The Brics summit in Brazil last week revealed a loose alliance of emerging powers becoming more complex – and perhaps more consequential. For Brics, heft matters. It now counts 11 member states – including Indonesia, which joined this year – representing half the world’s population and 40% of the global economy, outpacing the G7 by $20tn. Yet its size hides its contradictions. The grouping’s call for more inclusive global institutions sounds welcome, but there is a preponderance of autocracies within its own ranks. Brics is right that international law should…
Tag: Economics
Here we go again: latest Trump tariff deadline looms amid inflation concerns
When Donald Trump unveiled his “liberation day” tariffs in the spring, only to pull the plug days later as panic tore through global markets, his officials scrambled to present the climbdown as temporary. Three months of frenetic talks would enable the Trump administration to strike dozens of trade agreements with countries across the world, they claimed. “We’re going to run,” the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox Business Network. “Ninety deals in 90 days is possible.” The 90-day pause Trump ordered on his steep tariffs is almost up,…
EU may as well be ‘province of China’ due to reliance on imports, says industrialist
The EU may as well “apply to be a province of China” such is its inability to wean itself off that country’s supply of critical raw materials used in everything from electric vehicles to smartphones and wind turbines, a leading German industrialist has said. As chief executive of AMG Lithium, the EU’s first factory to make the lithium hydroxide used in many car batteries, Stefan Scherer sits at the centre of what has been dubbed a new gold rush. But the chemist said China will continue to dominate battery technology…
Chinese exports to UK rise as firms seek to avoid US tariffs
Chinese exports to the UK jumped in May, according to data from Beijing, raising the prospect of a flood of cut-price goods as firms look for alternative markets to avoid Donald Trump’s tariffs. Data published by the Chinese government showed a 16.1% increase in exports to the UK in May compared with the same month last year, hitting the highest level since February 2022. That could be an early signal of an acceleration from the 10% annual rate of increase in April in the UK data published by the Office…
Trump says China will face 55% tariffs as he endorses trade deal
Donald Trump has endorsed the US-China trade deal struck in London that will ramp up supplies of rare earth minerals and magnets needed for the automotive industry, saying it will take total tariffs on Beijing to 55%. Acknowledging that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, still needed to give his final approval on the terms agreed late on Tuesday night at Lancaster House, the US president disclosed the pact would also facilitate Chinese students’ access to US colleges. The 55% tariff total appears at first glance to be a hike from…
China’s factory activity hit by tariffs; KKR pulls out of Thames Water rescue talks – business live
From 16m ago Introduction: China’s May factory activity shrinks as tariffs hit demand Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Evidence is mounting that Donald Trump’s trade war is disrupting manufacturing activity around the globe. China’s manufacturing activity in May shrank at its fastest pace in two and a half years, according to the latest survey data, as firms were hit by a fall in new orders, and weaker export demand. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, released this…
Trump accuses EU of dragging its heels on a tariff deal with the US
Donald Trump said the EU had been dragging its heels “to put it mildly” on sealing a tariff deal with the US, repeating his assessment that his threat of a 50% tariff on imports from the bloc was an “extremely” satisfactory move. He commended the EU for calling to “quickly establish meeting dates” but reignited fears of a trade war with the region by adding criticism of the EU to his statement on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. “I was extremely satisfied with the 50% tariff allotment on the…
Poorest 750 nations face ‘tidal wave’ of debt repayments to China in 2025, study warns
The most vulnerable nations on Earth are facing a “tidal wave” of debt repayments as a Chinese lending boom starts to be called in, a new report has warned. The analysis, published on Tuesday by Australian foreign policy thinktank the Lowy Institute, said that in 2025 the poorest 75 countries were on the hook for record high debt repayments US$22bn to China. The 75 nations’ debt formed the bulk of the total $35bn calculated by Lowy for 2025. “Now, and for the rest of this decade, China will be more…
World’s seven wealthiest countries agree to counter China’s trade practices
Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies set aside stark differences on US tariffs and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances”, a swipe at China’s trade practices. In a communique issued on Thursday, the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting in the Canadian Rockies, left out their traditional defense of free trade and toned down their references to Russia’s war in Ukraine compared with last year. But they did agree that further sanctions on Russia could be imposed if the two countries do not…
China and Australia cut interest rates; Greggs sales improve as Mac and Cheese goes viral – business live
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