Year: 2018

The Trump administration’s 25 percent tariff on imported steel has been welcomed by U.S. producers of the material but slammed by American manufacturers that rely on a global steel supply chain to make everything from cars to razor blades. VOA’s Michael Bowman visited a can company that is being squeezed by the new tariff and has this report, which was produced by Elizabeth Cherneff. …

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 Beijing isn’t about to drop its zeal to acquire the technology it sees as crucial to its prosperity.   Having run for the White House on a vow to force China to reform its trade policies, President Donald Trump won’t likely yield to vague promises by Beijing to improve its behavior — or to pledges to buy more American soybeans or liquefied natural gas.   “It certainly feels like we’re in for a protracted fight,” said Timothy Keeler of the law firm Mayer Brown and a former chief of staff at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. “Truthfully, I don’t know what the off-ramp is.”   The first shots sounded July 6: The United States slapped 25 percent taxes on $34 billion in Chinese imports. Most of them are industrial goods that the Trump administration says receive subsidies or other unfair support from Beijing. China quickly lashed back with tariffs on $34 billion in U.S. products. The two countries have targeted an additional $16 billion worth of each other’s products for a second round of25 percent tariffs. On Tuesday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative proposed 10 percent tariffs on another $200 billion …

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 just after the birth of a child. When he returned, he informed his supervisors he was leaving Apple to join Xiaopeng Motors, a Chinese company in Guangzhao, which also plans to build self-driving cars. But security cameras caught Zhang allegedly entering Apple’s self-driving car lab and downloading blueprints and other information on a personal computer at the time he was supposed to be in China on paternity leave. Neither the FBI nor Zhang’s lawyers have commented. …

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 toppled long-time leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Just one in four Libyan women is employed, according to World Bank data – a situation Nasser, 21, hopes to change with a new food delivery app that allows them to earn money from their own kitchens. “I’m just doing something to help women that I know deserve better. They need opportunities, just like males,” Yasser told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The app, Yummy, connects women who cook at home with customers wanting to order food, in much the same way as Uber connects private drivers with would-be passengers. It acts as a conduit, offering anonymity options for the cooks, and allows women to take food orders from men without having to speak to them. “You have a society that has been closed for 100 years, you can’t just open a communication gate between two genders that were not supposed to talk to each other unless they were married to do business,” said Nasser. She now has 300 cooks ready to start work, having tested the service successfully with 20 in the southern Libyan city of Sabha – among them 26-year-old Ekhlas Ekrim. Ekrim has been cooking and …

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Tuesday landed a deal with Chinese authorities to build a new auto plant in Shanghai, its first factory outside the United States, that would double the size of the electric car maker’s global manufacturing. The deal was announced as Tesla raised prices on U.S.-made vehicles it sells in China to offset the cost of new tariffs imposed by the Chinese government in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to slap heavier duties on Chinese goods. Musk was in Shanghai Tuesday, and the Shanghai government in a statement said it welcomed Tesla’s move to invest not only in a new factory in the city, a center of the Chinese auto industry, but in research and development, as well. China has long pushed to capture more of the talent and capital invested by global automakers in advanced electric vehicle technology. Tesla plans to producing the first cars about two years after construction begins on its Shanghai factory, ramping up to as many as 500,000 vehicles a year about two to three years after that, the company said. That would make Tesla’s Shanghai plant large by auto industry standards, where most factories are tooled to build 200,000 to 300,000 vehicles a year, and roughly equivalent to the planned annual production at Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California. Tesla shares rose 1.5 percent in early U.S. trading, even as some analysts questioned where the money-losing company will get the capital required to build and staff such …

The Cuban government will allow new restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and transportation businesses by the end of the year, reopening the most vibrant sectors of the private economy after freezing growth for more than a year. The government is unveiling a set of new regulations Tuesday meant to control the growth of tourism-related private businesses and collect more tax revenue from them. Private restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts boomed after U.S.-Cuba normalization in 2014 prompted rapid growth in tourism to Cuba.   Tax evasion and purchase of stolen state materials also boomed in the mostly cash-based private hospitality sector. Among other measures, the new regulations announced Tuesday require private businesses to move all their revenue through state-run bank accounts. Cuba froze new licenses for restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and other key business in August 2017. …

