Asian shares wobbled on Friday as investors braced for U.S. tariffs against China, while the Euro flirted with two-week lows after a cautious European Central Bank indicated it would not raise interest rates for some time. U.S. President Donald Trump has made up his mind to impose “pretty significant” tariffs and will unveil a list targeting US$ 50 billion of Chinese goods on Friday, an administration official said. Beijing has warned that it was ready to respond.
Global agricultural food commodity prices rose in May, with dairy prices jumping significantly. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 176.2 points during the month, up 1.2% from April.
Rightwing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro said that China was an “exceptional partner” of Brazil, softening earlier criticism that Chinese investors were taking over Latin America’s largest economy. “We will continue being a partner of China,” Bolsonaro said when asked how he would treat Chinese investments if he wins the October election.
China will impose temporary anti-dumping measures on Brazilian broiler chickens from June 9, the commerce ministry said on Friday, after finding in a preliminary ruling that its domestic industry has been substantially damaged by the imports. Local firms buying Brazilian chicken will be required to pay deposits ranging from 18.8% to 38.4% of the value of their shipments, the ministry said in a statement. The measures cover products supplied by top Brazilian exporters JBS and BRF.
Argentina is looking to expand an existing currency swap arrangement with China, as Buenos Aires looks to stabilize the economy one month after applying for financial aid from the International Monetary Fund. In an interview with the Financial Times, Argentina’s Chief of Cabinet Marcos Peña, said “we have an active swap with China that the previous government left us and we will try to make it bigger.”
China said on Sunday it wouldn’t step up its purchases of United States products if President Donald Trump goes ahead with his threat to tax billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese imports. White House advisers insisted on fundamental changes in ties between the world’s two biggest economic powers.
Argentina is set to expand fresh beef exports to Asia, with Japan and China having already approved import deals, the country's agriculture minister said. Luis Miguel Etchevehere in Tokyo said that Argentina has signed a deal with the Japanese government under which Tokyo will authorize imports of fresh beef from Argentina by late July. His country has also inked a beef export agreement with Beijing.
A publicity stunt at a conference about blockchain technology in China, which saw an actor impersonate Mao Zedong, has sparked uproar on social media. Xu Guoxiang imitated Mao - by wearing a grey suit and speaking in his Hunan accent - at the Boao Blockchain Forum for Asia in Hainan Province.
The threat of trade protectionism is the biggest concern looming over a solid upswing in the global economy, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said. The “darkest cloud” on the economic horizon is the “determination of some to actually rock the system that has actually presided over the trade relationships that we have all undertaken and enjoyed to some extent over the last many decades”, said Lagarde.
BYD, China’s biggest electric vehicle maker by sales, signed a 2.5 billion Brazilian real (US$ 689 million) deal this week to build a monorail system in Brazil’s Salvador city, the firm said. It’s the company’s biggest overseas monorail investment yet, according to a company spokesperson. Construction will start on the 20-kilometer route this year, and it’s expected to begin operations in 2021.