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South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
US Treasury chief says key trade deals may come by September
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that Washington could reach key tariff deals with over a dozen partners in the coming months and have its trade agenda wrapped up by early September. His comments to Fox Business come ahead of a July 9 deadline for steeper US duties to kick in on dozens of economies. Countries have been rushing to negotiate and reach trade pacts with Washington to avoid this outcome, although the White House recently suggested that President Donald Trump's administration could extend this deadline. On Friday, Bessent noted that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has expressed expectations for 10 deals with trading partners. The Treasury chief reiterated that there are 18 key partners the United States is focusing on agreements with. 'If we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18, there are another important 20 relationships, then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labour Day,' Bessent said. That holiday falls on September 1.
CNA
11 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
US Treasury chief says key trade deals may come by September
WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday (Jun 27) that Washington could reach key tariff deals with over a dozen partners in the coming months and have its trade agenda wrapped up by early September. His comments to Fox Business come ahead of a Jul 9 deadline for steeper US duties to kick in on dozens of economies. Countries have been rushing to negotiate and reach trade pacts with Washington to avoid this outcome, although the White House recently suggested that President Donald Trump's administration could extend this deadline. On Friday, Bessent noted that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has expressed expectations for 10 deals with trading partners. The Treasury chief reiterated that there are 18 key partners the United States is focusing on agreements with. "If we can ink 10 or 12 of the important 18, there are another important 20 relationships, then I think we could have trade wrapped up by Labour Day," Bessent said. That holiday falls on Sep 1. A day prior, Lutnick told Bloomberg Television when asked about the July deadline: "We're going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters Thursday that the deadline "could be extended, but that's a decision for the president to make". She said the date itself is "not critical". In April, Trump imposed a sweeping 10 per cent tariff on most trading partners and unveiled higher rates on dozens of economies before pausing them while negotiations took place. This halt is due to expire Jul 9.
CNA
20 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Vietnam approves plans for international financial centre amid US trade pressure
HANOI: Vietnam's lawmakers approved a plan on Friday (Jun 27) to establish international financial centres in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang to attract investment and strengthen its global financial standing as economic uncertainties rise. The centres will operate under unified management, with Ho Chi Minh City focusing on capital, banking, and currency markets, and Danang on sustainable and green finance, leveraging its strategic location near East-West economic corridors, the government said in a statement. Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang called the policies "innovative and competitive", noting their alignment with international standards, the statement added. A key feature will allow members of the centres to secure international financing and use foreign currency for transactions. Vietnam's foreign investment inflows rose 7.9 per cent to US$8.9 billion in the first five months of the year, while pledges surged 51.1 per cent to US$18.4 billion, the government said. However, the United States has threatened to impose 46 per cent tariffs on Vietnamese exports unless concessions are made, which could slow the momentum. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said earlier this week that Vietnam expects to reach a trade deal with the United States within two weeks. The financial centres will adopt international accounting and financial standards, including capital adequacy and liquidity ratios for both domestic and foreign-owned banks, the government added. Vietnam remains a key manufacturing hub for global firms such as Samsung Electronics, Foxconn, Intel, Nike and Adidas.
Zawya
13-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Foxconn sends 97% of India iPhone exports to US as Apple tackles Trump's tariffs
NEW DELHI: Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn from India went to the United States between March and May, customs data showed, far above the 2024 average of 50% and a clear sign of Apple's efforts to bypass high U.S. tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the U.S. market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to countries including the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Britain. During March-May, Foxconn exported iPhones worth $3.2 billion from India, with an average 97% shipped to the United States, compared to a 2024 average of 50.3%, according to commercially available customs data seen by Reuters. India iPhone shipments by Foxconn to the United States in May 2025 were worth nearly $1 billion, the second-highest ever after the record $1.3 billion worth of devices shipped in March, the data showed. Apple and Foxconn did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said China will face 55% tariffs after the two countries agreed on a plan, subject to both leaders' approval, to ease levies that had reached triple digits. India is subject, like most U.S trading partners, to a baseline 10% tariff and is trying to negotiate an agreement to avert a 26% "reciprocal" levy that Trump announced and then paused in April. Apple's increased production in India drew a strong rebuke from Trump in May. "We are not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves, they are doing very well, we want you to build here," Trump recalled telling CEO Tim Cook. In the first five months of this year, Foxconn has already sent iPhones worth $4.4 billion to the U.S. from India, compared to $3.7 billion in the whole of 2024. Apple has been taking steps to speed up production from India to bypass tariffs, which would make phones shipped from China to the U.S. much more expensive. In March, it chartered planes to transport iPhone 13, 14, 16 and 16e models worth roughly $2 billion to the United States. Apple has also lobbied Indian airport authorities to cut the time needed to clear customs at Chennai airport in the southern state of Tamil Nadu from 30 hours to six hours, Reuters has reported. The airport is a key hub for iPhone exports. "We expect made-in-India iPhones to account for 25% to 30% of global iPhone shipments in 2025, as compared to 18% in 2024," said Prachir Singh, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. Tata Electronics, the other smaller Apple iPhone supplier in India, on average shipped nearly 86% of its iPhone production to the U.S. during March and April, customs data showed. Its May data was not available. The company, part of India's Tata Group, started exporting iPhones only in July 2024, and only 52% of its shipments went to U.S. during 2024, the data showed. Tata declined to comment on the numbers. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in recent years promoted India as a smartphone manufacturing hub, but high duties on importing mobile phone components compared to many other countries means it is still expensive to produce the devices in India. Apple has historically sold more than 60 million iPhones in the U.S. each year, with roughly 80% made in China. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
