Month: June 2017

Dozens of U.S. companies spoke out against President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. Analysts say the improving economic case for renewables has boosted support for green energy in the once-skeptical business community; but, as VOA’s Jim Randle reports, some coal companies supported the president’s action. …

For the Italian government, it seemed like a recipe for success: create an official “Made in Italy” logo to defend the country’s finest food exports from an army of foreign impersonators. On supermarket shelves worldwide, a star-shaped logo would mark out real Italian cheeses, hams, pasta and sparkling wines from those that only look or sound Italian, such as Parmesan made in New Zealand or Prosecco bottled in Brazil. But Rome has discovered that even the simplest recipe can go wrong. Instead of unifying Italy’s food industry against a common enemy that is bagging billions of euros in sales, the government’s proposal for a Made in Italy certification quickly created bitter divisions. A row has erupted over what it means to be truly Italian — should every single raw ingredient be made in Italy, for example — and now the project could be ditched altogether for lack of an industry consensus, according to two industry ministry sources who declined to be named as talks with food firms are ongoing. “For now there is no final decision on whether to go ahead with the Made in Italy sign, we are studying it, we are doing technical checks,” said one of the sources, an industry ministry official who is working on the project. “We will launch it only if it fully meets the requests of producers,” he said, adding that the food industry was split into several groups with conflicting views on the project. The ministry announced the project at the end …

The U.N. Security Council increased international pressure on North Korea on Friday to give up its pursuit of a nuclear bomb, adding 14 individuals and four companies to its sanctions lists. The council unanimously voted to impose travel bans and asset freezes following North Korea’s stepped-up ballistic missile launches this year. The tests, including three last month alone, violate existing council resolutions demanding that Pyongyang cease such activity. The United States, which drafted the resolution in consultation with China, took a strong stance, with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley declaring that “all options for responding to future provocations must remain on the table.” “Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary,” Haley said. Future launches ‘unacceptable’ “The United States is fully committed to defending ourselves and our allies against North Korean aggression,” she added.   Haley said future ballistic missile launches or nuclear tests would be “absolutely unacceptable,” and she urged Pyongyang to choose “a more constructive path toward stability, security and peace.” Several of the individuals added to the sanctions list were elderly, including one man, Ri Yong Mu, 92. He is listed as the vice chairman of a state commission that deals with military and security affairs, including acquisition and procurement. At least two other designees are in their 80s, and two are 79.   “The individuals and entities that will be subject to the travel ban and asset freeze by this resolution include the senior DPRK …

The European Union and China recommitted Friday to the 2015 Paris climate deal, one day after the United States announced it would withdraw from it. In a joint statement, the EU and China said climate change and clean energy “will become a main pillar” of their bilateral partnership. European Council President Donald Tusk said the fight against climate change would continue, with or without the United States: “Today, China and Europe have demonstrated solidarity with future generations and responsibilities for the whole planet,” he said. “We are convinced that yesterday’s decision is a big mistake.” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, in Brussels for an EU-China business summit, said it was important for China and EU relationships to become more stable. “We believe that there have been changes in the international situation, and there will be rising uncertainty and destabilizing factors,” he said. “This requires our efforts to resolve existing issues.” Other issues Besides climate change, other issues discussed at the summit included trade, investment, the migration crisis, North Korea and the security partnership in Africa. Li had expressed China’s continued support for the global climate deal on Thursday during his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying, “China will stand by its responsibilities on climate change.” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said China agreed with the EU on the “unhappiness” about America’s unilateral decision to abandon the climate agreement. The 2015 agreement, signed by 195 countries, calls for reducing the impact of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this …

The U.S. trade deficit rose in April to the highest level since January. The politically sensitive trade gap with China registered a sharp increase.   The Commerce Department said Friday that the U.S. trade gap in goods and services climbed 5.2 percent to $47.6 billion in April from March. Exports dropped 0.3 percent to $191 billion, pulled down by a drop in automotive exports. Imports rose 0.8 percent to $238.6 billion as Americans bought more foreign-made cellphones and other consumer goods.   So far this year, the trade deficit is up 13.4 percent from a year earlier to $186.6 billion. Exports are up 6.1 percent to $765.6 billion this year, but imports are up more _ 7.5 percent to $952.2 billion. So far in 2017, the United States is running a $268.7 billion deficit in goods and an $82.1 billion surplus in services such as banking and tourism.   The deficit in goods with China rose by 12.4 percent to $27.6 billion in April.   The Trump administration has vowed to reduce the trade deficit, blaming the gap between exports and imports on abusive practices by America’s trading partners.   President Donald Trump recently has singled out Germany for criticism, saying it is unfairly benefiting from a weak euro. When a country’s currency is weak, its products enjoy a price advantage in foreign markets. The trade deficit with Germany rose 4.3 percent in April to $5.5 billion.     …

