Category Archives: International trade

EU expected to issue veiled warning to China over supply of cut-cost goods

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European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping at summit on Thursday

The EU is to tell China that its €400bn (£343bn) trade deficit is not sustainable long term amid fears that it will flood the bloc with subsidised electric cars, solar panels and medical devices, threatening European manufacturing and jobs.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, and Charles Michel, the European Council president, will meet Xi Jinping at a summit on Thursday, the second of its kind this year.

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Moody’s cuts China credit outlook to negative as economy slows

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Rating agency says Beijing may need to bail out local governments as property sector collapses

China’s ability to repay its government borrowing has been downgraded by the credit rating agency Moody’s, which said the ripple effects from a crisis in the property sector would undermine efforts to revive its flagging economy.

Moody’s warned that Beijing would need to bail out local and regional governments and state-owned enterprises that were struggling with rising debts, hampering efforts to boost investment and growth.

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EU hatches backup plan to lessen impact of 10% Brexit tariff on EVs

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Exclusive: ‘Cushion’ for carmakers facing looming tariff under deal for vehicles traded between EU and UK from start of 2024

The European Commission has hatched confidential Plan B proposals to “cushion” the impact of a looming 10% tariff on imports and exports of electric vehicles, the Guardian has learned.

The proposal was presented to member states on Monday in response to pressure from carmakers to amend some of the conditions imposed when the UK left the EU in January 2021.

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Maersk to cut 10,000 jobs as shipping demand drops

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Danish company has axed 6,500 of those roles already, with global economic slowdown taking toll

One of the world’s largest shipping companies, Møller-Maersk, is cutting 10,000 jobs because of a drop in demand triggered by the global economic slowdown.

The Danish company said it had already started cutting staff but was planning on “intensifying” cost-saving measures in order to safeguard its financial performance as price forecasts worsened.

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French police detain Russian tycoon over alleged financial and sanctions violations

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Alfa Bank founder Alexey Kuzmichev was sanctioned by EU for ‘well-established ties’ to Vladimir Putin

Police in France have detained the Russian tycoon Alexey Kuzmichev and raided two of his properties in connection with alleged tax evasion, money laundering and sanctions violations.

The French financial prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday that searches had taken place a day earlier at Kuzmichev’s Paris home and an estate in in the Mediterranean Var region.

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China launches tax investigations into Apple iPhone maker Foxconn

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Tax audits and land use inquiries follow company founder announcing run for Taiwan presidency

China’s tax authorities have launched multiple investigations into the company that makes the iPhone, months after its billionaire founder announced he would run in Taiwan’s presidential elections.

Foxconn faces tax audits of its operations in China, as well as investigations into land use in two Chinese provinces, according to reports by local media.

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Australia and China suspend WTO wine tariff dispute before Anthony Albanese’s trip to Beijing

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Countries agree to halt World Trade Organization dispute pending outcome of China’s ‘expedited review’ of duties imposed on Australian wine in 2020

China has agreed to review the tariffs it places on Australian wine producers after a breakthrough in negotiations before Anthony Albanese’s trip to Beijing next month.

Albanese said on Sunday the two countries had agreed to suspend their long-running World Trade Organization dispute while Beijing undertakes an “expedited review” of duties, which is expected to take five months.

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Australia rules out cancelling Chinese company’s lease over Port of Darwin

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Government also presses for removal of imposts on wine ahead of Anthony Albanese’s visit to Beijing next month

Australia is moving to repair ties with China ahead of Anthony Albanese’s trip to Beijing, ruling out cancelling a Chinese company’s lease over the strategically important Port of Darwin.

The move, which is likely to be welcomed by the Chinese government, comes as Australia also prepares to scrap tariffs on imports of Chinese wind towers, potentially defusing one of Beijing’s trade complaints.

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Costs, delays and labour shortages threaten the Osaka world expo

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Japan hopes the fair in 2025 will reconnect it with the global community after Covid but calls are growing to delay or scrap the event

In the distance, beyond the clouds of sand kicked up by a coastal wind and passing lorries, the centrepiece of Osaka’s plan to “reconnect the world” is finally taking shape.

When completed, huge sections of timber will form an enormous walkway encircling a “forest of tranquillity” and pavilions showcasing the history, culture and technology of more than 130 countries, with the host, Japan, at its heart.

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Australian government says ‘yeah, no’ to deal with China to drop wine tariffs

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Reported package offer from Beijing was attempt to ‘meet Australian side halfway’ but Australia sees issues as ‘entirely separate matters’

The Australian government has said “yeah, no” to a reported package deal offer from China to drop its tariffs on Australian wine in return for more favourable treatment of its wind towers, railway wheels and stainless steel sinks.

The agriculture, forestries and fisheries minister, Murray Watt, said on Sunday that the Albanese government regards these as “entirely separate matters” but will seek to resolve remaining trade issues through dialogue.

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UK manufacturers cut hiring plans amid ‘sharp slowdown’, survey finds

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Firms preparing for difficult year as ‘potent cocktail’ of difficulties takes hold, says industry lobby group

UK manufacturers are cutting their recruitment plans after being hit by a slowdown in orders as a downturn looms, a new survey shows.

Britain’s manufacturers are “battening down the hatches” amid a sharp drop in activity, according to the latest quarterly data from Make UK, which represents manufacturers, and the business advisory firm BDO.

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Anthony Albanese pushes to finalise EU trade deal by end of year during talks on sidelines of G20

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Discussions had reached an impasse over the use of geographical indicators for products such as prosecco and feta

The prime minister says there have been positive signs in long-stalled negotiations over a free-trade deal between Australia and the European Union.

Anthony Albanese held talks with European leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, with time running out for the deal to be finalised by the end of the year.

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India, US and Saudi Arabia in talks on rail and ports deal linking Gulf and south Asia

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Talks include Europe and UAE as Joe Biden flies to Delhi with aim of rivalling China’s Belt and Road

The US, Saudi Arabia, India and other nations are discussing a possible infrastructure deal that could reconfigure trade between the Gulf and south Asia, linking Middle Eastern countries by railways and connecting to India by port, according to US officials aware of the conversations.

The talks, which have also included the United Arab Emirates and Europe, may or may not yield a concrete result in time for an announcement on the sidelines of this week’s G20 leaders’ meeting, the officials said.

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China reportedly extends iPhone ban to more workers as tensions with US rise

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Apple shares fall as local government and state-owned firms latest to face restrictions on devices at work

China’s government has reportedly expanded its ban of iPhones to local government workers and state-owned companies, a day after it emerged central government employees were forbidden from bringing the devices to work.

Several agencies had begun instructing employees not to bring iPhones to work and the ban was expected to be further extended, Bloomberg reported. Nikkei reported at least one state-owned company had told its employees that anyone working with trade secrets could not bring their iPhones, Apple Watches or AirPods into work from next month.

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Germany backs tariff delay on electric vehicle sales between UK and EU

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Manufacturers face 10% levies under post-Brexit trade deal but German government supports postponement

Carmakers could be in line for a reprieve after it emerged that Germany is backing calls to postpone tariffs on electric vehicle sales between the UK and the EU.

Manufacturers in the UK and on the continent face the prospect of 10% levies on new electric vehicles that cross the Channel from January under the post-Brexit trade deal agreed between Britain and the bloc in 2020.

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Rishi Sunak to urge Narendra Modi to take stronger stance on Russia

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Two prime ministers to meet before G20 summit as India continues to import Russian oil and weapons

Rishi Sunak will use a meeting with Narendra Modi in Delhi to push the Indian prime minister to take a tougher stance towards Russia, Downing Street has said.

The two prime ministers will meet this weekend before the G20 summit in the Indian capital, where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be discussed in front of the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, told Modi a week ago he would not attend.

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A UK trade deal with India was promised by last October. Why is it still not ready?

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Successive prime ministers have failed to achieve what they see as one of the great dividends offered by Brexit

Liz Truss bowled into Downing Street last summer with a promise to rip up much of what her predecessor Boris Johnson had done. However, one goal remained: she insisted, as Johnson had done, she could deliver a free trade deal with India by Diwali in October.

Whitehall officials were dismayed, therefore, when they received the latest set of demands from Indian negotiators. It was not that New Delhi was asking too much, rather they were not saying what they were asking at all.

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Rishi Sunak rules out quick-fix trade deal with India

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Exclusive: Sources believe deal will not be struck before meeting with Narendra Modi at G20 summit

Rishi Sunak has ruled out a quick-fix trade deal with India, making it impossible to get an agreement over the line in time for this week’s G20 summit in Delhi – and possibly even by next year’s elections.

Multiple sources close to the negotiations told the Guardian the prime minister has rejected the idea of an “early harvest” deal, which could have lowered tariffs on goods such as whisky but would not have dealt with trickier subjects such as professional services.

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UK solar could be ‘dumping ground’ for products of Chinese forced labour, ministers warned

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Energy bill amendment requires large solar energy projects to prove supply chain free of slave labour

The UK risks becoming a dumping ground for the products of forced labour from Xinjiang province in China if it rejects reforms proposed by members of the foreign affairs select committee with cross-party support, ministers have been warned.

An amendment to the energy bill, due to be debated on Tuesday, would require solar energy companies to prove that their supply chains are free of slave labour. The Xinjiang region is the source of 35%-40% of the world’s solar-grade polysilicon, the key raw material in the solar photovoltaic supply chain.

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Inflation spiral: food prices could yet rise higher and may never come down

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Concerns are growing over the effects of a warming climate on production and the danger of high grocery prices getting embedded into Australia’s economy

Food prices have been rising rapidly and there are reasons to fear they will push even higher. Economists warn some prices might never come down.

The ominous outlook is linked to drought conditions wilting crops in major grain-producing nations, disrupted grain deliveries out of Ukraine and moves by governments to ban food exports to protect their own supplies.

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