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US companies with risky credit ratings are rushing to sell junk bonds ahead of an expected resurgence of trade tensions in July that could depress demand for corporate debt.

Companies with weaker credit ratings tapped the high-yield bond market for $32bn in May, the most since October, according to data from JPMorgan. Junk bond sales in the first week of June already have surpassed April’s $8.6bn total.

Bankers and investors say they expect a steady flow of new debt sales during the rest of the month and into July while demand remains high and market uncertainty stays relatively low.

But the expiration of the 90-day pause on Donald Trump’s so-called “liberation day” tariffs early next month could set up another surge in uncertainty, echoing the early April ructions that ground the market for new levered debt deals to a halt.

“You get into these patterns where the market gets into a lull and gets ahead of itself. It feels good now, but it’s setting up for some volatility in July,” said David Forgash, a portfolio manager at Pimco.

The extra costs paid by risky corporate borrowers to lenders compared to US government debt, known as spreads, jumped from 3.5 percentage points on April 1 to 4.61 percentage points on April 7, according to Ice BofA data.

That was the highest level for corporate borrowing costs since May 2023, as investors demanded a higher premium for the added risk they saw following Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement.

As progress appeared to be made in trade negotiations between the US and China, spreads retreated back to the levels experienced in late March. Still, they have not come back to the historically low marks seen in late 2024 and early 2025, when junk bond spreads fell below 3 percentage points.

One leveraged finance banker noted that debt markets have been able to look past not only Trump’s new tariffs, but the protracted conflicts in Israel and Palestine and between Russia and Ukraine when deciding whether and how much to invest.

But higher than expected tariffs or a new geopolitical conflict involving a world power “could throw a spanner in the works”, the banker said.

“I don’t think we’re going to go back to April where the market is grinding to a halt, but it’s certainly going to cause spreads to be wider,” the banker said.

There is also strong demand for highly rated corporate credit. Bank of America strategists say they expect investment-grade bond sales to be between $110bn and $120bn in June, which would be the most for the calendar month since 2021.

Kyle Stegemeyer, head of investment grade debt capital markets and syndicate at US Bancorp, said he expected companies to continue to take advantage of lulls in volatility before potential surges due to tariffs and tax bill negotiations.

“I think most issuers are coming to the conclusion that if there’s an open window and the backdrop’s attractive, why wait it out until closer to maturity?”

A former police chief and convicted killer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” was captured by law enforcement 1.5 miles northwest of the prison he escaped from following a massive, nearly two-week-long manhunt in the rugged mountains of northern Arkansas, authorities announced Friday.

Grant Hardin, a former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. Eventually, his notoriety led to a TV documentary, “Devil in the Ozarks.”

Hardin briefly attempted to run from officers when he saw them approach Friday afternoon, but he was quickly tackled to the ground, said Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas prison system.

“He’d been on the run for a week and a half and probably didn’t have any energy left in him,” he added.

Hardin’s identity was confirmed through fingerprinting, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

There’s no indication that Hardin was injured, though he will be checked for dehydration and other medical problems.

Now, investigators are “chomping at the bit and really ready to talk to him,” said Champion, who used his cellphone to capture an image of Hardin being led away by officers. Hardin said nothing during those moments.

The escape, search and eventual capture

Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a fatal shooting. In order to escape, he impersonated a corrections officer “in dress and manner,” according to a court document. A prison officer in one of the guard towers opened a secure gate, allowing him to walk out of the facility.

Champion said that someone should have checked Hardin’s identity before he was allowed to leave, describing the lack of verification as a “lapse” that’s being investigated.

Searchers had been using bloodhounds, officers on horseback, drones and helicopters in their hunt for Hardin since he escaped on May 25.

Shortly after the escape, a bloodhound found — then quickly lost — Hardin’s scent when heavy rains blew through the area, Champion said. The bloodhound tracked Hardin’s path for less than a quarter of a mile, after which could have gone in any direction.

“That was one of the most frustrating things, that they were able to track him but then they lost him because of the rain,” Champion said.

