Trade

Singapore stresses under a wealth of worries

6 Dec 2016

Morale is lousy in the city-state. The trade-reliant nation is heading for a recession and China is flexing its muscles. Singapore's strategic direction and its outsize influence on the global stage are both in question. There are no easy fixes to restore the Lion City's roar.

Jose Cuervo exhibits early case of Trumpophobia

25 Nov 2016

The Mexican tequila maker delayed its IPO after the U.S. election roiled markets. A weaker peso should help Cuervo, but a trade war would be bad for business. Given how hard it is to pin down the president-elect's policies, many companies may have to take a wait-and-see approach.

U.S. asset managers in China trade firing line

25 Nov 2016

Officials emphasized the positive after the two countries' last meeting of Obama's tenure. But the coming Trump era hung over the talks. If the trade relationship deteriorates, one of Beijing's options is to close a door only recently opened into Chinese capital markets.

China can’t dodge Asia trade leadership role

21 Nov 2016

Asian nations, dismayed by American disarray on free trade, are warming up to China-backed alternatives to the U.S.-led TPP. Beijing says it doesn't want a "leadership role" in forging new pacts. Given China's recent overtures with its neighbours, that sounds like false humility.

Fake-news vortex envelops Corporate America

18 Nov 2016

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is no longer alone with the problem. In the days after the U.S. election, New Balance, Pepsi and Ford have been caught out by the spread of bogus information. Donald Trump's willingness to distort the truth creates a boardroom risk that is all too real.

Canada a small, vulnerable blip on Trump radar

15 Nov 2016

Markets up north have barely budged on America's surprising election outcome. Investors appear to be gambling Trump's call to rip up NAFTA won't affect the export-dependent economy. Perhaps, but Canada is susceptible to other forms of turbulence emanating from Washington.

Mexico’s greatest defense against Trump is time

11 Nov 2016

The U.S. president-elect's victory sent the peso plunging. His trade and immigration policies could, if enacted, turn Mexico into the poor, unfriendly country Trump's overheated rhetoric decried. But economic and political reality suggest patience could pay off.

China can become a better hedge against U.S. risk

10 Nov 2016

The election of Donald Trump hands Beijing an unprecedented opportunity to boost its influence in Asia at the expense of America's. But China won't reap the full benefit unless it shares its wealth more widely and treats neighbours less like client states and more like partners.

Free trade can survive its Wallonian wobble

25 Oct 2016

The tiny Belgian region is holding up a trade pact between Europe and Canada. That doesn’t mean such deals are impossible, though - they just need even more time and creative thinking. The messy process also undermines the notion that ordinary people have no say in globalisation.

Philippines U.S. “goodbye” can fix China FDI gap

21 Oct 2016

President Rodrigo Duterte's boast of ditching America for China plays well in Beijing. Cash is a major motivation. China is under-invested in the Philippines compared to elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Funds from the People's Republic can help Duterte deliver on big promises.

Britain starts Brexit; now so might banks

3 Oct 2016

The UK's two-year process to leave the European Union will kick off by the end of March. Financial groups wondering whether to move operations now have the same uncertainty as before, only with a hard 2019 deadline. That could prompt the start of the big relocation.

Japan has most to lose from global trade backlash

26 Sep 2016

The country is begging America to ratify the TPP trade pact and urging Britain to handle Brexit carefully. The desperate pleas reflect Japan's outsized reliance on international trade. TPP also helps Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake up the domestic economy, especially in farming.

China tosses trading partners some import scraps

9 Sep 2016

In August, for the first time in 22 months, imports turned positive. But most foreign exporters and China bashers can keep the bubbly on ice. The data's timing has a whiff of diplomacy. Beijing will keep its aggressive trade policies in place so long as they serve other goals.

Barnier’s Brexit gig better than it looks for UK

27 Jul 2016

Brussels' ex-financial services tsar is to lead EU talks over Britain's exit. Michel Barnier has at times raised British hackles, but he largely treated the City of London fairly. Arbitration won't be smooth, but the identity of the negotiator could have been worse.

Short hit on Itochu is wake-up call for Japan

27 Jul 2016

A report by U.S. firm Glaucus poses hard questions about how the $20 bln trading house accounts for big investments in Colombia and China. Like activists before them, foreign short-sellers could help shake up a market that often looks too cosy.

Clinton and Kaine become globalization’s defenders

22 Jul 2016

The Democratic presidential candidate selected Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. The former governor is a moderate who backed trade deals in the past. Their first task will be to win over liberals who supported Bernie Sanders and are being courted by Donald Trump.

Chancellor: Inequality breeds outbreak of populism

23 Jul 2016

The rich have enjoyed most of the fruits of globalisation, just as they did in 19th-century America. Unless politicians can enact benign policies to rectify the widening gap between the have-somes and have-lots, more unpleasant alternatives will loom on the horizon.

China’s legal defeat is new threat to Asian trade

14 Jul 2016

The People's Republic has angrily rejected an international panel's denial of its claims in the South China Sea. Though rhetorical sabre-rattling is mostly harmless, an economic backlash would hurt already-weak imports and exports in the region. Such tactics have misfired before.