Author: DEE-ANN DURBIN AP business writer

Business travel to the U.S. fell 9% in April as companies and workers grappled with economic uncertainty and anger over the Trump administration’s tariffs and border policies. The National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures Thursday showing the number of airline and ship passengers who entered the country last month using business visas. The […]

More than 1,000 Starbucks baristas at 75 U.S. stores have gone on strike since Sunday to protest a new company dress code, a union representing the coffee giant’s workers said Wednesday. Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and […]

Expedia Group said Friday that reduced travel demand in the United States led to its weaker-than-expected revenue in the first quarter. Expedia, which owns the lodging reservation platforms Hotels.com and VRBO as well as an eponymous online travel agency, was the latest American company to report slowing business with both international visitors and domestic travelers. […]

Guacamole has been spared from tariffs for now. But salsa may not be so lucky. While threatened tariffs on Mexican avocados have been put on pause, the U.S. government plans to put a nearly 21% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes starting July 14. A duty — like a tariff — is a tax on imports, […]

McDonald’s store traffic fell unexpectedly in the first quarter as economic uncertainty weighed on diners. The burger giant’s same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 1% globally in the January-March period. Without the impact of the extra leap year day in 2024, same-store sales were flat, the company said. Wall […]

Starbucks’ sales are on the upswing again, with the company reporting its first quarterly sales increase in more than a year in the January-March period. But the coffee giant said Tuesday that its turnaround effort is far from complete, and its fiscal second quarter also saw lagging store traffic and lower-than-expected earnings. “Some of the […]

Coca-Cola reported better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter and said the impact of tariffs on its business are likely to be “manageable.” Coke and other beverage makers are facing a 25% tariff on the aluminum they use for cans, among other items. Last week, rival PepsiCo lowered its full-year earnings expectations due to the impact […]

A labor rights group sued Starbucks on Thursday, alleging that it sourced coffee from a major cooperative in Brazil whose member farms were cited for keeping workers in slave-like conditions. International Rights Advocates filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington on behalf of eight Brazilian coffee farm workers. The lawsuit alleges that Starbucks […]