Trump companies received PPP loans, Fed worries about plateauing growth, and other news

As much as $273 million in federal coronavirus aid was awarded to more than 100 companies that are owned or operated by major donors to President Donald Trump’s election efforts, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data.

Many were among the first to be approved for a loan in early April, when the administration was struggling to launch the lending program. And only eight businesses had to wait until early May before securing the aid, according to the AP’s review of data released Monday.

Chinese EV startups Byton, Nio, and Karma Automotive were among the companies that received the largest loans from the government’s COVID-19-related Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in April, with each receiving loans of between $5 million and $10 million, according to new data released by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Byton received its loan shortly after it furloughed hundreds of employees in April, according to the US government. The company — which is backed by Chinese state-owned automaker First Auto Works — said in its application to the Treasury Department and the Small Business Association (SBA) that the loan would help it retain 387 jobs. But just last week, the startup announced it is halting operations for at least six months and laid off workers at its North American headquarters.

Treasury officials on Tuesday announced that five more airlines have signed letters of intent to accept government loans through the $2 trillion coronavirus economic relief package known as the Cares Act.

Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines join American, Frontier, Hawaiian, Sky West and Spirit airlines, which signed letters of intent last week.

The largest United States air carriers have all now signed letters of intent with the US Department of the Treasury paving the way for federal loans to help them weather the novel coronavirus.

United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, and Southwest Airlines were among the list of carriers the Treasury said on Tuesday had signed letters regarding the loan terms, which would include the issue of warrants and restrictions on executive compensation and share buy-backs.

A surge in coronavirus cases that threatens to pinch consumer spending and job gains just as some stimulus programs are due to expire has Federal Reserve policymakers worried, with at least one pledging more support ahead from the U.S. central bank.

“We have a lot of accommodation in place; there’s more that we can do, there’s more that we will do,” Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida told CNN International on Tuesday.

Senior Federal Reserve leaders say high unemployment is all but certain to persist despite a surge in rehiring in May and June, and that the central bank might have to do more to help the labor market.

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly noted Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic has decimated important parts of the economy such as travel, tourism, hotels, restaurants and retail. Those industries lost millions of jobs in the early stages of the pandemic and will have to reimagine how they do business in a era of social distancing in order to survive.

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said activity is slowing in her region due to rising coronavirus cases, and she sees more policy help necessary to help the economy through the pandemic.

Speaking to CNBC in a live interview Tuesday, the central bank official echoed comments from her Atlanta counterpart, Raphael Bostic, who also said he sees a rougher road to recovery.

American climate campaigners may well envy the European Union right now. As member countries emerge from their coronavirus lockdowns, EU top brass is pushing for a renewables-heavy recovery from the pandemic’s recession, in line with the principles of its “Green Deal” first championed by commissioner Ursula von der Leyen last year. This week, though, European lawmakers are debating an obscure trade deal that could lock not just Europe, but much of the rest of the world into decades of continued fossil fuel use: the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).

The Energy Charter Treaty is a binding agreement signed in 1991 to govern the way its signatories dealt with cross-border investments in the energy industry. Initially imagined as a way to assure Western energy companies that their investments in post-Soviet bloc countries wouldn’t be expropriated, it now applies to national policy in 53 countries spanning Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. As such, a big part of the agreement involves discouraging national governments from implementing policies that suddenly render companies’ infrastructure and investments unprofitable or outright illegal. The worry, for those concerned about climate change, is that this could make attempts to transition fully off fossil fuels almost impossible.