Category: Business

Financial leaders of the Group of 20 gathered Saturday to brainstorm ways to adapt global finance to an age of trade turmoil and digital disruptions. The central bank governors and other financial regulators meeting in this southern Japanese port city also flagged risks from upsets…

One down, still others to go. President Donald Trump claimed a victory after Washington and Mexico agreed on measures to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States. Trump called off plans to impose a 5% tax on Mexican exports, and Treasury…

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that he plans to speak privately with China’s central bank governor about trade on the sidelines of annual Group of 20 finance talks in southern Japan, but has no direct message to give him. Mnuchin and Yi Gang,…

FedEx Corp. Friday decided not to renew its contract with Amazon.com Inc. for U.S. cargo delivery through FedEx Express, the unit that delivers packages on planes, a move that reflects the broader trend of the e-commerce company moving services in-house. Amazon has been building out…

Cindy Saine at the State Department contributed to this report.    U.S. President Donald Trump said late Friday that the United States and Mexico had reached a deal on migration to avert tariffs. "I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America…

U.S. job growth slowed sharply in May and wages rose less than expected, suggesting the loss of momentum in economic activity was spreading to the labor market, which could increase calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year. The cool-off in hiring…

Italian-U.S. carmaker Fiat Chrysler on Thursday pulled the plug on its proposed merger with Renault, saying negotiations had become "unreasonable" because of  political resistance in Paris.     Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA, had stunned the markets last week with a proposed "merger of equals" with…

The U.S. economy could be weakened by escalating trade wars or a sudden downturn in global financial markets, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns. In an annual review of the U.S. economy, the IMF said it was on a 2.6 percent growth track this year,…

Liz Hung supports a lot of the imaginative concepts being discussed to make Vietnam "greener" economically and in terms of urban planning.   Consider traffic lights. Hung described how government authorities could collect smartphone data to see which streets are crowded, and then calibrate the…

U.S. productivity grew at a strong 3.4% rate in the January-March quarter, the best showing in more than four years, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was an encouraging sign that productivity may finally be improving after a long stretch of weakness.   The first…

This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. WASHINGTON —The World Bank says Iran is likely to experience an even worse recession this year than previously thought, as U.S. sanctions largely choke off oil exports that have been Tehran’s main revenue source. In its latest Global…

Vietnam is likely to make concessions to the United States so it can escape a U.S. watch list of possible currency manipulators and head off a hit to its fast-growing economy led by exchange rate-sensitive exports, analysts who follow the country say. The Southeast Asian…

The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday recommended urgent steps to boost domestic production of rare earths and other critical minerals, warning that a halt in Chinese or Russian exports could cause "significant shocks" in global supply chains. The report includes 61 specific recommendations — including…

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is auditing Uber Technologies's taxes for 2013 and 2014 and the ride-hailing company expects unrecognized tax benefits to be reduced within the next year by at least $141 million. In its full quarterly report on Tuesday, Uber said various state…

Michael Bowman contributed to this report. Mexico warned Monday that President Donald Trump's threatened new tariff on its exports to the United States would hurt both countries' economies and cause even more Central American migrants to travel through Mexico to reach the United States. At…

U.S. and Mexican officials warn that raising tariffs on Mexican goods to get Mexico to stem the influx of Central American migrants on the way to the U.S. border would hurt the economics of both countries. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to apply tariffs…

The United States is again calling on European allies to be careful of what it says are security risks posed by Chinese telecommunication company Huawei, as countries build out their 5G networks. "We've been clear: our ask is that our allies and our partners and our…

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reiterated on Sunday the need for oil independence as his government said it would tender six construction contracts in June for a planned oil refinery in the southern state of Tabasco. Tensions between Mexico and the United States have…

Joyce Huang contributed to this report. China says Washington bears the “sole and entire responsibility” for the breakdown in trade talks earlier this month and that Beijing won't back down on matters of principle. In a defiant rebuttal of who is to blame, China released…

The Trump administration had taken steps in recent weeks to work with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to address concerns about the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement — and then came the threat of a new tariff. President Donald Trump said this past week that he…

VOA News Center associate producer Jesusemen Oni contributed reporting from Washington.  Mexico's president suggested Saturday that his country could clamp down on migration, and he said he thought the United States was ready to discuss its threatened use of tariffs as a means to combat illegal migration from Central…

The Trump administration is committed to making fossil fuels cleaner rather than imposing ``draconian'' regulations on coal and oil, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday at an energy conference in Salt Lake City. Perry previously said the administration wants to spend $500 million next…

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it had not pressured Venezuela to release economic indicators after years of silence, while two sources said the country's surprise data release this week was due to pressure from China. The central bank on Tuesday unexpectedly released data…

U.S. stocks lost ground again on Thursday, as conflicting comments on trade talks from President Donald Trump and Beijing  reinforced investor nervousness that a lengthy battle could be in the offing and harm global growth. Trump said talks with China were going well but those…

A Chinese state TV anchor and a host from Fox Business, whose sparring over the U.S.-China trade war has been avidly followed on Chinese social media, brought their duel to the American cable network for what turned out to be a respectful encounter. The showdown…

In recent weeks, Australia and India have re-elected incumbent prime ministers. These Asia-Pacific countries, who have a difficult relationship with China, are unlikely to make the kind of policy changes that Beijing has been seeking for a long time, analysts said. Australia this month re-elected…

Water restrictions are to be imposed in Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, for the first time in almost a decade because of falling reservoir levels and a long-standing drought. Residents who breach the regulations could be fined US$150. The flow of rainwater into some of Sydney’s…

The Trump administration said on Tuesday that no major trading partner met its currency manipulation criteria but nine countries, including China, required close attention as Washington presses tariffs and negotiations to address trade deficits. The Treasury Department, in a semi-annual report to Congress, said it…