Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 103

The global trade war will badly hurt the US and global economies, WTO says

President Donald Trump’s global trade war will hurt economies around the world this year, including the US, according to a new report by the World Trade Organization. The WTO projects global economies will grow more slowly than they would without tariffs — and that will be especially the case in North America, a region dominated by the United States, which will see a greater slowdown than other

China posts unexpectedly strong economic growth before tariffs bite

China has posted unexpectedly strong economic growth in the first three months of 2025, before the full force of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs took effect, and sent an upbeat message about how it plans to weather an ongoing trade war with Washington.Growth in China’s gross domestic product (GDP) hit 5.4% in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was

China's Xi urges Vietnam to oppose 'bullying' as Trump mulls more tariffs

China's President Xi Jinping has called on Vietnam to oppose "unilateral bullying" to upkeep a global system of free trade - though he stopped short of naming the US. It comes as Xi is on a so called "charm offensive" trip across South East Asia, which will also see him visit Malaysia and Cambodia. Though the trip was long-planned, it has taken on heightened significance in the wake of a mounting

Torbjørn Færøvik: Kinas Xi Jinping på frierferd i Asia

Mens Donald Trump tar fatt på en ny kaotisk uke i Det hvite hus, drar Kinas Xi Jinping på frierferd i Asia. I dag tidlig ble han mottatt med blomster og æresbevisninger på flyplassen i Hanoi, hovedstaden i Vietnam. Snart femti år er gått siden Vietnam-krigens slutt. Krigen endte med et massivt nederlag for USA og en hastig, ydmykende evakuering. Senere amerikanske presidenter, først Bill Clinton,

China told Hong Kong’s last major opposition party to shut down: members

Senior members of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, the city’s last remaining major opposition party, said that Chinese officials and their proxies had warned the party to disband or face “serious consequences,” including possible arrests. Founded in 1994, the Democratic Party was Hong Kong’s first major pro-democracy political force. It emerged from a movement that began in 1982 to oppose any

Shipments from Chinese ports slow as US tariffs bite

Major ports and foreign trade provinces in China are showing the first signs of disruption from the ongoing tariff war between the world’s two largest economies. Virtually no cargo ships were bound for the U.S. by Thursday from once-bustling ports in Shanghai and Guangdong, while operations at export factories in provinces that feed China’s export empire have ground to a halt, sources in the

Trump’s showdown with China deepens, with huge stakes for the economy

President Donald Trump is heading into another volatile week of his trade wars facing an urgent need to de-escalate the clash he ignited with China before it inflicts deep damage on the US economy.Chinese President Xi Jinping is so far declining US pressure to call his American counterpart to seek a “deal” after the United States imposed 145% tariffs on its superpower rival, setting off a

MP barred from Hong Kong says it was to 'shut me up'

A Liberal Democrat MP barred from entering Hong Kong has told the BBC she believes it was to "shut me up and to silence me". Wera Hobhouse flew to Hong Kong with her husband on Thursday to visit her son and newborn grandson. However she was detained at the airport, questioned and deported.The MP for Bath, one of more than 40 parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac)

China’s Xi hikes US tariffs, seeks to bolster relations with Southeast Asian nations

China’s president is heading on a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia after his government hiked tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%, the latest strike in an intensifying trade war that has sunk stock markets and threatens to stunt the global economy. The increase to 125% from 84%, effective Saturday, matches the recent series of duties levied U.S. President Donald Trump levied on China. The White

Trump's tariffs are a huge blow to Vietnam's economic ambitions

US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs targeting most of the world are now in effect – and outside China, no other region has been hit as hard as South East Asia. Near the top of the list are Vietnam and Cambodia which have been hit by some of the highest tariffs: 46% and 49%. Further down are Thailand (36%), Indonesia (32%) and Malaysia (24%). The Philippines gets a tariff of 17%, and