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Free Malaysia Today
05-07-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
BRICS nations to denounce Trump tariffs
Diplomats from key emerging countries are finalising a joint statement criticising global economic uncertainty. (AFP pic) RIO DE JANEIRO : BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro from Sunday are expected to decry Donald Trump's hardline trade policies but are struggling to bridge divides over crises roiling the Middle East. Emerging nations representing about half the world's population and 40% of global economic output are set to unite over what they see as unfair US import tariffs, according to sources familiar with summit negotiations. Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive tariffs. His latest salvo comes in the form of letters due to be sent starting Friday informing trading partners of new tariff rates expected next week on July 9. Diplomats from 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have been busy drafting a statement condemning the economic uncertainty. Any final summit declaration is not expected to mention the US or its president by name. But it is expected to be a clear political shot directed at Washington. 'We're anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the US by name in the final declaration,' Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio's Pontifical Catholic University said. This is particularly the case for China, which has only recently negotiated with the US to lower steep tit-for-tat levies. 'This doesn't seem to be the right time to provoke further friction' between the world's two leading economies, Fernandez said. Xi no show Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to Western power. But the summit's political punch will be depleted by the absence of China's Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president. 'I expect there will be speculation about the reasons for Xi's absence,' said Ryan Hass, a former China director at the US National Security Council who is now with the Brookings Institution think tank. 'The simplest explanation may hold the most explanatory power. Xi recently hosted Lula in Beijing,' said Hass. The Chinese leader will not be the only notable absentee. War crime-indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin is also opting to stay aaway but will participate via video link, according to the Kremlin. Hass said Putin's non-attendance and the fact that India's prime minister will be a guest of hhonourin Brazil could also be factors in Xi's absence. 'Xi does not want to appear upstaged by Modi,' who will receive a state lunch, he said. 'I expect Xi's decision to delegate attendance to Premier Li (Qiang) rests amidst these factors.' Still, the Xi no-show is a blow to host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants Brazil to play a bigger role on the world stage. In the year to November 2025, Brazil will have hosted a G20 summit, a BRICS summit and COP30 international climate talks, all before heading into fiercely contested presidential elections next year, in which he is expected to run. Middle path Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose nation is still reeling from a 12-day conflict with Israel, is also skipping the meeting. A source familiar with the negotiations said the BRICS countries were still in disagreement over how to respond to the wars in Gaza and between Iran and Israel. Iranian negotiators are pushing for a tougher collective stance that goes beyond referencing the need for the creation of a Palestinian state and for disputes to be resolved peacefully. Artificial intelligence and health will also be on the agenda at the summit. Original members of the bloc Brazil, Russia, India, and China have been joined by South Africa and, more recently, by Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia. Analysts say that it has given the grouping more potential international punch. But it has also opened many new fault lines. Brazil hopes that countries can take a common stand at the summit, including on the most sensitive issues. 'BRICS (countries), throughout their history, have managed to speak with one voice on major international issues, and there's no reason why that shouldn't be the case this time on the subject of the Middle East,' Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told AFP.
