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ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump has urged China to resume purchases of American soybeans and stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States, warning that he would not make a trade deal unless Beijing complied, Reuters reported.&nbsp;Speaking to reporters, Trump said, &ldquo;One of the things I want is China to buy soybeans. I want China to stop with the fentanyl &mdash; very normal things. I don&rsquo;t want them to play the rare earth game with us.&quot;&nbsp;Asked whether he believed China would agree, Trump replied, &ldquo;I do believe, yeah, because otherwise I&#39;m not going to make a deal. Our farmers have been boycotted by China as a negotiating point. I want them to start buying soybeans at least in the amount they were buying before.&quot;&nbsp;Trump also claimed China was paying record tariffs, adding that he was open to lowering them only if Beijing &ldquo;does things for us too.&rdquo;&nbsp;The remarks came amid heightened US-China trade tensions after Beijing expanded export rules on rare earth materials &mdash; a move analysts say mirrors long-standing American trade controls.&nbsp;According to an Associated Press report, China&rsquo;s new export restrictions require foreign firms to seek approval from Beijing to sell products containing even small amounts of Chinese-origin rare earth materials or technology. This effectively gives China influence over the global supply chain of smartphones, electric vehicles, and advanced weapons systems.&nbsp;Analysts say Beijing&rsquo;s strategy borrows directly from US trade playbooks. &ldquo;China is learning from the best,&rdquo; said Neil Thomas of the Asia Society Policy Institute. &ldquo;Beijing is copying Washington&rsquo;s playbook because it saw firsthand how effectively US export controls could constrain its own development.&rdquo;&nbsp;The move follows a series of tit-for-tat measures since Trump relaunched his trade war earlier this year. Beijing has since blacklisted several US firms, tightened export controls on critical minerals, and imposed matching tariffs &mdash; including a 125% &ldquo;Liberation Day&rdquo; tariff in April.&nbsp;Experts warn the spiral could deepen global economic uncertainty. Jeremy Daum of Yale Law School told AP that while both governments now share a &ldquo;holistic view of national security,&rdquo; their reciprocal measures risk turning into a &ldquo;race to the bottom where nobody wins.

Americas

Says he wants China to buy soybeans and does not want them to play the rare earth game with us.

Trump presses China on soybeans, fentanyl amid escalating rare earth tensions

Reuters

BEIJING: China&#39;s economic growth slowed to the weakest pace in a year in the third quarter, as a property crisis and trade tensions hurt demand, leaving policymakers with the daunting challenge of rebalancing GDP drivers towards greater consumption over time.&nbsp;Authorities have unveiled modest stimulus measures this year, supported by resilient exports and strong stock markets, but renewed US-China trade tensions pose risks. While there is room for additional support, analysts are divided over whether policymakers will act this year.&nbsp;Data on Monday showed gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.8% in July-September, slowing from 5.2% in the second quarter and in line with analysts&#39; expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 4.8%.&nbsp;China is aiming for full-year growth of around 5%.&nbsp;&quot;The market understanding was that China is going to miss the target, no matter what. Even with stimulus, it was going to be below 5%,&quot; said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group.&nbsp;&quot;But judging by the figure for the first three quarters, it&#39;s going to hit the target, suggesting China can withstand any pressure from the US, even with such levels of tariff threats and export restrictions. Beijing is sending the signal that it is capable of reaching its development goals and is strongly committed to its policies.&quot;&nbsp;Quarterly, GDP grew 1.1% in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics data showed, compared with a forecast 0.8% increase and a revised 1.0% gain in the previous quarter.

Business

GDP grew 4.8% in July-September, slowing from 5.2% in the second quarter and in line with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise of 4.8%.

China's Q3 GDP growth slows to one-year low

SINGAPORE: Asian stocks stumbled on Tuesday, as signs the US and China were preparing for trade talks later this month were tempered by uncertainty over whether the two nations could strike a durable deal.&nbsp;Early gains for MSCI&#39;s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. MIAPJ0000PUS and the S&amp;P 500 futures ESc1 petered out to trade flat. Markets had earlier joined the rebound from Monday&#39;s cash session after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told US President Donald Trump remains on track to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea in late October.&nbsp;Wall Street&#39;s main indexes ended as much as 2.2% higher overnight, led by chipmakers, after Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on trade tensions with China.&nbsp;Global equities had abruptly turned red on Friday after Trump announced 100% tariffs on China, reviving memories of the market volatility after April&#39;s &quot;Liberation Day&quot; announcement. The selloff only halted after the US president cooled his rhetoric on his Truth Social network.&nbsp;Citi analysts wrote in a research report that they do not expect an escalation of trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.&nbsp;&quot;The reason is not so much the reassuring President Trump tweet over the weekend, but the fact that China may be the only country with bargaining power, where the US may have to be more flexible in its negotiation stance.&quot;&nbsp;But a spokesperson for China&#39;s commerce ministry said on Tuesday the US cannot seek talks while also making threats, keeping markets on edge over the chances for a broader trade deal.&nbsp;The US and China on Tuesday will begin charging port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil, making the high seas a key front in the trade war between the world&#39;s two largest economies.&nbsp;After early gains in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index. HSI fell 0.4%, while in the mainland, the CSI 300 gauge of blue-chip Chinese stocks. CSI300 slipped 0.1%.&nbsp;Asian stocks were led by a 0.8% surge in Taiwan&#39;s market. TWII as TSMC 2330.TW rose to a record, after OpenAI said it has partnered with Broadcom AVGO.O to produce its first in-house artificial intelligence processors.&nbsp;South Korea&#39;s Kospi index. KS11 gained 0.6% after Samsung Electronics 005930.KS on Tuesday projected a 32% rise in third-quarter operating profit from a year earlier, beating analysts&#39; estimates as demand for conventional memory chips helped offset the company&#39;s weaker high-bandwidth memory chip sales.&nbsp;Japan&#39;s Nikkei stock index. N225 fell 1.2% as the country&#39;s markets reopened after a holiday. Against the yen, the US dollar was little changed at 152.31 yen.&nbsp;The dollar index, which measures the greenback&#39;s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.1% lower at 99.246.&nbsp;Traders continue to expect easing from the Federal Reserve later this month is a near-certainty. Pricing of Fed funds futures implies a 96.7% probability of a 25-basis-point cut to interest rates at the Federal Open Market Committee&#39;s meeting on October 29, compared with a 98.3% chance a day earlier, according to the CME Group&#39;s FedWatch tool.&nbsp;The euro was barely moved at $1.1571 after French President Emmanuel Macron rejected calls to resign on Monday, as his latest government was threatened by two no-confidence motions that could bring it down by the end of the week.&nbsp;Brent crude LCOc1 was last up 0.2% at $63.45 per barrel after an OPEC report on Monday showed world oil supply is expected to closely match demand next year as the wider OPEC+ group increases production, marking a change from last month&#39;s outlook, which projected a supply shortfall in 2026.&nbsp;Gold gained 1.1% to $4,155.90 per ounce, showing little sign of pausing for breath as precious metals continue to set records.&nbsp;Bitcoin fell 1.9% to $113,629.29, while ether slipped 3% to $4,161.79.

