Tag - trade

 
 

TRADE

Japan and the United States are aiming for a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven leaders summit on June 16 and 17.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 4, 2025
U.S. doubles steel and aluminum tariffs as Japan counts on a breakthrough
The United Kingdom is exempt from the higher rates because it struck an early trade deal with the United States.
Solar panels at an industrial complex in Rajasthan, India, are an example of India-Japan renewable energy cooperation. The two countries can strengthen their ties by co-developing green and advanced technologies, solar energy among them.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2025
The ground is fertile for Japan-India green economy partnerships
Japan and India can build on their long-standing relationship to spearhead the development of green and advanced technologies such as renewable energy and chips.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung waves with his his wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, following his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 4, 2025
South Korea’s Lee pledges to heal deep wounds as ‘president for everyone’
Lee Jae-myung, in his inauguration speech, said his government would continue his predecessor’s policy of strengthening cooperation with Japan.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Steel Corporation Irvin Works facility in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, on Friday
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 4, 2025
U.K. avoids doubled U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs as countries eye trade pact
The U.S. announcement, which exempts British steel and aluminum from a doubling of tariffs to 50%, came in a proclamation that will raise metals tariffs for other countries.
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Saturday. Musk has dubbed Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination."
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2025
Trump's 'big, beautiful bill?' Musk calls it a 'disgusting abomination.'
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO says the U.S. president's sweeping tax and spending bill will increase the federal deficit.
Former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono (left) speaks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2025
Chinese Premier Li Qiang urges Japan to stand with China against Trump's tariffs
A Japanese delegation of around 100 members headed by former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono is visiting China for seven days until Sunday.
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.
Laleli's informal shipping scene, once a bustling hub of cross-continental trade, is now facing growing pressure from rising costs and tougher residency rules imposed by Turkish authorities.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2025
Tough residency rules and Chinese competition squeeze Istanbul's 'suitcase trade'
Shipments have dropped, even as Turkish exports to Africa have generally soared — from $11.5 billion in 2017 to $19.4 billion last year.
Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, speaks at the press briefing in New Delhi on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2025
Trade barriers and plane delivery delays challenge global airline growth
More people are flying than ever before after a post-pandemic passenger market recovery, but airline growth is being hampered.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a chart listing tariffs described as reciprocal during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington on April 2.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 3, 2025
For volatile Trump, trade pacts with China and Europe prove elusive
So far, there has been few signs of a breakthrough with either of America's two biggest trading partners.
Trump hopes increased levies on aluminum and steel will protect margins for domestic mills and spur investment in new production capacity.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 3, 2025
U.S. aluminum and steel prices surge as Trump doubles tariffs
U.S. buyers could end up paying about 50% more than international competitors to get hold of aluminum.
Despite doubts and talk of alternatives in Asia and beyond, the dollar remains dominant because there are no viable rivals and it continues to serve as the world’s key safe asset.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2025
The problem with Asia's ‘sell America’ moment
The region’s currencies are enjoying a healthy rally. History warns against anti-dollar triumphalism.
Cranes at the Port of Los Angeles on May 13. U.S. President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs will kick in on July 8 after 90-day pause.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
U.S. pushes countries for best offers as tariff deadline looms
It will evaluate the responses, to be submitted by Wednesday, within days and offer "a possible landing zone."
A mining machine at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals in Inner Mongolia, China, in 2011
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
China’s rare earths grip gives Xi leverage in U.S. trade duel
For years, Washington was believed to have the advantage over China in the fight for technological dominance thanks to its grip on semiconductor supply chains.
The Eagle S oil tanker is seen near a Finnish border guard ship and tugboat off the Porkkalanniemi Peninsula in the Gulf of Finland in December. Finland seized the Russian-linked vessel on suspicion it damaged undersea cables amid growing concerns over sanctions evasion and maritime security.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2025
Braving the storm: It’s time to board Russia’s shadow fleet
European sanctions against the Kremlin’s oil vessels are futile without actual enforcement.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in Washington in February.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2025
Ishiba eyes trade meeting around Trump's birthday before G7 meet, report says
Some government officials have said a deal announced on June 14 — the U.S. president's birthday — might have special symbolic significance for him.
U.S. President Donald Trump smiles before speaking in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 1, 2025
Trump tariffs face threat at top court — over rulings that blocked Biden
The court’s conservative majority ruled that federal agencies can’t decide sweeping political and economic matters without clear congressional authorization.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's economic revitalization minster, speaks to members of the media at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 31, 2025
Japan says progress made in U.S. tariff talks, but details are scarce
The two sides are eyeing the Group of Seven leaders’ summit in June as a possible setting to announce a trade deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Steel Corporation Irvin Works facility in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2025
Trump to hike steel tariffs to 50% to aid Nippon-U.S. Steel
The U.S. president said the move would help protect American steelworkers during a visit to a United States Steel plant on Friday.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is in Washington again for a fourth round of high-level negotiations with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025
Tariff talks with U.S. a mix of slow progress, ever-present uncertainty 
Japan's chief negotiator is back in Washington for another round of high-level negotiations.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic