General Motors rated most at risk from China exposure, report says
PAK YIU
NEW YORK -- General Motors appears to be the American company with the highest degree of exposure to China, according to consulting firm Strategy Risks, amid increasingly fraught relations as China and the U.S. spar over trade.
The American automaker ranked first among 250 U.S. publicly traded companies, with a score of 69.8 out of 100 in the latest index published Monday by the New York-based firm, which helps businesses mitigate their risk to China.
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Nikkei Asia
12 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Samsung trial, Singapore data center IPO, Japan election
Welcome to Your Week in Asia. China's role in the global economy will be in the spotlight this week, with trade data for the first half of 2025 -- capturing the impact of much higher U.S. tariffs -- set to be published and the International Supply Chain Expo taking place in Beijing. In Japan, Tokyo's relations with Washington will be in focus at the weekend, when one of the U.S.'s main trade negotiators visits the country and voters head to the polls to cast their ballots in an election in which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's handling of negotiations has emerged as a significant issue. Get the best of our coverage of Asia and much more by following us on X, where our handle is @NikkeiAsia. We are also now on Bluesky, with the handle @ MONDAY Albanese's China visit Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continues a visit to China that began Saturday and runs through Friday. He is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss potential cooperation on artificial intelligence, an area his government has flagged as possibly presenting national security risks. Ties, which were strained under Australia's previous coalition government, have improved since Albanese was elected in 2022, but bilateral relations remain a balancing act given China's economic importance and Canberra's security alignment with Washington. China trade data China will release a string of key economic indicators this week, starting with June trade data on Monday and second-quarter gross domestic product on Tuesday. Trade data is widely expected to show a further decline in shipments to the U.S. after June's bilateral talks fixed a 55% levy on Chinese imports. Overall annual export growth may still see a slight uptick as more Chinese companies divert goods to ASEAN and other regions. Prabowo's France trip Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will visit Paris after receiving an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to attend Bastille Day celebrations as a guest of honor. The two nations have recently been enhancing cooperation in the defense sector, particularly in the development of strategic weaponry such as Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene submarines. NTT data center REIT initial public offering Singapore is set for its biggest initial public offering in years, with the listing of data center-focused real estate investment trust NTT DC REIT, valued at $773 million. The REIT is backed by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Japan's telecommunications and information technology giant NTT Group. This marks the first data center-focused REIT launched by a Japanese company. Data: Singapore second-quarter GDP, India inflation Earnings: Ola Electric Mobility TUESDAY China International Supply Chain Expo The third International Supply Chain Expo kicks off in Beijing, bringing together domestic and global companies across the industry. The five-day event covers such areas as advanced manufacturing, clean energy and smart vehicles. Media outlets have reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will be attending, though the company has declined to comment on his travel plans. Data: Philippines remittances, India trade WEDNESDAY Monetary policy: Indonesia Data: Malaysia first-half automobile sales THURSDAY Supreme Court verdict on Samsung Electronics chairman South Korea's Supreme Court will hand down its ruling on allegations of fraud against Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who has been charged with stock price manipulation and accounting fraud related to the merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015. The top court is expected to uphold a lower court's acquittal of Lee. Earnings: TSMC, Wipro Data: Japan trade SATURDAY U.S. treasury chief visits Osaka Expo U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will visit Japan to attend the World Expo in Osaka as the head of a presidential delegation. In the wake of the U.S. deciding to impose a 25% tariff on Japan, the question of whether Bessent, a key tariff negotiations figure, will hold a minister-level meeting is attracting a lot of attention. SUNDAY Japan's upper house election Japan heads to the polls for the upper house election, in which 125 seats will be up for grabs out of the chamber's total 248 seats. The ruling parties need to win no fewer than 50 seats to keep their majority in the upper house, which will be no easy feat, with the election becoming a referendum on consumption tax cuts as households continue to struggle with the cost of living.