Asian markets hesitant as investors wary of US-China trade tensions

BANGKOK: Asian shares tumbled on Monday as escalating trade tensions with China shattered a months&#39; long calm on Wall Street. US stocks skidded on Friday after President Donald Trump threatened to crank tariffs higher on China, signaling more trouble ahead between the two biggest economies. He was responding to restrictions Beijing is imposing on exports of rare earths, which are materials that are critical for the manufacturing of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines. But US futures advanced, with the contract for the S&amp;P 500 gaining 1.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1%. Strongest growth in six monthsChina reported its global exports rose 8.3% in September from a year earlier, the strongest growth in six months and further evidence that its manufacturers are shifting sales from the US to other markets. Exports to the US tumbled 27% year-on-year last month, customs data showed.&nbsp;In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng sank 2.2% to 25,700.07.&nbsp;Most other major regional markets logged losses of more than 1%.&nbsp; The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% lower to 3,889.50 and the Kospi in South Korea gave up 0.7% to 3,584.55. Australia&rsquo;s S&amp;P/ASX 200 declined 0.8% to 8,882.80. Taiwan&#39;s Taiex shed 1.4% and India&#39;s Sensex was down 0.4%.&nbsp;Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday. Re-escalation of trade warOn Friday, the S&amp;P 500 sank 2.7% in its worst day since April, closing at 6,552.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.9% to 45,479.60, and the Nasdaq composite lost 3.6% to 22,204.43. The setback reflected signs of a re-escalation of the trade war.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere,&rdquo; Trump wrote on Truth Social, alluding to Beijing.&nbsp; He also said &ldquo;now there seems to be no reason&rdquo; to meet with China&rsquo;s leader, Xi Jinping, after earlier agreeing to do so as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea. Roughly six out of every seven stocks within the S&amp;P 500 fell. Nearly everything weakened, from Big Tech companies like Nvidia and Apple to stocks of smaller companies looking to get past uncertainty about tariffs and trade. The market may have been primed for a slide. US stocks were already facing criticism that their prices had shot too high following the S&amp;P 500&rsquo;s nearly relentless 35% run from a low in April.&nbsp; The index, which dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts, is still near its all-time high set earlier in the week. Artificial-intelligence industryCritics say the market looks too expensive after prices rose much faster than corporate profits. Worries are particularly high about companies in the artificial-intelligence industry, where pessimists see echoes of the 2000 dot-com bubble that imploded.&nbsp; For stocks to look less expensive, either their prices need to fall, or companies&rsquo; profits need to rise. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.05% from 4.14% late Thursday. In the doldrums&nbsp;It had already been lower before Trump made his threats, as a report from the University of Michigan suggested that sentiment among US consumers remains in the doldrums. Some of Friday&rsquo;s strongest action was in the oil market, where the price of a barrel of benchmark US crude sank 4.2% to $58.90. It fell as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza. An end to the war could remove worries about disruptions to oil supplies, which had kept crude&rsquo;s price higher than it otherwise would have been. Losses accelerated following Trump&rsquo;s tariff threat, which could gum up global trade and lead the economy to burn less fuel. Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 3.8% to $62.73 per barrel. However, early Monday it was trading 85 cents higher at $63.58 per barrel. US benchmark crude oil gained 72 cents to $59.62 per barrel. In other dealings early Monday, the dollar rose 152.22 Japanese yen from 151.89 yen late Friday. The euro fell to $1.1605 from $1.1614.

The markets fell sharply after Wall Street’s worst day since April, triggered by renewed US-China trade tensions. Trump's tariff threats and China's export restrictions rattled investors, despite China's export growth outside the US.

Articles tagged with "US China trade tensions"

Trump presses China on soybeans, fentanyl amid escalating rare earth tensions

China's Q3 GDP growth slows to one-year low

Asian markets hesitant as investors wary of US-China trade tensions

Asian markets plunge amid renewed US-China trade tensions