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July 19, 2025
 

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SUPPLY CHAINS

Rare earth magnets in Baotou, China. India is planning to spur local production of rare-earth magnets to cut its reliance on China.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2025
India plans to kickstart rare-earth magnet output to cut China reliance
China's tightening of export controls on rare earths amid a trade war with the U.S. has disrupted supply chains for global carmakers, including those operating in India.
A sample of gallium (Ga)
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2025
How U.S. buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban
Trade data illustrate a re-routing of U.S. shipments via third countries — an issue Chinese officials have acknowledged.
A worker installs part of a business-class aircraft seat at the factory of Safran Seats GB in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain, on Feb. 20.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jul 3, 2025
Airline seat industry crisis delaying jet deliveries
Certification bottlenecks and growing demand for bespoke features make it hard for the fragmented sector to achieve economies of scale after the pandemic.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (left), Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (second from left), Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (second from right) and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stand together at the start of a meeting of "the Quad" at the U.S. State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 2, 2025
‘Quad’ nations announce critical minerals initiative amid China concerns
A joint statement was carefully crafted not to directly mention China, but the four Indo-Pacific countries made clear a goal of reducing dependence on Beijing.
An electric motor, jointly developed by Honda and Daido Steel, for hybrid cars that uses no heavy rare earth metals is displayed at an unveiling in Tokyo in July 2016.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025
Honda supplier rethinks China relationship as trade war bites
For Daido Steel, the trade war has meant renewing a push to build rare earth supply routes outside of China.
A Mercedes-Benz production line in Rastatt, Germany, earlier this month. European auto suppliers alone have filed hundreds of requests to China for rare earths since early April, with only about a quarter granted.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025
The world's auto supply chain is in the hands of a few Chinese bureaucrats
China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets — a crucial component in EV motors — and it added them to an export control list in April.
Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China in 2010.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 4, 2025
Global alarms rise as China's critical mineral export curbs take hold
China has a stranglehold on minerals crucial for sectors ranging from aerospace to semiconductors.
The Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2025
Carmakers warn China's rare-earth curbs could halt production
Auto executives are sounding the alarm on an impending shortage of rare-earth magnets from China that could force the closure of factories within weeks.
Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York on May 23
BUSINESS / Tech
May 28, 2025
Apple reels from share selloff as Trump’s 25% tariff threat drives uncertainty
Some are skeptical the tariffs will come to pass, but any such measures would require Apple to absorb costs or raise prices, eroding demand.
The site of a rare earth metals mine in China
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2025
Rare earth production outside China 'major milestone'
Lynas' announcement illustrates how much more needs to be done to broaden the supply of elements critical for electric vehicles and renewable technology.
A CATL recruitment advertisement in Germany
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2025
CATL's $2 billion German plant boosts China’s invest-abroad bet
"I see ourselves as a blueprint for Chinese companies who are looking to expand in Europe,” said Matthias Zentgraf, the battery giant’s European president.
The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
BUSINESS
May 18, 2025
Australian firm produces heavy rare earth, in first outside China
Beijing has banned the export of processing technology that could help rival nations, and has been accused of using state-imposed quotas to control supply.
While the results were better than analysts had expected, investors are focused on how tariff concerns will play out in the coming quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2025
Tim Cook says unchanged U.S. tariffs could dent Apple’s next-quarter margins
Apple Q2 beats expectations but warns that unchanged tariffs could cost the company $900 million and requires drastic supply-chain realignment.
Global trade, energy and financial networks are increasingly being leveraged as strategic tools by nations, with supply chains, shipping routes and financial systems becoming potential points of conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2025
How much 'weaponization' can the global economy take?
Global trade, energy and financial networks are increasingly being leveraged as strategic tools by nations.
Toyota and Lexus cars and sport utility vehicles unloaded from car carrier ships to the Toyota Logistics Services automotive processing terminal at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, on Thursday
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2025
Trump floats temporary reprieve for autos as parts tariffs loom
The president said he is exploring exemptions to his tariffs on imported vehicles and parts to give auto companies more time to set up manufacturing in the U.S.
Shoppers outside an Apple store in New York on April 7
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 13, 2025
U.S. exempts tech imports in tariff backpedal
President Donald Trump's move offers relief to U.S. tech firms and partially dials down a trade war with China.
People walk through an Apple Store in Hong Kong on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2025
Apple was on brink of crisis before tariff concession from Trump
Donald Trump’s 125% tariffs on goods produced in China threatened to upend its supply chain as seriously as the COVID-19 snarls did five years ago.
Machineries seen at a factory in Binh Duong, Vietnam
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 12, 2025
What Samsung and Vietnam stand to lose in Trump's tariff war
Trump's punishing potential 46% tariff has exposed the vulnerability of the Southeast Asian country's export model.
U.S. President Donald Trump wants Apple to begin building iPhones in the United States. But Apple is unlikely to move production to the country in the foreseeable future for a variety of reasons.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2025
Why Trump’s dream of made-in-the-USA iPhones isn’t going to happen
Apple is unlikely to move production to the U.S. in the foreseeable future for a variety of reasons, including a shortage of facilities and labor.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s JASM plant in Kumamoto Prefecture. Ensuring stability in the semiconductor supply chain is a matter of national security and must be based on cooperation between the government and private sector.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 4, 2025
Identifying choke points in the semiconductor supply chain
Addressing bottlenecks in chipmaking is essential for Japan's economic security and requires public-private collaboration, including aimed at information sharing.
Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan
The share of respondents to a Bank of Japan quarterly survey in June who said they have become worse off came to 61.0%, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.
Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
CDP leader criticizes ‘Japanese First’ policy and calls for inclusive society
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said it is obvious that Japanese society could not function without the help of foreign workers in manufacturing, health care, construction and public transportation.
JSA’s 100th anniversary event is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for sumo fans
Egyptian wrestler Osunaarashi has some fun with children during a special Japan Sumo Association event in 2017.
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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