The ongoing West Asia crisis, which has pushed up transportation and raw material costs, has led to an increase in notebook prices
Uttam Kumar Reddy asks millers to go for mechanisation, modern storage, nutrition-based processing
The proposal formed part of two policy documents handed over by the Kufos to Fisheries Minister Abdul Gafoor during his first official visit
Bharath says region’s strategic location, natural resources and infrastructure are attracting investments; government plans food parks, pharma clusters and aerospace hubs to accelerate growth
Russia’s share stood at about 34% in terms of the volume of India’s oil imports in April 2026. At the same time, India’s dependence on oil from the U.S. fell to multi-month lows in terms of both value and volume.
One kg of yarn with high counts rose to ₹400, from ₹300 and textile industry sources say the removal of import duty on yarn by the Centre has brought partial relief to the units in Tiruppur
Global airline chiefs open their annual summit in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday facing a sharper test of the industry’s post-pandemic recovery, as the Iran war drives up fuel costs and disrupts airspace while carriers try to cushion the blow with higher fares and tighter capacity. The annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) from Saturday to Monday comes as that fuel shock collides with another problem airlines cannot quickly fix: a shortage of new aircraft. Boeing and...
Mainland customers can still open bank accounts in Hong Kong, but banks must adopt stringent new checks to ensure their processes are “compliant and orderly”, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement on Saturday. “The banking industry has implemented the new regulatory requirements set out in the HKMA circular to ensure the account opening process is compliant and orderly,” the statement said. “Chinese mainland customers continue to apply for opening accounts, and in general,...
Based on unaudited provisional figures put out by the office of the Principal Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlements), Tamil Nadu, the growth rate worked out for SOTR in 2025-26 vis-à-vis 2024-25 was 6.8%
The price increase was necessitated by the cost rise of consumables and other materials used in salons as the Iran-U.S. conflict escalated in West Asia
The GDP growth rate of 7.7% in FY 2025-26 and 7.8% in Q4 of FY 2025-26 reflects robust economic activity and broad-based growth across sectors, says BJP President Nitin Nabin
Makeda George steps out of a Mixue store in downtown Brooklyn, New York, clutching a bubble tea as she weaves through a crowd of teenagers. The local resident says she had been eager to try the brand after noticing a surge of new outlets opening in recent months. “I decided to try the bubble tea. It was good,” she said, adding that she did not know it was a Chinese drink chain but figured it was Asian given the branding. “Everywhere you go, every nook, every cranny, you just see them popping...
The war with the US is not the only factor driving prices skywards.
Hong Kong serves as an ideal platform to help Uzbek enterprises expand through its world-class professional services and international business environment, the city’s leader has told the Central Asian country’s prime minister as he wrapped up a five-day regional tour. Sources said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Friday also invited Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov to be a keynote speaker at the coming Belt and Road Summit to be held in Hong Kong in September. It was understood that during a...
It is the third month in a row US jobs figures have beaten expectations.
According to that framework, the U.S. had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18% from 50%. It had removed the 25% tariffs on Indian goods for buying Russian oil and was to cut the remaining 25% to 18% under the pact
China and Russia have largely moved away from the US dollar in bilateral trade settlement, with most transactions now settled in their own currencies. Yet cross-border payment bottlenecks persist as Chinese banks carefully manage their exposure to Washington’s sanctions regime, according to a senior Russian banker. At the heart of the friction is a stark balancing act facing Chinese lenders: how to ease trade with Russia while safeguarding access to the US dollar-based global financial system –...
The EU’s trade chief has confirmed publicly for the first time that the bloc is considering a specific rule to compel companies to diversify their suppliers, as Europe looks to unwind its dependencies on China. “Diversification now requires a dedicated instrument,” Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Friday, adding that he would model it on the manner in which the EU reduced its reliance on Russian energy following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “Recent industrial...
US employment growth surged in May, beating market expectations, while the unemployment rate remained steady, government data showed on Friday, with the labour market in the world’s largest economy sustaining recent gains. “Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 172,000 in May, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 per cent,” the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal had expected job growth of 80,000...
