China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in a year in the latest quarter amid a trade war with the US and long-running woes in its property market. Fragile domestic demand has left China’s economy heavily reliant on manufacturing and trade, at a time of mounting tensions with the Donald Trump administration. GDP rose by 4.8% year on year between July and September, down from the second-quarter growth rate of 5.2%. It expanded by 1.1% in the third quarter compared with the second, the same as the revised growth rate…
Tag: US news
What could a Trump deal on critical minerals mean for Australia – and could MAGA be a sticking point?
Australia’s rich deposits of minerals used for green energy technologies and military hardware are increasingly prized, especially because of rising anxiety about China’s stranglehold on the global supply chain. That anxiety escalated after Beijing imposed new restrictions on rare earths exports, prompting a furious rebuke from Donald Trump and a warning from his treasury secretary that western allies would need to “decouple” from China if it proved an unreliable supplier. The timing of the latest US-China trade conflict could be good for Anthony Albanese, who will arrive at next week’s…
What are rare earths and critical minerals – explained in 30 seconds
Critical minerals are vital for the global economy and include nickel, manganese and cobalt. Rare earths are a specific, highly useful category of critical minerals that are used to make magnets essential for the auto, electronic and defence industries, as well as in renewable energy. Securing reserves and production of rare earths has become a flashpoint in global diplomacy and trade. Rare earths are a group of 17 heavy metals that are abundant throughout the Earth’s crust. The United States Geological Survey estimated in 2024 there were 110m tonnes of…
US may take strategic stakes in rare earths companies to tackle China ‘power grab’
The Trump administration has criticised China’s increased restrictions on rare earth exports as a threat to global supply chains, and said it would seek to tighten control over strategic sectors by taking more stakes in key companies to counter Beijing. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told an event on Wednesday that China’s dramatic new restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets demonstrated the need for the US to be self-sufficient in critical materials or rely more on trusted allies. He later characterised Beijing’s rare earth export curbs as “China versus the…
Shein warns on Trump tariff uncertainty after profits slip
Shein has reported a 20% rise in global revenues to $37bn (£27.7bn) but profits have fallen as the fast-fashion retailer faced increased costs, even before it felt the impact of recent changes to US tax laws. The Singaporean parent company of the rapidly growing retailer said pre-tax profits had fallen by 13% to $1.3bn last year from $1.5bn in 2023 after an increase in selling and marketing costs, according to new accounts. Shein is thought to be trying to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange after efforts to list…
US raised concerns about Chinese boss of chipmaker before Dutch takeover
US authorities had raised concerns about the boss of a China-owned chipmaker before it was taken over by the Dutch government this week, according to court papers. The documents show US officials warned the Netherlands in June that Nexperia may not be able to export to the US if its Chinese chief executive, Zhang Xuezheng, remained in post. Late on Sunday the Dutch government said it had invoked a cold war-era law to effectively take control of the company, citing “major shortcomings that could jeopardise security of supply” of chips…
China says it will ‘fight to end’ after US said it was trying to hurt world economy
China has hit back at accusations from the US that it is trying to hurt the world economy, as the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies appeared to re-escalate, amped up by aggressive rhetoric on both sides. China’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday that the US was “threatening to intimidate” with the prospect of new tariffs on Chinese exports, “which is not the right way to get along with China”. Its spokesperson said that China would “fight to the end” in trade talks. The comments came shortly after…
‘Americans are democracy’s equivalent of second-generation wealth’: a Chinese journalist on the US under Trump
On a Friday night in late May, Wang Jian was getting ready to broadcast. It was pouring outside, and he was sitting in the garage apartment behind his house, just outside Boston, eating dinner. “I am very sensitive to what Trump does,” Wang was telling me, in Mandarin, waving a fork. “When Trump holds a cabinet meeting, he sits there and the people next to him start to flatter him. And I think, isn’t this the same as Mao Zedong? Trump sells the same thing: a little bit of populism,…
Why has the US-China trade war restarted and how have markets reacted?
With nearly a month to go before the deadline for the US and China to reach a deal in their trade war, goodwill between the two countries appears to have been swept off the table in recent days. China announced that it was once again restricting the export of critical minerals, prompting the US president, Donald Trump, to announce tariffs of 100% on US-bound Chinese exports, scuppering, at least for now, hopes that global economic turmoil could be averted. Why has the US-China trade war restarted? On Thursday, China’s commerce…
Markets rebound amid latest US-China tariff spat as traders look to possible ‘Taco trade’
Global stock markets have edged higher and cryptocurrencies rebounded amid signs that a new front in the US-China trade war may not be as severe as first feared. Tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated again on Friday and over the weekend, as Donald Trump threatened to impose additional US tariffs of 100% on China starting next month. The US president accused the country of “very hostile” moves to restrict exports of rare-earth minerals needed for American industry. Beijing said it would retaliate if Trump did not back down. However, Trump…