BMW Group and the biggest Chinese SUV brand, Great Wall Motor, announced a partnership Tuesday to produce electric MINI vehicles in China as global automakers ramp up development under pressure from Beijing. The companies said they signed an agreement Monday during an event in Berlin attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. BMW and Great Wall said their venture, Spotlight Automotive Ltd., also will make electrics for the Chinese partner’s brand. Great Wall put total investment in the venture at 5.1 billion yuan ($770 million) and said it is aiming for annual production of 160,000 vehicles. Automakers are pouring billions of dollars into creating electric models for China, the biggest market for the technology. Beijing is using access to its market as leverage to induce global automakers to help Chinese brands develop battery and other technology. Auto brands in China are required to make electric vehicles at least 10 percent of their sales starting next year or buy credits from competitors that exceed their quotas. Later, they face pressure to raise those sales in order to satisfy fuel efficiency requirements that increase annually. Sales of pure-electric passenger vehicles in China rose 82 percent last year to 468,000, according to an industry group, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That was more than double the U.S. level of just under 200,000. Other automakers including General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Nissan Motor Co. have announced similar plans with Chinese partners to produce dozens of electric models. Great …

Egypt’s annual inflation rate increased to 13.8 percent in June, the first time it has jumped in 11 months following a new round of austerity measures designed to overhaul the country’s economy, the official statistics agency said Tuesday. The figure, announced by the Central Agency for Mobilization and Statistics, covers the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. The June rate compares to 11.5 percent in May, covering the period of June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018. The agency attributed the increase to a hike in the price of some commodities, including vegetables (4 percent) and cereals and bread (2 percent). Transportation fares increased by 27.8 percent. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel prices hiked by 8.1 percent in June, according to CAMS. Inflation peaked last summer, hovering around 30 percent after the government cut fuel and electricity subsidies as part of broader economic reforms to meet demands by the International Monetary Fund for a $12 billion bailout loan. Egypt secured the loan in 2016. In June 2017, the annual inflation rate was 30.9 percent, according to the statistics agency. Since then, inflation figures showed a steady monthly decline to reach 11.5 in May, the lowest level in around two years. June figures came in the wake of recent steep price hikes for fuel, drinking water and electricity was introduced by the government in the recent weeks. The hikes come as Egypt presses ahead with a broader economic reform program that has included slashing subsidies, imposing …

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged a package of $20 billion in loans, and about $106 million in financial aid, to Middle East nations, as part of what he called an “oil and gas plus” model to revive economic growth in the region. Beijing has ramped up engagement in the Middle East in recent years as Arab nations play an important role in Xi’s signature Belt and Road foreign policy plan for strong trade routes linking China with central and southeast Asia. Development was key to resolving many security problems in the Middle East, Xi told a gathering with representatives of 21 Arab nations in the Chinese capital. “We should treat each other frankly, not fear differences, not avoid problems, and have ample discussion on each aspect of foreign policy and development strategy,” he said. China would offer aid worth 100 million yuan ($15 million) to Palestine to support economic development, besides providing a further 600 million yuan ($91 million) to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, he added. A consortium of banks from China and Arab nations, with a dedicated fund of $3 billion, will also be set up, he said. It was unclear what the relationship between the bank consortium, financial aid and the overall loan package would be. The loans will fund a plan of “economic reconstruction” and “industrial revival” that would include cooperation on oil and gas, nuclear and clean energy, Xi said. He urged “relevant sides” to respect the international consensus in the Israel-Palestine dispute, …

