ANOTHER week, a further ratcheting up of trade tensions between America and China. On September 17th President Donald Trump announced that he had approved another wave of tariffs on Chinese imports. From September 24th, imports of products which in 2017 were worth as much as $189bn, including furniture, computers and car parts, will be hit…
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP is fighting trade battles on multiple fronts. But on September 30th he called a truce in one of them. Having threatened to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a trade deal between America, Canada and Mexico, he has agreed instead to replace it. With the Canadians now on board,…
WHEN historians gaze back at the early 21st century, they will identify two seismic shocks. The first was the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, the second the global financial crisis, which boiled over ten years ago this month with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. September 11th led to wars, Lehman’s bankruptcy to an economic…
Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached an agreement on fraud charges that were filed on Thursday. Musk gets to keep his job as CEO but must resign within 45 days as chairman for three years, according to a statement released by Saturday by the regulator. He’ll also have to pay a $20…
DEBT stalks Africa once again. Over the past six years sub-Saharan governments have issued $81bn in dollar bonds to investors hungry for yield. Piled on top of this are murkier syndicated loans and bilateral debts, many to China and tied to big construction projects. Public debt has climbed above 50% of GDP in half the…
President Donald Trump ordered the US Trade Representative to impose a tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, catapulting the US-China trade war to the next level. "For months, we have urged China to change these unfair practices, and give fair and reciprocal treatment to American companies," Trump said in a statement. "We have…
Elon Musk on Friday sent an email to all of Tesla, urging his employees to keep working diligently in the face of mounting pressure from federal regulators and a crashing stock price. From the email: From: Elon Musk Sent: Friday, September 28, 2018 1:14:53 PM To: Everybody Subject: You're doing an incredible job Ignore all…
“NATION LONGS for one more day with dying manufacturing sector.” This headline, published in 2014 by the satirical website the Onion, anticipated both President Donald Trump’s fears and the retorts he gets from his critics. Mr Trump campaigned on a promise to bring back jobs in manufacturing after decades of decline. To those who see…
Tesla's Elon Musk has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in an agreement that will require Musk to resign as chairman of the company for at least three years and pay a $20 million fine, the SEC announced Saturday. Musk, who as part of the agreement will neither admit nor deny…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his trade war with China on Monday, imposing 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, but sparing smart watches from Apple (AAPL.O) and Fitbit (FIT.N) and other consumer products such as bicycle helmets and baby car seats. Trump, in a statement announcing the…
