Trump tells Fox News he has group of wealthy people to buy TikTok
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US president Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday that he had found a buyer for the TikTok short-video app, which he described as a group of "very wealthy people" whose identities he will reveal in about two weeks. Trump made the remarks in an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" program. He said the deal he is developing would probably need China's approval to move forward and he predicted Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely approve it.The U.S. president earlier this month had extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress.A deal had been in the works this spring that would have spun off TikTok's U.S. operations into a new U.S.-based firm, majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods."We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way," Trump said. "I think I'll need probably China's approval. I think President Xi will probably do it."A 2024 U.S. law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app's U.S. assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale.Trump, who credits the app with boosting his support among young voters in last November's presidential election, has extended the deadline three times.
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Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- Indian Express
India's trade strategy with China will have to rely on a ‘managed rivalry'
Written by Soumya Bhowmick India's trade relationship with China sits at the intersection of economic necessity and national security anxiety. While bilateral commerce continues to thrive in volume, it remains fundamentally distorted by strategic asymmetries. India's widening trade deficit, its reliance on Chinese technology inputs, and Beijing's growing support for Islamabad have sharpened the dilemma facing Indian policymakers: How to engage economically without compromising sovereignty and security. In response, New Delhi is reimagining its economic diplomacy through a 'China-plus-one' playbook — anchored in diversification, industrial policy, and regional recalibration. Bilateral trade remains substantial between the two countries, but it is significantly imbalanced. In FY2024–25, India's two-way merchandise trade with China reached approximately US$127.7 billion, making China India's second-largest trading partner after the US. However, this came at the cost of a record trade deficit of US$99.2 billion — the highest on record — highlighting deep structural dependencies in India's economy, particularly in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors. In light of these dynamics, Indian policymakers have adopted a cautious approach. Under a policy introduced in 2020, all foreign direct investment (FDI) from China and other countries sharing land borders with India must obtain prior government approval. In April 2025, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated that India 'does not intend to encourage' Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from China. By the end of 2024, Chinese firms accounted for only about 0.37 per cent of India's total FDI inflows. While easing these restrictions in non-sensitive sectors such as solar energy and batteries may be helpful, the prevailing geopolitical climate has stalled such proposals. Instead, India has intensified scrutiny of Chinese technology and infrastructure investments, banned dozens of Chinese apps, and maintained strict regulatory oversight over the telecom and electronics sectors. China's overt support for Pakistan has further deepened Indian scepticism. Beijing's financing and arming of a country India considers a direct security threat has amplified concerns about the strategic costs of deeper economic ties. In response, India has adopted diversification strategies, including strengthening economic partnerships with the United States, Japan, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as promoting domestic manufacturing under the 'Make in India' initiative. These measures aim to reduce dependency on any single partner while retaining space for selective engagement with China. This hedging strategy reflects a broader shift in India's foreign economic policy — from passive openness to strategic selectivity. India's answer to the widening trade gap with China is a two-pronged strategy: Build deeper commercial coalitions with trusted partners and turbo-charge domestic manufacturing so that tomorrow's supply chains run through, not around, India. The result is a deliberate 'China-plus-one' realignment that now threads through New Delhi's engagements with Washington, Tokyo, and ASEAN while anchoring at home under the Make in India and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) drives. This strategy is not just about trade — it is about securing India's place in a reconfigured global production map. Such shifts reflect the growing convergence of commercial logic with strategic alignment. Washington has become India's largest goods-trade partner for the fourth consecutive year, with bilateral merchandise commerce reaching US$131.8 billion in FY 2024-25 — up from barely US$88 billion in 2019 — and resulting in India having a healthy surplus of more than US$41 billion. The new backbone of that relationship is the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), which has already green-lighted joint semiconductor, AI, and space projects and prodded both governments to prune export-control frictions. Tokyo complements this pivot by underwriting supply-chain security and industrial upgrading. More than four-fifths of Japanese firms operating in India intend to expand over the next two years, according to JETRO's latest global survey, by far the highest figure among major host economies. At the policy level, the Supply-Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), in collaboration with Japan and Australia, has targeted investment in electronics, batteries, and rare-earth processing hubs in India, specifically designed to mitigate single-country dependency. Japan's