Economy

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its July 2026 Import and Export Price Indexes at 8:30 a.m. Eastern today, with June figures serving as the most recent benchmark. In June, U.S. import prices rose 7.1 percent year over year and export prices rose 10.2 percent, driven largely by fuel and industrial supplies. The indexes document the composition and scale of price changes across end-use categories, industries, and trading partners, but cannot by themselves attribute any movement to tariffs, commodity prices, or exchange rates.

The Federal Reserve will publish the minutes from its July 28–29 FOMC meeting on August 19 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. The meeting produced a 9–3 vote to hold the federal-funds rate at 3.5 to 3.75 percent, with Hammack, Kashkari, and Logan dissenting in favor of a quarter-point increase. The minutes are expected to reveal whether the three formal dissenters reflected broader support for a hike and how participants assessed whether tariff-related price pressure was temporary or indicative of a wider inflation trend.

President Trump's July 20 proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 set a 50% additional duty on Canadian motor vehicle, dairy, and alcoholic beverage goods effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on August 19, 2026, covering products from wine to hockey sticks regardless of USMCA status. As of early August 18, no public delay, suspension, or signed agreement had been issued, and Canadian Trade Minister LeBlanc stated negotiations were unfinished. A U.S. proposal to reduce existing auto tariffs from 25% to 15% was considered insufficient by Canada, leaving the primary proclamations as the operative public schedule.

Eurostat will publish its final July euro-area HICP on August 19, confirming or revising the flash estimate of 2.9% annual inflation, driven by energy prices rising 10.0% year-on-year. The release will add component contribution points, country-level figures, and any revisions absent from the preliminary data. These figures feed directly into the ECB's inflation assessment ahead of its September 9–10 Governing Council meeting, where policymakers are monitoring energy pass-through and second-round effects.