Europe Could Suffer Collateral Damage in US-China Trade War

European businesses are unsettled as they watch the U.S. and China collide over trade. And for good reason: the nascent global trade war could represent the biggest single threat to the economic upswing that has helped the region get past its financial crisis. In theory, some European companies could benefit, jumping into market niches if …

China Presses Europe for Anti-US Alliance on Trade

China is putting pressure on the European Union to issue a strong joint statement against President Donald Trump’s trade policies at a summit this month, but it’s facing resistance, European officials said. In meetings in Brussels, Berlin and Beijing, senior Chinese officials, including Vice Premier Liu He and the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, have proposed an …

Small Shop Owners Protest Walmart Entry to India’s Online Market

Worried that Walmart’s $16 billion deal to takeover India’s biggest e-commerce company will force millions of mom and pop stores out of business, hundreds of shop owners in several cities have led protests against the U.S. retail giant.   India’s fast-growing retail trade is dominated by millions of small traders that have long opposed efforts …

Zimbabwe’s Government Dismisses HRW Report on Child Labor

Zimbabwe’s government is denying a report from Human Rights Watch that documented extensive child labor on the country’s tobacco farms. Some of the children are as young as 10 years old, and the report says many have experienced acute nicotine poisoning from handling tobacco plants. The 105-page report, titled “A Bitter Harvest,” documents how children …

Fish for Flour? Barter is New Currency in Collapsing Venezuela

Under the midday sun, dozens of fishermen wait to sell their day’s catch by a lagoon in the town of Rio Chico on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela. But they aren’t expecting cash in return. Instead, they’re swapping mullets and snappers for packages of flour, rice and cooking oil. “There is no cash here, only …

Top US Business Group Assails Trump’s Handling of Trade Dispute

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday denounced President Donald Trump’s handling of global trade disputes, issuing a report that argued tariffs imposed by Washington and retaliation by its partners would boomerang badly on the American economy. The Chamber, the nation’s largest business lobbying group and a traditional ally of Trump’s Republican Party, said the …

Ivory Coast Eyes Biomass Power Generation From Cocoa Waste

The world’s top cocoa producer Ivory Coast plans to build a 60 to 70 megawatt (MW) capacity biomass power generation plant running on waste from cocoa pods, part of its aim of developing 424 MW of biomass power generation capacity by 2030. The plant, which will enable Ivory Coast to diversify its electricity generation sources, …

Canada Imposes Retaliatory Tariffs on US Goods

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods take effect Sunday following the Trump administration’s new tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said in a statement that the prime minister “had no choice but to announce reciprocal countermeasures to the steel and aluminum tariffs that the United States imposed on June …

Iran Seeks Ways to Defend Against US Sanctions

Iran is studying ways to keep exporting oil and other measures to counter U.S. economic sanctions, state news agency IRNA reported Saturday. Since last month, when U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal that lifted most sanctions in 2015, the rial currency has dropped up to 40 percent in value, prompting protests by bazaar traders usually loyal …

Trump Claims Saudi Arabia Will Boost Oil Production

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he had received assurances from King Salman of Saudi Arabia that the kingdom will increase oil production, “maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels” in response to turmoil in Iran and Venezuela. Saudi Arabia acknowledged the call took place, but mentioned no production targets. Trump wrote on Twitter that he had …

AP Fact Check: Were Tax Cuts an ‘Economic Miracle?’

Editor’s note: A look at the veracity of claims by political figures President Donald Trump has elevated his tax cuts to an act of biblical proportions, misleadingly claiming at a White House speech Friday that they triggered an “economic miracle.” Not quite. Also Friday, the president’s top economics aide, Larry Kudlow, appeared on the Fox …

GM: US Import Tariffs Could Mean Fewer Jobs

General Motors Co warned on Friday that higher tariffs on imported vehicles under consideration by the Trump administration could cost jobs and lead to a “a smaller GM” while isolating U.S. businesses from the global market. The administration in May launched an investigation into whether imported vehicles pose a national security threat, and U.S. President …

Canada Strikes Back at US over Tariffs, Unveils Aid Package

Canada struck back at U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs on Friday, vowing to impose punitive measures on C$16.6 billion ($12.63 billion) of American goods and unveiling a C$2 billion aid package for affected industries and workers. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told a news conference the tariffs would come into effect on July 1. …

Minnesota Approves Enbridge Energy Line 3 Pipeline Project

Minnesota regulators on Thursday approved Enbridge Energy’s proposal to replace its aging Line 3 oil pipeline across the northern part of the state. All five members of the Public Utilities Commission backed the project, though some cited heavy trepidation, and a narrow majority later approved the company’s preferred route despite opposition from American Indian tribes …

US Delegation Attends Kenya’s Inaugural Economic Summit 

A U.S. delegation traveled to Kenya on Thursday to attend the inaugural economic summit of the American Chamber of Commerce, Kenya. About 500 delegates, including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Gilbert Kaplan, U.S. undersecretary of commerce for international trade, other high-ranking government officials from both nations and representatives from nearly 30 major U.S. corporations, gathered at …

Threats from US Put New Pressure on Iranian Oil Importers

Importers of Iranian oil are facing pressure from the United States to find another energy source or be hit with sanctions. The Trump administration is threatening other countries, including close allies such as South Korea, with the sanctions if they don’t cut off Iranian imports by early November, essentially erecting a global blockade around the …

Apple, Samsung Settle US Patent Dispute

Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Wednesday settled a seven-year patent dispute over Apple’s allegations that Samsung violated its patents by “slavishly” copying the design of the iPhone. Terms of the settlement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, were not available. In May, a U.S. jury awarded …

Automakers Warn US Tariffs Will Cost Jobs, Hike Prices

Two major auto trade groups on Wednesday warned the Trump administration that imposing up to 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles would cost hundreds of thousands of auto jobs, dramatically hike prices on vehicles and threaten industry spending on self-driving cars. A coalition representing major foreign automakers including Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG, BMW AG …

East Africa Agrees to Improve Trade, Security

Leaders in east Africa have agreed to work together to build a single railroad and highway network to enhance integration in the region. Leaders and representatives of eight countries met in Kenya Tuesday for the 14th time to discuss the northern corridor project aimed at improving trade and tightening security. The representatives stressed the need …

Thailand Banks on Tech to End Slavery at Sea as Workers Push for Rights

Enslaved on a Thai fishing vessel for 11 years, Tun Lin saw his fellow workers lose their minds one after another, with one fisherman jumping into the sea to end his life. Some would start murmuring or laughing to themselves as they worked day and night in Indonesian waters on the cramped boat, often surviving …