Tag - tariffs

 
 

TARIFFS

"Given the extremely high uncertainties in play, my view is that it is appropriate for the bank to conduct monetary policy deliberately to reflect the actual state of economic recovery,” Toyoaki Nakamura, the Bank of Japan’s most dovish board member, said in a speech Friday in Fukuoka Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2025
BOJ’s most dovish member warns against rushing to raising rates
Toyoaki Nakamura’s speech comes shortly after government data showed that Japan’s economy shrank more than expected in the first quarter.
Mizuho Financial Group forecast on Thursday that its net income will likely climb 6.1% to ¥940 billion ($6.5 billion) in the year that started in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
Mizuho anticipates record earnings in fiscal 2025 despite tariff dent
Japan's third-largest lender indicated that uncertainty in global trade has led to a more conservative outlook as U.S. tariff measures make business planning less predictable.
The yen slumped more than 2% on Monday alone, nearing ¥150 to the dollar, after the U.S. and China temporarily lowered tariffs, triggering a reversal of bearish dollar bets.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2025
Rich Japanese still fear yen crash, wealth manager says
Japan's most prosperous households are still scarred by the market’s collapse in the early 1990s.
Net income is likely to reach ¥2 trillion ($13.7 billion) for the 12 months ending March, up 7.5% from ¥1.86 trillion in the previous fiscal year, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
MUFG expects record profit and joins rivals in buying back shares
Net income is likely to reach ¥2 trillion for the 12 months ending March, up 7.5% from ¥1.86 trillion in the previous fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimate the top five makers of hearing aids hold roughly 99% of the global market, which they predict will be worth over $14 billion by next year rising from about $12 billion in 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 15, 2025
Trump’s tariffs spare Europe-dominated hearing aid industry
An ecosystem developed over more than a century has given three Danish companies and a Swiss rival a quasi-monopoly on the market for devices that help people hear better.
Iceland's national flag flies next to the European flag
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2025
Trump's Greenland threats spark Iceland jitters
Around 74% of Icelanders think Trump's interest in Greenland, and in the Arctic in general, pose a threat to their country, according to a recent poll.
Over 30 years, U.S.-China trade talks have largely failed because Beijing prioritizes protecting its political system, making only symbolic concessions, while Washington struggles to win lasting changes.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2025
The U.S. will never win a trade war with China
For sure, the 90-day truce is merely temporary relief. As long as negotiations continue as they are, the U.S. will not be able to win a trade war with China
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s clients are becoming cautious about making deals and investments amid uncertainties over U.S. tariffs.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui braces for tariff fallout with more buffers
Japan’s second-largest lender expects net income to climb about 10% to ¥1.3 trillion in the year that started in April.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer travels to the resort island of Jeju, South Korea, to join his counterparts at the meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members on Thursday and Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2025
Trade chiefs jostle for time with Greer at APEC meeting in South Korea
Many will seek talks with the U.S. trade representative to try to blunt the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's tariff czar, after the first round of talks in Washington. Media reports indicate he may be headed back to the United States next week for the third round of negotiations.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2025
Third round of U.S.-Japan tariff talks may be held next week: report
Akazawa’s two previous visits to Washington yielded no tangible results.
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
No matter what happens, they expect the new levies to cost them a lot.
A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is tugged toward a thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, in 2017.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2025
Japan under pressure from U.S. to invest in Alaska LNG pipeline
Doubts over the pipeline's profitability and viability leaves Japan's participation in the $44 billion (nearly ¥6.7 trillion) project uncertain.
A Sony PlayStation 5 controller
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
Sony profit forecast flattens under ¥100 billion tariff burden
New Sony Chief Executive Officer Hiroki Totoki’s first task is to navigate the entertainment group though a new era of a tariff-wielding United States.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng attends a meeting with global business leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 28.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025
China surrounded Xi aide with seasoned experts to seal U.S. deal
The crew engaging with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was on public display for the first time Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, including attacks on research funding, immigration and trade threaten the foundations of American economic exceptionalism, and the resulting damage may be difficult to undo.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025
American exceptionalism meets its maker
The question is whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s destructive policies have now brought this economic exceptionalism to an end.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto will skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, a decision that will likely lower Tokyo’s chances of securing an opportunity for bilateral talks with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 14, 2025
Japan’s key officials to skip APEC meet attended by U.S. trade representative
This won’t be the first time Japan’s trade minister will miss the APEC gathering in recent years, but sending a lower-ranking official may make it harder to hold one-on-one talks.
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa in Tokyo as the company releases its results
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025
Nissan gets ‘wake-up call’ with $4.5 billion annual net loss
The company plans more than 10,000 job cuts globally in addition to the 9,000 cuts announced previously.
Operating profit is forecast to land at around ¥500 billion ($3.4 billion) in the current fiscal year through March 2026, falling far short of analyst estimates of ¥1.35 trillion, Honda said Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025
Honda signals profit drop and warns of $3 billion tariff hit
Honda will have to go it alone after a tie-up with Nissan fell through as the global auto market is roiled by U.S. tariffs and intense competition in China.
Overall net profit is expected to go down 42.9% from the previous year to ¥200 billion at Nippon Steel, 18.4% to ¥75 billion at JFE Holdings and 16.8% to ¥100 billion at Kobe Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025
Three major Japan steelmakers say they expect profit falls in fiscal 2025
Overall net profit is expected to go down 42.9% from the previous year to ¥200 billion at Nippon Steel, 18.4% to ¥75 billion at JFE and 16.8% to ¥100 billion at Kobe Steel.
Senior officials of Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito agreed Tuesday on the need to draft a supplementary budget before a possible extraordinary session of the Diet this autumn.
JAPAN / Politics
May 13, 2025
LDP and Komeito agree to draft supplementary budget before autumn session
The extra budget is expected to fund measures to deal with inflation and the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

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