Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Trade war rhetoric ratchets up as Beijing responds to US claim of being ‘a currency manipulator’
China stepped up the trade war rhetoric on Tuesday, accusing the US of “deliberately destroying international order” with “unilateralism and protectionism”.
A day after Washington branded China a currency manipulator in a rapidly escalating trade dispute, China’s central bank said it “deeply regretted” the move by the US and said such behaviour “seriously undermined international rules” and damaged the global economy.
Markets fell sharply as Trump threatens fresh tariffs; US non-farm payrolls matched economists’ expectations in July, while June figures were revised down
The Bank of Finland governor Olli Rehn has confirmed that he has withdrawn from the race to become the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
EU is about to vote on Europe’s candidate for IMF managing director. It is an exceptionally meaningful and motivating job. However, at this stage I withdraw my name from the ballot, so that we can achieve a broad-based consensus for the European candidate, and world-wide support.
Industry warns of job losses and higher consumer prices after president targets another $300bn in imports
US retailers were lining up on Thursday night against Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on a fresh $300bn of Chinese imports in September, if a US-China trade deal can’t be struck.
Financial experts warned of an “economic drag” in the further escalation of trade tensions with China – after the president said that China had not stuck to various promises over trade that he had previously touted as signs of progress.
Brexit uncertainty and impact of Iran sanctions also likely to slow world growth, says Fund
Donald Trump’s claim that his protectionist measures are hurting China more than the US has received support from the International Monetary Fund in new forecasts showing how a fresh slowdown in the global economy has been concentrated in emerging economies.
The Washington-based IMF said the outlook was gloomier than it envisaged three months ago due to the tit-for-tat tariff war between the world’s two biggest economies, Brexit uncertainty and the impact of sanctions against Iran on oil prices.
If you’re just tuning in, here’s our news story on the Chinese growth figures.... and president Trump’s response.
Donald Trump has claimed that his tariff battle with China is working after official data from Beijing showed growth in the world’s second biggest economy dropping to its slowest pace since 1992.
The US president said the impact of his protectionist measures had been to cause an exodus of companies from China, as Beijing announced that its annual rate of expansion had slowed from 6.4% to 6.2% in the second quarter of 2019.
In tweets that were immediately challenged by economists, Trump said his tough action had forced China’s leaders to the negotiating table.
European stock markets ended the day higher, blown upwards by hopes of fresh Chinese stimulus measure to prop up growth.
After a brief stint in the red the FTSE has powered higher on Monday as risk on dominated. Better than expected results from Citigroup boosting Wall Street and the prospect of stimulus for China lifted the FTSE at the start of the week.
Chinese GDP data showed that the economy grew by 6.2% its lowest level of growth in almost a decade. However, rather than depressing the market, hopes of stimulus for the world’s second largest economy have boosted risk appetite, lifting demand for riskier assets such as stocks. Just as we are seeing with the US, the prospect of easing financial conditions is not being interpreted as bad news for stocks. Instead the prospect of cheaper borrowing in the case of the Fed and support from the PBOC is giving investors plenty of confidence to buy in.
Former UK chancellor’s austerity agenda will count against him, say opponents
George Osborne’s interest in running the International Monetary Fund has met immediate criticism because of the former chancellor’s austerity policies and Brexit-related question marks over the UK’s international standing.
Whisky, cheese and olives among items that could be hit in row over aircraft subsidies
Donald Trump has threatened fresh tariffs on $4bn (£3,2bn) of European products including cheese, scotch whisky and olives, ratcheting up pressure on the EU in a long-running row over aircraft subsidies.
The US trade representative’s office released a list of 89 additional items – including olives, Italian and Dutch cheese, Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, pasta, coffee and ham – that could face tariffs. These join products worth $21bn that were announced as potential targets for tariffs in April, which included roquefort cheese, wine, champagne, olive oil and seafood such as oysters. The latest list also includes a number of copper products and other metals.
Agreement to cut 99% of tariffs is first with developing country in Asia and swiftly follows deal with South American bloc
The European Union has signed a landmark free-trade deal with Vietnam, the first of its kind with a developing country in Asia, paving the way for tariff cuts on almost all goods.
The EU has described the deal as “the most ambitious free trade deal ever concluded with a developing country”.
Heads-up: One of Donald Trump’s top advisors has warned that America could press on and raise tariffs on Chinese imports.
Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, has said America is insisting on ‘structural changes’ to China’s intellectual property laws, with effective enforcement for any breaches.
“If need be, we may move ahead – we may move ahead on additional tariffs.
