By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press Business Writer

Snack food maker Mondelez International is suing the Aldi supermarket chain, alleging the packaging for Aldi’s store-brand cookies and crackers “blatantly copies” Mondelez products like Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Oreos.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Illinois, Chicago-based Mondelez said Aldi’s packaging was “likely to deceive and confuse customers” and threatened to irreparably harm Mondelez and its brands. The company is seeking monetary damages and a court order that would stop Aldi from selling products that infringe on its trademarks.

This combo of images shows, Mondelez’s Wheat Thins, left, and, Aldi’s Thin Wheat, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Glenview, Ill. (AP Photos/Nam Y. Huh)

A message seeking comment was left Thursday with Aldi.

In the lawsuit, Mondelez displayed side-by-side photos of multiple products. Aldi’s Thin Wheat crackers, for example, come in a gold box very similar to Mondelez’s Wheat Thins. Aldi’s chocolate sandwich cookies and Oreos both have blue packaging. The supermarket’s Golden Round crackers and Mondelez’s Ritz crackers are packaged in red boxes.

Aldi, a German discount chain with U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Illinois, keeps prices low by primarily selling products under its own labels.

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The chain has faced lawsuits over its packaging before. Last year, an Australian court found that Aldi infringed on the copyright of Baby Bellies snack puffs for young children. In that case, Aldi’s packaging featured a cartoon owl and similar colors to the name-brand packaging.

Earlier this year, a U.K. appeals court ruled in favor of Thatchers, a cider company, which sued Aldi over design similarities in the packaging of its lemon cider.

Mondelez said in its lawsuit that the company had contacted Aldi on numerous occasions about “confusingly similar packaging.” Mondelez said Aldi discontinued or changed the packaging on some items but continued to sell others.

The lawsuit also alleges that Aldi infringed on Mondalez’s trade dress rights for the packaging of Nutter Butter and Nilla Wafers cookies, and its Premium cracker brand.

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is giving back some of its winning week and month on Friday following a mixed set of profit reports from Gap, Ulta Beauty and other companies navigating the challenges created by President Donald Trump’s on-and-off tariffs.

The S&P 500 was down 0.4% in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 119 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.

Gap helped drag the market down even though the retailer reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company behind Banana Republic and Old Navy fell 19% after saying tariffs on imports from China and other countries could add up to $300 million to its costs this fiscal year. It has strategies set to mitigate up to half of that before it hits its profits.

This week and month on Wall Street have been dominated by questions about what will happen with Trump’s tariffs, which investors worry could grind the economy into a recession, erode companies’ profits and layer even more challenges on households who are already sick of inflation.

Hopes had largely been rising that the worst of such worries had passed, which in turn sent stocks rallying, after Trump paused his tariffs on both China and the European Union. A U.S. court then on Wednesday blocked many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs. That has the S&P 500 on track for its first winning month in four and potentially its best in nearly two years.

But the tariffs remain in place for now while the White House appeals the ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the ultimate outcome is still uncertain. Trump also briefly shook markets shortly before the U.S. stock market opened for trading Friday, when he accused China of not living up to its end of the agreement that paused their tariffs against each other.

“So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

The impact was limited though, and futures for U.S. stock indexes quickly pared much of their losses. Since Wednesday’s ruling, analysts and investors have been saying Trump and his administration would likely find new avenues to impose tariffs on trading partners.

Trump has said he’s using tariffs to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and that U.S. households and businesses may feel some pain in the process.

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American Eagle Outfitters is one of the companies that has withdrawn its financial forecasts for the upcoming year, in part because of uncertainty about the economy. Its stock dropped 5.1% after it reported a larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected and said it will keep its outlook for 2025 withdrawn.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Ulta Beauty, which climbed 14.5% after the retailer reported stronger sales and profit than analysts forecast and raised the top end of its forecasted range for revenue this fiscal year. That was even though CEO Kecia Steelman called the operating environment “fluid.”

Red Robin Gourmet Burger soared 75.7% after reporting a profit for the latest quarter, when analysts expected a loss.

Shares of SharpLink Gaming rose another 51% to bring its gain for the week to a whopping 1,680% after the marketing company said it would raise $425 million to buy the cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain. The company delivers leads to U.S. sportsbooks and global casino companies and has been expanding into the global crypto gaming market.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively steady after a report showed that the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower in April than economists expected.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.42% from 4.43% late Thursday.

The Fed has left its benchmark borrowing rate steady at its last three meetings, in part due to uncertainty about how tariffs will impact inflation.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes rose modestly while Asian markets fell.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key U.S. inflation gauge slowed last month as President Donald Trump’s tariffs have yet to noticeably push up prices, while American incomes jumped.

Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose just 2.1% in April compared with a year earlier, down from 2.3% in March and the lowest since September. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.5% from a year earlier, below the March figure of 2.7%. Economists track core prices because they typically provide a better read on where inflation is headed.

The figures show inflation is still declining from its post-pandemic spike, which reached the highest level in four decades in July 2022. Economists and some business executives have warned that prices will likely head higher as Trump’s widespread tariffs take effect, though the timing and impact of those duties are now in doubt after they were struck down late Wednesday in court.

On a monthly basis, overall prices and core prices both increses just 0.1% from March to April.

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At the same time, incomes — before adjusting for inflation — rose a healthy 0.8%. Much of that gain reflected an increase in Social Security benefits for some retired teachers, fire fighters, and federal workers whose incomes previously weren’t fully counted toward Social Security benefits.

The inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve said at their most recent meeting May 6-7 that inflation is still elevated, compared to their target of 2%. Fed officials, who focus more on core prices, broadly support keeping their key interest rate steady while they evaluate the impact of the tariffs on inflation and jobs.

