. For instance, a rule capping credit card late fees at $8 per incident that was set to take effect in May has been held up in federal court.
The CFPB said that its overdraft rule will take effect Oct. 1, 2025, though its ultimate fate is unclear.
Even before the election victory of Donald Trump last month, the fate of the overdraft rule would’ve been murky, thanks to industry pushback. But Trump is expected to install a new CFPB head next month that is unlikely to support Biden-era efforts to rein in banking activity.
Bank lobbying groups have argued that the overdraft rule, first proposed in January as part of Biden’s war on junk fees, would reduce access to overdraft services and could send customers to worse alternatives like payday loans.
The Consumer Bankers Association said Thursday it was “exploring all options” to push back against the rule.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.