China’s Ministry of Commerce has objected to Washington’s latest tariff on the country’s goods but signalled it will hold off on retaliation for now, noting the 12.5 per cent duty keeps the United States within the ceiling that the Trump administration promised in earlier talks. Washington was manipulating the issue of forced labour, the ministry said in a statement on Monday, calling the Section 301 investigation and the subsequent tariffs “a textbook act of unilateralism and protectionism”. It...
Malaysia has won a small victory in Washington’s tariff wars, securing a 10 per cent rate that leaves it better placed than four of its Southeast Asian neighbours in the scramble for US orders. Economists warn the narrow advantage may prove fleeting, however, as it hinges on Kuala Lumpur fulfilling its promised trade reforms. The new duties, which fall under Section 301 of the US Trade Act and took effect on Friday, keep Malaysia in the lower tier of a new American tariff regime alongside...
After devoting the first half of 2026 to an ineffectual, expensive and inconclusive military adventure in Iran, it seems US President Donald Trump is about to turn afresh to the wars he loves best – the tariff wars he still believes can make America great again. He can’t quite walk away from the war in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s refusal to capitulate has left Trump with an awkward obligation to fight on, despite the widespread unpopularity of the conflict, even among his base, and the need to...
The US imposed tariffs as high as 12.5 per cent on 60 trading partners, including China, after President Donald Trump adopted a different method for pursuing his global trade war. The levies, which are related to forced labour, replaced a temporary 10 per cent global tariff that expired on Friday. The 10 per cent tax was imposed after previous Trump tariffs were struck down by the US Supreme Court. Trump’s new taxes, targeting imports from 80-plus countries, can probably withstand legal...
The new tariffs will come into effect as U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary worldwide tariff of 10% expires
The tariffs target around 60 trading partners over claims they failed to properly stop forced labour.
US President Donald Trump’s administration is using another tariff threat to put fresh pressure on Canadian provinces to end their boycotts of American alcohol. But provincial leaders are not backing off. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would not lift his province’s ban on the sale of American wine and spirits in government-run stores unless the US removes sectoral tariffs on cars and steel. “We have to negotiate through strength, not weakness. And we need to throw everything on the table,” he...
Beijing has condemned the latest efforts by US lawmakers to curb Chinese access to leading semiconductor chips and chipmaking equipment, warning that they would lead to “arbitrary disruption and damage” to global supply chains. The stark assessment followed reports on Tuesday that three major export control bills targeting China – the AI Overwatch Act, the Match Act and the Chip Security Act – are set to be folded into the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) in the US Senate, the annual...
The fate of the strait is directly linked to what happens next to the world economy.