New report upgrades outlook for UK economy with growth now forecast at 1.1% rather than 0.7%
The International Monetary Fund has warned the trade tariffs favoured by US presidential candidate Donald Trump could hurt global growth, as it upgraded its forecast for the UK economy.
The Washington-based organisation said tariffs trigger tit-for-tat trade wars that impoverish the economies involved in the dispute and the wider global economy.
Continue reading...Investors disappointed after hoped-for policy plans by Beijing to stimulate economy failed to materialise
Chinese stocks have suffered their worst fall in 27 years after efforts by Beijing to stimulate the world’s second-largest economy disappointed investors.
Stock markets in Asia fell sharply after China’s top economic planning authority failed to announce further measures to improve flagging growth.
Continue reading...Trading relationships at ‘breaking point’ because of delays and costs, garden centres and nurseries warn
Exporters of plants and flowers from mainland Europe are turning their backs on supplying Britain as “painful” new Brexit border checks are putting some trading relationships at “breaking point”, garden centres and nurseries have warned.
The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), which represents garden retailers and growers, said long-held links between British nurseries and EU suppliers were now being put under strain because of the delays and costs associated with the new border processes.
Continue reading...Protest letter sent to fund’s head over move to send staff to Moscow for first review since invasion of Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will send staff to Moscow next week to review the Russian economy for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine, in a move that has prompted anger and dismay across European capitals.
Officials of the Washington-based organisation will travel to the Russian capital and meet “stakeholders” before publishing an assessment of the economy and providing recommendations about how the Kremlin might improve its economic handling and tackle issues such as the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Accountancy firm accused of issuing false audits says it has sacked six partners and five other staff have left
The China arm of the accountancy firm PwC has been banned for six months and fined a record 441m yuan (£47m) over its audit of the collapsed property developer Evergrande, according to Chinese authorities.
Beijing’s ministry of finance imposed a six-month business suspension on PwC Zhong Tian, the accounting firm’s main division in mainland China, along with a 116m yuan penalty.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Michelin, Dunlop, Goodyear and Bridgestone products have found way to Russia via intermediaries
More than $30m (£23m) worth of aircraft tyres made by western manufacturers including the French firm Michelin and Britain’s Dunlop were imported into Russia last year via intermediaries despite attempts to ban the trade, according to a Ukrainian government agency.
Russian aviation is critically dependent on foreign-made tyres and, according to the available customs records, the vast majority imported into the country in 2023 were produced by companies headquartered in France, Britain, the US and Japan.
Continue reading...Finding new trade arrangements to boost growth will be hard given party has ruled out rejoining single market and customs union
Before a whistlestop European tour to Berlin and Paris, Keir Starmer promised to mend “the broken relationships left behind by the previous government” and drive forward UK economic growth.
Changing the tone with European leaders is the easy bit. Changing the substance – especially finding new arrangements to boost growth – is a much taller order.
Continue reading...Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds says joining Asia-Pacific CPTPP bloc is a ‘real win’ for exporters, even though it will preclude the UK from EU membership
The business and trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has signalled a new twin-track approach to UK trade policy, in which the Labour government will pursue closer ties with the European Union while at the same time seeking new global partnerships further afield.
Writing for the Observer online, Reynolds welcomes the UK’s imminent entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as a “real win” for British exporters.
Continue reading...Company tells clients it also expects to receive a large fine following property developer’s collapse
The auditor PwC China has reportedly told clients that it expects to receive a six-month ban from Chinese authorities, and potentially a large fine, as a punishment for its role in auditing the collapsed property developer Evergrande.
PwC expects to be banned from conducting regulated activities in China, such as signing off on financial results, for six months starting in September, the Financial Times reported.
Continue reading...Inquiry into eight EU countries is latest chapter in hostility between Beijing and EU over trade
Chinese authorities have launched an anti-subsidy investigation into European dairy imports, in the latest sign of escalating trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing.