International marques have failed to sustain the market share they regained in China early this year after consumers fell back in love with electric vehicles (EVs), a sector where domestic brands continue to enjoy an overwhelming advantage. Foreign carmakers from Volkswagen to Toyota held a combined 30.3 per cent share of the Chinese automotive market in April, with about 418,140 vehicles handed to local customers, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). In the first...
A sharp rise in blocking and seizure of cattle trucks in neighbouring States, especially Andhra Pradesh, has severely affected the supply of cattle for slaughter, pushing Kerala’s private meat industry into a difficult situation
China and South Korea will allow 70 more flights per week between the two countries in view of fast-growing, two-way tourism and a drop in Chinese group travel to Japan. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Seoul said in a statement Thursday that passenger flight capacity would grow from 608 to 664 per week and that maximum air freight flights would expand from 54 to 68 per week. These expansions, the first since before the Covid pandemic, reflect a surge in two-way tourism,...
Europe’s political and business leaderships appear to have concluded that China’s economic dominance represents an existential threat – not from intrinsic competitiveness but from subsidies, technology theft, state-owned enterprises and a pervasive industrial policy. Cecilia Malmstrom, former European Commission member and a member of the European Parliament, wrote this week about “an ever more aggressive China”, which “seems to be entering a new phase of industrial policy with an increase of...
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and four Union Ministers open the two-day Visakhapatnam workshop targeting ₹1 lakh crore in annual seafood exports, up from a record ₹73,890.46 crore in 2025-26
This is the first event I have inaugurated as the chief minister, says D.K. Shivakumar
The threat by the US to impose additional tariffs on imports from India over forced labour supply-chain concerns is a “pressure” tactic deployed by Washington to drive a harder bargain in its trade talks with New Delhi, according to analysts. Following a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation, the Trump administration proposed that products from India, China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Switzerland would be subject to a 12.5 per cent levy, while a 10 per cent rate would apply to...
Telangana’s once-thriving granite industry is showing signs of stress as export markets shrink and input costs soar. In Karimnagar and Khammam districts, quarry owners, factory operators and migrant workers are all feeling the impact of a prolonged downturn, report P. Sridhar and P. Laxma Reddy
Hong Kong is embracing its growing role on the international stage in vital sectors driving global prosperity – a message highlighted at an annual gathering of international industry leaders, corporate executives and local policymakers who back the city’s upward momentum. The Global Prosperity Summit 2026 (GPS 2026) showcased high-stakes international dialogue over two days in Hong Kong last month for panel discussions on the city’s potential across several fast-evolving and globally significant...
Asia-Pacific is expected to drive global retail sales over the next five years, even as the Middle East conflict is hurting consumer confidence, according to business analysts. The war could continue to weigh on consumer and business sentiment for now due to higher energy prices and supply chain disruption, Anand Ramanathan, Deloitte Asia-Pacific’s retail and consumer products sector leader, said in an interview. “As borrowing costs rise and financial conditions tighten, consumers and businesses...
In the financial year 2024–25, total India-Russia trade reached an all-time high of about $68.7 billion, up sharply from roughly $13 billion in 2021, marking nearly a five - to six- fold increase over four years.
I just spent two weeks in a broken Britain, which is an unfortunately apt description for a country that has fallen from its former glory. Its people are funny, witty, creative, intelligent, sports-mad and educated, part of a society that has constantly evolved over the last millennium, its imperial heritage bringing in cultures from around the globe. It is a green and pleasant land, beautiful in spring and summer, and not too bad in the autumn. Yet the once great nation is now dealing with a...
US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told lawmakers on Thursday that American dependence on China for food, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs poses an “existential” threat, framing food security as a national security issue while defending the White House’s reduced fiscal 2027 budget request. “If we need to rely on China for our food and our fertiliser and all the things that come with that, we will lose what we understand to be liberty and freedom in this country. That’s how important...
EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic has called for practical approaches and “meaningful discussion” to tackle the growing trade concerns between Brussels and Beijing, following his meeting with China’s chief international trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, on the sideline of a ministerial meeting at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Sefcovic opened his press conference on Thursday by stressing the urgency of crafting policy responses to the non-market practices...
