Tag - trade

 
 

TRADE

Houthi supporters rally to denounce air strikes launched by the U.S. and Britain, in Sanaa, Yemen on Jan. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 17, 2024
U.S. strikes Houthi missiles as Greek vessel hit in Red Sea
Attacks by the Iran-allied militia on ships in the region since November have affected companies and alarmed major powers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hong Kong's new chief executive, John Lee, take part in a swearing in ceremony to inaugurate the city's new government on July 1, 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2024
Hong Kong‘s choice: National security or a global role?
Hong Kong tries to maintain its international status and economic role amid challenges posed by China's National Security Law and other political developments.
Li Qiang at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 17, 2024
In Davos, Chinese premier takes aim at trade 'barriers'
Li's remarks came as the World Economic Forum's 54th annual conference is preoccupied with a slew of global risks, including wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
A toy gun is assembled at an Aequs toy manufacturing facility in the city of Belgaum in India.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2024
Infrastructure hurdles hinder toy manufacturers' shift from China
That other countries struggle to match China for efficiency is limiting firms' efforts to shift to lower cost bases and raising the risk of higher toy prices in the future.
A container ship crosses the Gulf of Suez toward the Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal east of Cairo. Vessels have been pausing or diverting from the Red Sea amid the escalating conflict in the region.
WORLD
Jan 16, 2024
Yemen's Houthis threaten to hit U.S. ships as more tankers steer clear
The Iran-allied militant group said British and American vessels had become "legitimate targets" following last week's strikes on its sites by both countries.
Farmers dry coffee beans at the Thiririka farming cooperative in Kiambu County, Kenya, in November 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2024
Is it time for a coffee cartel?
If farmers in the developing world are prevented from getting their fair share from coffee production they should take matters into their own hands.
Scallops from Hokkaido are served at an event in Sao Paulo on Sunday to promote Japanese seafood.
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2024
Japan promotes fishery products at event in Brazil
The move is meant to cut reliance on the Chinese market after Beijing banned seafood imports from Japan last year.
The continued demand for and access to banned Nvidia chips underlines the lack of good alternatives for Chinese firms despite the nascent development of rival products from Huawei and others.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 15, 2024
China's military and government acquire Nvidia chips despite ban
The sales by largely unknown Chinese suppliers highlight the difficulties Washington faces.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, visit a Samsung semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2024
South Korea's economic strategy amid the U.S.-China rivalry
If the world is to avoid incurring increasingly high costs from fragmentation, the U.S. and China must learn how to coexist and engage in fair competition.
A Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the U.S.-led coalition to conduct airstrikes against military targets in Yemen on Friday.
WORLD
Jan 12, 2024
U.S. and U.K. airstrikes pound Yemen as Mideast conflict spreads
Houthi rebels have carried out a growing number of attacks on what they deem to be Israel-linked shipping in the Red Sea.
The yen's exchange rate against the dollar on Wednesday. The yen declined from ¥103 against the dollar in 2020 to as little as ¥151 in late 2023.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 11, 2024
Is a weak yen good for Japan’s economy?
The yen's fast depreciation is boosting overseas investment and sectors like tourism, but could also trigger inflation. In response, the BOJ should raise interest rates.
The Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. China’s manufactured goods surplus relative to global gross domestic product is now around 2%, and an estimated 45% of China’s manufacturing output is being exported as the nation’s 1.4 billion people can’t buy enough goods such as electric vehicles, ships and household appliances to meet the increased supply.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2024
Xi Jinping’s solution for China’s economy risks triggering new trade war
Manufacturing focus sets up Beijing for renewed tensions with both developed countries and emerging economies pushing to reach the lower rungs of the industrialization.
Huawei caused a stir in the U.S. and China last August when it released a smartphone with a 7nm processor made by Shanghai-based SMIC.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 5, 2024
Huawei teardown shows 5nm laptop chip made in Taiwan, not China
The firm caused a stir last August when it released a smartphone with a processor that was only a few years behind the cutting edge.
Yemenis chant slogans and wave Palestinian flags during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza, in Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Dec.15, 2023. The Houthis have been firing on ships allegedly linked to Israel in the Red Sea in avowed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024
U.S., allies warn Houthis of 'consequences' of ship attacks
Warning comes as freight rates spike due to re-routing of vessels around Africa to avoid the Red Sea, where the Iran-backed militant group is active.
Cargo ships wait in the anchor zone to cross the Panama Canal from the Pacific entrance near Panama City, Panama, on Sept. 1, 2023. Ships have been waiting for days as the congestion to cross from both sides increase due to intense droughts in the country.
WORLD / Society
Jan 3, 2024
Saving the Panama Canal will take years and cost billions, if it’s even possible
Climate change-induced drought is limiting the number of ships on the waterway, which handles about 46% of containers moving from Northeast Asia to the U.S. East Coast.
The Maersk Sentosa container ship sails southbound to exit the Suez Canal on Dec. 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2024
Maersk decides Red Sea too unsafe for its ships for now
The decision to reroute vessels from the vital trade corridor was made after another of its container ships came under attack from Houthi militants.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mason steams through the Atlantic Ocean. Tehran's dispatch of a warship to the Red Sea takes the projection of Iranian power in the region to another level but it is unlikely to want direct confrontation — its old frigate is no match for the U.S.-led maritime task force patrolling the waters off Yemen.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024
Iran’s Red Sea power play raises fears of trade disruption
Tehran's dispatch of a warship to the region emboldens Yemen's Houthis, who are attacking vessels headed to or owned by firms in Israel.
The ASML headquarters and factory in Veldhoven, Netherlands
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024
U.S. pushed Dutch tech company to block Chinese sales
ASML had licenses to ship three top-of-the-line deep ultraviolet lithography machines to Chinese firms until January, when new Dutch restrictions took full effect.
A Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released on Nov. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2023
U.S. allies reluctant on Red Sea task force
Italy and Spain have issued statements appearing to distance themselves from Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Supporters hoist a giant Taiwan national flag during a campaign rally for Kuomintang ahead of Taiwan's presidential election, in Taipei on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 27, 2023
Whisky and a coal 'shack': Taiwan election is not only about China
The candidates are exchanging blows over everything from property disputes to whether drinking whiskey is out of touch.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.