Yomiuri Shimbun
14 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan, after 101 Tough Days, Learns a Hard Lesson about U.S. Alliance
It was only five months ago that President Donald Trump heralded the 'fantastic relationship' between the United States and Japan, as he sat alongside Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the first Asian leader to visit him in his second stint in the White House. This week, Ishiba was again first in line – but not in a good way. He became the first foreign leader to receive a scathing letter from the U.S. president, threatening steep new tariffs if Tokyo didn't meet Trump's new deadline for a trade deal. The letter stunned some officials in Japan, a security ally for seven decades and a key partner in U.S. efforts to counter an increasingly assertive China. But the deadlocked trade negotiations have frustrated the American president – who recently called Japan 'so spoiled.' Now, Tokyo is learning that being one of Washington's best friends doesn't carry much sway in Trump's second term, analysts say. 'They're coming to a very hard realization that Japan is not special enough to Trump,' said Mireya Solís, director of the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. 'At the end of the day, when Trump sees deficits, he's not thinking, 'This is my close security partner.' He sees deficits.' It seemed like Japan was on good footing when it became one of the first countries to begin negotiations, in April. Washington wanted to strike a swift deal with Tokyo to use as leverage against China, which runs its biggest trade deficit, analysts say. Trump even showed up to the first round of talks and gave Japan's trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa a signed red 'Make America Great Again' cap, which Akazawa wore in the Oval Office as he posed for a photo with two thumbs up. 'A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!' he wrote on Truth Social after speaking with Akazawa. But there was not much progress at all. Japan did not readily give in to the Trump administration's demands, not least because of the domestic political considerations that constrained Ishiba's administration from making concessions on key industries, such as autos, steel and rice. Ishiba faces a tough parliamentary election on July 20 that could cost the ruling party its majority in the upper house – and Ishiba his premiership. Japanese officials hoped Trump would carve out a tariff-rate quota, like he did for some allies during his first term. But the president quickly made it clear no one would be exempt this time around – not even Japan. 'Japan is being treated the same as other Asian nations, and that is not making policymakers here happy,' said Tokuko Shironitta, Japan country director at the Asia Group, a consultancy. As trade talks dragged on, Ishiba repeatedly stressed his nation's unique standing as the largest foreign investor in the United States since 2019, creating 1 million jobs. After all, touting those investments had worked with Trump before. This time, it hasn't resonated. 'It feels like we're still in a dense fog,' Akazawa told reporters on June 10. They've now completed seven rounds of talks. Hiroshi Oe, former chief trade negotiator who worked on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal with the Obama administration, said Trump is making 'even more hard-line' demands than expected. 'Unfortunately, they no longer seem to operate under the assumption that they should treat [Japan] with any special consideration.' Japanese officials may have underestimated Trump's deep-seated skepticism toward the country and relied too heavily on good will, experts say. Some Japanese newspapers and prominent thinkers are now calling on Japan to reconsider its tactics. 'I believe this was essentially a strategic mistake on the part of the Japanese government and the Ishiba administration,' said Kenji Minemura, senior research fellow on Japanese foreign policy at the Canon Institute for Global Studies, in Tokyo. 'We're now in a completely different phase from the first Trump administration. The U.S. wants different things now.' Some analysts suspect this shift may reflect how Trump has felt about Japan all along. He developed an antipathy toward Japan when, as a real estate developer in the 1980s, he witnessed Japan's rise to become the world's second-largest economy and an existential threat to the U.S.'s economic dominance. That was tempered in his first term, when former prime minister Shinzo Abe forged a personal friendship with Trump. Now, in the absence of Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, Tokyo no longer has that bridge. 'He's from the Japan-bashing generation,' Minemura said. 'That's why Trump's inherent suspicion of Japan has come back to the surface.' Trump's attacks on Japan don't seem to be letting up anytime soon. In Tokyo, there are concerns that the allies are locked in a trade fight when they should instead be banding together, given security threats in the region. 'When our relations are sour, or seem to be sour from other countries' [view], I think that would only encourage Russia, North Korea and China,' said Ichiro Fujisaki, former Japanese ambassador to the United States. Tokyo must find a way to negotiate with Trump, even if a perfect 'win-win' solution is not possible. The resolution, Fujisaki said, may be one where 'the U.S. win is a capital-letter 'Win,' and our win is a small-letter 'win.'' Such a resolution has proved elusive. Trump has been fixated on two matters with Japan: Autos and rice. These are also the two areas where Tokyo isn't willing to budge. 'Japan really doesn't have that many concessions to offer and the ones that it could offer, they're very reluctant to grant,' said Marcel Thieliant, Singapore-based head of Asia-Pacific research at Capital Economics. Trump has repeatedly complained about the lack of American-made cars entering Japan compared to the volume of Japanese cars moving in the other direction. In 2024, Japan exported 1.4 million cars to the United States and imported just 16,074, Japanese government figures show. Japanese auto experts say U.S. cars have long been unpopular in Japan, because they are too big for its narrow roads and parking spaces. The auto industry is the backbone of Japan's economy, and negotiators have been unwilling to bend on car tariffs. Japan may revisit auto safety standards that the U.S. says are making it harder for its imports to enter Japan. But it has so far unsuccessfully pushed the U.S. to roll back the 25 percent tariffs on cars and auto parts. Rice is also a complicated issue for Japan, partly because of an affection for farming, partly because of taste. The homegrown Japonica grain – known for its plump, round shape and natural sweetness – has been long cherished in Japan. It also becomes soft and sticky when cooked, and is considered an ideal grain for traditional Japanese foods such as sushi and rice balls. But for Trump, rice has come to symbolize Japan's unfair trade barriers, experts say. 'Rice is the easiest way for him [Trump] to show that Japan has a closed market. It's symbolic,' said Oe, the former Japanese negotiator, who previously handled U.S.-Japan agricultural talks. Trump has indeed been hammering this point home. 'Japan, our friend, charges us 700 percent [on rice], but that's because they don't want us selling rice and other [products],' Trump said during a tariff announcement on April 2. Japanese officials say that's not entirely accurate. Under a World Trade Organization agreement, Japan has established a 'minimum access' system for rice imports, allowing up to 770,000 tons of rice to enter tax-free. The United States is the biggest exporter of rice to Japan, and the vast majority of it enters tax-free, trade statistics show. Another factor helping open up Japan's rice market: A recent rice shortage that has sent prices soaring had forced Japan to accept more imported grain. Still, dramatically increasing imports could leave farmers vulnerable to competition and draw the ire of the powerful agriculture lobby, making it politically difficult for Ishiba to move from his stance that protecting Japanese rice is a matter of 'national interest,' experts say. But some say it may be time to reconsider that position, given the rice crisis and the stalled trade talks. Because foreign rice is cheaper, increasing imports can help more lower-income families as they cope with higher prices – and with proper messaging, voters may understand, analysts say. 'I believe it actually serves the national interest' to accept more U.S. rice, Oe said. 'It doesn't undermine Japan's position – in fact, it can create a win-win outcome for both Japan and its partners.'


Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Trump intensifies trade war with threat of 30% tariffs on EU, Mexico
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the U.S. flag flying on a new flagpole after stepping off Marine One returning from New Jersey at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno By Jarrett Renshaw and Bhargav Acharya U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. In an escalation of the trade war that has angered U.S. allies and rattled investors, Trump announced the latest tariffs in separate letters to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum that were posted on his Truth Social media site on Saturday. The EU and Mexico responded by calling the tariffs unfair and disruptive while pledging to continue to negotiate with the U.S. for a broader trade deal before the deadline. The EU and Mexico are among the largest U.S. trading partners. Trump sent similar letters to 23 other trading partners this week, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, setting blanket tariff rates ranging from 20% up to 50%, as well as a 50% tariff on copper. Trump said the 30% rate was "separate from all sectoral tariffs," which means 50% levies on steel and aluminum imports and a 25% tariff on auto imports would remain. The August 1 deadline gives the targeted countries time to negotiate agreements that could lower the threatened tariffs. The spate of letters shows Trump has returned to the aggressive trade posture that he took in early April when he announced a slew of reciprocal tariffs against trading partners that sent markets tumbling before the White House delayed implementation. 'UNFAIR TREATMENT' But with the stock market recently hitting record highs and the U.S. economy remaining resilient, Trump is showing no signs of slowing down his trade war. The U.S. president promised to use the 90-day delay in April to strike dozens of new trade deals, but has only secured framework agreements with Britain, China and Vietnam. The EU has hoped to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with the U.S. for the 27-country bloc. Trump's letter to the EU included a demand that Europe drop its own tariffs, an apparent condition of any future deal. "The European Union will allow complete, open Market Access to the United States, with no Tariff being charged to us, in an attempt to reduce the large Trade Deficit," he wrote. Von der Leyen said the 30% tariffs "would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic." She also said while the EU will continue to work towards a trade agreement, it "will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required." Mexico's economy ministry said Saturday it was informed the U.S. would send a letter during a meeting on Friday with U.S. officials. "We mentioned at the roundtable that it was unfair treatment and that we did not agree," the ministry's statement said. RATE FOR MEXICO LOWER THAN CANADA Mexico's proposed tariff level is lower than Canada's 35%, with both letters citing fentanyl flows even though government data shows the amount of the drug seized at the Mexican border was significantly higher than the Canadian border. "Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough. Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground," Trump wrote. China is the main source of the chemicals used to make fentanyl. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, only 0.2% of all fentanyl seized in the U.S. comes from across the Canadian border, while the vast majority originates from the southern border. Mexico sends more than 80% of its total exported goods to the U.S. and free trade with its northern neighbor drove Mexico to overtake China as the top U.S. trading partner in 2023. The EU had initially hoped to strike a comprehensive trade agreement but more recently had scaled back its ambitions and shifted toward securing a broader framework deal similar to the one Britain brokered that leaves key details to be negotiated. The bloc is under conflicting pressures as powerhouse Germany urged a quick deal to safeguard its industry, while other EU members, such as France, have said EU negotiators should not cave into a one-sided deal on U.S. terms. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, said Trump's letter raised the risk of retaliatory moves by the EU similar to the flare-up between the U.S. and China that rattled financial markets. "U.S. and Chinese tariffs went up together and they came back down again. Not all the way down, but still down together," he said. Trump's cascade of tariff orders since returning to the White House has begun generating tens of billions of dollars a month in new revenue for the U.S. government. U.S. customs duties revenue topped $100 billion in the federal fiscal year through to June, according to U.S. Treasury data on Friday. The tariffs have also strained diplomatic relationships with some of the closest U.S. partners. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said last week that Japan needed to lessen its dependence on the U.S. The fight over tariffs has also prompted Canada and some European allies to reexamine their security dependence on the U.S., with some looking to purchase non-U.S. weapons systems. © Thomson Reuters 2025.