role is pivotal, not just as an investor, but also as a norm-setter for resilient and transparent value chains. Southeast Asia forms the third pillar. India's two-way goods trade with ASEAN hovers around US$110 billion. Still, both sides have agreed to fast-track a review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement to reduce non-tariff barriers and open services markets. Simultaneously, niche collaborations — such as semiconductor ecosystem talks with Singapore and defence-manufacturing tie-ups with Indonesia — are knitting India into 'China-plus-one' production networks across the region. This eastward economic orientation reinforces India's Indo-Pacific vision and places regional connectivity at its core. External diversification is reinforced at home by the PLI programmes, which now span 14 sectors with approved investments of approximately US$18.7 billion. One headline success is electronics: India has become the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, producing 99 per cent of the handsets sold domestically. Smartphone exports alone surged 55 per cent in FY 2024-25 to US$ 24.1 billion, leap-frogging petroleum and diamonds to become India's single most oversized export item and signalling a decisive shift toward higher-value manufacturing. India's industrial push is not only about import substitution — it is about export-led competitiveness in sunrise sectors. India's evolving economic strategy increasingly hinges on deepening ties with alternative partners across the Indo-Pacific. This pivot is also visible in recalibrating subregional engagement through BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). As SAARC remains paralysed by India–Pakistan tensions, BIMSTEC has emerged as the primary forum for regional cooperation, offering a platform that bypasses Islamabad and aligns with India's Act East policy. At the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok in April 2025, member states adopted the Bangkok Vision 2030. They signed new agreements on maritime connectivity and security cooperation, signalling intent to re-anchor the Bay of Bengal as a geoeconomic hub. For India, BIMSTEC complements its external diversification efforts by linking its northeastern states to Southeast Asian economies, spurring regional infrastructure, trade, and logistical corridors that sidestep China. Finally, India's evolving engagement with China reflects a strategy of managed rivalry — balancing selective cooperation with strategic hedging. Rather than decoupling, India is recalibrating its economic and diplomatic posture by diversifying partnerships, securing resilient supply chains, and reducing dependence on China, especially as Beijing deepens ties with Pakistan. This marks a shift from reactive diplomacy to a tactically layered approach, where competition is contained without collapsing ties. 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First Post
33 minutes ago
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Canada has dropped its plan to tax US tech firms and resumed trade talks with America. The move has left many Canadians disillusioned, as the 'elbows up' slogan that once signalled standing firm against US pressure has now become merely symbolic. read more US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Canadian PM earlier in May said his government is talking to the US about joining the Golden Dome missile defence program. AFP 'Elbows up', a slogan that began as a protest against President Donald Trump's tariffs, has now become somewhat ironic after Canada resumed trade talks with the US. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that his government had dropped its plan to tax American technology companies. Many Canadians took to social media to share their disappointment, with some calling the move an 'elbows down' decision. Others mocked the government, posting comments such as: 'Good job, Liberals! You got duped! 'Elbows up' actually means tariffs up!' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'We are starting to get a sense of the character of the government and that it is a kind of chicken dance government. It is elbows up, elbows back down, elbows up, elbows back down.' — Garnett Genuis (@GarnettGenuis) June 30, 2025 'We are starting to get a sense of the character of the government, and that it's a kind of chicken-dance government. It's elbows up, elbows back down, elbows up, elbows back down,' said Canada's Shadow Minister of Employment, Garnett Genuis. Origins of 'elbows up' slogan 'Elbows up' became a slogan Canadians used to show resistance against US trade pressure. The phrase comes from hockey, where players keep their elbows up to protect themselves and hold their ground in tight situations. It grew popular after comedian Mike Myers used it in a sketch on Saturday Night Live, and Prime Minister Mark Carney echoed it in speeches to signal Canada's determination during disputes over US tariffs and political tensions. Started in hockey, meaning to protect yourself and push back Became a national slogan, appearing on signs, merchandise, and in political speeches, reflecting Canada's resolve to defend its economic and political interests Trade talks back on track as Carney backs down Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday that trade talks with the United States have resumed after Canada dropped its plan to tax American tech companies. US President Donald Trump had paused trade discussions on Friday because of Canada's proposed Digital Services Tax, which he called 'a direct and blatant attack on our country.' The Canadian government announced it would cancel the tax 'in anticipation' of a trade deal. The tax was due to take effect on Monday. Carney's office confirmed that he and Trump had agreed to restart negotiations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Today's announcement will help resume talks aiming for the 21 July 2025 deadline we set at this month's G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis,' Carney said in a statement.
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Business Standard
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