The price of oil has fallen sharply as investors bet that President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement will increase the country’s oil and gas production. The cost of a barrel of crude slumped 2.4 percent, or $1.18, to $47.18 in electronic trading in New York on Friday, hours after Trump said the U.S. would immediately stop implementing the Paris deal. He said his administration could try to renegotiate the existing agreement or try to create a new one that is more favorable to the U.S. The deal would have required the U.S. to reduce polluting emissions by more than a quarter below 2005 levels by 2025, potentially limiting the growth of high-emissions industries like oil and gas production. Economists, however, say that the climate deal would likely help create about as many jobs in renewable energy as it might cost in polluting industries. U.S. oil production has already been increasing in recent months since the price of crude came off lows last year, making expensive shale oil extraction more economically viable. “Now that U.S. President Trump has announced that the U.S. will be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, it is expected that the U.S. will expand its oil production even more sharply,” said analysts at German bank Commerzbank. The increase in U.S. production is neutralizing the efforts of the OPEC cartel and other major oil-producing nations, like Russia, to support prices by limiting their output. OPEC and 10 other countries …

The heated debate over India’s cash ban continues, with critics saying it slowed an economy that was growing, while the government says economic momentum was barely affected. Critics say the scrapping of 86 percent of the country’s currency last November cost India its status as the world’s fastest growing economy.   According to data released this week, from January to March, growth plunged to 6.1 percent – lower than China’s 6.9 percent growth in the same period. Overall growth for the last financial year, which began in April 2016 and ended in March 2017, however, stood at 7.1 percent.   Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has tried to distance the disappointing economic numbers from the currency ban, citing other factors. “There was some slowdown visible, given the global and domestic situation, even prior to demonetization in the last year,” he told reporters.   The slowdown affected almost all sectors of the economy, with farming, manufacturing and services all taking a hit. With people scrambling to get access to new notes, consumption slowed sharply, impacting both small shopkeepers and large businesses. The government, however, is encouraged by forecasts that the economy is expected to recover swiftly on the back of monsoon rains, which are expected to be plentiful, and a slew of major reform measures.   As economists estimated growth this year will rebound to 7.4 percent, the government pointed out that India’s economy is still among the world’s top performers. Jaitley said given the global scenario, “7 to 8 percent growth, …

Long the preserve of geeky enthusiasts, bitcoin is going mainstream in Asia, attracting Mrs Watanabe — the metaphorical Japanese housewife investor — South Korean retirees and thousands of others trying to escape rock-bottom savings rates by investing in the cryptocurrency. Asia’s moms and pops, regular investors in stock and futures markets, have been dazzled by bitcoin’s 100 percent surge so far this year. In comparison, the broader Asian stocks benchmark has gained 17 percent over the same period. Even after a tumble from last week’s record $2,779.08 high, bitcoin rose more than 60 percent in May alone, driven higher in part by investors in Japan and South Korea stepping in as China cooled after a central bank crackdown earlier this year. Legal tender in Japan Over the last two weeks, and encouraged by Japan’s recognition of bitcoin as legal tender in April, exchanges say interest has jumped from the two countries. Bitcoin trades at a premium in both, because of tough money-laundering rules that make it hard for people to move bitcoin in and out. “After I first heard about the bitcoin scheme, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. It’s like buying a dream,” said Mutsuko Higo, a 55-year-old Japanese social insurance and labor consultant who bought around 200,000 yen ($1,800) worth of bitcoin in March to supplement her retirement savings. “Everyone says we can’t rely on Japanese pensions anymore,” she said. “This worries me, so I started bitcoins.” Thriving investment culture Asia has proved fertile ground for bitcoin …

Exactly eight years after the Great Recession ended, the U.S. job market has settled into a sweet spot of steadily solid growth.   The 4.4 percent unemployment rate matches a decade low. Many people who had stopped looking for jobs are coming off the sidelines to find them. More part-timers are finding full-time work. About all that’s still missing is a broad acceleration in pay.    On Friday, when the government releases the jobs report for May, that pattern is likely to extend itself. The consensus expectation of economists is that the Labor Department will report that employers added 176,000 jobs, according to a survey by FactSet, a data provider. That’s right in line with the monthly average of 174,000 over the past three months.   All told, it’s evidence of an American economy that is running neither too hot nor too cold, with growth holding at a tepid but far from recessionary 2 percent annual rate. Few economists foresee another downturn looming, in part because the recovery from the recession has been steady but grinding, with little sign of the sort of overheated pressures that normally trigger a recession.   May jobs expectations high Separate reports Thursday solidified expectations that job growth for May was healthy. Payroll processor ADP reported that in a private survey of companies, it found that a hefty 253,000 jobs were added in May, mostly among companies with fewer than 500 workers.   Nor are layoffs much of a concern. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits, …

