Category: Business

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, embroiled in a bitter dispute with the U.S., a NATO ally, contended Sunday the plunging value of his country's lira currency amounted to a "political plot" against Turkey. Erdogan, speaking to political supporters in the Black Sea resort of Trabzon, said, "The aim of the operation is to make Turkey surrender in all areas, from finance to politics. We are once again facing a political, underhand plot. With God's permission we will overcome this." U.S. President Donald Trump has feuded with Erdogan over several issues, including the detention of an American pastor in Turkey, whom Turkey has held since 2016 and accused of espionage. Turkey last month released the evangelical preacher from a prison, but is still detaining him under house arrest pending his trial,…

Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting that China’s state-owned petroleum corporation has taken a majority share of the country’s South Pars gas project after French oil and gas company Total announced it would pull out because renewed U.S. economic sanctions against Iran. The Saturday report quotes Mohammad Mostafavi, an official in Iran’s state oil company, as saying CNPC now owns 80 percent of the shares in the $5 billion project, having bought shares from Total. CNPC originally had about 30 percent of shares in the project. The renewal of U.S. sanctions took effect on Tuesday. ...

France deems unacceptable a European Commission proposal to exclude French ports from a rerouting of a strategic trade corridor between Ireland and mainland Europe after Brexit, the government said. At the moment much of Ireland's trade with the continent goes via Britain in trucks. However, with less than eight months to go until Britain leaves the European Union, there is still little clarity on its future trade relations with the bloc and on the nature of the Irish Republic's border with the British province of Northern Ireland. The new route put forward by the commission would connect Ireland by sea with Dutch and Belgian ports, including Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. French ports such as Calais and Dunkirk would be bypassed. "France and Ireland maintain important trade channels, both overland via Britain and via direct maritime routes. The geographical proximity between Ireland and…

By most indicators, the U.S. economy is doing well. An achievement that President Donald Trump has boasted about on many occasions. But whether Americans see it that way, may depend on which side of the political aisle they're on. This report by White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara explores partisanship and the American economy. ...

The Turkish lira suffered its worst one-day loss in a decade Friday after President Donald Trump announced that the United States would hike tariffs, prompting investor confidence to slump. Trump announced the doubling of aluminum and steel tariffs in a tweet Friday, citing bilateral strains. Ties between the countries have been strained as Washington has urged Ankara to release Andrew Brunson, an American pastor being held under house arrest on terrorism charges. The White House dismisses the charges as baseless and has accused Ankara of hostage taking. Turkey wants Brunson to stand trial. The Brunson dispute triggered the collapse in the Turkish currency as investors feared U.S. financial sanctions. All week, the lira has been under pressure, which accelerated with the failure of diplomatic talks in Washington this week. 'Just the stick'…

A threat of more U.S. sanctions has sent the ruble tumbling to its weakest since mid-2016 but authorities are not expected to leap to the currency’s defense after weathering a similar storm in April, analysts said. The ruble crashed to 67.67 versus the dollar on Friday, losing more than 6 percent of its value in just one week, as the United States said it would impose fresh sanctions against Moscow. The ruble’s slide was akin to its drop in April when, also battered by sanctions from Washington, it lost 12 percent in just a few days. Lack of action The lack of action by authorities back then is convincing market players now that they will not intervene this time either. “When we think about what has happened in April, when…

Consumer prices in the U.S. rose a modest 2.9 percent in July from a year ago, as inflation rose gradually but slowly. Friday's Labor Department report showed the Consumer Price Index, a broad measure of Americans' living expenses, increased two-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy prices, rose at the same pace. The main driver of inflation in July was higher housing costs. Food expenses increased slightly, while energy, medical care and clothing prices fell modestly. The data showed that prices were rising a little faster than wages, leaving the buying power of paychecks one-tenth of a percentage point lower today than a year ago, despite an otherwise healthy economy. Inflation increases and wage declines in the past 12 months…

