Afp Business Asia

Canada has signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Indonesia, which aims to eliminate or reduce tariffs on over 95 percent of Ottawa’s exports to its largest market in Southeast Asia.Several experts told AFP the strategic agreement is being made in the context of global economic turmoil, exacerbated by the protectionist policies of the United States.”This is the right deal at the right time with the right partner,” Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said, adding Indonesia is “Canada’s largest export market in Southeast Asia.”Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto called it a “historic moment” during a visit to Ottawa, as the agreement is the first of its kind with an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member country. “I’m very lucky to be the Indonesian president who brings this back to Indonesia,” Prabowo said Wednesday. Canada’s exports include wheat, potash, timber and soybeans. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) allows Canada to strengthen its presence in the Pacific region, in line with the strategy that was unveiled by the previous administration under Justin Trudeau.The deal also provides for the elimination of more than 90 percent of tariffs on Indonesian imports, a boon to the export of garments and leather goods to the North American market.Simultaneously, a defense cooperation accord was signed aimed at strengthening collaboration in military training, maritime security, cyber defense and peacekeeping.The signing came just a few days after Jakarta and the European Union finalised a trade agreement after nearly a decade of talks.An analyst told AFP that signing two trade deals within a week would make Indonesia more resilient to volatility under tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.The agreements “signalled a partner diversification strategy to minimise the risk of global tariff volatility, but it doesn’t mean that Indonesia is abandoning the US market,” said Syafruddin Karimi, an economist from Andalas University.

US President Donald Trump announced Thursday punishing tariffs on pharmaceuticals, big-rig trucks, home renovation fixtures and furniture, reviving his global trade war.The late-evening announcement is the harshest trade policy by the president since last April’s shock unveiling of reciprocal tariffs on virtually every US trading partner across the globe.Starting October 1, “we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America,” the Republican wrote on his Truth Social platform.That move was criticised by American ally Australia, which exported pharmaceutical products worth an estimated $1.35 billion to the United States in 2024, according to the UN’s Comtrade Database.Australian health minister Mark Butler said Friday that the higher rates were “not in the American consumers’ interest… particularly given the degree to which their exporters to Australia benefit from that free trade as well.”In a separate post, Trump wrote of a 25 percent tariff on “all ‘Heavy (Big) Trucks’ made in other parts of the world” to support US manufacturers such as “Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks and others.”Foreign companies that compete with these manufacturers in the US market include Sweden’s Volvo and Germany’s Daimler, which includes the Freightliner and Western Star brands.Shares in both companies were sharply lower in after-hours trading in Europe.Trump said the truck tariffs were “for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!”Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched a so-called Section 232 probe into imports of trucks to “determine the effects of national security,” setting the stage for Thursday’s announcement.Section 232 is a trade law provision that gives the president broad authority to impose tariffs or other restrictions on imports when they’re deemed a threat to national security.Trump has made extensive use of Section 232 to initiate investigations and impose tariffs on imported goods as part of his efforts to bolster US manufacturing and punish countries that he says are taking advantage of the US.The real-estate tycoon also targeted home renovation materials, writing “We will be imposing a 50% Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities and associated products,” as of October 1.”Additionally, we will be charging a 30% Tariff on Upholstered Furniture,” he added.According to the United States International Trade Commission, in 2022 imports, mainly from Asia, represented 60 percent of all furniture sold, including 86 percent of all wood furniture and 42 percent of all upholstered furniture.Shares in home furniture retailers Wayfair and Williams Sonoma, which depend on these imported goods, tumbled in after-hours trading following the announcement.- Protectionist policies -The tariff onslaught will rekindle fears over inflation in the US economy, the world’s biggest.Trump is on a mission to rebuild manufacturing through protectionist policies that mark a complete reversal of modern US policy to maintain an open and import-dependent economy.His administration has imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on all countries, with higher individualized rates on nations where exports to the US far exceed imports.Trump has also used emergency powers to impose extra tariffs on trade deal partners Canada and Mexico, as well as on China, citing concerns over fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration.It was not yet clear how these new tariffs that kick in next week would factor into the existing measures.