Consumer spending rose 0.2% in April from March, the report said, but that’s down from the big 0.7% rise in March.

The court ruling last Wednesday said that most of Trump’s tariffs were unlawful, including his duties on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, as well as those on more than 50 other countries. Tariffs on steel, aluminum, and cars were implemented under different laws and remain in place.

But the duties were allowed to remain in effect while the Trump administration appeals the ruling against them. And administration officials say they will find other legal authorities, if needed, to implement the tariffs. As a result, what tariffs will end up in place and for how long remains highly uncertain.

By BERNARD CONDON, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk is leaving Washington after a short but turbulent stint in government and getting back to his numerous businesses, each with their own set of issues for the billionaire to address.

Start with his electric car company Tesla. While how much Musk accomplished in his role as President Donald Trump’s chief cost-cutter is up for debate, it’s clear his association with right-wing politics damaged Tesla’s brand and tanked sales.

Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, needs to rebuild its advertising base; his aerospace company SpaceX appears to be financially promising but has seen some recent setbacks; and it’s unclear if his satellite business Starlink can keep striking deals without Trump nearby.

Here’s a look at the state of some key Musk businesses.

Tesla trouble

Profits plunged 71% at Tesla in the first three months of the year right after a Chinese competitor claimed the mantle as the world’s biggest electric car seller.

The big question now: Will Musk’s leaving Washington help lure buyers back?

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The answer is crucial to reviving profits because so much else is uncertain. Tesla’s lineup of cars in aging and its foreign rivals have become much more competitive. They would be taking market share from Tesla even in the best of circumstances.

Tesla’s decision to close down factories as it retooled its best-selling Model Y, among other temporary problems, contributed to its struggles in the first quarter. But the blowback from Musk’s time in Washington created doubts for some analysts.

In a note to clients, JP Morgan warned of “unprecedented brand damage.” And Wedbush Securities said at one point, “This is a full blown crisis.”

News earlier this week from Europe doesn’t bode well: Sales in April plunged by half.

Taxis with no driver

Another big test for Musk: Will Tesla’s launch of its first ever driverless taxis prove successful?

Musk has been talking about robotaxis for more than a decade, but next month they may finally hit the road. He has promised to test 10 or20 robotaxis in Austin, Texas, then ramp that up to hundreds of thousands by the end of next year.

“Can you go to sleep in our cars and wake up at your destination?” the billionaire asked investors in a conference call last month, then answered, “I’m confident that will be available in many cities in the U.S. by the end of this year.”

Investors are convinced Musk will deliver, judging by the 50% jump in Tesla stock since he made that statement. But he faces many challenges, not least is whether technically the taxis will work without hitting things — or people.

Federal safety regulators last month requested data from Telsa on how the robotaxis will perform in low-visibility conditions. That request comes after an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla last year equipped with Full Self-Driving software after several accidents, including one in which a pedestrian was killed.

Even if the Austin test goes off without a hitch, Musk faces another challenge: Waymo.

The driverless taxi company owed by Google parent Alphabet just logged its ten-millionth trip and is now operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and several other cities.

Ad rebound at X?

After Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and opened it up to all manner of conspiracy theories, long-time advertisers began to flee. Then Musk made the situation worse when he threatened to “name and shame” them, and sued them.

Now advertisers are inching back, though maybe not for a good reason.

FILE – Elon Musk, departs a lunch between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

“Some big brands resumed spending on X in part to curry favor with the Trump administration, or to avoid potential retaliation by Musk,” said e-marketer analyst Jasmine Enberg,. “But fear is not a sustainable motivator, and most were spending less than they were previously.”

She expects X’s ad business will rebound this year, but still be smaller than it was before Musk bought the company.

Rockets red glare

It’s not clear how well Musk’s rocket company SpaceX is faring because the private company doesn’t disclose its finances. That said, news headlines point to both troubles and triumphs.

First the bad development, which came just this week with a spinning explosion of one of the company’s Starship mega rockets over the Indian Ocean. That followed explosions of two other Starships earlier this year that sprayed flaming debris across the Caribbean Ocean.

Undeterred, Musk is vowing several more tests soon but the stakes are high and the clock is ticking. NASA hopes to use Starship for future missions to the moon, including one next year that will attempt a lunar orbit and then send the four astronauts aboard back home.

The good news is that investors who have gotten a peek at SpaceX’s finances apparently are excited.

A private financing round for the company a few months ago followed by a private sale of shares recently have reportedly valued SpaceX at $350 billion, a big jump from a $210 billion estimated value just a year ago.

It’s business, not politics — or is it?

A SpaceX satellite internet subsidiary called Starlink also has been striking deals to set up in foreign countries. But it’s not clear how much is the result of cold business calculation and how much is due to politics, an advantage that could disappear as Musk leaves Washington.

FILE – Elon Musk flashes his t-shirt that reads “DOGE” to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Accompanying Trump on his trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, Musk announced that the country had approved Starlink service for aviation and maritime use. That followed a decision to grant approval for the service by regulators in Bangladesh, whose garment industry would be devastated by Trump’s threatened 37% tariff, along with a string of other deals in India, Pakistan and Lesotho in recent months.

Next up: South Africa, maybe.

Earlier this month, following Trump’s Oval Office dressing down of that country’s president, regulators in the country loosened a rule in a way that could help Starlink win a foothold in the country. Musk had called the rule requiring Black partial ownership of any new foreign venture “openly racist.”

The country denies that politics influenced its decision.

AP Writer Barbara Ortutay contributed to this story from San Francisco.