Industry News

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the initiation of a Section 301 investigation into Brazil. The probe will examine whether Brazil’s policies and practices in areas such as digital trade, electronic payment services, "unfair" preferential tariffs, intellectual property protection, ethanol market access, and deforestation-related measures negatively impact U.S. trade interests.

Singapore has shown strong momentum in the cross-border e-commerce sector, with a cross-border shopping penetration rate of 69%, ranking first in the world. Data shows that 98% of Singaporean consumers are willing to shop overseas, far exceeding the global average, and 69% of them make cross-border purchases at least once a month.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, comprises over 17,000 islands straddling the equator. Its rich cultural heritage and breathtaking landscapes reflect a unique blend of traditions, religions, and natural wonders.

On April 1, 2025, April Fool's Day, a chill with the smell of rust lingered in the morning fog of Washington. In front of the glass curtain wall of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), thousands of employees lined up in a long queue, each holding a cardboard box. The dismissal notice emails shone with a blinding light, slicing open the first wound in the global public health system like a sharp blade.

The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment benefits rose by 18,000 to 241,000 in the week ended April 26, according to the data released by the Labor Department on Thursday. This figure exceeded the median forecast of 223,000 by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the number of people continuing to claim unemployment benefits rose to 1.92 million in the week ended April 19, the highest since 2021 and also beyond economists' expectations.

The US April non - farm payrolls report is set to be a crucial variable for the markets. The market generally expects the addition of 130,000 jobs, the unemployment rate to remain at 4.2%, and the annual growth rate of average hourly earnings to slow to 3.9%. If the data is significantly lower than expected, say the new jobs added are less than 100,000, it may intensify market concerns about a "hard landing" of the US economy, pushing the US dollar index down to test the 98.5 support level, and the pound - dollar exchange rate may test the 1.34 resistance area.

In July 2024, the founders of the Finnish-Estonian Bay Area made a major announcement that they would be joining forces with the China International Group, the China Railway Engineering Corporation and the China Communications Construction Company in an ambitious project to build an undersea tunnel of approximately 103 kilometers. If completed, the tunnel will be the longest undersea railroad tunnel in the world.

On August 5, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that Google violated antitrust laws to maintain its monopoly in online search. The judge made it clear in his ruling that “Google is a monopolist, and it acted to preserve its monopoly.

During a recent trip to Japan during his annual vacation, this reporter observed a remarkable phenomenon: the growing number of foreigners working in Japan, in addition to the many tourists. Especially in the service sector, many people from Southeast Asia can be seen in supermarkets, retail stores and other places, as well as many practitioners from other East Asian countries.