Category: Business

Senior officials from the United States, Canada and Mexico ended the latest round of talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement without any major breakthroughs on how to renegotiate the deal. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Friday after a week of talks in Washington that the United States will continue to work with its partners to update the 1994 trade pact.  "The United States is ready to continue working with Mexico and Canada to achieve needed breakthroughs on these objectives," he said. The talks involved all three of the top officials in the NAFTA negotiations: Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo. The talks have come under increased pressure to produce a deal quickly after U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said this week…

British Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a phone call Friday that talks were needed to discuss how U.S sanctions on Iran would affect foreign companies operating in the country. Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Iranian nuclear deal and revive U.S. economic sanctions has alarmed the leaders of Britain, France and Germany who remain committed to the deal and who have significant trade ties with Tehran. "The prime minister raised the potential impact of U.S. sanctions on those firms which are currently conducting business in Iran," her spokeswoman said. "They agreed for talks to take place between our teams." The spokeswoman said May had told Trump that Britain and its European partners remained "firmly committed" to ensuring the deal was upheld as the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear…

Mexico will not be rushed into revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) just to get a deal, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday ahead of trilateral talks with his U.S. and Canadian counterparts. Guajardo said he would meet at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) with Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and that the three are closer to agreeing new rules for autos that are vital for a deal. However, Guajardo, who is eager to reach an agreement on all the principal aspects of a modernized NAFTA before sealing a new deal, said plenty of other issues were outstanding. "I have to make very clear [that] the quality of the agreement and the balance of the agreement has to be maintained. So…

Burden or business opportunity? A new U.N.-backed study of refugees from the World Bank's International Financial Corporation argues for the latter. The IFC researchers examined one of Africa's oldest and largest refugee camps, Kakuma in northwest Kenya. What they found is a growing consumer base they say is ripe for more private investment in sectors like mobile banking and energy. The IFC took VOA's Daniel Schearf on a tour of the camp. He has this report. ...

A senior United Nations official says trade protectionism, rising private and corporate debt, and shortcomings in revenue raising are growing challenges to the economic outlook for the Asia Pacific. Shamshad Akhtar, executive secretary of the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), noted the threats of trade wars undermining the region’s positive economic growth outlook. The United States has pressed states, notably China, to reduce trade and current account deficits with the U.S., recently imposing tariffs on steel exports from several countries. Akhtar said such trade protectionism represents “quite a big threat” along with nontariff barriers, which have been rising since the 2008 global financial crisis, such as cross border restrictions that further limit trade. “If you look at the trends, there has been a post-2008…

Mexico on Thursday indicated time was running out to see whether NAFTA nations could agree a new deal in the short term while Canada struck a upbeat tone, saying top-level talks this week had achieved a great deal. Major differences remain between the three members of the North American Free Trade Agreement after more than eight months of largely slow-moving negotiations launched at the insistence of Washington, which wants major changes to the 1994 pact. A source close to the talks said U.S. officials have told Canada and Mexico that May 17 or 18 is the deadline for a text that could be dealt with by the current U.S. Congress. A second source confirmed that those dates had been discussed. Need solutions before elections Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said he…

Virginia Wallen is a wife, a mother of three, and a woodworker. She achieved what she has never imagined she would — turning her carpentry hobby into a business. The entrepreneur isn’t just succeeding in her new career, she’s tearing down stereotypes and building a new role model. It happens for a reason Wallen, who grew up helping out on her family's farm, developed all the skills required by a professional woodworker early on. “It wasn’t so much as a passion — growing up doing woodworking - as much as a requirement: help mend a fence or work on the farm or do things like that,” she recalls. “When given a choice in high school between home economics and woodshop class I picked woodshop and welding. But the passion happened a…

