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Argentina and Brazil are requesting 12.5 billion euros ($13.2 billion) in financial aid from the European Union in talks to conclude a trade agreement with South America’s Mercosur bloc, according to a document seen by Reuters.

 

 

The U.S. says it has accepted an invitation to attend China’s top annual security forum in late October, the latest sign of potentially warming ties between the two countries’ militaries.

 

Washington has been eager to revive military-to-military communications with China, its main strategic rival, and three sources familiar with the matter said Beijing had invited Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to attend its Xiangshan forum, scheduled for Oct. 29 – 31.

 

The United States, however, won’t send Austin to the event, styled by Beijing as its answer to Singapore’s annual Shangri-La Dialogue, where in late May China’s defense minister Li Shangfu – who has since disappeared from public – declined a formal meeting with the U.S. defense secretary.

 

Although the invitation could be intended to counter U.S. criticism that China has been slow to rebuild military engagement after cutting most ties following then-U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022, it may also signal a desire by Beijing to improve relations, analysts say.

 

U.S. officials have suggested recently there are “limited” early signs that better military communications could be restored.

 

Mexico’s main auto industry association on Friday urged Mexican authorities to step up efforts to work with the United States to deal with a “migration crisis” on the countries’ shared border because of problems it is causing for trade.

 

Added security checks by Texan authorities in response to a recent surge in border crossings have led to delays in goods transport in recent weeks, fueling concern inside the Mexican car industry, which is heavily integrated with the U.S.

 

The euro zone swung to an unadjusted 6.5 billion euro trade surplus in July from a 36.3 billion euro deficit a year earlier as costs of energy imports plunged and exports of manufactured goods surged, data showed on Friday.

 

The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said the unadjusted trade balance in the January-July period also became positive showing a 2.7 billion euro surplus, compared with a 188.1 billion euro deficit in the same period of 2022.

 

Adjusted for seasonal swings, the trade surplus in July was 2.9 billion euros, down from 8.6 billion in June.A massive fall in the trade deficit in energy of the 27-nation European Union had the biggest impact on the results, with the trade gap down to 247.7 billion euros in the first seven months of the year from 352.3 billion in the same period of 2022.

 

At the same time the EU trade surplus in manufactured goods almost doubled to 215.9 billion in the January-July period from 115.1 in the same period last year.

 

The EU’s trade gap with Russia, which used to be the bloc’s main energy supplier before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, shrunk to 9.2 billion euros in the seven months of this year from 105 billion last year.

 

The EU’s trade gap with China, its second biggest trading partner after the United States, also continued to shrink to 174.7 billion euros in the first seven months from 220.3 billion in the same period of 2022.

 

Source: U.S.News

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that prospects of inking a free trade agreement with the European Union were better this year than in 2024, after talks stalled in July.

 

 

Discussions between Australia and the 450-million-person bloc hit a roadblock mid-year, partly over greater market access for Australian farm products like beef.

 

 

Speaking in New Dehli, India late on Saturday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) summit, Albanese said he had raised the issue with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the event and planned to raise it with French President Emmanuel Macron.

 

 

“I would like to see the Australia EU Free Trade Agreement settled as soon as possible,” Albanese said, according to an official press conference transcript.

 

 

“It’s quite clear with the timetables that are there, that the prospects of that being done are much greater this year than next year, because it does run into elections.”

 

 

The EU and Australia opened talks on a trade deal in 2018 but differences remain particularly over the degree to which the EU will open its markets to some Australian farm products.

 

 

Australia wants more access to EU markets for its beef, lamb, dairy products and wines, much of which are subject to tariffs and quotas.

 

 

For the EU, a trade deal could help in its search for critical raw materials for its green and digital transition and reduce its reliance on China.

 

 

Last month, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell told Reuters that a deal would simplify European investment in Australia’s growing critical minerals sector.

 

 

Source: U.S.News

 India is free to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), China’s Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said on Friday in New Delhi, adding that it would boost trade between India and China which is growing “very fast”.

 

The RCEP is the world’s largest trade bloc backed by China and groups 15 Asia-Pacific economies, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. import prices rebounded more than expected in July amid higher costs for petroleum products and food, but underlying imported inflation pressures remained muted.

 

Import prices increased 0.4% last month, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. Data for June was revised to show prices falling 0.1% instead of the previously reported 0.2%. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, rising 0.2%.

 

In the 12 months through July, import prices dropped 4.4% after declining 6.1% in June. Annual import prices have now decreased for six straight months. The government reported last week that consumer and producer prices rose moderately in July.

 

The Federal Reserve has since March 2022 raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points to the current 5.25%-5.50% range.

 

Fuel prices increased 3.6% last month while food prices accelerated 2.5%. Excluding fuels and food, import prices fell 0.2%. These so-called core import prices dropped 0.3% in June.

 

Core import prices decreased 1.1% on a year-on-year basis in July. They have remained subdued even as the dollar has weakened against the currencies of the United States’ main trade partners this year.

 

Prices for imported capital goods edged up 0.1% in July. The cost of imported consumer goods excluding motor vehicles fell 0.1%, declining for a second straight month. Imported motor vehicle prices rebounded 0.3%.

 

Prices of imported goods from China dropped 0.2%. They have not recorded a monthly increase since October 2022. Chinese import prices were down 2.3% on a year-on-year basis in July, the largest 12-month drop since November 2009.

 

The report also showed export prices increased 0.7% in July, reversing the prior month’s 0.7% decline. Prices for agricultural exports rebounded 0.9% after decreasing in June and May. Higher prices for soybeans, meat and wheat in July more than offset lower prices for corn, fruit and nuts.

 

Nonagricultural export prices climbed 0.6%. There were increases in prices for industrial supplies and materials, capital goods and automotive vehicles, which more than offset lower prices for consumer goods and nonagricultural foods.Export prices fell 7.9% on a year-on-year basis in July after plunging 11.9% in June.

Source: U.S.News

Bolivia’s government is determined to curb dependence on the U.S. dollar for foreign trade, instead turning to the Chinese yuan, officials said, as Latin American support for alternative currencies grows.

 

 

Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said the Andean country was following “a pattern at the level of international trade, that is generating a progressive increase in the use of the yuan in foreign trade,” during a press conference on Thursday in La Paz.