The leader of the largest US business lobby group has cast doubt over the prospects of the US and China reaching an interim pact to halt their trade war, after he met Robert Lighthizer, Donald Trump’s chief negotiator in the talks with Beijing. Tom Donohue, the president of the US Chamber of Commerce, said he had detected a desire for de-escalation both in Washington and Beijing, with “people in both places thinking ‘let’s calm down, let’s start making positive statements’”. But he said he did not see any ironclad, formal truce…

Vietnam is increasingly caught up in Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies. The culprit is its trade surplus with the US — on track to reach $50bn this year. In June the US president berated the country for treating it “even worse” than China on trade, and imposed huge tariffs on some of its steel imports. Vietnam responded, like China and the EU before it, by committing to increased purchases of US goods. This commitment was reiterated again recently while Hanoi also joined the US in banning Huawei from supplying 5G…

I made the mistake last week of contradicting a China hawk on Twitter. He had compared China today to Nazi Germany “circa 1935”. My response — “China is not Nazi Germany: reckless analogy” — triggered an onslaught of Sinophobic invective. “Definitely worse. The Nazis didn’t have wholesale organ harvesting,” said one. “Count the bodies. The CCP is no better than the Nazis,” said another. “The only reckless thing is appeasement idiots like you downplaying what the CCP really is,” said another. Unless you are a fan of Twitter threads, which…

Sales have been great this year for Winton Machine, a 35-person firm in Suwanee, Georgia, that makes machines that bend metal tubes. Lisa Winton, chief executive, attributes its success to landmark tax reforms signed into law by US President Donald Trump in 2017, which freed up cash for other manufacturers to put her gear on their plant floors.Demand has risen by so much that she now needs to move into a bigger plant. But she is putting off the decision. “I’m just holding tight,” she says, “because of that uncertainty”.The…

Growth in industrial output from Chinese factories fell to a fresh low in August, in another sign of how the US-China trade war and slowing economic activity is weighing on the world’s second-biggest economy. Data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics published on Monday showed that industrial output rose by just 4.4 per cent year on year during the month, versus 4.8 in July. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast that industrial output would grow by 5.2 per cent. August’s reading was again the worst since February 2002. Meanwhile, separate data…

Thousands of General Motors workers are set to strike in the first auto industry walkout in more than a decade, after talks broke down over pay and healthcare benefits at the company’s US factories. The United Auto Workers called for a strike starting at midnight on Sunday as union leaders demanded GM “recognise the contributions” workers have made to “create a healthy, profitable industry”.The decision came after a breakdown in talks in Detroit for a new four-year labour contract and as workers and carmakers alike brace for a weaker economy. The…

The escalation of the trade war between the US and China in the past 18 months has cast a pall over business sentiment and growth in the advanced economies.By contrast, activity growth in China has remained fairly robust at around 7 per cent, and inflation is close to the People’s Bank of China’s 3 per cent target ceiling. This buoyancy is surprising, since China was expected by many analysts (and probably by Donald Trump’s administration) to be the main casualty from the trade wars.How has China managed to survive the trade…

The coming week will bring a flurry of interest rate decisions from major central banks, as policymakers react to a softer global economy and uncertainties over US-China trade and Brexit.The UK’s pending divorce from the EU will also remain in focus for investors next week with Prime Minister Boris Johnson due to hold talks. Here’s what to watch.Central banksBuckle up for a busy week in rate calls. Central banks in the US, UK, Switzerland, Japan and Brazil are all due to set policy in the coming week, on the heels…

The S&P 500 was hanging on to a modest gain Friday, as bolstered trade hopes and upbeat consumer data stoked optimism on Wall Street ahead of an expected rate cut by the Federal Reserve.The index continued to nudge closer to its record high, rising 0.1 per cent in morning trade with shares in the materials and financials sectors driving gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2 per cent. A decline in tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq Composite, which fell 0.1 per cent.Wall Street has steadily approached record levels…

US retail sales climbed more than expected last month driven by purchases at auto dealers and online retailers, however an underlying gauge of consumer demand grew at its slowest pace in six months. Headline retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in August, the Commerce Department said on Friday, exceeding economists’ expectations for a 0.2 per cent increase, according to a Reuters poll.That followed a revised 0.8 per cent rise the previous month, (previously 0.7 per cent), when sales were given a boost by Amazon’s Prime Day promotions. August’s jump was…