Wall Street surged on Wednesday as surging oil prices boosted energy stocks following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision the previous day to quit a nuclear agreement with Iran. Gains were broad and volume was high, with all but the utilities and telecom sectors advancing as investors who had moved to the sidelines in recent days ahead of Trump's decision returned to the market. "It's classic 'buy on the terrible news,' " said Ian Winer, director of trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, referring to the wider market's rally. "People had gotten way too nervous about this." Trump's decision for the United States pull out of the international agreement aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon was good news for investors betting on a rise in oil prices. Crude hit its highest level in 3½ years as investors bet the U.S.…

 A New York hedge fund founder was arrested Wednesday on charges that he exaggerated his company's performance by over $200 million to impress and preserve investors. Anilesh Ahuja, 49, of Manhattan, was charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. Federal officials said that the founder, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of the investment firm Premium Point Investments LP had carried out a fraud from 2014 through 2016 that was designed to make investors believe that the firm's hedge funds were doing much better than they were. Between 2008 and 2016, the firm managed billions of dollars in assets, exceeding $5 billion at one time at its peak, authorities said. Amin Majidi, 52, of Armonk, New York, a former Premium Point portfolio manager, and Jeremy Shor, 46, of…

Saudi Arabia is monitoring the impact of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on oil supplies and is ready to offset any shortage but it will not act alone to fill the gap, an OPEC source familiar with the kingdom's oil thinking said. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned a nuclear deal with Iran and announced the "highest level" of sanctions against the OPEC member. The original agreement had lifted sanctions in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear program. Iran is the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia and Iraq. During the last round of sanctions, Iran's oil supplies fell by around 1 million barrels per day (bpd), but the country re-emerged as a major oil exporter, especially to…

A United Nations agency said on Tuesday an "unjust" U.S. financial and trade embargo on Cuba had cost the country's economy $130 billion over nearly six decades, coming up with the same estimate as the island's communist government. Although many U.S. allies join Washington in criticizing Cuba's one-party system and repression of political opponents, the United States has lost nearly all international support for the embargo since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The U.N. has adopted a non-binding resolution calling for an end to the embargo with overwhelming support every year since 1992. In a report ahead of the vote last year, Cuba estimated total damage from the embargo at $130 billion. "This country which welcomes us today .. is testing its own ways to face the brutal human…

President Donald Trump will allow year-round sales of renewable fuel with blends of 15 percent ethanol as part of an emerging deal to make changes to the federal ethanol mandate.   Republican senators and the White House announced the deal Tuesday after a closed-door meeting, the latest in a series of White House sessions on ethanol.   The Environmental Protection Agency currently bans the 15-percent blend, called E15, during the summer because of concerns that it contributes to smog on hot days. Gasoline typically contains 10 percent ethanol. Farm-state lawmakers have pushed for greater sales of the higher ethanol blend to boost demand for the corn-based fuel.   Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley called the agreement good news for farmers and drivers alike, saying it would increase ethanol production and consumer…

With the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs between Washington and Beijing looming, Chinese buyers are canceling orders for U.S. soybeans, a trend that could deal a blow to American farmers if it continues. At the same time, farmers in China are being encouraged to plant more soy, apparently to help make up for any shortfall from the United States.   Beijing has included soybeans on a list of $50 billion of U.S. exports on which it has said it would impose 25 percent tariffs if the United States follows through on its threats to impose the same level of tariffs on the same value of Chinese goods. The U.S. tariffs could kick in later this month; China would likely retaliate soon after. It can take a month or longer for soybean…

Trade negotiations between China and the United States continue early next week in Washington D.C., but analysts say after the first round, the differences between the two sides are huge. Some believe the differences are so fundamental and big that an escalation of tariffs is unavoidable. According to a widely circulated copy of Washington’s demands, President Donald Trump’s delegation not only asked Beijing to cut its trade deficit with the United States by $200 billion by 2020, but to also sharply lower tariffs and government subsidies of advanced technologies. Beijing wants the United States to no longer oppose granting China market economy status at the World Trade Organization, amend an export ban against Chinese tech company ZTE Corp and open American government procurement to Chinese technology and services among other demands. View…

