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The goods and services trade gap shrank 16% from the prior month to $60.2 billion, Commerce Department data showed Aug. 5.

Caterpillar — seen as a bellwether of the health of the global economy — saw total sales slip in both construction and resource industries.

Copper rose as traders digested President Donald Trump’s decision to spare the most traded form of the metal from his 50% tariff, while a mine accident in Chile raised supply concerns. 

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe welcomed a $31 million expansion by a unit of Schütz Container Systems in an investment targeting Midwest customers by the maker of intermediate bulk containers.

The newly confirmed administrator will play a central role in implementing Secretary Sean Duffy’s vision for the Department of Transportation.

Corn is holding above the key psychological threshold of $4 a bushel with America’s most widely grown crop on track for a record harvest. Meanwhile, soybeans have drifted below $10 a bushel.

Trump last week announced a 25% rate on Indian exports. He also threatened more duties if India continued to buy oil from Russia.

The  iX3 SUV will be the first of 40 new or updated models. “We’re 109 years old, and it’s by far the biggest single investment into one architecture we’ve ever done,” CEO Oliver Zipse said.

The new facility is expected to open in 2027 and will provide 1,000 full- and part-time jobs when fully operational. Since 2010, the company has brought 4,000 jobs to Arkansas.

Under the terms agreed with Washington, the 27-nation bloc faces a 15% U.S. tariff on most of its exports. That rate would also apply to cars rather than the current 25% level.