Tag - trade

 
 

TRADE

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak to reporters in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 13, 2024
Japanese and German leaders deepen ties with new economic security framework
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaz Scholz agreed on the new mechanism during the Japanese leader's first visit to the country as PM.
Li Genyuan stands by his wheat fields, which form part of an experiment to turn salty land into arable land, in Nanliuhe village, Shandong province, China, in May. Having returned to farming after working for a decade in construction and textiles, he now manages about 67 hectares of fields where corn and soybeans are also grown.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 12, 2024
Xi’s campaign to feed China is turning wasteland into farms
The Chinese president has placed increased emphasis on self-reliance as ties with the West fray and climate change disrupts harvests.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center-left) meets with Samoan Prime Minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mata’afa (center-right) in Samoa in February. Like other Pacific island and Global South states, Samoa is caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China rivalry.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 11, 2024
Japan can help Global South navigate U.S.-China clash
As Washington and Beijing adopt more inward-looking foreign policies, Japan can be a bridge to Global South countries, whose main concerns are security and growth.
Japan's excessive dependence on certain countries for chip imports is a risk to supply networks, government white paper has warned.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024
Government white paper flags Japan's risks of import dependencies
The paper stressed the importance of import source diversification, to prevent excessive dependence that poses a risk to supply networks.
A bull statue stands outside the Shenzhen Stock Exchange building in Shenzhen in September 2019.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 9, 2024
China’s plenum promises cues for commodity bulls and bears
China is the world’s biggest importer of commodities and its dominant supplier of clean energy, so decisions taken in Beijing ripple across the world.
BYD electric vehicles before being loaded onto the "BYD Explorer No.1" roll-on, roll-off vehicle carrier in Jiangsu province, China, on April 25.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024
China-built EVs hit with duties in biggest EU trade case yet
The tariffs remain provisional while intensive talks continue between Chinese and EU officials as Beijing threatens wide-ranging retaliation on European products.
Chinese EV-maker Nio’s Onvo L60 SUV is unveiled in Shanghai in May. As an EV powerhouse, China should share the fruits of its success with the rest of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2024
Easy solutions to EU-China tariff dispute
The EU should see the futility of tariffs on Chinese EVs, and China should not retaliate but instead share the fruits of its success in building up its auto sector.
The right-wing slogan “Make Europe Great Again” — a play on Donald Trump’s campaign slogan — is gaining prominence in European politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2024
‘Make Europe Great Again’ is becoming 'MEGA.' Should Japan worry?
The right-wing "Make Europe Great Again" movement is gaining traction, but Japan shouldn't put it in the same box as its more problematic cousin, MAGA, in the U.S.
A Chinese worker organizes plastic doll heads after painting them at a toy factory in Xietang, Zhejiang Province, China, in 2015.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 2, 2024
China’s plastics boom is set to create another trade headache
Parts of the country’s sprawling petrochemicals sector are running at as little as half capacity as producers cut back.
Canada Day is held on July 1 to mark Canada’s founding in 1867. This year, the country celebrates its 157th anniversary among resounding successes and tough challenges at home and abroad.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2024
Canada at 157: Lots to celebrate, but also to rethink
At 157, Canada is stable and prosperous, but cracks are starting to form. Its citizens think politicians are out of touch and the country holds little sway abroad.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping with French President Emmanuel Macron in France in May. As part of a charm offensive, Xi visited France and other European countries in the spring.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 1, 2024
Expectations vs. reality of Xi Jinping's charm offensive
Beijing is trying to win back favor in several countries to tackle its economic woes, with Xi courting bilateral relations with leaders in Europe and beyond.
Workers transport soil containing rare-earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, China, in October 2010.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2024
China issues rare-earth regulations to further protect domestic supply
The rules focus on the mining, smelting and trade in the critical materials used to make products from magnets in electric vehicles to consumer electronics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ride in an Aurus car in Pyongyang in this image released on June 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2024
Russian-made car that Putin gifted to Kim uses South Korean parts, data shows
Customs records show that the company that builds the car uses millions of dollars in imported parts, many arriving in Russia from South Korea.
Ursula von der Leyen is lined up for a second term as European Commission president. Together with the EU’s new leadership, she should preserve her tough stance on China.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2024
New EU leaders must unite on China
As Ursula von der Leyen lines up for a second term as European Commission president, she should continue taking a tough stance on China together with other EU leaders.
Container ships are berthed at PSA's Pasir Panjang Terminal in Singapore in July 2019.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jun 26, 2024
Singapore port congestion shows global impact of Red Sea attacks
Global port congestion has reached an 18-month high, with 60% of ships waiting at anchor located in Asia.
Fast fashion e-commerce company Shein's logo outside its office in Guangzhou, China, on June 11
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2024
What is at stake for China-founded Shein as EU rule looms
Shein has faced more than 90 lawsuits alleging it plagiarized others’ designs or products.
A rendering of the next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed and manufactured by Japan, Britain and Italy
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 25, 2024
Concerns raised over strength of Japan's fighter jet export 'brakes'
The closed nature of decision-making has been criticized, while worries persist over the potential use of Japanese equipment.
Exports from New Zealand to the U.S. rose to a record $5.4 billion in the 12 months through May.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 24, 2024
U.S. usurps Australia as New Zealand’s No. 2 export market
Exports to the U.S. rose to a record 8.8 billion New Zealand dollars ($5.4 billion) in the 12 months through May.
The holding lot of the Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai in April 2023. As the European Union moves to impose tariffs on Chinese cars, Germany, with an auto industry deeply enmeshed with China, is stuck in the middle.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2024
Germany hopes to head off a trade war with China
China’s EV exports threaten European automakers, but companies like Volkswagen have extensive operations in China and fear retaliatory actions by Beijing.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a report released Thursday that it has placed Japan, which runs a large trade surplus with the United States, back on its monitoring list over currency practices.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 21, 2024
U.S. adds Japan to currency watchlist amid struggles with weak yen
Japan spent a record ¥9.8 trillion ($62 billion) earlier this year to prop up the yen.

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