Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministers and senior trade officials gathered on Jeju Island, South Korea, this week to confront mounting evidence that new U.S. import levies are choking off regional commerce. In a stark forecast unveiled at the bloc’s annual trade ministers’ meeting, APEC...

European Union finance ministers were presented with a stark assessment this week: Russia’s economy is deteriorating far more rapidly than Moscow’s official figures suggest. Commissioned by the EU and authored by the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), the report warns that Russia’s...

The proportion of overdue consumer loans in the US increased in the first quarter, reaching its highest point in five years because of the restart of student loan data release. According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) of New York, the proportion of loans with overdue payments...

In a dramatic pivot in its trade policy, the United States will reduce the “de minimis” duty on low-value parcels from China to 54 percent of declared value—down from the 120 percent tariff imposed earlier this year—effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on May 14, 2025. A flat fee of US \$100 per package will...

Global markets surged on Monday as Washington and Beijing announced a provisional halt in their escalating tariff conflict, prompting a wave of investor optimism tempered by caution over the path to a permanent settlement. In a highly anticipated result from two days of negotiations in Geneva, the...

In a dramatic shift from the combative rhetoric that has defined their recent trade clashes, senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators emerged from back-to-back sessions in Geneva with a landmark interim agreement to temporarily slash reciprocal tariffs. Over two intense days of talks, the world’s two...

China’s factory-gate deflation deepened in April as rising U.S. tariffs and a prolonged domestic slowdown intensified price pressures at the wholesale level. The Producer Price Index (PPI) fell 2.7% year-on-year, marking the steepest decline in six months, while consumer prices slipped for a third...

On Thursday, the European Parliament (EP) approved updated regulations regarding “mitigating security threats from foreign investments,” according to the EP press office. The proposal received approval with 378 votes for, 173 opposed, and 24 abstaining. The EP communiqué stated that with the new...

The price index for polished diamonds weighing 1 carat increased by 0.7 percent in April, according to Rapaport, the organization that computes the industry benchmark known as the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI). In February, the downward trend in prices switched, as the index increased for the first...