Business
Asian shares advance after China cuts interest rates to boost economy
The stock prices of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) is displayed at the listing ceremony in Hong Kong on May 20. (AP)
BEIJING, May 20, (AP): Asian shares rallied Tuesday after China cut key interest rates to help fend off an economic malaise worsened by trade friction with Washington. Shares in China’s CATL, the world’s largest maker of electric batteries, jumped 17.2% in its Hong Kong trading debut after it raised about $4.6 billion in the world’s largest IPO this year.
Its shares traded in Shenzhen, mainland China’s smaller share market after Shanghai, gained 1.2% after dipping earlier in the day. The Reserve Bank of Austalia reduced its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage for a second time this year, to 3.85%, judging inflation to be within its target range. The earlier reduction, in February, was Australia’s first rate cut since October 2020.
The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2% lower. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% higher to 23,954.16 while the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.2% to 7,897.13. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 8,723.97. China’s central bank made its first cut to its loan prime rates in seven months in a move welcomed by investors eager for more stimulus as the world’s second largest economy feels the pinch of Trump’s higher tariffs.
The People’s Bank of China cut the one-year loan prime rate, the reference rate for pricing all new loans and outstanding floating rate loans, to 3.00% from 3.1%. It cut the 5-year loan prime rate to 3.5% from 3.6%. With China’s chief concern being deflation due to slack demand rather than inflation, economists have been expecting such a move.
Data reported Monday showed the economy under pressure from Trump’s trade war, with retail sales and factory output slowing and property investment continuing to fall. Tuesday’s cuts probably won’t be the last this year, Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a report. “But modest rate cuts alone are unlikely to meaningfully boost loan demand or wider economic activity,” Huang said. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.4% to 23,659.70 early Tuesday, while the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.4% to 3,380.48.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on July 8, in Washington. (AP)
WASHINGTON, July 12, (AP): US President Donald Trump said in a letter that he will raise taxes on many imported goods from Canada to 35%, deepening a rift between two North American countries that have suffered a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. The Thursday letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is an aggressive increase to the top 25% tariff rates that Trump first imposed in March after months of threats.
Trump’s tariffs were allegedly in an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling despite the relatively modest trafficking in the drug from that country. Trump has also expressed frustration with a trade deficit with Canada that largely reflects oil purchases by America. “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers,” Trump wrote in the letter.
The higher rates would go into effect Aug. 1, creating a tense series of weeks ahead for the global economy as recent gains in the S&P 500 stock index suggest many investors think Trump will ultimately back down on the increases. But stock market futures were down early Friday in a sign that Trump’s wave of tariff letters may be starting to generate concern among investors.
In a social media post, Carney said Canada would continue to work toward a new trade framework with the U.S. and has made “vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl.” “Through the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and business,” Carney said. While multiple countries have received tariff letters this week, Canada – America’s second largest trading partner after Mexico – has become something of a foil to Trump.
It has imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods and pushed back on the president’s taunts of making Canada the 51st state. Mexico has also faced 25% tariffs because of fentanyl, yet it has not faced the same public pressure from the Republican U.S. president. Carney was elected prime minister in April on the argument that Canadians should keep their “elbows up.” He has responded by distancing Canada from its intertwined relationship with the U.S., seeking to strengthen its links with the European Union and the United Kingdom.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 9, in Washington. (AP)
WASHINGTON, July 10, (AP): US President Donald Trump singled out Brazil for import taxes of 50% on Wednesday for its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, showing that personal grudges rather than simple economics are a driving force in the U.S. leader’s use of tariffs. Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss.
Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. “This Trial should not be taking place,” Trump wrote in the letter posted on Truth Social. “It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” There is a sense of kinship as Trump was indicted in 2023 for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election.
The US president addressed his tariff letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who bested Bolsonaro in 2022. Lula responded in a forceful statement that said Trump’s tariffs would trigger the country’s economic reciprocity law, which allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended against countries that harm Brazil’s competitiveness.
He noted that the US has had a trade surplus of more than $410 billion with Brazil over the past 15 years. “Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being taken for granted by anyone,” Lula said. Bolsonaro testified before the country’s Supreme Court in June over the alleged plot to remain in power after his 2022 election loss.
Judges will hear from 26 other defendants in the coming months, and legal analysts say a decision could come as early as September. The country’s electoral authorities have already barred Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030. The former president did not comment about Trump’s tariff decision on his social media channels, but wrote that he is being politically persecuted.
Head of the Kuwaiti Financial Intelligence Unit, Dr. Hamad Al-Mekrad, with the representative of the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit, Manish Herat, after signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
KUWAIT CITY, July 9: Kuwait’s Financial Intelligence Unit and India’s Anti-Money Laundering Bureau signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aiming to beef up cooperation on information exchange and financial intelligence efforts. In a statement to KUNA, the Kuwaiti financial watchdog’s chief Hamad Al- Mekrad said the deal, signed after a gathering of global financial watchdog body Egmont Group, is a testament to Kuwait and India’s collective commitment to boost transparency and cooperation, based on the principles and guidelines of the global financial organization of intelligence units.
The agreement is a major step forward towards clamping down on financial crime at a time of growing challenges that require greater cooperation and information exchange. The level of cooperation between the Kuwaiti and India financial intelligence units has been on an upward trajectory even before the new deal came to fruition, added the official, expecting the agreement to be instrumental in simplifying the flow of bilateral information exchange, he underlined.
Al-Mekrad noted that the priority now is to expand the scope of international cooperation, enhance the efficiency of information exchange under the highest standards, strengthen technical analysis capabilities, and build partnerships with counterpart units, thus contributing to protecting the national and global financial system from any illicit exploitation.(KUNA)
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