By Bloomberg News (Bloomberg) -- Should U.S. President Donald Trump unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea, it will bring conflict to the core of the global commodity trade. North Korea is an ant in the world of raw materials, as years of sanctions have more or less isolated it from international markets. But it’s an ant surrounded by elephants. China takes more than half … [Read more...]
Globalization Thrives in Asia as Export Revival Buoys Growth
By Enda Curran and Michael Heath (Bloomberg) -- For all the talk of globalization’s retreat amid the mercantilist rhetoric of Donald Trump, it’s proving to be a very different story in Asia. Exports are resurgent, governments are pursuing free-trade deals, and rather than bringing jobs back home, American automakers are planning new facilities in China. That early-2017 angst … [Read more...]
Global Trade Recovery Lifts Diesel Demand
By John Kemp LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - World trade is growing again which will give a big boost to middle distillates such as diesel used in the high-power engines that move almost all freight. World trade volumes grew by 5 percent in the three months to May compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis … [Read more...]
U.S., China Talks Get Rocky Start as Secretary Ross Assails Trade Gap
By Saleha Mohsin, Andrew Mayeda and Ye Xie (Bloomberg) -- Talks between the world’s two biggest economies got off to a tense start as U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross upbraided China over the trade imbalance and both governments canceled their closing press conferences. At opening remarks between the two sides, Ross complained about the trade gap with China in unusually … [Read more...]
Commerce Secretary Ross Urges China to Give U.S. Companies Equal Footing on Trade
By Saleha Mohsin and Ye Xie (Bloomberg) -- China’s maturing economy needs to further open markets to American investors and exporters so they can compete on equal footing, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. “There remains serious imbalances which we must work to rectify,” Ross said at an event in Washington on Tuesday organized by the U.S.-China Business Council. “It … [Read more...]
Global Expansion Is In Sync, Even If Chaos Reigns Elsewhere
By Theophilos Argitis and Blaise Robinson (Bloomberg) -- With the first-quarter earnings season coming to a close, the verdict is in on the synchronized global expansion: It’s alive and well. A picture of strong earnings growth and positive surprises has emerged across both industries and geography, adding to evidence the world’s major economies are increasingly running in … [Read more...]
Global Trade Growth Is About to Slow, Morgan Stanley Says
By Luke Kawa (Bloomberg) -- Signs are pointing to a looming slowdown in global trade growth, according to Morgan Stanley. Each component of the bank’s proprietary global trade leading indicator -- save for the U.S. dollar -- declined in April to mark back-to-back drops for the index, which is used to forecast real activity with a one-month lead. "Business sentiment, crude … [Read more...]