Category: Business

China’s trade surplus with the United States swelled to a record in June as its overall exports grew at a solid pace, a result that could further inflame a bitter trade dispute with Washington. But signs exporters were rushing shipments before tariffs went into effect…

The Turkish lira recovered some losses Thursday hours after it hit record lows. New Treasury and  Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law, sought to reassure nervous markets that the central bank's independence was not in question. The wild currency gyrations following Albayrak's…

U.S. consumer prices barely rose in June, but the underlying trend continued to point to a steady buildup of inflation pressures that could keep the Federal Reserve on a path of gradual interest rate increases. Other data on Thursday showed first-time applications for unemployment benefits…

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…

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 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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,…

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,…

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…

President Donald Trump continues to turn up the heat on trade, a tactic that he insists will result in better deals for the American people. But the president’s rhetoric has economists concerned about a trade war. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has more. ...

In the busy summer travel period in Cuba, a long line of people wait for hours in the sweltering heat outside the Havana office of state-owned airline Cubana, many of them eager to visit families in the provinces. But they are not waiting to book…