The announcement from China’s commerce ministry on Wednesday came a day after the European Commission revealed revised duties on Chinese electric vehicles as part of its examination into what it viewed as artificially cheap cars that posed a threat to jobs in Europe’s motor industry.
Continue reading...Tomato and pepper growers call for UK to strike deal with EU to avoid disruption and duplicate testing
Vegetable growers in the UK have said crops could be adversely hit this year after post-Brexit border changes resulted in delays to seed imports.
Trade bodies representing UK tomato and pepper growers said new rules for seed imports from the EU were causing delays of up to six weeks for deliveries, disrupting their growing schedules and finances.
Continue reading...Though tiny compared with rivals, English wine trade is thriving as climate crisis fuels flood of new capital from investors
The largest English vineyards increased their revenues by 15% last year, as wine investors respond to the climate crisis by planting more vines.
While the UK still languishes well down the list of the largest wine-producing nations, below countries such as Uzbekistan and Tunisia, the industry’s output has soared in recent years, rising by 77% last year to 161,960 hectolitres, equivalent to 21.6m bottles.
Continue reading...Trade bodies blame lack of lab facilities at Brexit border posts for longer delays and shorter shelf life of food
Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested due to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, food bodies have said.
The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK’s food supply, has written to the government warning that members are being advised that some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border.
Continue reading...State-owned SAIC, parent of the British brand MG, was responsible for biggest jump in sales in June
Chinese carmakers secured a record 11% of the European electric vehicle market in June, as buyers raced to beat EU tariffs on imported EVs that came into force this month.
The figures, which include the UK, show that about 23,000 battery electric vehicles were registered in June, up 72% on the previous month as consumers raced to beat the price hike in the EU.
Continue reading...New business secretary set to tell international counterparts at G7 meeting ‘Britain is back on world stage’
Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy.
In his first overseas visit since Labour’s election landslide, Reynolds will tell a G7 meeting of trade ministers in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.
Continue reading...The $99bn figure comes as data shows exports growing at fastest rate in 15 months while imports fell
China posted a record $99bn (£76.4bn) trade surplus last month amid signs of importers bringing forward orders to beat higher tariffs on goods from the world’s second biggest economy.
The latest official figures from Beijing showed exports growing at their fastest rate in 15 months, while the weakness of China’s domestic economy resulted in falling imports.
Continue reading...Ministry will discuss investigation into claims that European producers are selling goods below market rates
China has ramped up its anti-dumping investigation into European brandy imports in what appears to be a retaliatory move as the EU imposed higher tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles from Friday.
The commerce ministry in Beijing said it would hold a hearing on 18 July to discuss an investigation into claims that European brandy producers are selling products in China below market rates.
Continue reading...Higher levies on Chinese EV imports to come into force despite carmakers’ fears of retaliation
The EU’s top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, has brushed aside concerns of trade-war retaliation from Beijing against European business, after the European Commission imposed duties on Chinese electric vehicles.
Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, told Bloomberg Television that talks with China were ongoing, adding: “We are not seeing the basis for retaliation as what we are conducting is indeed in line with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules.”
Continue reading...Brussels move to end tax loophole exploited by China-linked marketplaces could also dent Shein’s planned London listing
The EU is moving forward with plans to impose customs duty on cheap goods in a shift that could hit imports from online retailers and harm a hoped-for London listing by the fast-fashion seller Shein.
The potential change comes amid growing disquiet among retailers based in the UK, elsewhere in Europe, and the US about rising competition from Chinese-linked marketplaces Shein and Temu, which exploit a loophole that excludes low-value items from import duty.
Continue reading...Decision could result in retailers being prosecuted if they import goods made through forced labour, campaigners say
The UK National Crime Agency’s decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province was unlawful, the court of appeal has found.
Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which brought the action, said Thursday’s decision was a landmark win that could lead to high street retailers being prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) if they import goods made through forced labour.
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