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1. China raises US tariffs
The trade war saga between China and the U.S. continues. On Friday, China increased its tariffs on American goods to 125% from 84% starting Sunday, the New York Times reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump clarified on Thursday that its tariffs on Chinese goods will be 145% rather than the 125% initially reported. China said it won't continue to match any increases by the U.S.
“Even if the U.S. continues to impose higher tariffs, it would be economically meaningless and would become a joke in the history of the world economy," Beijing said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
2. Trump says undocumented hotel workers could work legally
Undocumented people working in hotels and on farms could be allowed to leave the U.S. and return as legal workers if their employers vouched for them, President Trump said in a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, CNBC reports.
"We have to take care of our farmers, the hotels and, you know, the various places where they tend to, where they tend to need people," he said to reporters.
About 7.6% of the hospitality industry is undocumented, as of a 2023 study done by the American Immigration Council. Trump's administration has rolled out strict immigration plans, including deporting nearly 300 people last month.
3. Marriott CEO 'bullish' on consumer confidence
Despite geopolitical strife, economic disruptions and other uncertainty bogging down expectations of travel demand, Marriott President and CEO Tony Capuano said he has confidence in demand for travel and experiences: "Without question, I'm bullish," he said during an on-stage interview at the International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA last week in Berlin.
HNN's Bryan Wroten reports that part of Capuano's optimism is driven by its relationships with credit card issuers.
“Pre-pandemic, you saw a younger demographic really start to shift their spending away from hard goods toward travel and experiences,” Capuano said. “Now when we look at the data, it is clear that the pandemic acted as an accelerant to that trend across demographics.”
4. Largest Texas hotel to refinance debt
Elliott Investment Management and the Chartres Lodging Group — owners of the 1,841-room Sheraton Dallas Hotel, the largest hotel in Texas by number of rooms — plan to close on a deal to receive $300 million to refinance a loan secured a year ago, CoStar News' Candace Carlisle reports.
"The loan is expected to be used to refinance $270 million of existing debt that was secured last year, pay closing costs and return about $30 million of cash equity to the hotel's owners, according to a presale report compiled by Kroll Bond Rating Agency," Carlisle reports.
The ownership group acquired the hotel in 2017 for about $224.5 million.
5. Singapore's SC Capital acquires Japanese hotel
Singapore real estate investment trust SC Capital Partners acquired a 165-room hotel in Kagoshima, the provincial capital of the Japanese island of Kyushu, HNN's Terence Baker reports. The hotel was formerly the Hotel Gran Cerezo Kagoshima and has been renamed the Hotel Oriental Express Kagoshima Tenmonkan.
The hotel will be operated by SC Capital division Hotel Management Japan under the Oriental Express hotel flag. It was built in 2017 and renovated earlier this year. The price of the deal was undisclosed.