3 d. ago Japan’s political turmoil will weigh heavily on its economy, and beyond

Are politicians dispensable, and can elite bureaucrats run a country more efficiently? The question has become one of more than academic importance in Japan, where the political situation has degenerated into chaos as potential leaders and their parties vie for power. This is a question that has considerable economic and financial as well as political significance. Japan is a key trade, investment and security partner to other leading nations in and beyond Asia and its financial markets are...

Politics

7 d. ago China cuts off Philly Shipyard supplies to punish Hanwha for partnership with U.S. amid trade fight

China cuts off Philly Shipyard supplies to punish Hanwha for partnership with U.S. amid trade fight  Inquirer.com

Politics

1 week ago Trump is shaking down US trade partners – in a reverse Marshall Plan

In what Martin Wolf at the Financial Times called “pure gangsterism”, US President Donald Trump has extracted pledged investments of at least US$1.5 trillion from America’s trading partners. This amounts to the Marshall Plan in reverse. The scheme Washington initiated in 1947 essentially provided economic aid to Europe and later Japan. Of the US$13 billion provided, 90 per cent were grants. But in the US-Japan trade deal, seen as a political trophy for Trump, money will flow in the other...

Politics

1 week ago In a reverse Marshall Plan, Trump is squeezing US allies for cash

In what Martin Wolf at the Financial Times called “pure gangsterism”, US President Donald Trump has extracted pledged investments of at least US$1.5 trillion from America’s trading partners. This amounts to the Marshall Plan in reverse. The scheme Washington initiated in 1947 essentially provided economic aid to Europe and later Japan. Of the US$13 billion provided, 90 per cent were grants. But in the US-Japan trade deal, seen as a political trophy for Trump, money will flow in the other...

Politics

1 week ago Brics is slowly but surely chipping away at US dollar dominance

The United States’ use of its currency as a foreign policy tool has jolted much of the Global South. Sanctions, financial restrictions and US dominance over the Swift system have shown just how much the US dollar can be used as political leverage. For many emerging economies, the US is no longer their main trade and investment partner, yet its currency still underpins their transactions. This disconnect has imbued with fresh urgency the efforts of the Brics grouping to explore alternative...

Politics

2 w. ago How joining the RCEP will boost Hong Kong’s role as a superconnector

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is the world’s largest trade bloc. Including all 10 economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), mainland China, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, the group contributes to 30 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 25 per cent of global exports. In September, Asean’s economic ministers issued a joint statement affirming their desire to accelerate the addition of four new members into the RCEP –...

Politics

2 w. ago Europe hunts for chokepoints it can weaponise in a new age of economic warfare

EU officials are scouring the continent for levers they can pull to inflict maximum pain on others, as they look to survive in a world in which allies and partners are weaponising Europe’s own dependencies at an alarming rate. Trade bureaucrats are building a database of potential chokepoints that can be squeezed as deterrents or reactions to bullying by other powers, according to officials involved. They are lining them up with the trade weapons in their armoury, but also looking for gaps in...

Economics

2 w. ago US eases visa rules for South Koreans after raid but no clear solution in sight

The US has agreed to allow South Koreans to work to set up facilities at US investment sites under existing temporary visas and open new channels to help its ally send workers to do business there, according to Seoul’s foreign ministry. But US officials at a working group meeting offered no new answers to South Korea’s argument for a wider access to US visas for specialty workers despite reaffirming a commitment to advance trade and investment partnership, the ministry said on Wednesday. The US...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Startling’: EU accused of sacrificing forests for trade deal with Indonesia

Barely had the ink dried on a long-awaited trade pact between the European Union and Indonesia before Brussels proposed another one-year delay to its long-awaited anti-deforestation law. The move drew fierce criticism from environmental groups, who see the move as a capitulation to global trade interests. On September 23, the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA), set to take effect in 2027, was concluded after nearly a decade of negotiation. The...

Politics

3 w. ago Vietnam is too important for US to sanction despite Russia ties

While it has China as its main trade partner and the United States as its primary export destination, Vietnam is strengthening its economic, political and military ties with Russia. The country is carefully balancing its relations with all three powers while trying to get the most economic and strategic benefit from each. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2024 visit to Vietnam seems to have been mutually beneficial. On the one hand, it allowed the Kremlin to demonstrate to a Russian audience...

Politics

3 w. ago In case of trade emergency, break glass: inside China’s policy toolbox

Beijing has deployed a wide variety of measures to protect its domestic industries as China’s economy, the world’s second largest, grapples with a number of external tensions. In addition to traditional tools accepted in international law such as anti-dumping or countervailing investigations, the country’s Ministry of Commerce has adopted other methods to respond to what Beijing views as encroachment by trade partners, particularly in the months since US President Donald Trump began his second...

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