📅 On This Day
U.S.-China Tariffs Ignite a Trade War That Shakes Dividend Payers
On July 6, 2018, the first round of U.S. tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods took effect, and China answered immediately with duties on an equal value of American exports. The escalating standoff rattled multinationals across industrials, agriculture, and technology — companies from Caterpillar to Apple flagged tariff headwinds on earnings calls. For dividend investors, the uncertainty cast a long shadow over capital allocation, including dividend growth decisions.
Eight years ago today, a single date on the trade calendar changed the earnings math for dividend payers worldwide.
🇺🇸 US
Source: Reuters; U.S. Trade Representative
🌍 Around the World
Switzerland's Generous Dividends Come With a Steep 35% Toll
Switzerland is home to some of the world's most storied dividend payers — Nestlé, Roche, Novartis, Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance — but its Verrechnungssteuer withholding tax starts at a punishing 35%, among the highest standard rates in countries with major ADR programs. The U.S.-Switzerland treaty can reduce that burden to 15% for qualifying investors, though the process is anything but automatic. The excess 20% above the treaty rate must be reclaimed directly from Swiss tax authorities, with processing times running 12 to 24 months.
Swiss ADR holders in IRAs face a particular sting — with no foreign tax credit available to soften the blow.
🇨🇭 CH
Source: PwC Tax Summaries; Tax Foundation Europe
🔥 Dividend Streak
ADP's 'Automatic' Name Was Once Just a Dream on Paper
Henry Taub founded Automatic Payrolls, Inc. in 1949 with little more than an adding machine and a single client — inspired by watching a company miss payroll because one employee was out sick. The word "automatic" was pure aspiration at the time. Decades later, ADP has logged 50 consecutive years of dividend increases starting from 1976, and the name has more than earned its promise.
An early company salesman, Frank Lautenberg, went on to become a longtime U.S. senator from New Jersey.
ADP — Aeroports de Paris SA
Source: Wikipedia – ADP (company); FundingUniverse company history
🔥 Dividend Streak
ADP's 'Automatic' Name Was Once Just a Dream on Paper
Henry Taub founded Automatic Payrolls, Inc. in 1949 with little more than an adding machine and a single client — inspired by watching a company miss payroll because one employee was out sick. The word "automatic" was pure aspiration at the time. Decades later, ADP has logged 50 consecutive years of dividend increases starting from 1976, and the name has more than earned its promise.
An early company salesman, Frank Lautenberg, went on to become a longtime U.S. senator from New Jersey.
ADP — Automatic Data Processing Inc
Source: Wikipedia – ADP (company); FundingUniverse company history
💡 Did You Know
The MLP Boom Is Over — Most Giants Have Quietly Become Regular Companies
After a brutal wave of distribution cuts between 2014 and 2020 exposed the fragility of the traditional MLP model, many of the sector's largest names converted to standard C-corporations — Kinder Morgan in 2014, Williams Companies in 2018, and others after. Converting means surrendering the pass-through tax advantage, but it unlocks index fund eligibility, erases the K-1 headache that deterred institutional investors, and lets companies retain cash for growth. Remaining pure MLPs like Enterprise Products Partners now operate with far more conservative payout philosophies.
The 10%+ yields that defined the MLP golden age have largely given way to a more measured 6–8% target range.
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence; Alerian MLP sector reports