BreakingNews.ie
24-06-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Majority of tourism businesses 'seriously concerned' about impact of Trump policies
Tourism businesses in Ireland have expressed serious concern about the impact of Donald Trump's trade policies on the sector as more than half have experienced a drop of revenue during the first four months of 2025, according to a new report by Fáilte Ireland. It revealed that the US president and the global economy was the main concern of businesses in the tourism industry and cited by 60 per cent of all respondents ahead of other concerns including rising costs, the VAT rate and staffing issues. The survey commissioned by the national tourism development authority found that 51 per cent of businesses have recorded a fall in income so far in 2025 with 23 per cent saying revenue is largely unchanged. Advertisement Only 26 per cent of businesses have reported an increase in income, according to the findings of the latest 'tourism barometer' report by Fáilte Ireland. The report, which surveyed the views of 834 tourism businesses including 282 accommodation providers at the end of April, said President Trump's economic policies have 'raised the industry's challenges to a new level.' It found revenue was down across every sector and region generally including 74 per cent of B&Bs, 62 per cent of self-catering accommodation providers, 58 per cent of restaurants, bars and other food and drink businesses and 56 per cent of tour guides. The report found respondents attributed the dip in performance to a lack of disposable income among consumers combined with a lack of affordable tourist accommodation. Advertisement However, they claimed the situation has been compounded by the global economic uncertainty which has arisen from the economic policies of Trump. Businesses across various sectors in the tourism industry said this has led to some cancellations of trips by US tourists and a lack of forward booking from them due to concerns about their income as well as how they are perceived abroad. Fáilte Ireland warned that the tourism industry's reliance on the North American market 'may be an exposure' and that tourism businesses in Ireland are now feeling the effects of levels of business from US tourists slipping back. It claimed many respondents felt the full impact of such a trend would only be felt in 2026. Advertisement However, Fáilte Ireland said the findings of the latest survey need to be placed in the context that 2024 was a strong year for Irish tourism including a 15 per cent increase in spending by domestic tourists and a 9 per cent increase in spending by overseas visitors. It claimed such strong results may have raised expectations for this year, although the results of the first quarter of 2025 have been 'relatively weak' due to a number of factors including bad weather and a reduction in air access during the winter season due to the cap on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport. Fáilte Ireland accepted that there has been a flat start to the current year across a range of performance indicators including air access capacity, hotel occupancy, flight searches for Ireland all relatively unchanged on 2024 levels. At the same time, it stressed that overall demand from all sectors was not as weak as some information sources suggest. Advertisement Some tourism representative groups have questioned figures published by the Central Statistics Office which stated the number of overseas visitors was down 18 per cent in the first four months of 2025, claiming they did not reflect business levels experienced within the industry. Fáilte Ireland acknowledged that business sentiment was more negative for some tourism service providers than performance indicators would suggest. However, it claimed such a trend could be due to elevated expectations from last year's strong outturn and a run of 'bad news' including ongoing cost pressures, the cap on passengers at Dublin Airport, a flurry of last-minute cancellations due to storms in January as well as international trade tensions and downgraded economic forecasts. Fáilte Ireland said there were still plenty of positives for Irish tourism including a 7 per cent increase in air access during the summer season which it claimed was often the best predictor of inbound tourism demand. Advertisement Ireland Over 300,000 people attend events in Dublin city l... Read More Despite the slow start to the year, the report shows that 26 per cent of businesses said income will be ahead of last year with another 30 per cent predicting it will be on a par with revenue levels in 2024. It found that some tourism service providers have managed to grow their revenue so far in 2025 including 38 per cent of hotels and 36 per cent of activity providers. However, many businesses, particularly hotels, attractions and activity providers, feel reliant on domestic holidaymakers claiming they offer the best hope this year and claim a summer of fine weather would really help. The report said challenging market conditions were being experienced across the whole country including in Dublin which often performs better than the other regions.