RNZ News
12-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Trump's China 'truce' is nothing of the sort
Analysis by David Goldman , CNN Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. Photo: AFP Analysis: At long last, the United States has reached a trade agreement with China. Again. After a testy war of words that escalated into a tit-for-tat restriction on key exports, American and Chinese officials this week met in the United Kingdom with a singular goal: Find a way to agree to what they had agreed to a month earlier in Geneva. It appears the countries' top trade negotiators have accomplished that. On Wednesday (NZT) , both Chinese and Trump officials said they had agreed to a framework to implement the consensus they reached in May, and the trade truce would be sent to their respective leaders for their approval. Businesses, consumers and Wall Street investors will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief: Burdensome tariffs have raised significant anxiety, and easing trade barriers between the world's two largest economies should lower costs and help inject some much-needed certainty into an economy that has been demonstrating some signs of strain. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said in a Truth Social post that a "deal" with China has been completed. "Our deal with China is done," Trump said in his all-caps social media post. Trump said both countries agreed to ease export restrictions, per the prior arrangement agreed upon in Geneva in May. The president also confirmed on Wednesday in his post that the deal included "full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China." But in reality, the trade truce - if that's really what was accomplished this time around - is mostly just a return to the already-tense state of affairs from before 2 April. Tariff rates from both countries remain historically high, and significant export restrictions remain in place. The United States has not opened its doors to China's autos, nor is it going to sell its high-end AI chips anytime soon. And, in Trump's parlance, China isn't treating America much more "fairly" after this agreement than it did before. Without a doubt, a trade agreement was much needed. After Trump's 2 April "Liberation Day" announcements, tensions ran so high that trade between the United States and China came to an effective halt. A 145 percent tariff on most Chinese imports made the math impossible for US businesses to buy virtually anything from China, America's second-largest trading partner. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, America's chief negotiator in both trade talks with China, said previous tariff levels were "unsustainable." On 12 May, delegates from China and the United States announced they would significantly roll back their historically high tariffs on one another. Economists pared back their recession forecasts, and moribund consumer confidence rebounded. But Trump and his administration in recent weeks grew increasingly hostile toward China, accusing the country of breaking the promises it made in mid-May. China similarly said the United States failed to live up to its obligations under the Geneva agreement. The Trump administration had expected China to lift restrictions on rare-earth materials that are critical components for a wide range of electronics, but China has only very slowly allowed them to return to the open market, causing intense displeasure inside the Trump administration and prompting a series of export restrictions on US goods to China, three administration officials told CNN last month. China has a virtual monopoly on rare earths, without which cars, jet engines, contrast dye used in MRI machines and some cancer drugs cannot be manufactured. Trump told reporters Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to allow exports of rare earth minerals products to begin, but industry analysts said the crucial materials had not been flowing to the United States as they once had. If both countries satisfy the terms of the agreement this time around, the de-escalation should prevent the direst warnings about the trade war, including potential pandemic-level shortages. Despite the good vibes, the United States and China remain in an economic standoff. The Trump administration - and the Biden administration before it - have maintained that Chinese companies are more than happy to sell inexpensive products to the US market but that China places significant restrictions on US businesses operating in the country and encourages Chinese companies to steal American intellectual property. China has long disputed those claims. Trump, in his first term, raised tariffs on China based on national security concerns. Biden maintained many of those tariffs and doubled down on some. But the second Trump administration has taken trade barriers to an unprecedented level. It has placed a 10 percent universal tariff on virtually all goods coming into the United States. It put in place an additional 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods in an effort to get China to take action to reduce the flow of fentanyl over the US border. Both of those extraordinary tariffs remain in place on most Chinese goods, with the exception of some products like electronics. In addition, the White House closed the so-called de minimis exemption that allowed packages with a value of under $800 (NZ$1381) to come into the United States tariff-free. Hefty new tariffs remain in place on small packages, undermining the business models of Chinese ecommerce giants Shein and Temu. The compounding tariffs create significant trade barriers with America's second-largest trading partner, raising prices for American businesses and consumers with no easy fixes or clear market alternatives. Some gigantic companies, such as Apple, have complex supply chains that can withstand some of the price pressures. But even Apple, which has said it would ship most US iPhones from India as Chinese tariffs rise, said it would face a $900 million quarterly cost increase because of tariffs - at their current levels, not at the sky-high 145 percent rate. Other businesses, such as Boeing, have been completely shut out of China's market. Even without any tariffs or other formal barriers by China on purchases of US aircraft, Boeing has made virtually no sales in China, the world's largest for aircraft purchases, since 2019. But Trump sounded a hopeful note about the path forward. "President XI and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade," Trump said in a post Wednesday morning. "This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!" A trade truce may be better than the alternative - if it lasts this time. But if the deal leads to reduced trade barriers, that could boost both economies. -CNN