A jail in Chicago is serving some of the best Italian pizza in town. Inmates are making gourmet pizzas for their fellow prisoners. It’s part of a training program called Recipe for Change in which the inmates can acquire skills to get jobs after they are released. VOA’s Deborah Block has more. …

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday he was confident that Congress would raise the federal debt limit  “before there’s an issue” with U.S. creditworthiness, and he pledged that the Trump administration’s tax reform plans would be paid for. “We’re going to get it increased,” Mnuchin told Fox Business Network about the debt limit. “The credit of the United States is the utmost. I’ve said to Congress they should do it as quickly as they can. But we are very focused on working with them and I’m confident we’ll get there before there’s an issue.” Mnuchin said last week that he wanted a “clean” debt ceiling increase before the start of Congress’ summer recess in early August. Mnuchin said that it “makes no sense” to view the Trump administration’s tax reform plans through a “static” budget analysis that does not account for economic growth effects. He has previously pledged that increased economic growth would generate more revenue to offset lower tax rates. “We’re about creating economic growth, we’re about broadening the base and we’re going to make sure that this is tax reform, not just tax cuts, and that they’re paid for,” Mnuchin said. …

President Donald Trump is moving the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, signed by nearly 200 other nations. Trump said Thursday that the Paris agreement hurts U.S. economic growth, costs millions of American jobs and puts U.S. firms at a disadvantage. However, his decision contrasted with the views of hundreds of American business leaders who urged him to continue participating in the climate agreement. While the president said Washington would stop implementing the Paris accord immediately, he added that he would begin negotiations aimed at rejoining the Paris accord or a similar agreement on terms more advantageous to the United States.   “We will see if we can make a deal that’s fair,” Trump said. An audience at the White House Rose Garden warmly applauded his announcement. Among the many corporations that opposed the move to bow out of the Paris Agreement were Mars, Nike, Levi Strauss and Starbucks. Their top corporate officers signed a letter to Trump several months ago, arguing that failing to build a low-carbon economy would put U.S. “prosperity at risk.” WATCH: Trump: US ‘Will Cease All Implementation’ of Paris Climate Accord Trump: ‘Fortune’ at stake Trump said the climate agreement, as presently written, would cost U.S. businesses “a vast fortune” and lead to the loss of 7 million jobs by 2025. Tesla founder Elon Musk tried to persuade the president to stay in the accord and said Wednesday that he would quit the White House business advisory council if Washington left the Paris …

A Chinese company that makes shoes for Ivanka Trump and other brands denied allegations Thursday of excessive overtime and low wages made by three activists who have been arrested or disappeared. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Hua Haifeng, an investigator for China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, had been arrested on a charge of illegal surveillance while his two colleagues — Li Zhao and Su Heng — are missing and rights groups fear they have been detained. They were investigating Huajian Group factories in the southern Chinese cities of Ganzhou and Dongguan.   “We are shocked,” Long Shan, a spokeswoman for the Huajian Group, said in an email to The Associated Press. “As a renowned global media outlet, you have put out many untrue reports not based on facts and without our consent.”   China Labor Watch executive director Li Qiang said Thursday he still had not been able to confirm the status of the two men. Huajian was contacted before AP’s initial reports were published but issued no statement until Thursday.   Long said the company had stopped producing Ivanka Trump shoes months ago. She said that Hua Haifeng joined the group’s factory in Dongguan on May 20, but left after less than a week, and Su Heng began working at their Ganzhou factory on April 28, but also left after a short time. She said she did not know their current whereabouts.   “By coming to Huajian to work, they are Huajian employees. Huajian staff must comply with …

The business relationship between China and Europe is showing several contradictory trends as Beijing seeks to protect its own state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and its leaders seek foreign investments promising further liberalization in rules. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was in Berlin on Wednesday calling for joint efforts to promote trade liberalization and investment facilitation. On the same day, a European industry body in China expressed concerns about discrimination against foreign investors and painted a bleak picture of investment growth by Europe-based companies. Li’s itinerary, which includes a visit to the European Union headquarters in Brussels, comes in the midst of rising political demand for ensuring reciprocity in business dealings with China. Some European countries are asking the EU to make laws enabling them to closely scrutinize Chinese investments and weed out the dubious ones.  “The discussion in itself shows that there is a lot of frustration in Europe on the lack of reciprocity,” said Mats Harborn, president of the European Chamber. “We have open bets for Chinese investments while for us to go to China is a whiling road, so this is causing now political discussions in Europe,” he said.  Given such political conditions, Li’s agenda may seem very ambitious unless China is ready to offer major trade-offs. He is trying to persuade European leaders to accord the status of “market economy” to China, and relax their actions on the dumping of Chinese goods. He also wants the EU to grant a certificate of airworthiness for a China-developed large passenger plane, …