President Donald Trump announced a new peace pact between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he linked to US access to critical minerals. At a meeting in Washington, Trump claimed his administration had "succeeded where many others have failed," calling this the eighth war he has ended in less than a year. However, the reality on the ground is far more complicated, as fighting in eastern Congo continues despite the signing of the previous peace agreement. The agreement is not just about a ceasefire; it also concerns the mineral trade. The agreement grants US companies access...
The ISM Manufacturing PMI in the US fell to 48.5 in May 2025 from 48.7 in April, below market expectations of 49.5. The reading marked the third consecutive month of contraction in the manufacturing sector and the sharpest decline since November 2024, highlighting mounting economic uncertainty and sustained cost pressures, partly driven by volatile trade policies under the Trump administration. Output, new orders, employment, and backlog of orders all declined but at a slower pace, while new export sales dropped more sharply. Meanwhile, the Inventories Index slipped into contraction...
Trump said he would increase tariffs on Steel and Aluminium to 50% from 25%, effective 4 June. He made the announcement as he visited a US Steel Corp. plant on Friday. Later on, Trump said he would raise Aluminium rates in a Truth Social post, ING's commodity experts Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson note. Trump says the tariffs are aimed at bolstering domestic production "The US imports significant volumes of Aluminium and Steel from Canada. It imports roughly half of its Aluminium needs from abroad, with Canada the biggest supplier, accounting for 58% of imports, followed by 6% from the...
China on Monday refuted Washington's claims that it had broken the Geneva trade agreement, instead accusing the U.S. for breaching deal terms, signaling talks between the worlds top two economies have taken a turn for the worse. Trade frictions between Washington and Beijing have flared up after a hiatus following a meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng in Geneva, Switzerland, that had led them to suspend most tariffs for 90 days. The Trump administration has ratcheted up export restrictions on semiconductor design software and...
China's Commerce Ministry on Monday rejected accusations from U.S. President Donald Trump that the country had violated a recent trade agreement signed in Geneva, Switzerland. China claimed it had "taken seriously, strictly implemented, and actively upheld the consensus reached at the talks with U.S. in Geneva," the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. The statement said Washington had "made bogus charges and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts". "China firmly rejects these unreasonable accusations," the commerce ministry...
The Federal Reserve will still be able to cut interest rates this year, with recent data supporting this outlook, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday. Speaking at a conference in South Korea, Waller said that a rise in inflation from President Donald Trump's trade tariffs was unlikely to be persistent, giving the Fed more confidence to lower rates later this year. If "underlying inflation continues to make progress to our 2% goal," along with tariffs settling at lower rates and employment remaining "solid," "I would be supporting good news rate cuts later this year," Waller...
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like...
Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
President Donald Trump announced a new peace pact between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he linked to US access to critical minerals. At a meeting in Washington, Trump claimed...