Business

The Biden administration says it could soon launch a formal evaluation of risks posed by vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical that burned in a towering plume of toxic smoke following the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The Environmental Protection Agency this year is set to review risks posed by a handful of chemicals and is considering those used for plastic production as a key benchmark. Vinyl chloride is used to make PVC plastic pipes and toys and is among chemicals eligible for review. The EPA says a risk evaluation would take at least three years. Environmental and public health groups have long pushed to ban the chemical.

Inflation in the United States edged up in July after 12 straight months of declines. But excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation matched the smallest monthly rise in nearly two years, a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have continued to slow price increases. The inflation data showed that overall consumer prices rose 3.2% from a year earlier. That was up from a 3% annual rise in June, which was the lowest rate in more than two years. The latest figure remained far below last year’s peak of 9.1%, though still above the Fed’s 2% inflation target.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to block and regulate high-tech U.S.-based investments going toward China. The administration says the move is targeted even though it reflects an intensifying competition between the world’s two biggest powers. The order signed Wednesday covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence. Senior administration officials says that the effort stemmed from national security goals rather than economic interests, and that the categories it covered were intentionally narrow in scope. The order seeks to blunt China’s ability to use U.S. investments in its technology companies to upgrade its military while also preserving broader levels of trade.

President Joe Biden says his policies of financial and tax incentives have revived U.S. manufacturing. The claim the Democratic president made Wednesday at a New Mexico wind farm plant is supported by a rise in construction spending on new factories. But factory hiring has begun to slow in recent months, a sign the promised boom has yet to fully materialize. Bringing back factory jobs is one of the most popular of White House promises — regardless of who happens to be president. Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush each pledged to boost manufacturing. But factory jobs have struggled to fully return after each recession.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team obtained a search warrant in January for records related to former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, and a judge levied a $350,000 fine on the company for missing the deadline to company. That’s according to court documents released Wednesday. The details were included in a decision from the federal appeals court in Washington rejecting San Francisco-based Twitter’s claim it should not have been held in contempt or sanctioned. It’s unclear what information Smith may have sought from the platform. Possibilities include data about when and where the posts were written, their engagement and the identities of other accounts that reposted Trump’s content.