On a summer Saturday, the St. Paul Farmers Market buzzed with customers loading up on fresh fruits and vegetables or discussing the merits of buffalo meat. “It feels like a family here, like a big family with all the growers, and feels like a big family with all the customers. And you see people over …

American labor unions are increasingly skeptical that President Donald Trump’s tariffs on products like imported Chinese steel will significantly increase manufacturing jobs, wages and conditions for workers. At the Bull Moose Tube steel piping factory in the southern state of Georgia, 56 United Steel Workers (USW) union members have been locked out of their workplace …

Last-minute changes to a new North American trade deal sank U.S. hopes of making Canada and Mexico allow higher-value shipments to the countries by online retailers, such as Amazon.com, a top Mexican official said on Friday. The revised pact was set to double the value of goods that could be imported without customs duties or …

U.S. job growth slowed sharply in September likely as Hurricane Florence depressed restaurant and retail payrolls, but the unemployment rate fell to near a 49-year low of 3.7 percent, pointing to a further tightening in labor market conditions. The Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report on Friday also showed a steady rise in wages, …

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday strongly defended a prospective Russia-Germany natural gas pipeline as economically feasible and voiced hope that European Union nations will be able to resist U.S. pressure to thwart the project. U.S. officials have warned that Washington could impose sanctions on the undersea Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The U.S. and some …

Seven-year-old Ryan drew millions of views reviewing toys on YouTube. Now, he’s become a toy himself. Walmart is selling action figures in his likeness, putty with his face on the packaging and other toys under the Ryan’s World brand. It’s a bet that kids, who are spending more time tapping tablets, will recognize Ryan from …

China’s hopes of negotiating a free trade pact with Canada or Mexico were dealt a sharp setback by a provision deep in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that aims to forbid such deals with “non-market” countries, trade experts said on Tuesday. The provision specifies that if one of the current North American Free Trade Agreement …

Mexico and Canada on Tuesday urged their governments to resolve a tariff dispute with the United States before signing a new trilateral trade deal that was unveiled this week. In late May, the Trump administration announced tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports, prompting quick retaliation from top trading …

Palu, the Indonesian city devastated by an earthquake, tsunamis and mudslides, has strived to transform itself into a major trading hub, but the city’s buildings and other infrastructure were no match for the triple whammy that has left more than 1,200 people dead.  The disasters that struck late Friday left the city’s port in ruins, …

As trade tensions between Beijing and Washington worsen, a debate is intensifying in China over the role private and state-owned enterprises play in the economy. The debate has even stoked fears that the communist-led government is preparing to nationalize private industries, analysts say. Under Xi Jinping’s leadership and especially over the past year, after he …

Amazon is boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour starting next month. The company said Tuesday that the wage hike will benefit more than 350,000 workers, which includes full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal positions. It includes Whole Foods employees. Amazon’s hourly operations and customer service employees, some who already make …

Auto parts output in Mexico will jump about 10 percent over the next three years as automakers scramble to adhere to stricter content rules laid out in a new North American trade deal, a top industry executive said on Monday. The United States and Canada reached an agreement on Sunday after weeks of tense bilateral …

U.S. President Donald Trump says a new trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico is the “biggest trade deal” in U.S. history, and helps protect U.S. workers. After intense last-minute discussions ahead of a self-imposed midnight deadline, U.S. and Canadian officials announced late Sunday they reached a deal, allowing a modified three-way pact …

After less than two years and a precipitous decline in the share price at General Electric, John Flannery is being ousted as chairman and CEO.   Flannery took over for longtime CEO Jeff Immelt in June 2017 with the company trying to re-establish its industrial roots, albeit a high-tech version of itself.   However, as …

After intense last-minute discussions ahead of a self-imposed midnight deadline, U.S. and Canadian officials announced late Sunday they reached a trade deal, allowing a modified three-way pact with Mexico to replace the nearly quarter-century old North American Free Trade Agreement.  The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) — underpinning $1.2 trillion in annual trade — is expected to be …

After lengthy delays, an $8.2 billion revamp of a colonial-era rail line snaking from the Arabian Sea to the foothills of the Hindu Kush has become a test of Pakistan’s ability to rethink signature Chinese “Silk Road” projects due to debt concerns. The rail megaproject linking the coastal metropolis of Karachi to the northwestern city …

Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk have agreed to pay a total of $40 million and make a series of concessions to settle a government lawsuit alleging Musk duped investors with misleading statements about a proposed buyout of the company. The settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission allows Musk to remain CEO of the …

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland postponed her U.N. speech Saturday as free-trade talks between the U.S. and Canada intensified. Freeland had been scheduled to deliver Canada’s address to the General Assembly in New York, but Canada exchanged the slot with another country. Freeland may or may not give the speech on Monday. A senior …

U.S. consumer spending increased steadily in August, supporting expectations of solid economic growth in the third quarter, while a measure of underlying inflation remained at the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target for a fourth straight month. Economists said Friday’s report from the Commerce Department should allay fears of the economy overheating and likely keeps the …

Tesla without Elon Musk at the wheel? To many of the electric car maker’s customers and investors, that would be unthinkable. But that’s what government securities regulators now want to see. The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal court to oust Musk as Tesla’s chairman and chief executive officer, alleging he committed securities …

Italy’s stock market fell sharply Friday after the new populist, euroskeptic government announced a sharp public spending increase that will push the budget deficit to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product next year, risking a collision with the European Union. The benchmark FTSE MIB dropped 2.2 percent early Friday, hours after the government announced its …

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello flew to New York this week on a mission: convince potential tourists that the hurricane-ravaged island was ready for their return. But Puerto Rico’s recovery from last year’s Hurricane Maria has been a “mixed bag,” Rossello told Reuters on Thursday, acknowledging that the bankrupt U.S. territory, while improving, was far from out of the woods. Puerto …

U.S. securities regulators on Thursday accused Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk of fraud and sought to ban him as an officer of a public company, saying he made a series of “false and misleading” tweets about potentially taking the electric car company private last month. Musk, 47, is one of the highest-profile tech executives to be accused of fraud …

The United States and Japan have agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement, reducing the prospect that Washington might impose tariffs against another trading partner. “We’ve agreed today to start trade negotiations between the United States and Japan,” U.S. President Donald Trump said at a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in …

Ford chief Jim Hackett on Wednesday ramped up his warnings about the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, saying his company was seeing profits slashed by $1 billion. Hackett said the global automaker could face more damage if the trade confrontations were not resolved quickly. “The metals tariffs took about $1 billion in profit from …

Somalia’s finance minister says World Bank grants to the government are a sign the country has “trustable leadership” again after decades of chaos and corruption. The World Bank said Tuesday it will provide $80 million in grants to Somalia’s federal government, the bank’s first direct grants to a Somali central authority in 27 years. In …