Argentina’s central bank said it would nearly double its currency swap deal with China, bringing the total to 130 billion Yuan (US$ 18.7 billion), as Beijing looks to expand its influence in the recession-struck country. Central Bank President Guido Sandleris, who was in China finalizing the agreement, said that the deal for 70 billion Yuan would be expanded by 60 billion Yuan, according to a bank spokesman.
China reported much stronger-than-expected exports for October as shippers rushed goods to the United States, its biggest trading partner, racing to beat higher tariff rates due to kick in at the start of next year. Import growth also defied forecasts for a slowdown, suggesting Beijing’s growth-boosting measures to support the cooling economy may be slowly starting to make themselves felt.
Brazil president-elect Jair Bolsonaro backtracked on some of his more controversial pledges promising to expand trade with China and rethink the idea of moving the country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Bolsonaro is currently in Brasilia for various meetings with senior officials and transition arrangements.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that Europeans cannot be protected without a true, European army, as he marks the centenary of the World War One Armistice.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday said it would impose final anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese common alloy aluminum sheet products of 96.3% to 176.2%. The decision marks the first time that final duties were issued in a trade remedy case initiated by the U.S. government since 1985.
U.S. billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates unveiled on Tuesday in Beijing a futuristic toilet that doesn’t need water or sewers and uses chemicals to turn human waste into fertilizer. The Microsoft Corp co-founder, who a day earlier was one of the high profile guests at a major trade event in Shanghai, also lauded the globalized and free trade systems that made the toilet technology possible.
The United States and China will hold a delayed top-level security dialogue on Friday, the latest sign of a thaw in relations, as China’s vice president said Beijing was willing to talk with Washington to resolve their bitter trade dispute.
A hungry American economy powered by a strong U.S. dollar saw record imports in September, driving the U.S. trade deficit to its highest level in seven months, the government reported on Friday.
US justice department has indicted three individuals and two companies based in China and Taiwan for allegedly stealing a US company's trade secrets. This is the fourth economic espionage case the department has brought against Chinese-based companies and individuals since September.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping both expressed optimism on Thursday about resolving their bitter trade disputes ahead of a high-stakes meeting planned for the two leaders at the end of November in Argentina.