Nirmala Sitharaman was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a Farmers Training and Common Facility Centre in Baddepalli village
The EU and China were due to hold talks to defuse escalating trade tensions after Europe voted last week to adopt a tough new approach. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic was set to meet China’s top trade envoy, Li Chenggang, on the sidelines of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) meeting on Thursday, the South China Morning Post reported. Talks will focus on establishing a new platform to discuss trade and investment issues and will pave the way for Chinese Commerce...
China has rejected a recent OECD report that said its firms receive far higher government subsidies than international peers, calling the findings “one-sided and arbitrary” at a time when EU concerns over Beijing’s industrial policy are intensifying. “The report’s definition of ‘subsidies’ lacks a unified standard and statistical framework, and deviates from consensus under multilateral frameworks such as the World Trade Organization,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on...
Thailand’s shrimp industry is reeling from the latest blow to its once market-dominant business after Malaysia this week suspended imports from its northern neighbour, triggering fresh despair from a sector whose revenue has nosedived in the 15 years since it claimed the crown as the world’s largest exporter. Malaysia’s temporary ban on five shrimp species – as well as tightened import requirements for Thai sea bass – came into force on Monday. The trade row comes as Thailand’s fisheries sector...
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed the "real problem" is that private corporate investment is very tepid within India
The projects covered under the MoU include a data centre expansion project in Kancheepuram district with an investment of ₹15,000 crore
Direct flights between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan could save business travellers up to 10 hours and open the city’s shorelines to tourists from landlocked Central Asia, lawmakers have said after the flag carrier announced plans to launch an Almaty route next year. Lawmaker Jonathan Stuart Lamport, who represents the business sector, on Thursday said the announcement had received widespread support from the industry, as direct flights between Hong Kong and Almaty would significantly strengthen ties...
Groundbreaking ceremony for Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test facility proposed at Tarluvada is scheduled for June 8; the facility envisages investment of ₹2,387.81 crore and is expected to generate 1,000 jobs;
The evidence showing limited or no job loss challenges the idea that cheap labour is a necessity for employment
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Wednesday that China is “very interested” in additional Boeing plane purchases, an issue the Trump administration plans to press when President Xi Jinping visits the United States in September. “They agreed to 200 aeroplanes during the visit. We will see if they commit to a larger number when Xi Jinping arrives in Washington,” Bessent said in his budget request testimony to the Senate Finance Committee. China’s commitment to buy 200 Boeing aircraft...
The administration of US President Donald Trump has proposed new tariffs of up to 12.5 per cent on imports from China and dozens of other trading partners, using a forced-labour investigation to advance what analysts see as a bid to rebuild its tariff regime after recent court setbacks. The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said on Tuesday that China and 59 other economies failed to prohibit or adequately restrict US imports made with forced labour, subjecting them to punitive action...
A campaign titled ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’ (prosperity through cooperatives) has made new facilities available to the villagers for financial transactions and disbursal of loans.
The action follows investigations launched against 60 countries over what the USTR described as their failure to impose and effectively enforce bans on imports made with forced labour
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thanked China for clearing the country’s beef of foot-and-mouth disease and fired a barb at US President Donald Trump, saying “I will sell to someone else”, after Washington announced new tariffs on Brazilian goods. Lula made the remarks on Tuesday, hours after Beijing announced wider access for Brazilian beef to the world’s biggest market for the product. “As God writes straight with crooked lines, nothing comes free for a Christian man like me....
Brazil's president says he was surprised by the proposed 25 percent tariffs, which came amid signs relations improving.
USTR's proposal comes from a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation designed to help rebuild Trump's tariffs.
A Ukrainian drone strike targeted energy facilities near St Petersburg hours before the forum began.
Highlighting the need for quality-based procurement, Sumit Kumar urges farmers to harvest fruits only after they reach proper maturity, as well-ripened mangoes are likely to fetch better prices
As EV adoption gathers pace, there is a greater need to focus on reducing vulnerability to external shocks
A stronger dollar, higher energy costs and market uncertainty are putting pressure on currencies across Asia.
Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy directs officials to arrange insurance coverage for workers, particularly to cover accidents and unforeseen incidents during work
It comes after the US Supreme Court struck down many of US President Donald Trump's previous duties in February.