Chinese state media on Thursday accused the United States of a "mobster mentality" in its move to implement additional tariffs on Chinese goods and warned that Beijing had all the necessary means to fight back. The comments marked a ratcheting up in tensions between the world's two largest economies over a trade dispute, which is already affecting industries including steel and autos and is causing unease about which products could be targeted next. Beijing late on Wednesday said it would slap additional tariffs of 25 percent on $16 billion worth of U.S. imports, in retaliation against news the United States plans to begin collecting 25 percent extra in tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods beginning August 23. "The two countries' trade conflict, which is merely push and shove at the moment, is likely to escalate into more…

New York's city council on Wednesday dealt a blow to Uber and other car-for-hire companies, passing a bill to cap the number of vehicles they operate and impose minimum pay standards on drivers. The city of 8.5 million is the biggest app-ride market in the United States, where public transport woes and astronomical parking costs have helped fuel years of untamed growth by the likes of Lyft, Uber and Via. But that growth has brought New York's iconic yellow cabs to their knees. Since December, six yellow cab drivers have committed suicide. Those deaths have been linked, at least in part, to desperation over plummeting income. The bill stipulates a 12-month cap on all new for-hire-vehicle licenses, unless they are wheelchair accessible, as well as minimum pay requirements for app…

China and Germany defended their business ties with Iran on Wednesday in the face of President Donald Trump’s warning that any companies trading with the Islamic Republic would be barred from the United States. The comments from Beijing and Berlin signaled growing anger from partners of the United States, which reimposed strict sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, over its threat to penalize businesses from third countries that continue to operate there. “China has consistently opposed unilateral sanctions and long-armed jurisdiction,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. “China’s commercial cooperation with Iran is open and transparent, reasonable, fair and lawful, not violating any United Nations Security Council resolutions,” it added in a faxed statement to Reuters. “China’s lawful rights should be protected.” The German government said U.S. sanctions against Iran that have…

China’s exports to the United States surged last month as its merchants rushed to fill orders ahead of a jump in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Its shipments to the United States climbed 13 percent in July from a year earlier, to $41.5 billion, after a roughly similar rise in June, customs data show. At the same time, Beijing’s trade surplus with the United States — a frequent source of anger and threats from President Donald Trump — grew 11 percent to $28 billion. Chinese exporters appear to be trying to ship their goods to the United States before tariffs that Trump is imposing in a fight over technology policy take full effect. The trade war between the world’s two biggest economies has forced many multinational companies to reschedule purchases…

U.S. President Donald Trump predicted Tuesday the United States and China will have a "fantastic trading relationship" but one that will be different from the way it has been under previous presidents. Speaking to a group of invited business leaders, Trump said he wants China to do well, but also wants Chinese policies to treat the United States fairly. Trump has frequently highlighted China as a target of what he says are unbalanced trade relationships he wants to alter in order to benefit American workers. He has implemented more than $30 billion in new tariffs on Chinese goods, and on Tuesday his administration said another $16 billion in tariffs would go into effect later this month. China has said it plans to counter with tens of billions of dollars in…

"Heightened trade and geopolitical tensions" are putting global economic growth at risk, G-20 finance ministers said after two days of meetings in Buenos Aires on Sunday. In their final communique, the Group of 20 ministers stressed the need to "step up dialogue and actions to mitigate risks and enhance confidence." The ministers, representing industrial and emerging-market nations, described the overall world economic growth as "robust," but expressed concerns over what they call the increased risks of the "short and medium term." They did not mention the United States by name in their closing statement. But some decried President Donald Trump's tough trade rhetoric and tariffs on Chinese and European imports. European Union finance chief Pierre Moscovici urged the U.S. to act like allies, not foes. French finance minister Bruno Le…

Prime Minister Theresa May's plans to leave the European Union are overwhelmingly opposed by the British public and more than a third of voters would support a new right-wing political party committed to quitting the bloc, according to a new poll. May's political vulnerability was exposed by the survey which found voters would prefer Boris Johnson, who quit as her foreign minister two weeks ago, to negotiate with the EU and lead the Conservative Party into the next election. Only 16 percent of voters say May is handling the Brexit negotiations well, compared with 34 percent who say that Johnson would do a better job, according to the poll conducted by YouGov for The Sunday Times newspaper. With a little more than eight months to go before Britain is due…

