Trump seeks to shore up support among rural voters hard-hit by tariffs, economic fallout of war with Iran.
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
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...
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...
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...
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....
USTR's proposal comes from a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation designed to help rebuild Trump's tariffs.
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
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
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...
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.
China's tariff-free access for many African products has renewed hopes of industrial growth. But trade remains uneven.
Ecuadorian leader Daniel Noboa offers to cancel tariffs after speaking to a right-wing presidential candidate ahead of Sunday's vote.
The goodbye emails started arriving on a Monday. By Friday, Sheila’s inbox told the story of an organisation coming apart at the seams, one farewell at a time. Sheila* had spent nearly a decade helping run US-funded development projects in the Philippines. She had watched them grow, hire staff and take root in local communities. When Washington ordered a freeze on foreign aid in January 2025, she told herself it was just a pause – a bureaucratic blip pending a review by the new...
Across the vast United States, soybean farmers caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war hoped for a deal on the crop when US President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. There was optimism after the two presidents met in Busan, South Korea, in October, when China committed to increased soybean purchases. This time, however, Trump left Beijing without any concrete agricultural announcements, much less one about US farmers’ biggest export. Instead, a general...
European Commission leaders are preparing to harden the EU’s economic stance towards China at a pivotal debate on Friday, opening the door to a new wave of trade and industrial measures later this year. Sources indicated that a majority – though not all – of the 27 commissioners, including President Ursula von der Leyen, are supportive of a more robust trade and industrial policy, amid rising fears of de-industrialisation, in what is now widely described in Brussels as the “China shock...
Indian officials have, including Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, have in the past said that a deal would be possible only once details are clear on the tariffs the U.S. would be levying on India’s competitors.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday that the government would seek public comment on which Chinese goods should be eligible for lower tariffs. Washington and Beijing have agreed to a joint “Board of Trade” to initially determine about US$30 billion of non-strategic goods on which the two countries can lower or eliminate tariffs. Greer said a public notice will be issued soon. Asked at a forum on what the US got out of President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President...
High on the list of deliverables agreed following the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump was the establishment of a board of trade, albeit with little detail on its mission, responsibilities or operations. The White House expects the board “to manage bilateral trade across non-sensitive goods” while China’s Ministry of Commerce says the board “will discuss issues such as tariff reductions”. While not contradictory, both formulations are vague and hint at...
A coalition of major EU member states is pushing Brussels towards a much tougher trade regime aimed at combating Chinese-style industrial overcapacity, including faster emergency tariffs, broader safeguards and new anti-circumvention powers. A paper signed by Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Lithuania days before a major China-focused debate in Brussels said the bloc must respond more aggressively to “systemic and structural industrial overcapacity” – phrases often taken as shorthand...
Tariffs discovered in 2025 auctions increasingly don’t appear to be economically viable, says the report
President Donald Trump has said he would impose much higher tariffs on EU goods if the European Union did not implement its trade deal commitments by July 4
Washington and Beijing expected to extend trade truce, but analysts see only modest breakthrough in strained ties.
The US customs agency has processed refunds including interest worth US$35.46 billion as of May 11 for tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump last year that were deemed illegal, according to a Tuesday court filing. As of 7am on May 11, the US Customs and Border Protection had received 126,237 applications for refunds covering an undisclosed number of shipments or entries, according to the court filing. The agency said it had validated 86,874 of those applications covering 15.1 million...
The first US presidential visit to China in almost 10 years will test a fragile tariff truce.
Nine years after his lavish first visit to China as US president, Donald Trump is scheduled to head back to Beijing on May 14-15. Beijing has not confirmed the date yet. With tensions over tariffs, Taiwan and tech rivalry still simmering, the summit will test whether the world’s two biggest powers can stabilise their fractious relationship. What to expect Pragmatic deals over grand resets Don’t look for a historic breakthrough. The focus is expected to be on extending the trade truce, locking in...
A bonfire of red tape to unleash investment and complete stalled projects across Vietnam may drive economic expansion but is unlikely to offset the damage caused by US tariffs and the fuel crisis which have threatened the country’s growth ambitions. Vietnam’s Communist Party General-Secretary and President To Lam, the most powerful leader in a generation, has set an annual growth target of 10 per cent until 2030 to galvanise a nation whose ponderous bureaucracy has snarled private investment and...