Latest news with #Natixis
Bangkok Post
9 hours ago
- Business
- Bangkok Post
China braces for US trade deals that aim to shut it out
The trade truce between Washington and Beijing may be holding for now, but China is increasingly wary about what's happening elsewhere: US efforts to forge deals that could isolate Chinese firms from global supply chains. Ahead of a July 9 deadline, US officials are deep in talks with major trading partners in Asia and Europe, pushing for new agreements that would include restrictions on Chinese content, or secure commitments to counter what Washington sees as China's unfair trade practices. India, one of the countries closest to a deal, has been negotiating over rules of origin. Washington wants at least 60% of a product's value added locally to qualify as 'Made in India' and benefit from the deal, Bloomberg previously reported. India has pushed to bring that down to around 35%, according to the report. Vietnam and others are under similar pressure to adopt tiered tariff systems, with higher levies for goods that include a large share of Chinese components, according to people briefed on the discussions. Exports from Vietnam to the US that contain the highest proportion of foreign components would be charged at the top end of a range, around 20% or above, Bloomberg News reported. The approach mirrors provisions in an existing US trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. 'Asia's dilemma when it comes to Trump's trade war is all about dependence on US final demand while relying heavily on China's value-added in domestic production,' said Alicia Garcia Herrero, Asia-Pacific chief economist at Natixis, adding that Vietnam, Cambodia and Taiwan were among the most exposed. China, a larger trade partner than the US for most Asian economies, has warned of consequences if its interests are threatened, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is likely to raise that again on his visit to Europe this week for talks in Brussels, Germany and France. 'China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of Chinese interests in exchange for so-called tariff reductions,' the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Saturday, repeating earlier warnings. 'If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely counter it to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.' President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on what he called 'reciprocal' tariffs on dozens of America's trading partners ends on July 9. Unless those countries reach trade deals with the US, they could potentially face much higher tariffs. Some governments are making moves to stay on the right side of Washington. Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea have all put in place measures to stop goods from being rerouted through their countries to the US since Trump's tariffs were announced in April. South Korean customs announced a crackdown on transshipments, citing a rise in the practice. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te also flagged the issue and followed up with new rules requiring all US-bound exports to carry a legal declaration they were made on the island. Export controls Another concern for Beijing is whether the US could convince others to impose or tighten export controls on high-tech equipment, which would further hamper Chinese efforts to buy the tools it needs to produce advanced semiconductors. Taiwan in June added Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp to its so-called entity list, barring Taiwanese firms from doing business with them without government approval. The pressure isn't limited to Asia. Europe, too, finds itself in a delicate position. The EU is China's largest export destination for electric vehicles, and investment from Chinese firms into the bloc plus the UK hit 10 billion euros ($12 billion) last year, according to recent research from Rhodium Group. Yet trade tensions are rising. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently accused Beijing of 'weaponising' rare earths and magnets and warned of the risks posed by Chinese overcapacity. Beijing is particularly concerned that the EU might sign up to provisions similar to those in the UK's deal with the US, which included commitments around supply chain security, export controls and ownership rules in sectors like steel, aluminium and pharmaceuticals. While the language did not name China, Beijing criticised the agreement in a rare public statement, interpreting it as a direct challenge, the Financial Times reported. 'China is clearly worried that the EU will accept the same wording as the UK did on export controls,' said Joerg Wuttke, a partner at the Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington and former president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. 'They are pushing the EU not to do this, and the US is pushing the EU to do it.' Washington has leverage Brussels and Washington are aiming to reach some form of an agreement before July 9, when Washington is set to impose a 50% tariff on nearly all EU products. With European exports to the US worth more than double the amount to China, the bloc sees Washington as the more important partner, giving the US leverage in the talks. China's weekend statement is 'obviously aimed entirely at Brussels', said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels, who was recently in Beijing for meetings ahead of an EU-China summit this month. 'China is concerned about what the EU might agree with the US.' The long-term risk for Beijing is that these efforts coalesce into a broader shift — not just a US-led campaign to curb Chinese exports, but a reshaping of global trade around 'trusted' supply chains, with China increasingly on the outside. In a visit to Southeast Asia earlier this year, President Xi Jinping urged the region to stand together as an 'Asian family', warning against trade fragmentation. Beijing has often responded to actions it opposes with targeted trade measures. When the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles last year, China launched anti-dumping probes into European brandy, dairy and pork. It halted Japanese seafood imports in 2023 after Group of Seven meetings in Japan were seen as critical of China. A spat with Australia in 2020 led to trade restrictions on billions of dollars' worth of goods, including lobsters, wine and barley. 'If some agreements explicitly list China as a target and show that some countries are cooperating or collaborating with the US to 'contain China', then China will definitely respond,' said Tu Xinquan, dean of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Natixis APAC CEO on Japan Branch Expansion
Bruno Le Saint, APAC CEO at Natixis CIB, discusses the firm's new banking branch establishment in Japan and says he aims to "double the number of employees for this business in the next 5-7 years". He speaks with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud Watts on "Bloomberg: The Asia Trade". (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Seeing growth potential, Natixis plans to double banking staff in Japan
Natixis has hired senior managers from JPMorgan Chase and Societe Generale for its new banking business in Japan, and plans to double Tokyo staff in coming years as it expands the operation. Makoto Kawamura, formerly head of JPMorgan Chase Bank's Japan treasury and chief investment office in Tokyo, joined Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking as Japan treasury head in June, according to a spokesperson. The firm also recruited Hideaki Sugahara, who was a director at Societe Generale, as corporate coverage head. "There's a big potential for us to expand in Japan,' Bruno Le Saint, CEO of corporate and investment banking for Asia Pacific, said in an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday. "We aim to double' the number of employees for the firm's banking business in Japan from the current 68 over "the next five to seven years,' he said. The move comes as Paris-based Natixis starts a new banking branch in Tokyo on Tuesday, in the latest sign of a global financial firm vying for business opportunities in Japan as companies improve governance. The lender is targeting corporate clients as well as global private equity and infrastructure funds with its banking products and industry expertise, it said by email. "One of the reasons why we are very excited is some of our global clients — private equity firms, infrastructure firms — are looking to come into Japan and they want to rely on people they know well' to secure transactions, Le Saint said. "This is exactly what we want to do.' Kawamura has three decades of experience in financial markets, covering areas ranging from foreign exchange and derivatives to corporate finance, the spokesperson said. Sugahara has spent more than two decades managing corporate relationships, including through his stint of more than 10 years at Societe Generale. Natixis's Tokyo Branch is restarting under a banking license obtained in May, after three years of operating under a money-lender permit, in a change that will help it broaden its range of financial services, according to a release. Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking announced five hires in Japan in February last year, part of its Asia-Pacific expansion. The French bank's separate securities subsidiary in Japan had 90 employees as of the end of December, according to filings.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Natixis APAC CEO on Japan Branch Expansion
Bruno Le Saint, APAC CEO at Natixis CIB, discusses the firm's new banking branch establishment in Japan and says he aims to "double the number of employees for this business in the next 5-7 years". He speaks with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud Watts on "Bloomberg: The Asia Trade".
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Natixis Hires JPMorgan Veteran Kawamura for Japan Banking Push
Natixis SA hired senior managers from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Societe Generale SA as part of the French lender's efforts to accelerate its expansion in Japan. Makoto Kawamura, formerly head of JPMorgan Chase Bank's Japan treasury and chief investment office in Tokyo, joined Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking as Japan treasury head in June, according to a spokesperson. The firm also recruited Hideaki Sugahara, who was a director at Societe Generale, as corporate coverage head.