Prime Minister Theresa May's plans to leave the European Union are overwhelmingly opposed by the British public and more than a third of voters would support a new right-wing political party committed to quitting the bloc, according to a new poll. May's political vulnerability was exposed by the survey which found voters would prefer Boris Johnson, who quit as her foreign minister two weeks ago, to negotiate with the EU and lead the Conservative Party into the next election. Only 16 percent of voters say May is handling the Brexit negotiations well, compared with 34 percent who say that Johnson would do a better job, according to the poll conducted by YouGov for The Sunday Times newspaper. With a little more than eight months to go before Britain is due…

German industry groups warned Sunday, ahead of a meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and U.S. President Donald Trump, that tariffs the United States has recently imposed or threatened risk harming the U.S. itself. The U.S. imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminum June 1, and Trump is threatening to extend them to EU cars and car parts. Juncker will discuss trade with Trump at a meeting Wednesday. Dieter Kempf, head of Germany’s BDI industry association, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper it was wise for the European Union and United States to continue their discussions. German auto industry “The tariffs under the guise of national security should be abolished,” Kempf said, adding that Juncker needed to make clear to Trump that the United States would harm itself with…

Fiat Chrysler named on Saturday its Jeep division boss, Mike Manley, to take over immediately for Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, who is seriously ill after suffering major complications following surgery. The carmaker said British-born Manley, who also takes responsibility for the North America region, will push ahead with the midterm strategy outlined last month by Marchionne, who had been due to step down next April. Marchionne, 66, was credited with rescuing Fiat and Chrysler from bankruptcy after taking the Italian carmaker's wheel in 2004. On Saturday, he was also replaced as chairman and CEO of Ferrari and chairman of tractor maker CNH Industrial — both spun off from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in recent years. "FCA communicates with profound sorrow that during the course of this week unexpected complications arose while…

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday backed President Hassan Rouhani's suggestion that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are stopped and said negotiations with the United States would be an "obvious mistake." Rouhani's apparent threat earlier this month to disrupt oil shipments from neighboring countries came in reaction to looming U.S. sanctions and efforts by Washington to force all countries to stop buying Iranian oil. "(Khamenei) said remarks by the president ... that 'if Iran's oil is not exported, no regional country's oil will be exported,' were important remarks that reflect the policy and the approach of (Iran's) system," Khamenei's official website said. Iranian officials have in the past threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, in retaliation for…

U.S. Republican lawmakers have dropped their efforts to reimpose a crippling ban on exports to the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE.  The move Friday gives a victory to U.S. President Donald Trump who has championed for ZTE to stay in business.  Republican senators Friday dropped legislation that would block ZTE from buying component parts from the United States. Senators had included the legislation in a defense spending bill passed last month, but a House version of the defense bill did not include the same provision. Lawmakers say senators decided to leave the provision out of the final compromise bill, which is expected to come to a vote in the House and Senate in the coming days. Lawmakers from both parties have been critical of President Trump over his decision to lift…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday dug in on his criticism of the Federal Reserve’s policy on raising interest rates, saying it takes away from the United States’ “big competitive edge,” and lamented the strength of the U.S. dollar. Trump, in posts on Twitter, also accused the European Union and China of manipulating their currencies. “China, the European Union and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower, while the U.S. is raising rates while the dollars gets stronger and stronger with each passing day - taking away our big competitive edge,” Trump wrote. “As usual, not a level playing field.” After his posts, the U.S. dollar extended losses against the European Union’s euro, the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen. Representatives for the Fed could not immediately be…

President Donald Trump has indicated that he's willing to hit every product imported from China with tariffs, sending U.S. markets sliding before the opening bell Friday.   In a taped interview with the business channel CNBC, Trump said "I'm willing to go to 500," referring roughly to the $505.5 billion in goods imported last year from China.   The administration to date has slapped tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods in a trade dispute over what it calls the nation's predatory practices.   Dow futures which had already been pointing modestly lower slid sharply after the comments were aired by CNBC early Friday, indicating triple-digit losses when the market opens.   The yuan dipped to a 12-month low of 6.8 to the dollar, off by 7.6 percent since mid-February.…

