U.S.-China Trade War Worsens, but Investors Bet on a Deal - The New York Times

Trade war? No problem.

Global markets largely rose on Friday just hours after President Trump escalated his trade war with China. The stock market in China, which sometimes gets a lift from state-run companies looking to buoy the market, led the global rise.

Futures that allow investors to bet on the performance of stocks in the United States indicated many believed Wall Street would open higher on Friday morning.

Early Friday, Mr. Trump raised tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on Chinese imports that are worth about $200 billion a year. He said the increase came in response to Chinese officials attempting to “renegotiate” a pact aimed at calling a trade war truce. China said it would respond with unspecified countermeasures.

Still, many investors believe the two sides can reach a deal, especially since the Trump administration effectively delayed the full brunt of the tariff increase. The Trump administration specified that it will collect the tariffs only on goods that leave China starting on Friday. That means they would not hit Chinese goods already on ships destined for the United States, though they would more immediately impact goods that are flown in.

“Our base case remains that the U.S. and China will eventually reach some kind of accord,” Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer for the Swiss bank UBS, said in a research note. “Both the U.S. and China have strong incentives to reach a deal and we do not expect a complete breakdown in negotiations.”

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.1 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 3.8 percent.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.8 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3 percent after disappointing wage data there.

South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.3 percent.

European markets opened modestly higher. In Germany, the DAX index was up 1 percent.

The CAC 40 index in Paris opened 0.9 percent higher.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/business/global-markets.html

2019-05-10 08:32:03Z
52780289498324

Trump just raised tariffs on Chinese goods. China says it will hit back - CNN

The Trump administration raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10% to 25% at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

Beijing responded just minutes after the tariffs went into effect.

"China expresses deep regret over the development and will have to take necessary countermeasures," the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Friday afternoon. "We hope the United States will meet us halfway, and work with us to resolve existing issues through cooperation and consultation."

Reactions in Asia markets were mixed.

Having started the day in positive territory, Japan's Nikkei Index fell nearly 1% in afternoon trading. The Shanghai Composite Index rose more than 2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up around 1%.

A Chinese delegation led by Beijing's top trade negotiator Vice Premier Liu He arrived in Washington on Thursday for the latest round of trade talks.

Under the current circumstances, Liu said he "hopes to engage in rational and candid exchanges with the US side," Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported.

Liu added that China believes raising tariffs is not a solution to the problems and is harmful to China, to the United States and to the whole world.

Trump's surprise move to increase tariffs startled US businesses. Importers received just five days' notice about the sudden rise in penalties.

"The tariff increase inflicts significant harm on US industry, farmers and consumers," said Jacob Parker, vice president of the US-China Business Council, a trade group that represents American companies' interests in China.

"It will decrease the competitiveness of American companies, reduce the efficiency of their global supply chains, and reverberate through the US economy. Pure and simple, this is a tax on the American consumer," he added.

The American Apparel and Footwear Association estimated that a 25% tariff on apparel imports would increase costs for a family of four by $500 a year.

The higher tariffs will be applied to relevant US-bound goods exported from China on or after Friday, according to a notice from the US Federal Register.

Talks between the two sides will resume in Washington on Friday, hours after the tariffs took effect.

Steven Jiang contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/business/china-us-tariffs-trade/index.html

2019-05-10 08:11:00Z
52780289498324

Tense U.S.-China Trade Talks Underway With Threat Of Tariffs Looming - NPR

Enlarge this image

A shopper browses digital products at a market in Beijing. Trade tensions between China and the United States have grown significantly this week, after the Trump administration accused Beijing of backing down from commitments it had made in trade negotiations. Andy Wong/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Andy Wong/AP

The Trump administration is poised to raise tariffs on $200 billion in imported products from China at 12:01 a.m. Friday, significantly raising the stakes in the ongoing trade dispute with Beijing.

The clock is ticking as Beijing officials are in Washington, attempting to reach an agreement that would address U.S. concerns about Chinese business practices, including intellectual property theft and state-subsidized companies.

Until last weekend, the two countries appeared to be heading toward an accord. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer indicated that a deal was in sight.

But U.S. officials said this week that China had backtracked on commitments it had made earlier. It didn't specify what the commitments were.

As a result, the Trump administration said it would increase existing tariffs on $200 billion worth of consumer and business products to 25% from 10%.

It wasn't the first time that Trump said tariffs would rise. The president threatened to increase tariffs in January and March, but the administration held off both times to give negotiators more time to make a deal.

Financial markets have fallen this week in response to the escalation of the trade dispute and the prospect of higher tariffs. The S&P 500 is on track for its biggest decline of the year. The Dow fell 138.97 points Thursday.

The tariffs are imposed when the products are brought into the United States, which means the cost is borne by importers, who can either pay it themselves or pass it on to customers. In some cases, Chinese exporters may also be persuaded to lower their prices before the goods are shipped.