The Trump administration is unveiling a multibillion-dollar roster of proposed spending cuts but is leaving this year's $1.3 trillion catchall spending bill alone.   The cuts wouldn't have much impact, however, since they come from leftover funding from previous years that wouldn't be spent anyway.   The White House said it is sending the so-called rescissions package to lawmakers Tuesday. Administration officials, who required anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the package proposes killing $15 billion in unused funds. A senior official said about $7 billion would come from the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which provides health care to kids from low-income families, though that official stressed the cuts won't have a practical impact on the popular program.   The administration is…

Australia's government is expected to release annual spending plans on Tuesday with a focus on winning votes at elections due within a year. Cheaper craft beer plus personal tax cuts compensated by strengthening company tax revenue have been flagged as well as more investment on roads and rail to stimulate economic growth. Some media have reported that the government might better its timetable for returning the budget to surplus by the 2020-21 fiscal year by balancing the books 12 months earlier. New budget starts July 1 Treasurer Scott Morrison, who will reveal to the Parliament later Tuesday his economic blueprint for the year starting July 1, said the government would live within its means. “The plan for a stronger economy that I will be announcing tonight is about improving the…

Nestle is paying more than $7 billion to handle global retail sales of Starbucks's coffee and tea outside of its coffee shops. The deal comes with a huge price tag for Nestle, but it could pay off big for the Swiss company. Its Nescafe and Nespresso don't carry anywhere near the heft in America that Starbucks brand does, with its $2 billion in annual sales.   The deal gives Nestle the rights to market, sell and distribute Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, Starbucks Reserve, Teavana, Starbucks VIA and Torrefazione Italia packaged coffee and tea. It will also be able to put the Starbucks brand on Nestle single-serve capsules. The agreement excludes bottled drinks like ice coffees and Frappuccinos that are sold in and outside of Starbucks stores.   Nestle had hinted…

A small band of Belgian monks are planning to start producing their own beer again, more than 200 years after invading French troops stopped all brewing at the abbey. The men from Grimbergen Abbey started making beer in 1128, but stopped in 1797 when the French took over the site and sold off the equipment. After that, some of the world's biggest drink brands filled the gap - Heineken unit Alken-Maes makes brown and blond lagers with the Grimbergen brand in Belgium. Carlsberg sells them abroad, paying royalties to the abbey. Now the monks have drawn up plans for their own micro-brewery to produce their own beers to sell alongside the other Grimbergen drinks on the market. "We want to build a micro-brewery, on a small scale and linked with…

Afghanistan's poverty rate has worsened sharply over the past five years as the economy has stalled and the Taliban insurgency has spread, with more than half the population living on less than a dollar a day, a survey published on Monday showed. The Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey (ALCS), a joint study by the European Union and Afghanistan's Central Statistics Organization, showed the national poverty rate rising to 55 percent in 2016-17 from 38 percent in 2011-12. "The high poverty rates represent the combined effect of stagnating economic growth, increasing demographic pressures, and a deteriorating security situation," Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank director for Afghanistan, said in a commentary about the survey. The report underlines the problems facing the Western-backed government in Kabul which needs economic growth to help replace foreign aid…

An innovative consumer awareness campaign will be launched this summer in several cities in the United States. The campaign is aimed at preventing the waste of food that costs the world billions of dollars and has severe consequences on global food security and the environment. Verónica Balderas Iglesias spoke with experts. ...

The U.S. and China ended the second day of high level talks Friday aimed at avoiding a possible trade war. The U.S. delegation, headed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, will brief President Donald Trump Saturday and "seek his decision on next steps," the White House said in a statement, adding that the administration had "consensus" for "immediate attention" to change the U.S.-China trade and investment relationship. "We will be meeting tomorrow to determine the results, but it is hard for China in that they have become very spoiled with U.S. trade wins!" Trump said in a Twitter post late Friday. "Both sides recognize there are still big differences on some issues and that they need to continue to step up their work to make progress," China said in a statement…

President Trump reveled in the 3.9 percent U.S. unemployment rate Friday, following the release of figures by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But some say that these numbers don't tell the whole story. From Washington, VOA's Jill Craig has more. ...