Chinese policymakers are pumping more liquidity into the financial system and channeling credit to small- and medium-sized firms, and Beijing looks set to further loosen monetary conditions to mitigate threats to growth from a heated Sino-U.S. trade war. The world’s second-biggest economy has started to lose momentum this year as a government campaign to reduce a dangerous build-up of debt has lifted borrowing costs, hitting factory output, business investment and the property sector. As an intensifying trade conflict raises risks to exporters and overall growth, many economists expect the central bank to further reduce reserve requirements in the coming months, on top of the three reductions made so far this year. Benchmark rate unchanged However, few see a cut in the benchmark policy rate this year, as authorities walk a…

The Trump administration wants to scrap automatic federal protection for threatened plants and animals, a move that would anger environmentalists but please industry. A proposal unveiled Thursday would no longer grant threatened species the same instant protection given to endangered species. It would also limit what can be declared a critical habitat for such plants and animals. Officials with the Interior Department and Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that they wanted to streamline regulations. They said current rules under the Endangered Species Act were inconsistent and confusing. Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said the new rules would still be very protective of endangered animals. "At the same time, we hope that they ameliorate some of the unnecessary burden, conflict and uncertainty that is within our current regulatory structure," he told…

The financial leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies meet in Buenos Aires this weekend for the first time since long-simmering trade tensions burst into the open when China and the United States put tariffs on $34 billion of each other's goods. The United States will seek to persuade Japan and the European Union to join it in taking a more aggressive stance against Chinese trade practices at the G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank presidents, according to a senior U.S. Treasury Department official who spoke on condition on anonymity. But those efforts will be complicated by frustration over U.S. steel and aluminum import tariffs on the EU and Canada. Both responded with retaliatory tariffs in an escalating trade conflict that has shaken markets and threatens global growth. "U.S. trading partners are unlikely to be in a conciliatory mood," said Eswar…

Time and effort have gone down the drain for Steve Gould, who is scrambling to find new customers for his gin, whiskey and other spirits since the United States has taken a tough stance on trade issues. Before the European Union retaliated against new U.S. tariffs with taxes of its own, Gould expected revenue from the EU at his Golden Moon Distillery in Colorado to reach $250,000 or $350,000 this year. Now he's concerned that European exports will total just $25,000. Golden Moon already saw an effect when then-candidate Donald Trump made trade an issue during the 2016 campaign. Gould lost one of his Mexican importers and an investor, as overseas demand for small-distiller spirits was growing. "We've lost years of work and hundreds of thousands of dollars in building…

Grinding poverty and climate change are pushing communities in West Africa's Sahel region into the arms of extremist groups like Boko Haram, but providing people with clean energy could help slow that trend, said a top international official. Rachel Kyte, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, set up by the United Nations, learned on a trip to Niger this month how women and girls are being recruited by Islamist militants who offer them work, food and other essentials. Kyte, who serves as the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on energy access, said Boko Haram "is moving into the provision of basic social services." At the same time, in impoverished Niger, recurring and more intense drought "is absolutely punishing," she said.  The Islamist group is based in northeast Nigeria but active in other West African states. Kyte said villagers need better ways to…

Vivendi's Universal Music Group (UMG) will launch a new division in Nigeria as part of efforts by the world's largest music label to expand into Africa's most populous nation and the wider region. The music entertainment group said on Tuesday its new strategic division, Universal Music Nigeria, will operate from Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos. Nigerian music, much like its Nollywood film industry, is popular across much of Africa. Nigerian music artists have popularized the Afrobeat musical genre and gone on to sign record deals, sell out concerts and work with international artists to increase the global reach of African music. Music revenue in Nigeria - mostly derived from sales of mobile phone ringtones - grew 9 percent in 2016, year-on-year, to reach $39 million and is expected to rise to…

A former official at a Venezuelan state-run electric company pleaded guilty on Monday to U.S. charges that he participated in a scheme to solicit bribes in exchange for helping vendors win favorable treatment from state oil company PDVSA. Luis Carlos De Leon Perez, 42, pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and to conspiring to commit money laundering, the U.S. Justice Department said. He became the 12th person to plead guilty as part of a larger investigation by the Justice Department into bribery at Petroleos de Venezuela SA that became public with the arrest of two Venezuelan businessmen in December 2015. The two men were Roberto Rincon, who was president of Tradequip Services & Marine, and Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, the…