Tag - trade

 
 

TRADE

U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace as they attend a joint press conference at the White House on Thursday. While the leaders emphasized close ties, mounting trade tensions overshadowed the meeting.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2025
Despite the hugs, Trump-Modi meeting was mostly transactional
The Modi-Trump bromance was on full display at the White House summit, but substantive issues where India and the U.S. diverge, including trade, lurked nearby.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 15, 2025
China will have to hit back at U.S. ‘bullying,’ Beijing's top diplomat says
Still, Foreign Minister Wang Yi sought to take a broader view of relations, expressing confidence that the two countries will remain engaged long into the future.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2025
Trump says new tariffs on autos coming around April 2
The auto threat offers to put some of the biggest brands in Japan, Germany and South Korea in Trump’s crosshairs.
The 50th ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit was held in Tokyo in December 2023. Japan has strong relations with ASEAN member countries and should continue leveraging this position to pursue its Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 14, 2025
Why ASEAN is crucial to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Tokyo understands ASEAN's centrality to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision better than Washington does and should continue leading in defending this regional order.
Vehicles bound for shipment at a port in Yokohama. Last year, auto and auto parts made up a third of Japan’s shipments to the United States.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2025
Japan begins talks with U.S. to sound out Trump tariff specifics
Trump has singled out Japan and South Korea as nations he believes are taking advantage of the U.S., according to a White House official.
Howard Lutnick (right), chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald and U.S. commerce secretary nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, watches as Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 14, 2025
Trump moves to impose reciprocal tariffs as soon as April
Fresh import taxes would be customized for each country, meant to offset not just their own levies on U.S. goods, but also other factors that act to limit U.S. trade.
Donald Trump’s demand for Ukrainian resources in exchange for aid may be unseemly, but Europe should accept it as the price of keeping the U.S. engaged in Ukraine and Europe's defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2025
Trump’s resource grab in Ukraine is a price worth paying
Europe shouldn’t complain. This is a cost of its defense failures.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands at the conclusion of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025
India's Modi and Trump agree to trade talks to lower tensions
The agreements came hours after Trump unveiled a roadmap for reciprocal tariffs on every country that puts duties on U.S. imports, including India.
Oil tanker trucks outside an oil refinery in Mumbai
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2025
India scrambles for Russian oil supplies as sellers play sanctions whack-a-mole
Energy executives say existing networks are being reconfigured with selling entities, tankers and insurance providers that are not on Washington’s blacklist.
Susan Holt, New Brunswick’s premier, speaks during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2025
Canada’s 13 premiers descend on Washington to play the China card
For the first time, all 13 of the country’s premiers were in Washington together, lobbying Republican lawmakers against President Donald Trump’s proposed import taxes.
Cargo ships full of shipping containers are seen at the port of Oakland, California, on Feb. 3 as trade tensions escalate over U.S. tariffs
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2025
Trump says he will sign reciprocal tariffs order soon, as trade war fears mount
Trump's latest round of market-rattling tariffs comes as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit the White House on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders, including two official proclamations that will impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from all countries globally, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2025
Japan asks for exemption from Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs
Officials in Tokyo said the government will closely examine the impact of U.S. measures on Japanese companies and will take necessary actions.
Japanese companies face mounting pressure as U.S.-China tensions grow, forcing them to navigate security concerns, economic dependencies and shifting trade policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025
For Japanese firms, the China dilemma is set to intensify
“America First” and “Make America Great Again” are simple slogans that can be fitted to any outcome. All that ultimately matters is the final say of the president.
A worker walks in front of rolls of steel at a steel company in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 12, 2025
Canada, Mexico and EU slam 'unjustified' Trump steel tariffs
The European Union and Canada vowed to firmly retaliate against the tariffs.
In digital trade, Japan's imports have been rising faster than its exports, amid the dominance of global information technology giants such as Microsoft and Google.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 11, 2025
Japan's trade deficit for digital services rose to record ¥6.6 trillion in 2024
Japan's digital trade deficit is expected to reach ¥10 trillion in 2030, roughly equivalent to its crude oil imports in 2024.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping hold a bilateral meeting during the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka in June 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2025
Trump’s initial moves will benefit China
And while Trump has claimed that his policies will strengthen America, in reality, thus far, the biggest winner of many of his actions has actually been China.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on tariffs on aluminum imports in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 11, 2025
Trump sets 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, heightening trade war
The move would fulfill what the most extreme trade protectionists have sought for years.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the White House in Washington on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 10, 2025
Ishiba builds inroads with Trump, but challenges still loom
Ishiba won praise for his deft handling of Trump, squelching critics’ predictions that the president would walk all over the bookish Japanese leader.
Japan's current account surplus grew 29.5% year on year in 2024, the Finance Ministry said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 10, 2025
Japan's current account surplus hits record high in 2024
The surplus grew 29.5% from 2023 to ¥29.26 trillion ($193 billion) last year, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Southeast Asian economies, once seen as beneficiaries of the U.S.-China trade war, now face challenges as escalating tariffs and trade tensions threaten their growth and regional stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025
Winners of the first trade war may not be so victorious
Stuck between the U.S. and China, Southeast Asia’s challenges this time around are much greater.

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