An elite and highly trained U.S. Border Patrol team had recently joined the search, federal authorities announced this week. The Border Patrol Tactical Team provided “advanced search capabilities and operational support,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

Its members are experienced in navigating complex terrain, the agency said earlier this week. The team tracked Hardin through the region known for its rocky and rugged landscape, thick forests and an extensive cave network.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shared photos on Facebook of Hardin shirtless and covered in mud, laying face down with his hands tied behind his back on Friday. The post said that Hardin was “turned over to Arkansas State Police unharmed” by the federal agency.

A spokesperson for the agency didn’t respond to a phone call and emailed request for comment regarding the post on Friday night.

Hardin’s criminal convictions

Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder for the killing of James Appleton, 59. Appleton worked for the Gateway water department when he was shot in the head Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton’s body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Hardin’s DNA was also matched to the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He was sentenced to 50 years for that crime.

Cheryl Tillman, Appleton’s sister, was with her mother and sister at a flea market in Ozark, Missouri, when law enforcement called to tell her Hardin had been captured. Tillman is also the mayor of Gateway, the 450-person town where Hardin was briefly police chief.

Tillman told The Associated Press that Hardin’s capture was a “big sigh of relief” for her whole family.

“We don’t have to walk around, turning around all the time, thinking somebody’s on our back,” Tillman said, emphasizing her appreciation for the officers who helped capture Hardin.

A problematic past in law enforcement

Though Hardin was police chief in Gateway for just four months, he had served as an officer in multiple communities around northwest Arkansas, his police records show.

In his first job as a police officer 35 years ago in Fayetteville, Hardin struggled almost immediately, his supervisors said. He was dismissed by Fayetteville police, but kept getting hired for other law enforcement jobs in northwest Arkansas over the years.

Hardin worked about six months at the Huntsville Police Department before resigning, but records do not give a reason for his resignation.

He later worked at the Eureka Springs Police Department from 1993 to 1996. Former Chief Earl Hyatt said Hardin resigned because Hyatt was going to fire him over incidents that included the use of excessive force.

“He did not need to be a police officer at all,” Hyatt told television station KNWA.

By the time he was the police chief in Gateway in 2016, “he was out chasing cars for no reason,” Tillman recalled in the documentary “Devil in the Ozarks.”

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Beijing has agreed to fast-track approvals for rare earth export licences for some European companies after China’s strict controls on shipments of the critical minerals rocked global supply chains.

European officials and industry groups have complained that a new licence system for rare earths and related magnets, introduced in the wake of Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs in April, risked causing widespread factory stoppages.

However, according to a statement published by China’s commerce ministry on Saturday, Beijing is now “willing to establish a green channel for qualified applications to speed up approval”.

No details were given as to how fast the process would be, or which European companies would be included. One European executive in Beijing, who asked not to be named, warned that manufacturers might still face delays in receiving their rare earth and magnet shipments in the short to medium-term given the “huge backlog” of licence applications.

The announcement followed a meeting between Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and Maroš Šefčovič, EU commissioner for trade and economic security, in Paris last week.

Wang urged the EU to “take effective measures to facilitate, safeguard and promote compliant trade of high-tech products to China”.

Beijing has become increasingly concerned that Europe has followed US-led restrictions on sales of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China.

On Friday Trump said a new high-level round of trade talks between the US and China would take place on Monday in London, paving the way for further de-escalation in the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

Rare earths are just one of many disputes between Brussels in Beijing. The sides have also been in talks over China’s opposition to the bloc’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, as well as Beijing’s tariffs on French cognac.

According to the commerce ministry, discussions on prices of Chinese electric vehicles sold in the bloc have entered “the final stage” but further efforts “from both sides were needed”. China plans to announce the result of its investigation into European brandy imports on July 5.

Beijing has sought to improve ties with Brussels since Trump returned to office but EU officials said that, despite warm words, there had been little compromise on issues of concern until now.

Šefčovič on Wednesday said he had pressed his Chinese counterpart over the rare earth delays, which were slowing deliveries for manufacturers of a wide range of items from cars to washing machines.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that European businesses had lobbied officials in Beijing to set up a special channel to fast-track export licences for “reliable” companies.

On Friday the European Chamber, a Beijing lobby group, warned that despite Beijing approving urgently needed shipments, progress had “not been sufficient” to prevent severe supply chain disruptions for many companies.

Jens Eskelund, the chamber president, said member companies were “still struggling” with both the delays and the lack of transparency.

Additional reporting by Cheng Leng in Hong Kong