4 MARKETS

The Hong Kong exchange’s

offer to buy its London

counterpart would link 2

cities racked by turmoil.

6 TECHNOLOGY

Apple TV Plus, a

subscription streaming

service, will cost $5 a month,

but will people pay for it?

7 SPORTS

Gregg Popovich and the U.S.

team made names for

themselves in the FIBA

World Cup by losing.

SAN FRANCISCO — After months of
bickering over who would be cov-
ered by a landmark bill meant to
protect workers, California legis-
lators passed legislation on
Wednesday that could help hun-
dreds of thousands of independ-
ent contractors become employ-
ees and earn a minimum wage,
overtime pay and other benefits.
But even before California’s
governor, Gavin Newsom, had
signed it into law, the battle over
who would be covered flared up
again. Uber, one of the main tar-
gets of the legislation, declared
that the law’s key provisions
would not apply to its drivers, set-
ting off a debate that could have
wide economic ramifications for
businesses and workers alike in
California, and potentially well be-
yond as lawmakers in other states
seek to make similar changes.
“California sets off a chain reac-
tion,” said Dan Ives, a managing

By KATE CONGER

and NOAM SCHEIBER

CONTINUED ON PAGE B4

Gig-Worker Law Sows Confusion and Defiance

A demonstration at Uber’s headquarters last month in support of the legislation to reclassify contract workers.

JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

Negative

Interest

Rates?

The U.S. has never cut

rates below zero. But even

in a topsy-turvy world,

there are big hurdles.

WASHINGTON — The world has gone topsy-

turvy. President Trump invited, and then dis-

invited, the Taliban to Camp David. Taylor

Swift is in a long-term relationship, and

Popeyes put its fried chicken on a bun. Now

Mr. Trump wants the Federal Reserve to join

everyone else in the upside down that is 2019.

The president said Fed officials should

slash interest rates to zero or below in a tweet

on Wednesday. In doing so, he urged the cen-

tral bank to adopt a policy that its counter-

parts, including the European Central Bank

and Bank of Japan, have used as an emer-

gency measure to shore up weak economies.

Given that the Federal Reserve is presid-

ing over a strong economy, it is unlikely to ac-

quiesce. The Fed is expected to make a mod-

est quarter-point cut at its meeting next

week as it tries to guard against growing un-

certainties, lowering its policy rate to 1.75 to 2

percent. But it is also unclear whether the

Fed could practically and successfully use

negative rates to stimulate the economy.

What are negative rates?

Commercial banks usually earn interest on

the extra reserves they keep at central

banks, like the Fed or the European Central

Bank. Negative policy interest rates force

them to pay to keep money in those accounts,

a penalty aimed at pushing them to lend

more and goose the economy.

Several of the Fed’s counterparts have in-

troduced negative rates, including central

banks in Denmark, Switzerland, Japan, Swe-

den and the eurozone, to stabilize either

growth or their currencies.

How do they affect consumers?

While central bank interest rate moves are

usually passed along to investors and con-

sumers, banks in economies like the euro-

zone — which first turned to negative rates

back in 2014 — generally do not charge ev-

eryday savers who keep money in retail bank

accounts. But consumers do earn less inter-

est on their savings accounts, and there are

rare instances in which they have to pay to

keep very large deposits at banks.

On the flip side, consumers benefit from

cheaper loans. In Denmark, where rates

By JEANNA SMIALEK

CONTINUED ON PAGE B5

WASHINGTON — President Trump

said Wednesday night that the

United States would delay its next

planned tariff increase on China

by two weeks, as “a gesture of

good will” that may help to mend

the seriously damaged ties be-

tween the world’s two biggest

economies.

The United States would delay a

planned increase in its 25 percent

tariff on $250 billion of Chinese

goods from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15, a move

that was made “at the request of

the Vice Premier of China, Liu He,

and due to the fact that the Peo-

ple’s Republic of China will be cel-

ebrating their 70th Anniversary

on October 1st,” the president said

in a tweet.

The move comes as trade talks

between the United States and

China have stagnated, leading to

stock market volatility and con-

sternation among businesses that

have paid higher prices to import

and export goods. Despite months

of talks, negotiators still appear

far from a comprehensive trade

deal that would resolve the Trump

administration’s concerns about

Chinese economic practices, in-

cluding its infringement on Amer-

ican intellectual property.

The president’s announcement

will delay tariffs by only two

weeks. But it could allow negotia-

tors to meet ahead of the next

round of tariffs, raising the poten-

tial for that increase to be averted.

The two sides were on the cusp

of a trade deal this spring, when

Chinese leaders decided that

some American demands to

change their laws infringed too

much on Chinese sovereignty.

Since then, Mr. Trump has moved

ahead with taxing an additional

$112 billion of Chinese products,

and he was expected to raise tar-

iffs even further on Oct. 1. China

imposed additional tariffs on $75

In a ‘Gesture of Good Will,’

Trump Delays China Tariffs

By ANA SWANSON

CONTINUED ON PAGE B3

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 B1

0 N

TECH ECONOMY MEDIA FINANCE