We have word from the WH --> Kudlow says there are no preconditions set ahead of any trade talks with China. (per @Reuters, Fox News)
This G20 summit is Theresa May’s last big foreign trip before stepping down as PM.
She’s expected to hold meeting with Australian PM Scott Morrison, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Quite the lineup for Theresa May's one-to-one meetings at this G20 summit in Osaka - Putin, Mohammad bin Salman, Erdogan...And Trump will be here too, of course. So much for that "rules-based global order" she prizes.
Foreign powers have no right to interfere in ‘internal affair’, says Zhang Jun, as Beijing also calls for trade compromise
China has said it will not allow the G20 nations to discuss the Hong Kong issue at its summit this week, assistant foreign minister Zhang Jun said on Monday.
Millions of people demonstrated on the streets of the city this month against a bill that would allow people to be extradited to the mainland to face trial in courts controlled by the Communist party.
Russell Vought makes request in letter to Pence and Congress
Mnuchin: trade progress with China could ease Huawei actions
The Trump administration’s acting budget chief is asking for a delay in restrictions against Huawei products, according to a letter to Vice-President Mike Pence and nine members of Congress.
French government blamed as €33bn deal to create world’s third largest carmaker stalls
The proposed €33bn merger of Fiat Chrysler and Renault has collapsed after an intervention from the French government, Renault’s biggest shareholder.
Fiat Chrysler, an Italian-American company, withdrew from a 50-50 merger proposal for its French rival after a board meeting on Wednesday. A deal would have created the world’s third-largest carmaker behind Volkswagen and Toyota.
Christine Lagarde says world must avoid the ‘self-inflicted wounds’ of a tit-for-tat wrangle
The International Monetary Fund has called for a speedy end to the deepening trade war between the United States and China after calculating that the tit-for-tat tariffs will cost $455bn (£357.5bn) in lost output next year – more than the size of South Africa’s economy.
Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, underlined her organisation’s growing concern at the most serious outbreak of trade tension since the 1930s and said “self-inflicted wounds” had to be avoided.
Brexit and trade disputes push bank’s policy uncertainty index to record high, says report
Donald Trump’s trade wars with China, Mexico and Europe have sent global investment tumbling, according to a World Bank report that forecasts worldwide growth this year will slip back to levels not seen since 2016.
The Washington-based lender to developing world countries said in its half-yearly global health check that spiralling political uncertainty was to blame for a slowdown in trade and a collapse in investment spending that will push down GDP growth to 2.6% this year “before inching up to 2.7% in 2020”.
Democrats are turning a president enraged at the blocking of his border wall into an unhinged beast
Donald Trump’s threats of higher import tariffs against Mexican goods can be better understood not as an escalation of his trade war with the rest of the world, but as the act of a desperate man, prepared to upset most US business leaders to achieve his aim of building a border wall with the country’s southern neighbour.
His anger, which he will bring with him on a state visit to London on Monday, is not so much with Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration in Mexico City as with Congress, which has blocked the border wall, or at least restricted funding to such an extent that its completion is unlikely before the next presidential race gets under way.
After 5% tariff announced, president tweets ‘Mexico has taken advantage of the US for decades’
Donald Trump has defended his decision to impose new tariffs on Mexico as stock markets worldwide were rattled by fears of an escalation in trade tensions.
“Mexico has taken advantage of the United States for decades,” Trump tweeted. “Because of the Dems, our Immigration Laws are BAD. Mexico makes a FORTUNE from the U.S., have for decades, they can easily fix this problem. Time for them to finally do what must be done!”
Senior official says China is ‘not afraid’ of a trade war as Beijing signals potential restrictions on rare-earth exports
Provoking trade disputes is “naked economic terrorism“, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday, ramping up the rhetoric against the US amid a bitter trade war that shows no signs of ending soon.
Zhang Hanhui, China’s vice foreign minister told reporters in Beijing China opposed the use of “big sticks” such as trade sanctions, tariffs and protectionism.
Visit will stress ties between the two countries as tensions over exports rise amid the US-China trade war
Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, landed in Japan on Saturday for a largely ceremonial visit meant to showcase strong ties with Tokyo even as trade tensions loom.
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will treat Trump to an imperial banquet and front-row seats at a sumo tournament during the trip, which lasts until Tuesday.
Shares fall sharply in Asia, Europe and North America in intensifying war of words
The deepening trade and technology war between the US and China has sent global stock markets sharply lower and prompted a warning from the IMF of the increasing risks to the global economy.
Shares fell sharply in Asia, Europe and North America on a day that saw investors alarmed by the intensifying war of words between Washington and Beijing, poor news on the American economy, and political chaos in Britain.