Stencilled just above the stairs, the red mark in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum is tantamount to an eviction notice for residents like Bipinkumar Padaya.”I was born here, my father was born here, my grandfather was born here,” sighed the 58-year-old government employee.”But we don’t have any choice, we have to vacate.”Soon, bulldozers are expected to rumble into Asia’s largest slum, in the heart of the Indian megalopolis of Mumbai, flattening its labyrinth of filthy alleyways for a brand-new neighbourhood.The redevelopment scheme, led by Mumbai authorities and billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani, reflects modern India — excessive, ambitious, and brutal.If it goes ahead, many of Dharavi’s million residents and workers will be uprooted.”They told us they will give us houses and then they will develop this area,” Padaya said.”But now they are building their own planned areas and trying to push us out. They are cheating us.”On the fringes of Dharavi, Padaya’s one-storey home is crammed into a tangle of alleys so narrow that sunlight barely filters through.- Engine room and underbelly -Padaya says his ancestors settled in the fishing village of Dharavi in the 19th century, fleeing hunger and floods in Gujarat, 600 kilometres (370 miles) to the north.Waves of migrants have since swelled the district until it was absorbed into Mumbai, now home to 22 million people.Today, the sprawl covers 240 hectares and has one of the highest population densities in the world — nearly 350,000 people per square kilometre.Homes, workshops and small factories adjoin each other, crammed between two railway lines and a rubbish-choked river.Over the decades, Dharavi has become both the engine room and the underbelly of India’s financial capital.Potters, tanners and recyclers labour to fire clay, treat hides or dismantle scrap, informal industries that generate an estimated $1 billion annually.British director Danny Boyle set his 2008 Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” in Dharavi — a portrayal that residents call a caricature.For them, the district is unsanitary and poor — but full of life.”We live in a slum, but we’re very happy here. And we don’t want to leave,” said Padaya.- ‘City within a city’ -A five-minute walk from Padaya’s home, cranes tower above corrugated sheets shielding construction. The redevelopment of Dharavi is underway — and in his spacious city-centre office, SVR Srinivas insists the project will be exemplary.”This is the world’s largest urban renewal project,” said the chief executive of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). “We are building a city within a city. It is not just a slum development project.” Brochures show new buildings, paved streets, green spaces, and shopping centres.”Each single family will get a house,” Srinivas promised. “The idea is to resettle hundreds of thousands of people, as far as possible, in situ inside Dharavi itself.”Businesses will also remain, he added — though under strict conditions.Families who lived in Dharavi before 2000 will receive free housing; those who arrived between 2000 and 2011 will be able to buy at a “low” rate.Newer arrivals will have to rent homes elsewhere.- ‘A house for a house’ -But there is another crucial condition: only ground-floor owners qualify.Half of Dharavi’s people live or work in illegally built upper floors.Manda Sunil Bhave meets all requirements and beams at the prospect of leaving her cramped two-room flat, where there is not even space to unfold a bed.”My house is small, if any guest comes, it is embarrassing for us,” said the 50-year-old, immaculate in a blue sari.”We have been told that we will get a house in Dharavi, with a toilet… it has been my dream for many years.”But many of her neighbours will be forced to leave.Ullesh Gajakosh, leading the “Save Dharavi” campaign, demands “a house for a house, a shop for a shop”. “We want to get out of the slums… But we do not want them to push us out of Dharavi in the name of development. This is our land.”Gajakosh counts on the support of local businesses, among them 78-year-old leatherworker Wahaj Khan.”We employ 30 to 40 people,” he said, glancing around his workshop. “We are ready for development. But if they do not give us space in Dharavi, our business will be finished.”- ‘A new Dharavi’ – Abbas Zakaria Galwani, 46, shares the same concern.He and the 4,000 other potters in Dharavi even refused to take part in the census of their properties.”If Adani doesn’t give us as much space, or moves us somewhere from here, we will lose,” Galwani said.More than local authorities, it is Adani — the billionaire tycoon behind the conglomerate — who has become the lightning rod for criticism.His fortune has soared since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. So it was little surprise when his group won the Dharavi contract, pledging to invest around $5 billion.Adani holds an 80 percent stake in the project, with the state government controlling the rest. He estimates the overall cost at $7–8 billion and hopes to complete it within seven years.He has publicly vowed his “good intent” and promised to create “a new Dharavi of dignity, safety and inclusiveness”.Sceptics suspect he’s after lucrative real estate.Dharavi sits on prime land next to the Bandra-Kurla business district — home to luxury hotels, limousine showrooms and high-tech firms.”This project has nothing to do with the betterment of people’s lives,” said Shweta Damle, of the Habitat and Livelihood Welfare Association.”It has only to do with the betterment of the business of a few people.”She believes that “at best” three-quarters of Dharavi residents will be forced to leave.”An entire ecosystem will disappear,” she warned. “It’s going to be a disaster.”