The USTR had issued its findings in the forced labour investigation and proposed additional tariffs on imports from 60 economies, with a 12.5% import tariff for India
China is one of the world’s largest buyers of gold as central banks shift towards the precious metal, which has overtaken US Treasuries to become the world’s top reserve asset amid higher valuations and its appeal as a geopolitical hedge, the European Central Bank said. The world’s second-largest economy was the fourth-largest per-country buyer of gold in 2025 after Poland, Kazakhstan and Brazil, purchasing about 25 tonnes, the ECB stated. It estimated that China had bought more than 350 tonnes...
The U.S. Trade Representative has proposed to impose 12.5% additional duties on 54 countries, including India, for failing to prohibit the import of goods produced with forced labour
The action follows investigations launched against 60 countries over what the USTR described as their failure to impose and effectively enforce bans on imports made with forced labour
South Korea has emerged as a rare bright spot among East Asian economies trading with China, as booming demand for memory chips pushes its balance with its largest trading partner back into a surplus. The country’s trade position with China had strengthened steadily this year, swinging from a US$764 million deficit in December 2025 to a US$1.1 billion surplus in February, before widening further to US$3.8 billion in May, according to data from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and...
Mexico and Canada have backed extending the USMCA trade agreement for another 16 years.
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Hong Kong is stepping up efforts to position the Northern Metropolis as a platform connecting ASEAN businesses with opportunities across the Greater Bay Area, as diplomats, chamber representatives and business leaders from Southeast Asia were brought on a government-led tour of the mega-development project. The nearly 70-strong delegation, organised by the Hong Kong-ASEAN Foundation (HKAF) in conjunction with the...
Thai authorities are ramping up enforcement of local ownership rules, stoking anxiety among foreign businesses.
The Trump administration on Tuesday formally appealed against a judge’s order for refunds of the US president’s global tariffs after they were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year. At stake is some US$166 billion in revenue. A refunds system handled by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has already begun to process repayments. Last month, the CBP said in a court filing that it was on track to process about US$85 billion in repayments, with US$20.6 billion approved for...
Canada and Mexico on Tuesday called for a 16-year renewal of the North American free trade agreement with the United States, in hopes of binding the three countries to a pact that US President Donald Trump has openly questioned. The agreement is vital for Canada and Mexico, as the US is their main trading partner and the destination for 75 and 80 per cent of their exports, respectively. In a letter Monday, Ottawa’s minister in charge of Canada-US trade Dominic LeBlanc said: “Canada recommends...
In a move that could rattle global grain markets, China and neighbouring Kazakhstan – Central Asia’s largest grain producer and a key Belt and Road Initiative partner – agreed last week to establish a joint grain-trading platform during talks in Astana. The two sides also discussed long-term supply contracts, logistics hubs, dry ports and technology cooperation in storage and processing. Although full details remain limited, reports indicate the platform will be modelled on China’s state-managed...
Brazil has won wider access to the world’s biggest beef market after China recognised the entire country as free of foot-and-mouth disease, though a new quota will still cap prices. The decision was announced on Tuesday by China’s General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and was communicated during Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira’s visit to Beijing. After a risk analysis, Beijing lifted the restriction on northern Brazil and recognised the...
An investigation reveals how visa giant VFS Global profits from millions of visa applications from the Global South.
Farmers wore onion garlands and blocked the highway in the Ambegaon taluka of the Pune district. They demanded a guaranteed price of ₹3,000 per quintal and compensation for farmers who sold their produce at a lower rate.
The US plans new 25 percent tariffs on Brazilian imports, citing issues like deforestation and digital trade practices.
Trade discussions between the two countries have been frozen since late last year.
In a letter to his North American counterparts, US-Canada Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the three countries should renew the USMCA trade deal.
Currently, procurement prices range between ₹190 and ₹260 per kilogram at major auction centres in Nellore and Prakasam districts due to the sluggish international demand and over supply
The Trump administration has proposed a new punitive tariff of 25 per cent on many imports from Brazil, after deciding its practices were unfair on a range of issues from digital trade to illegal deforestation, top trade official Jamieson Greer said late on Monday. The measures, under the Section 301 trade statute, cover areas such as electronic payment services, preferential tariffs, intellectual property protection and ethanol market access as well, the Office of the United States Trade...
