U.S. automakers, now facing their worst sales slump in 15 years, are nervously eyeing world trade talks they fear could open the U.S. market to more imports without giving their exports a boost.
“We’re worried about the direction it’s taking,” Steve Collins, president of the Automotive Trade Policy Council, which represents General Motors Corp, Ford Motor [...]

Major automakers are expected to post steep declines in U.S. sales for May, as the spike in gasoline prices battered an industry already reeling from weak consumer confidence and tighter credit.
Weak U.S. sales in May would add to growing concerns that the world’s largest market for vehicles is headed for a deeper downturn this year, [...]

“The economy is far from being ‘out of the woods,’” wrote Brian Bethune and Nigel Gault, economist for Global Insight. The economic indicators in the coming week will show “an economy that is still struggling.”
The data will cover all the main parts of the economy: Consumer spending, manufacturing, housing and inflation.
Consumer spending, industrial output and [...]