The Trump administration is in talks to take an equity stake in Lithium Americas, which would insert the government into another private enterprise in the latest challenge to American free-market traditions.The move comes on the heels of Trump announcements establishing government holdings in struggling semiconductor giant Intel and the rare earth company MP Materials. Trump also secured a “golden share” for Washington in United States Steel as a condition of its sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel. Talks are still ongoing on the Lithium Americas stake, part of a renegotiation of a US Department of Energy loan held by the Canadian mining company and General Motors, said a Trump administration official.The White House has characterized the stock holding arrangements as a boon for taxpayers that points to Trump’s prowess as a dealmaker, while asserting that day-to-day management will be left to companies. But free-market advocates have reacted with various degrees of alarm to a trend they see as undermining the strength of the US system and stoking crony capitalism. In the US system, the government sets up the rules governing the private sector but generally stays out of it thereafter as firms respond to market signals.”It undermines competition,” said Fred Ashton, director of competition policy at American Action Forum, who believes inserting the state into private enterprise leads to inefficiency and benefits politically favored firms over those less connected.”We know the president likes to win so there’s no way the government lets these firms fail,” Ashton said.Trump administration officials recently made use of the US Steel golden share. The company had planned to keep paying 800 workers while idling an Illinois factory, but decided to keep the plant running after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick invoked the golden share, according to a Wall Street Journal report.”You need to let an executive of the company conclude the best use of the capital,” said governance expert Charles Elson of the University of Delaware, who criticized the White House intervention.”The government is not in the business of picking winners and losers in the capital system,” he said. “That’s why we have a capital system.”- Bipartisan consensus -It is not unprecedented for the US government to hold equity stakes. In response to the 2008 financial crisis, the US government amassed holdings in insurer AIG, General Motors and fellow automaker Chrysler as a condition of government support packages.But the Treasury Department sold off the shares after the crisis ended, reflecting a bipartisan consensus, according to Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute think tank, who said presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama embraced the free market.”Obama would have laughed out of the room the suggestion that the government take an equity stake in a manufacturing company,” Strain said in a recent column that also criticized the White House’s tying of Nvidia and AMD export licenses to payments to the government.Obama “understood that in America’s system of democratic capitalism, the government does not own or shake down private companies,” Strain said in the piece headlined “Is Trump a State Capitalist?”Strain, in an interview, predicted a “massive amount of crony capitalism” under Trump compared with the norm, but said the shifts will be too limited to significantly tilt the US macroeconomy given its size and tradition.Ashton said he agrees that US status as a free market economy is not seriously in question. But he believes Trump’s conduct is distorting company behavior, noting reports that Apple may take a stake in Intel following Apple CEO Tim Cook’s August White House visit when he presented Trump with a 24-carat gold piece.”It’s become so murky,” Ashton said. “We don’t know whether it’s a business decision because it’s a business decision or whether it’s a business decision because they have to please the White House in some way.”

Canada has signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Indonesia, which aims to eliminate or reduce tariffs on over 95 percent of Ottawa’s exports to its largest market in Southeast Asia.Several experts told AFP the strategic agreement is being made in the context of global economic turmoil, exacerbated by the protectionist policies of the United States.”This is the right deal at the right time with the right partner,” Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said, adding Indonesia is “Canada’s largest export market in Southeast Asia.”Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto called the agreement a “historic moment” during an official visit to Ottawa Wednesday, as it is the first of its kind with an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member country. “I’m very lucky to be the Indonesian president who brings this back to Indonesia,” Subianto said.Canada’s exports include wheat, potash, timber and soybeans.The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) agreement allows Canada to strengthen its presence in the Indo-Pacific region, in line with the strategy that was unveiled by the previous administration under Justin Trudeau.The agreement also provides for the elimination of more than 90 percent of tariffs on Indonesian imports, a boon to the export of garments and leather goods to the North American market.Simultaneously, a defense cooperation agreement was signed aimed at strengthening collaboration in military training, maritime security, cyber defense and peacekeeping.

Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order laying out a proposed deal for a US version of TikTok that would see Chinese ownership reduced to 20 percent and put control in the hands of the president’s allies.At a signing ceremony at the White House, Trump said the US version of the app would be run by “highly sophisticated” investors including Larry Ellison, the founder of cloud giant Oracle, tech investor Michael Dell and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Investment firm Silver Lake Management and Silicon Valley powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz are also thought to be part of the deal.”The proposed divestiture would allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while also protecting national security,” Trump stated in the order, which affects TikTok’s approximately 170 million American users.The lineup of investors mentioned are all Trump allies but he insisted that the app would not toe any political line.”If I could make it 100 percent MAGA I would, but it’s not going to work out that way unfortunately. No… every group, every philosophy, every policy, will be treated very fairly,” Trump told reporters.The president confirmed that the US version of TikTok would feature a homegrown model of the app’s prized algorithm, often described as TikTok’s “secret sauce” that helped it grow into one of the world’s most popular platforms in just a few years. A White House official said Monday the algorithm would be “continuously monitored” to ensure it is “not being unduly influenced.”The new set-up for TikTok is in response to a law passed under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, that has forced its Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a ban in its biggest market. US policymakers, including Trump in his first presidency, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence through its state-of-the-art algorithm.Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement through successive executive orders, most recently extending the deadline until December 16, 2025. Thursday’s order extended that deadline still further, granting a 120-day enforcement delay to complete the transaction by January 23.Vice President JD Vance, the one-time venture capitalist who led the team to find a solution for TikTok, said the US entity would be valued at about $14 billion, though he added that it would ultimately be up to the investors to figure out its price.When asked if the Chinese authorities had signed off on the deal, Trump said that President Xi Jinping gave his green light in a phone call last week.”(I have) great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China,” he said.TikTok did not respond to a query seeking comment and confirmation, and Beijing has remained largely silent on any deal. After the Trump-Xi call, state broadcaster CCTV said Xi emphasized to his US counterpart that China supports market-based negotiations that align with Chinese laws.

Wall Street stocks retreated while the dollar rallied Thursday following stronger than expected US economic data that could delay Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.The US government revised its second-quarter economic growth rate upwards on Thursday to 3.8 percent from 3.3 percent, as consumers spent more than expected.It marks the fastest quarterly growth rate in nearly two years.”Is the US economy much stronger than believed?” queried InvestingLive currency analyst Adam Button, who added in a subsequent note that the US dollar could be poised to rally if there is a “big re-think” on the outlook for the US economy.The greenback rose Thursday against the euro, British pound and Japanese yen.But US equity indices retreated for a third straight day after posting a record on Monday.The stock market “did not like the good economic data we got this morning, because (it) basically calls into question the market’s assumption that the Fed will be cutting rates multiple times before the end of the year,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.Analysts are focused on Friday’s release of the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation — the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index — and next week’s nonfarm payrolls report.The US central bank — citing a weak labor market — last week announced its first rate reduction of the year, and forecast there could be two more by the end of 2025.But expectations were dealt a blow on Tuesday as Powell warned that stocks are “fairly highly valued” and that there was “no risk-free path” on rates.The PCE data “may also shift investor expectations over the speed and depth of additional easing measures from the US central bank,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services firm Trade Nation.Among individual stocks, Intel shot up nearly nine percent following reports the company has approached Apple about investing in the struggling chipmaker. Apple rose 1.8 percent.Amazon fell 0.9 percent as it reached an agreement to pay $2.5 billion to settle allegations from a US regulator that it used deceptive practices to enroll consumers in Amazon Prime and made it difficult to cancel subscriptions.Starbucks dipped 0.5 percent as it announced it would cut about 900 jobs and shutter some underperforming stores as part of a cost-cutting drive.In Europe, shares in German software giant SAP fell two percent after the EU launched an antitrust probe into the company.European stock markets were down at the close, including Zurich, which fell as the Swiss National Bank held rates at zero percent and warned that US tariffs were weighing on the economy.- Key figures at around 2020 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 45,947.32 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,604.72 (close) New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 22,384.70 (close)London (close) – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,213.98 Paris (close) – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,795.42Frankfurt (close) – DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,534.83Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 45,754.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 26,484.68 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,853.30 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1658 from $1.1738 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3335 from $1.3447Dollar/yen: UP at 149.81 yen from 148.90 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.42 pence from 87.29 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $69.42 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at $64.98 per barrel

