Tag - trade

 
 

TRADE

Japan logged a deficit of ¥257.6 billion in the current account, a measure of trade and investment flows, compared with a surplus of ¥334.3 billion a year before, according to the Finance Ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025
Japan logs its first current account deficit in two years in January
The nation logged a deficit of ¥257.6 billion in the current account compared with a surplus of ¥334.3 billion a year before.
Hong Kong’s growth outlook was cut by economists for the last two quarters of the year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 10, 2025
Singapore and Hong Kong face growth risks over U.S. tariff war with China
Singapore and Hong Kong are among the most exposed to China’s economy via commodity and trade links.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stands with him aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025
Trump declines to rule out recession in U.S. this year
The U.S. president's on-again, off-again tariff threats have roiled financial markets and stoked unease among consumers.
Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney speaks after he won the race to become leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party and will succeed Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, in Ottawa on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2025
Mark Carney wins Canada Liberal contest and will succeed Trudeau in days
Carney takes the reins at a time when the White House is creating upheaval in the global economy — and with U.S. trading partners — with increasingly chaotic tariff announcements.
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are set to escalate Monday as Beijing imposes tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods in response to President Trump's latest tariff hike.
WORLD
Mar 9, 2025
China-U.S. trade war heats up with Beijing's tariffs to take effect
Analysts say Beijing's retaliatory tariffs are designed to hurt Trump's voter base while remaining restrained enough to allow room to hash out a trade deal.
Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in the south of the country
WORLD
Mar 9, 2025
Trump administration ends Iraq's waiver to buy Iranian electricity
Trump restored "maximum pressure" on Iran in one of his first acts after returning to office in January.
A man is silhouetted beneath a screen displaying Japan's Nikkei share average in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 8, 2025
Japanese stocks expected to remain on downward trend amid tariff turmoil
Uncertainties over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs this week pushed the Nikkei 225 index below 37,000 for the first time in six months.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto speaks during a meeting with steel and aluminum company executives on Feb. 25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025
Japan to send trade minister Muto to U.S. amid tariff tensions
The visit is set to take place from March 9 to March 11, just before the extra levies on steel and aluminum are expected to kick in on March 12.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday. Trump said tariffs could be imposed on Canadian dairy and lumber products within days, in a growing trade war with the United States' northern neighbor.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2025
Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff strategy sows confusion
Hasty announcements have injected chaos into the economy and financial markets, casting doubts about the White House’s trade strategy.
British Secretary of State for Business Jonathan Reynolds, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and trade minister Yoji Muto shake hands after a joint news announcement after their economic "two-plus-two" ministers' meeting at the Iikura Guesthouse on Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Japan and Britain stress free trade in Tokyo talks
The comments followed Japan and Britain's first "two-plus-two" talks between the country's trade and foreign ministers.
Balboa Port, operated by Panama Ports Company, at the Panama Canal. Conglomerate CK Hutchison, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has agreed to sell its ports network, including assets along the Panama Canal, to a U.S. consortium led by BlackRock.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 7, 2025
As Trump hails taking back of Panama Canal, Hong Kong Inc. walks tightrope
Firms in the former British colony are increasingly under pressure to shake off any connection with China amid tensions between Beijing and Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December 2019
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2025
'Psychodrama' tariff negotiations frustrate Mexico and Canada
The on-again, off-again tariffs and the high-level discussions surrounding them have exasperated negotiating teams, sources say.
U.S. President Donald Trump is exempting automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, the White House said Wednesday, as a temporary reprieve following pleas from industry leaders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025
Trump’s tariff pause cheered globally and watched closely in Tokyo
The U.S. president is delaying 25% tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada and might consider carve-outs for agricultural imports from those countries.
Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki told a news conference last month that the Playstation maker had been preparing for tariffs by building up inventory from its gaming and electronics divisions in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Mar 6, 2025
Sony and Suntory build U.S. stockpiles as Japan faces Trump tariff threat
In his latest trade salvo this week, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted that he might target Tokyo next, after imposing tariffs on Mexico and China.
While you need to pass over cash for taxes, don't fall for scams that trick you into paying what you don't owe.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 6, 2025
Scams, taxes and tariffs: It's that time of year.
Financial scams abound in Japan and a new one uses tax-related terminology.
Tariffs and trade uncertainty are causing the U.S. economy to lose steam, and companies more vulnerable to slower growth are starting to show the cracks.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2025
Investors spy the dawn of a tectonic shift away from U.S. markets
For most of the last three years, investors had bet on "U.S. exceptionalism," with the country ahead of others in economic growth, stock prices and AI.
U.S. President Donald Trump is applauded by Vice President JD Vance (center) and House Speaker Mike Johnson, as Trump arrives to deliver his address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025
In speech, Trump warns of tariff ‘disturbance’ as he touts trade plans
Data shows new strains on the economy as factory activity stagnates, inflation simmers, consumer confidence ebbs and stocks lag behind equity markets in other countries.
A ship sails through the Panama Canal after Hong Kong's CK Hutchison agreed to sell its interests in a key Panama Canal port operator to a BlackRock-backed consortium on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025
BlackRock to buy Hong Kong firm's Panama Canal port stake amid pressure
The $22.8 billion deal, coming amid pressure from the White House, will give the BlackRock-backed group control of ports along the strategic waterway and dozens of others.
MAGA hats adorn a row of monitors on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 5, 2025
Day one of Trump’s trade war delivers wild ride for Wall Street
The S&P 500 index tumbled 2% shortly after the open Tuesday, wiping out its $3.4 trillion advance since Election Day on Nov. 5.
Many Japanese companies are exporting more to the United States to get ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025
Japanese firms boost exports to U.S. to get ahead of tariffs
Overall, Japanese exports to the U.S. jumped 8.1% in January to ¥1.5 trillion ($10 billion), the highest for the month in at least 19 years.

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Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan