Category Archives: International trade

‘They’ll be paying’: Trump blasts China as US prepares to raise trade tariffs

Posted on by

US president tells rally China ‘broke the deal’ and publishes list of imported products that will face higher tariffs from Friday

Donald Trump has warned that China has “broke the deal … so they’ll be paying” as the US and China moved to within 36 hours of a full-scale trade war and the US trade representative’s office filed the formal paperwork needed to increase duties on $200bn (£153bn) of Chinese goods.

Speaking at a rally in Panama City, Florida, on Wednesday night, the US president accused China of going back on their deal. “By the way, you see the tariffs we’re doing?” he asked supporters. “Because they broke the deal. They broke the deal. So they’re flying in, the vice premier tomorrow’s flying in – good man – but they broke the deal. They can’t do that, so they’ll be paying.”

The president added: “If we don’t make the deal, nothing wrong with taking it over $100bn a year – $100bn, we never did that before.”

Continue reading...

Trade war and Brexit pose mounting risk to EU economy, says EC

Posted on by

European commission warns of ‘major shock’ and slashes growth forecast the union

The threat of a full-blown trade war between the US and China and Brexit uncertainty are posing mounting risks to the EU economy, the European commission has warned, after downgrading its growth outlook for 2019.

Brussels’ executive arm said a recent slowdown in global trade volumes had taken its toll across the continent, as it cut its GDP growth forecast for the 28-nation bloc for 2019 to 1.4%, down from a forecast of 1.9% in the autumn.

Continue reading...

Chinese imports from US slump 28% amid trade standoff

Posted on by

Mixed picture shows rebound in country’s exports, creating $32bn trade surplus in March

Chinese imports slumped in March, driven by a slowdown in US trade amid the tense standoff between Washington and Beijing, raising renewed questions over the strength of the Chinese economy.

Imports fell by 7.6% in March compared with a year earlier, worse than City economists’ forecasts for the volume of goods bought from abroad to grow by 0.2%.

Continue reading...

Italy and China in plan for new Silk Road-style trade network

Posted on by

Xi Jinping visits Rome as Italy becomes first G7 country to back Belt and Road initiative

Italy has become the first G7 country to endorse a contentious plan by China to build a Silk Road-style global trade network, irking its EU and US allies.

The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could lead to Italy’s participation in China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI), an ambitious project that envisages Chinese investment in a network of infrastructure projects connecting Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump asks China to abolish tariffs on US farm produce

Posted on by

The US president says it is ‘very important for our farmers’ while adding that trade talks are ‘moving along nicely’

Donald Trump has urged China to abolish tariffs on agricultural products imported from the United States – adding that trade talks between the rival powers were going well.

“I have asked China to immediately remove all Tariffs on our agricultural products (including beef, pork, etc.),” the US president wrote on Twitter.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump delays tariff hike on Chinese goods after ‘great’ trade talks

Posted on by

The US president says he will hold a summit with Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement to end the year-long standoff

Donald Trump has said he will delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods that had been scheduled for Friday, citing “substantial progress” in trade talks with China over the weekend.

Related: When multilateralism crumbles, so does our rules-based order | Mark Medish

Continue reading...

Donald Trump hints at extension to China trade talks

Posted on by

President said potential delay was justified as deal ‘must be the biggest in history’

President Donald Trump has conceded that he will delay planned increases in import duties on $200bn (£155bn) of Chinese goods if there is progress in trade talks in Washington next week.

Appearing to soften his demand for talks to conclude before 1 March, Trump said there could be a 30- or 60-day extension, should negotiators get closer to a deal. He said a delay was justified, based on the scope and scale of the talks. Speaking on the White House lawn, he said: “Trade with China – how big does that get? It must be the biggest deal in history.”

Continue reading...

No-deal Brexit: UK exporters risk being locked out of world’s harbours

Posted on by

Goods dispatched in coming days may not arrive until after 29 March deadline

British exporters sending goods to far-flung destinations in the coming days risk being locked out of harbours around the world as a no-deal Brexit looms, business leaders have warned.

Independent trade experts and the UK’s biggest business groups said exporters could be dispatching goods from UK ports imminently that would not arrive until after the 29 March deadline. This raised the prospect of goods being stuck in ports or facing hefty additional costs in the event of a disorderly Brexit.

Continue reading...

Fears grow in Africa that the flood of funds from China will start to ebb

Posted on by
Slowing growth and rising debt at home may affect Beijing’s ability to keep up its vast investments in the developing world

Concerns over Chinese growth could spell problems for Africa and other parts of the developing world. Beijing funded an overseas investment boom in the past few decades as it strove to become the world’s second largest economic superpower, while also buying vast amounts of the natural resources produced by emerging nations.

The scale of the expansion forms part of China’s multibillion-dollar “Belt and Road” Initiative, a state-backed campaign to promote its influence around the world, while providing stimulus for its own slowing economy. The transcontinental development project, launched by China’s president, Xi Jinping, in 2013, aims to improve infrastructure links between Asia, Europe and Africa, with the aim for China to reap the benefits from increasing levels of global trade.

Continue reading...

China’s faltering economy gives US stronger hand in trade talks, Trump says

Posted on by

As US officials fly to Beijing for negotiations, the president says the Chinese ‘sort of have to’ make a deal on tariffs

Donald Trump has said China’s weakening economic growth puts the United States in a strong position as negotiators from the world’s two largest economies prepare for trade talks on Monday.

US officials are heading to Beijing this weekend for the first face-to-face talks since Trump and China’s president, Xi Jinping, agreed in December to a 90-day truce in the trade war as they sought to strike a deal.

Continue reading...

No-deal Brexit: plan to use airfield as lorry park to get live test

Posted on by

Up to 150 lorries to be used in Kent test of government plans to cope with border disruption

Preparations for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit will include up to 150 lorries queuing up near Dover during rush hour to test plans to deal with any disruption caused by new border customs checks, the government has confirmed.

Hauliers in the area will be asked to take part in Monday’s live test of a mass “HGV holding facility” that is designed to deal with any backlog after the UK leaves the EU in March.

Continue reading...