Tag - trade

 
 

TRADE

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and Economic Revitalization Minister and chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa attend a budget committee session on the U.S. tariff issue in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 4, 2025
Opposition parties fume over U.S. trade deal not being put in writing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said issuing a joint document with the U.S. will not serve the nation’s interests and may instead jeopardize the agreement.
China is not merely moving more goods; it is exporting a new, ruthlessly efficient production model powered by automation, AI and state-guided industrial optimization.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2025
China’s unbeatable new production model export
The more pressing concern, however, is not what China exports, but how. Global cost structures are indeed being reshaped.
U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands following the announcement of a new U.S.-EU trade deal on July 27 in Turnberry, Scotland.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2025
The EU’s economic surrender only deepens its dependence on the U.S.
The European Union’s tariff deal with U.S. President Donald Trump highlights the bloc’s inability to present a united front.
Japan's exports of food and farm produce between January and June were the highest on record for 19 items, including green tea.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2025
Japan food exports expand 15.5% in January to June
Exports to the U.S. hit a record first-half high of ¥141.0 billion, up 22.0% and driven by robust demand for scallops, green tea and yellowtail.
Local varieties of rice are sold in a market in Marikina City, Manila, on Oct. 6, 2023.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2025
Top rice importer Philippines may halt purchases to help farmers
The plan comes at a time when improving global supply prospects for the grain have pushed benchmark Asian prices to an eight-year low.
Fujifilm raised U.S. prices for the majority of its digital cameras and lenses last week, as the U.S. tariffs continue to reverberate across the consumer tech industry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 3, 2025
Fujifilm raises camera and lens prices in the U.S. due to tariffs
Many of the company’s camera bodies are now $200 more expensive than they were on Thursday evening.
U.S. President Donald Trump raises his fist as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 3, 2025
Trump’s economic agenda is losing support, but Democrats see few gains
Democrats looking to retake the House of Representatives need to convince voters they can be trusted on issues like fighting inflation and lowering the cost of housing.
Workers stitch shirts at a textile factory in Noida, India, on Thursday. The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner, with the two-way trade between them at an estimated $129.2 billion in 2024.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2025
India aghast at Donald Trump’s ‘dead' economy dig and 25% tariffs
While Indian government officials weighed a response and business groups tallied the cost of the trade barrier, social media flared up with users protesting Trump.
Merchandise are pictured for sale at a Nintendo store in central Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 2, 2025
Nintendo to raise U.S. pricing of original Switch hardware
Nintendo attributed the changes to "market conditions," a hint at the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2025
World economies reel from Trump's tariffs punch
Stock markets in Hong Kong, London and New York slumped as they digested the turmoil, while weak U.S. employment data added to worries.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been talking up Japan's successful tariff negotiations with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025
U.S. sets Aug. 7 as start date for Japan's 15% 'reciprocal' tariff
The focus is now on unfinished business as auto duties go unmentioned.
The Manzanillo seaport in Mexico. U.S. President Donald Trump gave Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs of 30% on many goods to provide more time to negotiate a broader trade pact.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025
Trump hits dozens of nations with steep tariffs
The U.S. president set rates including a 35% duty on many goods from Canada, 50% for Brazil, 25% for India, 20% for Taiwan and 39% for Switzerland.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025
Trump embraces economic coercion with tariffs as his big stick
The U.S. president road-tested the hardball tactic in his first term. Now he’s taken it to new levels.
A container ship approaches the Busan Port Terminal in Busan, South Korea, on July 23. Seoul's trade agreement with the U.S. brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 31, 2025
U.S. sets South Korea tariff rate at 15% with energy and shipbuilding investment
The agreement brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.
The Bank of Japan kept the overnight call rate at 0.5% at the end of a two-day policy meeting in a unanimous vote, according to a statement Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2025
BOJ keeps rates unchanged and lifts price view after U.S. trade deal
While the changes in the outlook suggested Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s board is closer to its next rate hike, the central bank also avoided dropping any clear hints as to the exact timing.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok in Tokyo on May 22.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2025
Japan’s strategic blind spot in the heart of Europe
Central Europe may hold the key to increased strategic autonomy without the geopolitical baggage of the superpowers.
Industrial production gained 1.7% from the previous month, according to the industry ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2025
Factory output gain in Japan shows firms’ resilience amid tariffs
Though economists had expected a 0.8% loss, industrial production gained 1.7% from the previous month while output rose 4% from a year earlier, topping expectations of a 1.3% gain.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands at the White House in Washington on Feb. 13
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2025
Trump hits India with 25% tariff and 'penalty' over Russia ties
The measures will kick in on Friday, Trump said, adding to a bevy of other tariff hikes set to take effect the same day.
A Hong Kong-flagged tanker is seen leaving the Panama Canal on the Pacific side near Panama City on July 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2025
U.S. could resist Cosco inclusion in CK Hutchison port sale
An inclusion of the Chinese shipping giant would be a win for Beijing, but Washington might oppose it on perceived geopolitical risks.
Amid global uncertainty and U.S. trade tensions, ASEAN+3 must deepen regional integration and reform to sustain growth and resilience against rising protectionism, demographic pressures and climate risks.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2025
ASEAN+3 in an age of global uncertainty
As the international economic order continues to fragment, ASEAN+3 countries must build collective resilience by fostering regional integration.

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