The Trump administration has drawn a hard line in trade talks with China, demanding a $200 billion cut in the Chinese trade surplus with the United States, sharply lower tariffs and advanced technology subsidies, people familiar with the talks said Friday. The lengthy list of demands was presented to Beijing before the start of talks Thursday and Friday between top-level Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts to try to avert a damaging trade war between the world’s two largest economies. A White House statement did not mention specific demands, but said the U.S. delegation “held frank discussions with Chinese officials on rebalancing the United States-China bilateral economic relationship, improving China’s protection of intellectual property, and identifying policies that unfairly enforce technology transfers.” The statement gave no indication that U.S.…

U.S. employers stepped up hiring modestly in April, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent, evidence of the economy's resilience amid the recent stock market chaos and anxieties about a possible trade war. Job growth amounted to a decent 164,000 last month, up from an upwardly revised 135,000 in March. The unemployment rate fell after having held at 4.1 percent for the prior six months largely because fewer people were searching for jobs. The overall unemployment rate is now the lowest since December 2000. The rate for African-Americans — 6.6 percent — is the lowest on record since 1972. Many employers say it's difficult to find qualified workers. But they have yet to significantly bump up pay in most industries. Average hourly earnings rose 2.6 percent from a year…

Venezuela said on Thursday it would take over the country's leading private bank, Banesco, for 90 days and announced the arrest of 11 top executives for "attacks" against the country's rapidly depreciating bolivar currency. The detentions came on the heels of last month's shock arrests of two Venezuelan executives working in the country for U.S. oil company Chevron Corp. Oil-rich Venezuela is suffering from hyperinflation and a steady collapse of the bolivar currency, which President Nicolas Maduro has attributed to an "economic war," but critics blame on incompetence and failed socialist policies. Maduro's foes say he is cracking down on the business sector to try to shore up support and halt price increases ahead of a controversial May 20 presidential election, which key opposition parties have boycotted as a sham. Chief Prosecutor Tarek Saab announced the arrests in a televised press conference, but…

Venezuela said on Thursday it would take over the country's leading private bank, Banesco, for 90 days and announced the arrest of 11 top executives for "attacks" against the country's rapidly depreciating bolivar currency. The detentions came on the heels of last month's shock arrests of two Venezuelan executives working in the country for U.S. oil company Chevron Corp. Oil-rich Venezuela is suffering from hyperinflation and a steady collapse of the bolivar currency, which President Nicolas Maduro has attributed to an "economic war," but critics blame on incompetence and failed socialist policies. Maduro's foes say he is cracking down on the business sector to try to shore up support and halt price increases ahead of a controversial May 20 presidential election, which key opposition parties have boycotted as a sham. Chief Prosecutor Tarek Saab announced the arrests in a televised press conference, but…

A federal grand jury in Detroit has indicted former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn with conspiracy and wire fraud in the car builder's scheme to rig diesel emissions tests. "If you try to deceive the United States, then you will pay a heavy price," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday. "The indictment unsealed today alleges that Volkswagen's scheme to cheat its legal requirements went all the way to the top of the company." Winterkorn is alleged to have conspired with other top Volkswagen bosses to defraud the U.S. government and consumers with false claims that the company was complying with the Clean Air Act. Volkswagen already admitted it installed devices on diesel models designed to turn on pollution control devices during emissions tests and turn them off when the car is…

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in March as exports increased to a record high amid a surge in deliveries of commercial aircraft and soybeans, bolstering the economy's outlook heading into the second quarter. While other data on Thursday showed a modest increase in new applications for jobless benefits last week, the number of Americans receiving unemployment aid fell to its lowest level since 1973, pointing to tightening labor market conditions. Wage growth is also rising, with hourly compensation accelerating in the first quarter, more evidence that inflation pressures are building. "The good news is that we are exporting more, but with the labor markets incredibly tight, labor costs are accelerating as well," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. "The rise in labor costs…