The U.S. is on pace to leapfrog both Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s biggest oil producer. The latest data released by the Energy Information Administration shows U.S. output growing again next year to 11.8 million barrels a day.   Linda Capuano, who heads the agency, says that would make the U.S. the …

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said on Wednesday the country will soon sign up to a $3 trillion African free trade zone. Nigeria is one of Africa’s two largest economies, the other being South Africa. Buhari’s government had refused to join a continental free-trade zone established in March, on the grounds that it wishes to defend …

In a ceremony last week attended by heads of state from across East Africa, Djibouti inaugurated what it says will become the largest free-trade zone on the continent. The project will take 10 years to complete and will occupy more than 48 square kilometers when finished. In the pilot phase, it will increase the size …

As the trade war between the world’s two largest economies nears the end of its first week, its most unsettling fact may be this: No one seems to foresee any clear path to peace.   The United States insists that China abandon the brass-knuckles tactics it’s used to try to supplant America’s technological dominance. Yet …

A federal court has charged a former Apple engineer with stealing trade secrets related to a self-driving car and attempting to flee to China. Agents in San Jose, California, arrested Xiaolang Zhang on Saturday, moments before he was to board his flight. Zhang is said to have taken paternity leave in April, traveling to China …

Fatima Nasser’s new business had barely got off the ground when she was accused of being a foreign spy for giving women employment opportunities in Libya, her war-torn home country. The accusation was a measure of the opposition working women face in the conservative Muslim country, which has been in turmoil since a NATO-backed revolt …

Uber is getting into the scooter-rental business.   The ride-hailing company said Monday that it is investing in Lime, a startup based in San Mateo, California.   “Our investment and partnership in Lime is another step towards our vision of becoming a one-stop shop for all your transportation needs,” Rachel Holt, an Uber vice president, …

President Donald Trump is threatening to “respond” after several major U.S. drug companies raised prices of some widely prescribed medicines. “Pfizer and others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason,” Trump tweeted Monday. “They are merely taking advantage of the poor and others unable to defend themselves while at the …

Behind a row of sealed red incubator doors in a new facility in northern China, about 400,000 chicks are hatched every day, part of the rapidly modernizing supply chain in China’s $37 billion egg industry, the world’s biggest. As China overhauls production of everything from pork to milk and vegetables, farmers raising hens for eggs …

An internal review has revealed that Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan falsified data on emissions and fuel economy reports for vehicles produced and sold in Japan, according to a statement the company released Monday. The automaker said the data was altered to meet the company’s stricter internal standards.  All cars except for one model — the …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang stressed their commitment to a multilateral trade system Monday in the wake of Washington’s decision to impose widespread tariffs, saying it was to everyone’s benefit. Speaking in Berlin after the two countries signed deals worth 20 billion euros ($23.6 billion), Li told reporters the projects …

Chinese exporters were scrambling Monday to cope with a plunge in U.S. sales while China’s state press shrugged off the impact of Washington’s tariff hikes in a spiraling technology dispute. The impact of Friday’s tariff hikes on the world’s second-largest economy should be limited, according to private sector analysts. But President Donald Trump’s measures targeting …

What started as a simple desire to be able to provide for her children has turned into a multimillion-dollar business for Tammie Umbel of Dulles, Virginia. She not only runs a cosmetics company but home-schools her 14 children — and says she still finds time for herself. Leysa Bakalets has her story. …

Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will seek to end the country’s massive fuel imports, nearly all from the United States, during the first three years of his term while also boosting refining at home. The landslide winner of last Sunday’s election told reporters Saturday morning before attending private meetings with members of his future cabinet that he would also …

One of the world’s biggest cargo shippers announced Saturday that it was pulling out of Iran for fear of becoming entangled in U.S. sanctions, and President Hassan Rouhani demanded that European countries to do more to offset the U.S. measures. The announcement by France’s CMA CGM that it was quitting Iran dealt a blow to Tehran’s efforts to persuade …

The opening shots have been fired in what some fear may be the start of a major trade war. China retaliating at midnight Friday with equivalent tariffs on U.S. goods after the U.S. followed through on its threat to raise tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports. All this as the U.S. job market …

Amid the very real hardships Syrian refugees face, little has been said about another major health and humanitarian issue: What to do with the massive accumulations of trash and waste. But one refugee camp in Jordan is doing something about it. With the help of an international nonprofit group, the residents of the Zaatari Refugee …

The political squabbling between China and the United States over trade and other issues affect the world’s two largest economies through a variety of mechanisms with unpredictable results.  For example, prices of stock in both nations have been hurt as some shareholders sold their shares and other investors were reluctant to buy shares of companies …

U.S. employers kept up a brisk hiring pace in June by adding 213,000 jobs, a sign of confidence in the economy despite the start of a potentially punishing trade war with China. The job growth wasn’t enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising from 3.8 percent to 4 percent, the government said Friday. But …

The World Trade Organization is urging nations to resolve trade tensions, warning that restrictive trade measures would have a harmful impact on the global economy. The group refuses to weigh in on what appears to be the start of a trade war between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies. China has …

The world’s two biggest economies have fired the opening shots in a trade war that could have wide-ranging consequences for consumers, workers, companies, investors and political leaders. The United States slapped a 25 percent tax on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports starting Friday, and China is retaliating with taxes on an equal amount of …

Drivers of Kenya’s digital taxis shut down operations Monday in protest of what they term as exploitative corporate practices. They say the firms are charging low rates to their clients, yet imposing high commissions on the drivers, leading them to work longer hours with little pay. The Digital Taxi Association of Kenya, representing more than …

South Africa has become one of the biggest markets for illegal cigarette sales and is losing out on 7 billion rand ($514 million) a year in potential tax revenue, a report funded by a tobacco industry group said on Thursday. The study carried out by Ipsos found illegal cigarette trade spiked between 2014 and 2017 …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday she would back lowering European Union tariffs on U.S. car imports, responding to an offer from Washington to abandon threatened levies on European cars in return for concessions. “When we want to negotiate tariffs, on cars for example, we need a common European position and we are still …

Trade rhetoric is spilling into the real world of jobs and consumer goods. The United States is set to impose tariffs on $34 billion worth of goods from China on July 6. Beijing is fighting back with its own $34 billion of tariffs on American goods. As VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, investors are understandably on …

United States Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell reportedly told German auto makers Wednesday the U.S. would back off threats of tariffs on European car imports in exchange for the European Union’s elimination of duties on U.S. cars. The German newspaper Handelsblatt reported Grenell told BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen executives of the proposal during a meeting …