Business News at a Glance

Companies Warn More China Tariffs Will Cripple Them and Hurt Consumers

Executives from U.S. companies flocked to Washington on Monday to warn the Trump administration that imposing tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would cripple their businesses and raise prices on everything from bicycles to car seats to refrigerators. Dozens of companies voiced concerns to trade officials during the first of six days of hearings on the administration’s plan to impose tariffs on a wide array of Chinese imports. The hearing by the U.S. Trade Representative, initially scheduled for just three days, was doubled to accommodate the leaders of nearly 400 companies and trade groups.

Kim Focuses on Economy as Nuclear Talks With U.S. Stall

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is lashing out against economic missteps as he turns his attention to building prosperity. But Kim’s message is directed as much to the United States as to his people, experts in North Korean politics said. Since late June, Kim has devoted almost all of his public activities to visiting factories, farms and construction sites rather than the military and weapons test sites that he frequented last year. By showing himself focused on the economy, Kim may be signaling that he is willing to negotiate away his nuclear weapons if Washington offers the right incentives.

Trump Complains About Fed Chairman’s Raising of Interest Rates

President Donald Trump complained to wealthy donors at a fundraiser in the Hamptons last week that the man he chose as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, has disappointed him by raising interest rates, according to people who attended the event. In the midst of a long riff on the economy, Trump said that he had expected Powell to adhere to an easy-money monetary policy, by keeping interest rates low, when he nominated Powell in November to succeed Janet Yellen. Instead, Powell has continued Yellen’s pace of gradual return to historically normal rates, raising rates twice this year.

After the Bitcoin Boom: Hard Lessons for Cryptocurrency Investors

Many cryptocurrencies have given back all of the enormous gains they experienced last winter. The virtual currency markets have been through booms and busts before — and recovered to boom again. But this bust could have a more lasting effect on the technology’s adoption because of the sheer number of ordinary people who invested in digital tokens over the last year and who are likely to associate cryptocurrencies with financial ruin. The damage is likely to be particularly bad in places like South Korea and Japan, where ordinary investors with little expertise jumped in with abandon.

8 Fast-Food Chains Will End ‘No-Poach’ Policies

Eight more restaurant chains have agreed to end a policy that blocks workers from switching jobs within the individual brands, becoming the latest companies to curtail a once-prevalent hiring practice that critics say depressed wages for some of the United States’ lowest-paid employees. As part of agreements with the Washington state attorney general’s office Monday, the companies agreed to remove a so-called no-poach clause from their contracts with franchisees. Such restrictions until recently were ubiquitous. That began to change last year, after two economists at Princeton focused on how no-poach clauses could lock workers into low-wage jobs.

Venezuela Agrees to Pay $2 Billion Over Seizure of Oil Projects

More than a decade ago, Venezuela seized several oil projects from the U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips without compensation. Now, under pressure after ConocoPhillips carried out its own seizures, the Venezuelans are going to make amends. ConocoPhillips announced on Monday that the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, or Pdvsa, had agreed to a $2 billion judgment handed down by an International Chamber of Commerce tribunal that arbitrated the dispute. Pdvsa will be allowed to pay over nearly five years, but as it is nearly bankrupt, even those terms may be hard to meet.

PepsiCo to Buy SodaStream for $3.2 Billion, in Push for Healthier Options

PepsiCo announced Monday that it planned to buy SodaStream, the popular maker of home-carbonation machines, for $3.2 billion, as the beverage giant extends its bet on products that are not sugary sodas. The deal is a late effort by Indra K. Nooyi, PepsiCo’s departing chief executive, to firmly steer the beverage company toward healthier snack and drink offerings. Under Nooyi it has shifted more and more attention to products like premium bottled water, baked food and veggie chips. That strategy has drawn intense criticism at times, including from activist shareholders.