Chinese researchers have developed an environmentally friendly method to extract caesium from brine, a process they say could boost China’s supply of the strategic resource. Caesium, a rare metal, is a critical strategic resource used in satellite atomic clocks, missile thermal imaging sensors and advanced speciality glass. China and the United States are the top consumers of caesium, yet both rely heavily on imports. It is primarily found in the Earth’s crustal ores as well as salt lake brines...
Growers are currently losing nearly ₹53 per kg with higher cultivation costs worsening their financial burden, says Nagi Reddy
The wide-ranging geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington could soon expand into biotechnology, raising the prospect of fresh tensions even as American pharmaceutical firms have turned to China’s fast-growing industry for new drug candidates. Biotech in the world’s second-largest economy has long been viewed as a predominantly low-cost manufacturing base with opportunities arising from its vast domestic market. But years of sustained investment, cost advantages and faster development...
Australian beef will soon be subject to an additional 55 per cent import duty in China, with shipments of the meat about to surpass an annual quota set by Beijing, China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed on Tuesday. Imports of Australian beef have already reached 90 per cent of this year’s quota, meaning that a tariff adjustment will soon be triggered, the ministry announced via an alert. Until recently, most imports of Australian beef were subject to low or even zero tariffs in China under a...
Hong Kong’s retail sales rose by 8.6 per cent year on year in April, extending the sector’s recovery for a 12th consecutive month, supported by continued growth in visitor arrivals and holiday spending. Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday showed retail sales reached HK$31.4 billion (US$4 billion) in April, compared with HK$28.9 billion a year earlier. Retail sales for the first four months of 2026 rose 11.3 per cent from the same period last year. A...
China's tariff-free access for many African products has renewed hopes of industrial growth. But trade remains uneven.
Japan is slipping towards a banana shortage crisis, the latest disruption linked to the Middle East conflict. The reason: the country ships in the tropical fruit while it is still green, then ripens it in rooms filled with ethylene before bunches reach store shelves. Supplies of the naphtha-derived gas are running low in an economy that imports more than 90 per cent of its crude oil. Japan bought about 1 million tonnes of bananas last year, making the fruit one of the country’s most important...
Asia’s fuel needs may take priority over the strategic risks of relying on oil from heavily sanctioned Russia, according to experts. Currently, there is little political appetite to treat the surge of Moscow’s crude flowing eastward through a “dark fleet” of tankers as a potential security issue. The US-Israeli war on Iran has caused the price of Brent crude – the benchmark measure – to spike to above US$100 since March, although talks with Washington have seen the price soften in recent days to...
China’s SAIC Motor plans to set up a car factory in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia that would be its first production facility in the European Union, the regional government said on Monday. Galicia’s leader Alfonso Rueda said his administration had given strategic priority to the project, with an initial investment envisaged at around €200 million (US$232 million). The project, which includes a logistics hub, still requires the central government’s approval for foreign direct...
C. Shikha, Joint Secretary at the Dept of Food and Public Distribution told reporters that India’s imports of edible oil were largely from unaffected trade routes as indian Ocean and Strait of Malacca.
The growth in services sector from employing 26.6% in 2014 to 33% in the current year has led to a jump in per capita income of the State, albeit with huge disparities between districts closer to the capital and those away from it
State’s net GST growth at 16% outpaced the national average of 6% and ranked second among southern States, behind Karnataka’s 17%
Since US President Donald Trump launched a tariff war against China during his first term in office, Washington has steadily expanded restrictions on Chinese access to advanced technologies, targeting semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, aerospace systems, supercomputers and a broad range of dual-use technologies. These export controls are aimed at slowing China’s rise in high-end manufacturing and frontier science. But Beijing’s rapid progress in a number of...
Amarjeet Kaur criticises Centre’s policies at the AITUC National General Council meet
He said that the U.S. team is here to hold talks on finalising the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). The talks will take place here from June 2-4. On February 3, both sides announced the framework for the first phase of the BTA
This is the first data released after the revision in base year to 2022-23