Trump recently said the United States can take in $120 billion a year in tariffs, "paid for mostly by China," but economists say much of it will be paid by U.S. businesses and consumers.

The tariffs will be applied only to goods shipped after Friday. That will provide some relief to U.S. businesses that have orders in transit. And there still is more time to reach a deal; negotiators are meeting in an attempt to do that.

Wednesday, Trump seemed to hold out hope that an agreement could still be reached to prevent the tariff hikes, noting that he had received a "beautiful" letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"I have no idea what's going to happen," Trump said.

In China, some economists said the trade war would slow the country's economic growth and the government may need more economic stimulus to soften the blow.

The Chinese government controls media in the country and has been steadily working to prevent the public from seeing news that Trump threatened more tariffs by removing content from social media sites.

"I don't know much about what's going on," a 45-year-old man named Jo Jiun Hwei told NPR this week. "I think it's the American president's fault. That's what they're saying on the news at least."

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/09/721893765/tense-u-s-china-trade-talks-underway-with-threat-of-tariffs-looming

2019-05-10 00:02:00Z
52780289498324

BBC radio host fired over racist royal baby tweet - CNN

On Wednesday, the BBC Radio 5 Live presenter tweeted a black and white photo of a man and woman holding hands with a chimpanzee in a suit and a top hat, with the caption, "Royal baby leaves hospital."

Amid widespread accusations of racism, Baker deleted the tweet and said he was sorry the "gag" had "whipped some up." He claimed the connotations had not occurred to him because his "mind (is) not diseased."

In a second message, Baker said that the tweet was "supposed to be a joke about Royals vs circus animals in posh clothes but interpreted as about monkeys & race, so rightly deleted. Royal watching not my forte." On Thursday, the broadcaster said he made an "enormous mistake."

A BBC spokesperson said: "This was a serious error of judgment and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody. Danny's a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us."

Baker responded defiantly to the decision, saying on Twitter that the calls for his dismissal were a "masterclass in pompous faux-gravity" and that the BBC "literally threw me under the bus."

Prince Harry and Meghan's newborn son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born early on Monday morning. On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex presented the baby, their first, to the world in front of selected media.

In a significant milestone for British society, the newborn has made history by becoming the first biracial child in the royal family.

Since the announcement of her pregnancy, Meghan has been a target of racist abuse across social media.

In March, Kensington Palace staff announced they would devote more resources to deleting comments targeting the Duchess of Sussex, and to blocking abusive Twitter and Instagram accounts. The royal household also issued a set of guidelines for people engaging with its social media channels.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/09/uk/danny-baker-tweet-royal-baby-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

2019-05-09 14:20:00Z
52780289809328

Venezuela's opposition vow to defy Maduro after key figure detained - The Guardian

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

1. Venezuela's opposition vow to defy Maduro after key figure detained  The Guardian
2. After failed military uprising, No. 2 leader of Venezuelan congress is towed to jail in car  Fox News
3. A frustrated Trump questions his administration’s Venezuela strategy  The Washington Post
4. As partisans bicker in the US, Venezuelans continue to suffer | TheHill  The Hill
5. Rebuilding Venezuela after Maduro will require the US to front some money | TheHill  The Hill
6. View full coverage on Google News

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/09/venezuela-maduro-guaido-crackdown-edgar-zambrano

2019-05-09 13:45:00Z
52780289349503

North Korea launches 'two short-range missiles' - CNN

It launched the projectiles at 4:29 p.m. local (3.29 a.m. ET) and 4:49 p.m. local towards the east, which had an estimated range of 420 kilometers (260 miles) and 270 kilometers respectively, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.

The missiles had an altitude of around 50 kilometers and hit the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, South Korea's Defense Military told CNN. It added that it had detected that one of the projectiles was launched from Sino-ri and the other was launched from Kusong, both in the North Pyongan Province, in northwest North Korea.

Kusong has been the site of Pyongyang's missile tests in the past, including a May 2017 test of a KN-17 intermediate range missile which traveled almost 500 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan/East Sea, hitting the water about 60 miles from Vladivostok in eastern Russia, according to US officials.

Sino-ri is believed to be home to one of about 20 undeclared missile facilities that Pyongyang operates throughout the country, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Beyond Parallel program.

"The US and South Korean intelligence authority is conducting analysis for additional information," JCS said in a statement. "Our military has currently heightened its surveillance and alertness against possible additional launches, whilst maintaining combat readiness in close coordination with the US."

Thursday's firing comes less than a week after North Korea tested several new weapons systems, the first confirmed launches of their kind since 2017.

North Korean state media reported that the launches conducted on Saturday were part of a "strike drill" to "check the operating ability of large-caliber long-range multiple rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons."

