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August 22, 2025
 

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TRADE

A Shein distribution center in Whitestown, Indiana, on April 8. Shein and other e-commerce sites originating from China are believed to have taken advantage of duty exemption systems of other countries to export goods of modest value in small lots.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 21, 2025
Duty exemptions for low-value imports face review amid exploitation
An expert panel at the government's Tax Commission has noted that overseas sellers of inexpensive goods effectively exploit tax exemption systems for small-ticket item imports.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the economy in the Oval Office on Aug. 7. From immigration to the Fed, Trump is making risky moves that could undo his wins while Democrats double down on policies that so far are not working.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2025
On economic policy, the White House is its own worst enemy
The White House needs to calm down and choose consolidation over controversy and chaos while the Democratic Party must dump, not just downplay, its plainly unpopular positions.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that a document on his country's trade deal with Japan is being prepared.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 20, 2025
Lutnick: Japan’s $550 billion will be directed by Trump
The U.S. commerce secretary said the funds promised by Tokyo in the course of tariff talks will be deployed to benefit the United States.
Exports fell 2.6% in value in July from a year earlier, posting the biggest downturn since February 2021, led by cars, auto parts and steel.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 20, 2025
Japan’s exports tumble most in four years as U.S. tariff pain intensifies
Exports fell 2.6% in value from a year earlier, sliding more than the median forecast of a 2.1% decline, the Finance Ministry has reported.
Trucks heading toward the Jianxiawo lithium mine, in Yichun, Jiangxi province, China. The U.S. government said it will increase scrutiny of lithium, steel and other materials imported from China.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 20, 2025
U.S. targets Chinese steel and lithium for forced-labor scrutiny
The move fits within Trump's trade goals and previous government action against alleged forced labor in China.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on June 5. Soruces say Lutnick has been pushing the idea of the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that receive CHIPS Act funding, and that Trump likes the idea.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 20, 2025
Washington eyeing government stakes in chipmakers given CHIPS Act funds: sources
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is said to be exploring how the U.S. can receive equity stakes in firms such as Micron, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung.
China’s massive scale, strong education system and competitive local governance have enabled it to reach the technological frontier and dominate high-tech manufacturing despite its low per capita gross domestic product.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2025
Demystifying the manufacturing success of China
The obvious question is how a country with such low per capita GDP has managed to reach the technological frontier in so many sectors.
The BTP port terminal at Port of Santos in Santos, Brazil, in 2021. Brasilia stressed the U.S. has consistently run a trade surplus with Brazil and that American firms already enjoy broad access to its market.
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2025
Brazil pushes back against U.S. probe into its trade practices
The investigation is seen as an attempt to justify the 50% tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on all Brazilian exports to the U.S., excluding some 700 items.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a signing ceremony at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, in 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 19, 2025
Modi hails ‘friend’ Putin and boosts China ties in tilt from U.S.
The move is another sign the South Asian nation is tilting away from the U.S. in the face of Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
Russian and Chinese naval officers take part in a ceremony marking the start of joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan, following the arrival of Chinese military vessels in Vladivostok, Russia, on July 31.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025
Trump’s transactional policies threaten global stability
In Trump’s second term, economic protectionism now overrides strategic consistency, and trade wars are being used as tools of geopolitical leverage.
Beijing imposed a ban on imports of Japanese fisheries products in August 2023.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2025
JETRO struggles to expand scallop supply chain in U.S.
Steep tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump left prospects for the project uncertain, apparently making businesses reluctant to invest in it.
Actors in period costume pose on a re-creation of a Tudor wine fountain at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England, in April 2010. England’s recent wine boom is hitting limits due to scale, costs and competition.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025
England’s sparkling wine is losing its fizz
It really doesn’t help having higher taxes now measured on alcohol content. The going is only getting tougher for fledgling startups.
U.K. Prime Miniter Keir Starmer speaks at the Jaguar Land Rover automobile manufacturing plant in Solihull, U.K. Starmer declared in May that his trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump included a cut in U.S. tariffs on British steel to zero.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 18, 2025
Trade partners grow restless waiting for Trump’s tariff breaks
While deals have been cut, the lower tariff rates agreed have yet to kick in.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Independence Day ceremony in New Delhi on Friday
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 18, 2025
Modi bolsters India’s economy with tax cuts ahead of U.S. tariffs
Officials in New Delhi said the proposed changes to the goods and services tax would benefit a broad range of sectors, including consumers and small businesses.
South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana (right) and the country’s reserve bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago, attend the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Cape Town on Feb. 27. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2025
A new trade agenda for climate-resilient development
Policymakers must be prepared to introduce new trade rules that support low-carbon transitions in Africa and across the Global South.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds a news conference in Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 16, 2025
Japan to accelerate development of logistics network in Africa
The planned corridor, which will link the inland African country of Zambia and a port in Mozambique, is aimed at enhancing supply chains for mineral resources.
Toyota Motor Land Cruisers are parked, bound for shipment, at the Port of Nagoya in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 16, 2025
Listed Japan firms log 11% quarterly profit drop
The decreases comes as tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump weighed heavily on automakers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during an Indian Independence Day ceremony in New Delhi on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2025
Modi slams ‘economic selfishness’ in defiance of U.S. tariffs
In the last few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump hit India with a 50% tariff rate — much higher than its regional peers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, in 2018
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 14, 2025
China and India discuss resuming border trade after five-year pause
The normalizing of ties between the two countries comes against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump imposing a 50% tariff rate on Indian exports to the U.S.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes Japan's rates are too low.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 14, 2025
Tokyo’s record-beating stock rally ends as Bessent jawbones Japan on rates
The U.S. treasury secretary argues that Japan has an inflation problem.
Demystifying the manufacturing success of China
China’s massive scale, strong education system and competitive local governance have enabled it to reach the technological frontier and dominate high-tech manufacturing despite its low per capita gross domestic product.
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Japanese manufacturers moving headquarters out of central Tokyo
A building in Kawasaki housing Toshiba's new headquarters
Is sumo becoming a victim of its own popularity?
A training session at Shikoroyama stable in June 2016. Sumo training sessions are increasingly simulated or the preserve of group tours.
Japanese man suspected of ordering double murder in Manila
Two suspects arrested over the killing of two Japanese last week are held in restraints in Manila on Tuesday.
Tokyo crowned No.1 'workation' spot
Workations were a burgeoning trend in the corporate world for years before the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged it.
Atsushi Kitagawara’s exhibition finds poetry in architecture
The inverted cone, one of Atsushi Kitagawara’s six signature elements in architecture, is a key feature of the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection museum building.
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
Hawks pitcher Livan Moinelo has a 1.13 ERA in 19 starts this season.
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
In Paris, chefs Chizuko Kimura and Kei Kobayashi make their mark
Chef Kei Kobayashi is France's only Japanese chef with three Michelin stars.

Podcast

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

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

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