Zawya
17-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Fed policymakers gather amid rising geopolitical risks, unclear tariff impact
Federal Reserve policymakers will begin a two-day meeting on Tuesday with escalating tensions in the Middle East risking a new commodity price shock and fresh U.S. data expected to show a drop in retail sales and sluggish factory output in May. The U.S. central bank is widely anticipated to leave its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range, where it has been since December, and repeat that it can't give much guidance until it is clearer whether President Donald Trump's import tariffs and fiscal policies push inflation higher, undercut growth, or - as his administration contends will happen - keep growth on track while prices ease. Trump has demanded immediate rate cuts. Several days of intense missile exchanges between Israel and Iran, however, presented the Fed with even more reason for caution after oil prices jumped and presented a possible new source of inflation, though crude oil indices were declining along with U.S. bond yields on Monday after reports that the Iranian government was seeking talks with the U.S. and Israel to end the conflict. Major U.S. equity indices rose. Still, the fighting highlighted the uncertainty Fed officials say has gripped their policy debate since Trump returned to power in January and unveiled a far more aggressive effort than expected to raise import taxes and rewrite global trade rules. Fed officials have largely expected that Trump's trade policies will have a stagflationary effect on the U.S. economy, simultaneously slowing growth and raising prices, with the monetary policy path - whether rate cuts or an extended hold of borrowing costs at the current level - dependent on which problem seems to be more serious. Retail sales and industrial production data due to be released on Tuesday morning could add weight to the evidence the economy is slowing. Economists polled by Reuters expect retail sales fell 0.7% in May after recent months where households appeared to rush some purchases to avoid coming import levies, while industrial output is forecast to rise just 0.1%. "Consumers likely took a break from spending in May following a strong increase in March and a lackluster April," said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO. He added that he expects industrial production fell slightly over the month due to "trade war uncertainty, rising input prices, and slowing U.S. and global demand." The Fed will issue a new policy statement as well as updated projections for the economy and the benchmark interest rate at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to hold a press conference half an hour later. FED FORECASTS The central bank's Summary of Economic Projections may draw more attention than the policy decision itself, as analysts and investors look for evidence of how Fed officials' views of the outlook have changed since their last set of projections in March, before the scope of Trump's tariff plans became clear but also before he delayed some of the stiffest levies in the face of largely negative market reaction. Fed officials in March marked down their expectations for economic growth this year and raised their level of expected inflation, but left unchanged the median outlook for two quarter-percentage-point rate cuts this year. Though that rate outlook matched the one in December, the spread of views in the Fed's "dot plot" chart narrowed, and some analysts anticipate a further hawkish shift in light of the central bank's emphasis on keeping inflation controlled and expectations that Trump's new tariffs still will lead to price increases. "Trade policy developments have likely led to a significant change in Fed forecasts," towards even slower growth and higher inflation this year than expected as of March, Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JP Morgan, wrote on Friday. "These stagflationary revisions don't point to a clear direction of the revision to the dots. Even so, we think the dots will revise in a modestly hawkish direction" with only a single rate cut this year. (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Paul Simao)
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Euro-Zone Private Sector Defies Tariffs to Grow Slightly in May
The euro area's private sector grew slightly in May, remaining more resilient than initially estimated to the uncertainty created by erratic US trade policies. The Composite Purchasing Managers' Index by S&P Global dropped to 50.2 from 50.4 in April, remaining just above the 50 threshold separating growth from contraction, data Wednesday showed. An initial reading came in at 49.5.
Reuters
30-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Rupee flips back to monthly decline, lags Asian peers
MUMBAI, May 30 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee declined by about 1% in May, reversing course after gaining in the previous two months, influenced by factors such as continued uncertainty over U.S. trade policies, gains in its Asian peers and a conflict between India and Pakistan. The rupee closed at 85.5775 on Friday, capping a day of choppy trading with a mild decline. The currency had rallied to a six-month earlier in May but shed its gains through the month. Initially, a military conflict between India and Pakistan hurt the currency but it rebounded once a ceasefire was reached. Over the rest of the month, dollar demand from corporates and foreign banks weighed on the rupee, traders said. Dollar-buying intervention by Reserve Bank of India also put a lid on the sharp appreciation above the 84.60-84.80 zone, according to one of the traders. Meanwhile, the dollar was set to end the month little changed against major peers as mild relief on the softening of U.S. trade policies, typified by the pact with China, gave way to a legal back-and-forth on the legal validity of reciprocal tariffs. Asian currencies were mostly stronger on the month, led by the Korean won while the offshore Chinese yuan, a closely tracked peer of the rupee, rose nearly 1%. Barclays expects the rupee to underperform its peers going forward as the RBI focuses on replenishing FX reserves and is "unlikely to want to see a renewed richening of the INR," analysts at the firm said in a note earlier this week. India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI), opens new tab stood at $685.7 billion as of May 16, about $19 billion below their all-time high hit in September 2024. Traders now await the release of India's economic growth data for the January-March quarter and U.S. PCE inflation data due later in the day. Economists polled by Reuters expect India's GDP to have grown 6.7% year-on-year, up from 6.2% in the previous three months.