Stock markets fell Thursday despite stronger-than-expected US economic growth data as investors await key inflation figures later this week.Morning trading on Wall Street deepened losses that began earlier this week as Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell tempered expectations about the pace of interest-rate cuts.The US government revised its second-quarter economic growth rate upwards on Thursday to 3.8 percent from 3.3 percent, as consumers spent more than expected.But analysts are focused on Friday’s release of the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation — the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index — and next week’s non-farm payrolls report.”Despite today’s solid GDP results, this week’s major focus is on tomorrow’s PCE report,” said Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at the trading platform eToro.”Active investors will want to see an in-line or lower inflation result, keeping the Fed on pace for two more rate cuts in 2025.”The US central bank — citing a weak labour market — last week announced its first rate reduction of the year, and forecast there could be two more by the end of 2025.But expectations were dealt a blow on Tuesday as Powell warned that stocks are “fairly highly valued” and that there was “no risk-free path” on rates.The PCE data “may also shift investor expectations over the speed and depth of additional easing measures from the US central bank”, said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services firm Trade Nation.Among individual stocks, Apple shares rose slightly even though the European Union rejected the US tech giant’s plea for the bloc to repeal its landmark digital competition law.In Europe, shares in German software giant SAP fell two percent after the EU launched an antitrust probe into the company.European stock markets were down at the close, including Zurich, which fell as the Swiss National Bank held rates at zero percent and warned that US tariffs were weighing on the economy.In Asia, major indices were mixed.- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 45,978.42 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,601.15 New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 22,367.81 London (close) – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,213.98 Paris (close) – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,795.42Frankfurt (close) – DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,534.83Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 45,754.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 26,484.68 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,853.30 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1676 from $1.1737 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3348 from $1.3445Dollar/yen: UP at 149.74 yen from 148.91 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.50 pence from 87.29 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $68.19 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $64.65 per barreldan-bcp-lth-jxb/rlp

Talks on free trade deals between the European Union and Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines were “advancing very well”, the EU trade commissioner said on Thursday as the bloc sought to cement commercial ties in Southeast Asia.Maros Sefcovic’s comments came two days after the EU signed a trade deal with Indonesia, the region’s largest economy, after wrapping up nearly a decade of talks.”My message to my partners in ASEAN was that we do not want to stop here,” Sefcovic told journalists before meeting economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kuala Lumpur.”We have been advancing very well in our free trade negotiations with Thailand, with the Philippines, but also with Malaysia,” he said.Brussels is seeking to strengthen ties beyond traditional trading partners in what is seen as a strategic response to global trade uncertainties and protectionism, particularly triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.Sefcovic said he hoped current trade deals between the 27-nation EU and ASEAN partners would be finalised by 2027, which will mark half a century of negotiations between the two blocs.”It would really cement, I would say, the importance of our relationship,” Sefcovic said.The Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was signed on Tuesday and is expected to be fully implemented by January 2027.The long-awaited trade deal will open investment in strategic sectors such as electric vehicles, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday Washington expected to finalise trade agreements with more Southeast Asian nations “in the coming months”. However, Greer, who spoke at the start of the ASEAN meeting of economic ministers, did not provide details or the names of countries involved. US President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs of between 10 and 40 percent on ASEAN member states, with Laos and Myanmar facing the highest rate, while Singapore faced a baseline 10 percent levy.

Top-selling carmaker Toyota opened its new high-tech village in Japan on Thursday, an experimental project to test autonomous driving and other futuristic developments.It is touted as a real-life setting in which to trial myriad inventions, from flying taxis to robot pets and drones that escort you home at night.Around 360 Toyota staff and others related to the company will soon move in to smart homes in its “Woven City”.”This is a test course for the future, not just a town,” Toyota’s chairman Akio Toyoda told an opening event, according to national broadcaster NHK.The number of residents in the cluster of homes built on a disused Toyota factory at the base of Mount Fuji is eventually expected to grow to 2,000, the firm says.Toyoda has previously called it a “living laboratory where the residents are willing participants” and inventors can test ideas in a secure environment.”Homes in the Woven City will eventually serve as test sites for future technology, such as in-home robotics, to assist with daily life,” he said in January.One example could be robots that learn how to fold shirts, Toyoda said.The project, first announced in 2020, is led by his son, Daisuke Toyoda.”Much like test drivers for cars… our residents will be the ones who use and experience the new products and services our inventors develop.”The company’s e-Palette self-driving buses will also be tested at Woven City, among other autonomous logistics and driving technologies.