Economy

• Thursday, August 8th 2019 - 06:58 UTC

  Auto production in Brazil jumps, but exports to Argentina are down 38.4%

  

  Automobile production in Brazil jumped 14.2% and sales grew 9.1% in July from June, the best performance for the month since 2014, the national automakers’ association Anfavea said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, August 7th 2019 - 09:58 UTC

  Brazil's record on pesticides and weed killers could create problems for the Mercosur/EU trade agreement

  

  Brazil's agriculture minister on Tuesday defended a record number of pesticide and weedkiller approvals this year, saying the government was not “putting poison on anyone's plate.”

• Wednesday, August 7th 2019 - 09:33 UTC

  Trump vows to protect US farmers against China and promises further aid

  

  US President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to protect US farmers against China by signaling to provide further aid if needed, a day after Chinese firms stopped agricultural purchases and Beijing threatened more tariffs on US farm products.

• Wednesday, August 7th 2019 - 08:50 UTC

  United States need an independent Federal Reserve

  

  The following article was published 6 August, in the Wall Street Journal, signed by ex-Fed chiefs Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen. Basically, it states that the US economy functions best when the central bank is free of short-term political pressures.

• Wednesday, August 7th 2019 - 08:44 UTC

  Sino/US clash eases: Beijing supports Yuan and Washington pledges to continue trade talks

  

  Asian shares steadied slightly on Wednesday as investors caught their breath from a searing week-long selloff, with steps taken by Chinese authorities to contain a sliding Yuan helping calm fears of a full-blown Sino-U.S. trade and currency war.

• Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 10:20 UTC

  Trump blocks all assets of the Venezuelan government in US

  

  Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order “Blocking Property of the Government of Venezuela.”

• Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 10:10 UTC

  Colorado Party of Paraguay urges lawmakers and supporters to stand behind President Abdo

  

  Paraguay's Colorado Party Monday backed its support of President Mario Abdo in the aftermath of the political scandal sparked last week when the somber Itaipu electricity deal with Brazil was unearthed, leaving the government on the brink of impeachment, a threat which has been averted.... for now.

• Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 10:01 UTC

  British Foreign secretary Raab travels to US, Canada and Mexico to boost trade, ahead of Brexit

  

  British foreign minister Dominic Raab will travel to Canada, the United States and Mexico this week to seek to boost ties with non-European countries ahead of Brexit, his office said.

• Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 09:57 UTC

  US dollar up in Argentina on fears of Sunday's primaries and the global trade dispute

  

  Argentina’s peso fell 1.8% on Monday to 45.49 per U.S. dollar due to uncertainty over the country’s presidential election and the fallout from U.S.-China trade tensions, traders said.

• Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - 09:33 UTC

  Economists forecast further interest rate cuts by Brazil's central bank

  

  Economists lowered their forecasts for where Brazil’s benchmark Selic interest rate will be at the end of 2019, a weekly central bank survey showed on Monday, after policymakers cut rates more aggressively than most expected to a record low last week.