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 are also shifting from backyards to factory farms, where modern standardized processes are expected to raise quality and safety. That’s an important step in a country where melamine-tainted eggs and eggs with high antibiotic residues have featured in a series of food safety scandals in recent years. It is also spurring demand for higher priced branded eggs over those sold loose in fresh produce markets. “These days if you’re a small farmer, your eggs won’t get into the supermarkets,” said Yuan Song, analyst with China-America Commodity Data Analytics. Tough new regulations on treating manure and reducing the environmental impact from farms have also pushed many small farmers out. Most egg producers now have between 20,000 and 50,000 hens, said Yuan, a significant change even from two years ago. The remainder with less than 10,000 birds are likely to be shut down soon as local governments favor larger producers that can be more easily scrutinized. High-tech hatchery Those rapid changes are driving investments like the 150 million yuan ($22.60 million) hatchery in Handan, about 400km (250 miles) southwest of Beijing. The highly automated plant, owned by a joint venture between China’s Huayu Agricultural Science and Technology …

The possibility of more Western sanctions against Moscow is the key risk for the Russian economy, as much as 21 percent of which has already felt the impact of existing sanctions, Russia’s Analytical Credit Ratings Agency said in a report Tuesday. Western sanctions are expected to weigh on Russia’s oil-dependent economy in the longer run, having dented incomes of Russian households, the Kremlin-backed ACRA said. The West first imposed economic and financial sanctions against Moscow in 2014 for its annexation of Crimea and its role in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia has responded with counter-sanctions, banning imports of a wide range of food from countries that had targeted Moscow. Later, sanctions against Russia were expanded, putting extra pressure on Russia’s economy and the ruble. “The risk of widening of anti-Russian sanctions remains one of the key risks that the Russian economy could face this year,” ACRA said. New sanctions listed by ACRA might target more companies, Russian state debt or even disconnect Russia from the international SWIFT payment system. For now, Russia’s international reserves, which stood at nearly $456 billion as of late June, “fully cover external debt, which is vulnerable to wider sanctions,” ACRA said. “Sanctions should not be named the key factor that limits economic growth in Russia in the mid-term … The impact of sanctions on growth rate could turn out to be more pronounced in the long term for both companies and the economy in general,” ACRA said. Western sanctions have hit Russian companies that account for …

World fish production is expected to grow over the next 10 years despite a slowdown in both farmed and wild caught fish, the U.N.’s food agency said. In a new report on global fisheries, the Food and Agricultural Agency predicts world fish production will grow to 201 million metric tons by 2030 — an 18 percent rise over current levels. This is despite the amount of wild caught fish leveling off and the number of farmed fish slowing down after decades of rapid growth. “The fisheries sector is crucial in meeting FAO’s goal of a world without hunger and malnutrition, and its contribution to economic growth and the fight against poverty is growing,” FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said. But the report said future growth depends on sustainable and stronger fishing management, and successfully fighting such problems as pollution, global warming and illegal fishing. The report said nearly 60 million people are employed in the world’s fishing industry, with China being the biggest producer and exporter of fish. The European Union, United States and Japan are the world’s top three consumers of fish and users of fish products. …

The president of OPEC on Monday defended the oil producer group against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent demands for higher oil output, saying OPEC does not shoulder the blame. Trump has accused the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in recent weeks of driving gasoline prices higher and urged the group to do more. “OPEC alone cannot be blamed for all the problems that are happening in the oil industry, but at the same time we were responsive in terms of the measures we took in our latest meeting in June,”Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries president Suhail al-Mazrouei told Reuters in an interview in Calgary, Alberta. OPEC agreed in June on a modest increase in oil production starting in July after its leader Saudi Arabia persuaded arch-rival Iran to cooperate, following calls from major consumers to curb rising fuel costs. Mazrouei said OPEC member crude producers have enough capacity to handle any unforeseen global supply disruptions. …

Construction conglomerate Odebrecht has signed an agreement with two more Brazilian state bodies to settle cases related to a corruption scheme in which Odebrecht and others formed a de facto cartel to rig bids with state-run oil giant Petrobras and bribe officials.   Odebrecht signed an agreement Monday with the solicitor general and the comptroller general to pay around $700 million over 22 years to Petrobras and other state entities. The two state bodies will drop legal proceedings against Odebrecht.   After the installments are adjusted for inflation, authorities estimate Odebrecht will pay around $1.76 billion.   The agreement expands a 2016 settlement in which Odebrecht agreed to pay at least $2.6 billion to resolve charges with authorities in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. Monday’s fine is part of that $2.6 billion. …