USA

The U.S. central bank will be in no rush to cut interest rates while it waits for more clarity on how the policies of the new Trump administration affect the economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said at an economic forum in New York City on Friday.Powell spoke at a volatile time, with stock markets and bond yields both declining in the wake of President Donald Trump's whipsaw announcements of steep import tariffs on major trading partners Mexico and Canada, followed by delays in implementing them. Trump has also doubled tariffs on imports from China.LINDSEY BELL, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, CLEARNOMICS, NEW YORK"Powell is giving a sense of calm to a market that's been moving very erratically. He said the economy is in a good place and inflation is still anchored despite some of the s...

The US on Friday asked India to bring down import tariffs for it under an all-encompassing trade deal that won’t leave even the latter’s sensitive agriculture markets out. In a televised address to an Indian audience from Washington, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick made it clear that the US is not interested in negotiating tariffs with India on product-by-product basis, and instead wanted a “macro and grand” pact that covers all areas. Lutnick’s statement came shortly after president Donald Trump repeated his criticism of India’s “high tariffs,”and indicated the country remained a prime target of reciprocal duties set to take effect April 2. It suddenly boosted expectations about the scope and scale of the proposed bilateral trade agreement between the two countries. An Indian ...

The EU cannot afford to finance Ukraine’s military efforts as US financial aid is no longer guaranteed, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday after the leaders of 26 EU countries signed a statement voicing support for Ukraine without Hungary. Orban, an ally of US President Donald Trump, who is also cultivating ties with Moscow, told state radio that his government would launch a domestic “public consultation” on Ukraine’s European Union accession in the coming weeks. The state-funded political campaign will come as Orban, in power since 2010, faces elections in 2026 with the economy just clambering out of an inflation crisis and with a surging new opposition party posing the strongest challenge yet to his rule. European leaders on Thursday backed plans to spend mor...

US President Donald Trump made his policy intentions abundantly clear on Tuesday in his State of the Union speech. He is now stirring so many pots so vigorously that the world is in a state of bemused bewilderment. Close scrutiny of Trump’s actions reveals both a well thought out approach and a cavalier disregard for consequences. Thus, on the question of US global power, he is quite clear that it should be a multipolar world where it’s not America alone that bears the brunt of the costs and the opprobrium. Such multipolarity will give India a bigger voice in global affairs. Trump is also for low and stable global energy prices which no one can object to. His methods for achieving that goal might well raise some hackles. India will be a major beneficiary. On tariffs, however, he is dea...

US President Donald Trump's imposition of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, March 4, prompting retaliatory measures from Canada and escalating trade tensions on a global scale. Additionally, Trump announced on Monday that the US will increase tariffs on goods from China to 20%, up from the previously announced 10% in February. This move has raised concerns of a potential trade war that could lead to higher inflation and hinder economic growth. In response, the Chinese Ministry of Finance revealed plans to impose 10-15% additional tariffs on certain imports from the US beginning March 10th. These tariffs will affect key American exports such as chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton, further intensifying the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. So...

China called on the US to stop politicising and weaponising economic and trade issues, as Washington tries to limit overseas investments by Beijing in line with President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy. The American government’s actions, which strengthen reviews of business ties with China on security grounds, will seriously undermine the confidence of Chinese companies that are investing in the US, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Saturday. The ministry’s comments followed the release of the America First Investment Policy, which named China among “adversaries” that systematically direct and facilitate investment in US companies and assets “to obtain cutting-edge technologies, intellectual property, and leverage in strategic industries.” Although President ...

The escalating trade war and growing tariff threats from US President Donald Trump are prompting the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) to fast-track the long-delayed free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to meet UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on Monday to reignite India-UK FTA discussions. Goyal will then engage with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic on Friday, ahead of the 10th round of India-EU FTA talks set to take place from March 10 to 14 in Brussels.

The commerce ministry will hold meetings with three-to-four ministries next week to sensitise them to various aspects of the proposed trade agreement with the US and President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcements, officials said on Thursday. Negotiations on the nature of the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA), announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington, is expected to start soon. “Any agreement that the ministry of commerce will do will involve other ministries too. The consultation with the industry and other stakeholders on the aspects of the BTA, reciprocal tariffs and other announcements on product-specific tariffs will be done by the administrative ministries,” a senior official said. The commerce ministry will also seek inputs...

Chinese officials are mapping out plans for tapping the nation’s huge customer base, as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepares to refresh calls for Beijing to decrease its dependence on exports. Premier Li Qiang led the charge Thursday, urging China’s cabinet to “vigorously” improve the supply of services in industries spanning education, health care, culture and sports, without elaborating. The world’s No. 2 economy will rely more on lifting consumption to drive growth, he added, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. “Large economies have an unique advantage of promoting an internal circulation and a dominating role of domestic demand,” Li said at the State Council meeting, adding that promoting consumption was a “major move” for the economy’s longer-term transition. E...