But some weapons experts who analyzed the images of Saturday's launch released by North Korea say that Pyongyang may have test-fired a new, more advanced type of short-range ballistic missile -- the type of weapon that in theory could carry a nuclear warhead.

Michael Elleman, a missile defense expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote in a piece for North Korean specialty site 38 North that the weapon bore similarities to a Russian ballistic missile called Iskander.

Regardless of what was fired, analysts worry that an uptick in weapons testing from the North Koreans could impact nuclear negotiations with the United States and South Korea. Talks between the three countries have been on the rocks since a February meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended abruptly and without an agreement.

North Korea has particularly vocal in its opposition to recent joint military drills between the US and South Korea. Seoul and Washington previously held large-scale military exercises in the spring, but this year chose to scale those back to "reduce tension" with North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim agreed at a summit with Kim last year to "make joint efforts to alleviate the acute military tension and practically eliminate the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula."

Moon and Kim's meeting was part of a flurry of diplomacy intended to reduce tensions on the Peninsula, as Washington and Pyongyang traded heated threats amid North Korea's repeated missile and nuclear tests.

North Korea's test pause is among the most important factors that has enabled negotiations between Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington. But a renewed round of missile launches could force the US to adjust course, as Trump has hinted that it could imperil the progress made between the two sides.

"I'm not in a rush, I don't want to rush anybody, I just don't want testing. As long as there's no testing, we're happy," Trump said ahead of his February summit with Kim.

Trump's top diplomat in charge of North Korea, Stephen Biegun, arrived in Seoul yesterday for meetings with his South Korean counterparts.

CNN's Jake Kwon and Brad Lendon contributed to this report

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/09/asia/north-korea-projectile-intl/index.html

2019-05-09 12:20:00Z
52780290172192

North Korea fires 2 short-range missiles, 5 days after previous launch; US tests long-range missile within ... - Fox News

North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Thursday, the country’s second such launch in less than a week, according to South Korean military.

The launch occurred around 4:30 p.m. local time from the North’s Sino-ri missile base, the South’s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. The base is located around 130 miles north of the border with South Korea. The missiles flew 260 and 170 miles respectively, according to South Korean military officials.

The base is believed to operate Rodong short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, according to the New York Times.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

“The Sino-ri missile operating base and the Rodong missiles deployed at this location fit into North Korea’s presumed nuclear military strategy by providing an operational-level nuclear or conventional first-strike capability against targets located both throughout the Korean Peninsula and in most of Japan,” the Times quoted from a study published by analysts for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

POMPEO DISMISSES NORTH KOREA'S REJECTION OF HIM AS US NEGOTIATOR

South Korea's presidential national security director, Chung Eui-yong, has been monitoring the situation and was communicating with defense officials and the JCS by video.

This Saturday, May 4, 2019, file photo provided by the North Korean government shows a test of weapon systems, in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

The firing comes five days after the North launched a barrage of short-range projectiles from its east coast. Through its state media, the North described the earlier firing as a “defense units” test of its rocket launchers and tactical guided weapons.

Thursday's firing comes as Trump's negotiator for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, visits Japan and South Korea to discuss North Korean denuclearization efforts.

US ENVOY: NORTH KOREA DENUCLEARIZATION MUST NOT BE INCREMENTAL

The U.S. Air Force, meanwhile, tested a long-range missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California within 10 minutes of the reported launch by Pyongyang. The American intercontinental ballistic missile flew 4,200 miles into Pacific from a base in California, according to the Air Force. The launch of the Minuteman III intercontinental missile was the second missile launch this month and the fourth this year.

Linda Frost, Deputy, Media Operations of the Air Force Global Strike Command, told Fox News that the timing of both the U.S. and North Korean tests were entirely coincidental.

“It’s important to note that our test launch is not a response or reaction to world events. The launch calendars are built three to five years in advance, and planning for each individual launch begins six months to a year prior to the launch,” she said.

North Korea last conducted a major missile test in November 2017 when it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that could demonstrate the potential capability to reach the U.S. mainland. Analysts have said if the North decides to resume testing banned ballistic weapons, it could signal the rogue nation is turning away from diplomacy.

Tensions between the North and the U.S. were somewhat soothed when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump met for two summits. The second meeting in February ended abruptly when both sides disagreed over sanctions relief for the North. The U.S. did not believe the North was offering enough disarmament measures in order to grant widespread sanctions relief it sought.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

After Saturday's launches, Trump tweeted that Kim “knows that I am with him & does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen!”

Kim said he is open to a third meeting with Trump but set this year’s end as a deadline for Washington to offer mutually acceptable terms for an agreement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-launches-unidentified-projectile-in-second-firing-in-less-than-a-week

2019-05-09 11:40:27Z
52780290172192