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Mexico said Wednesday the United States will be shooting itself in the foot if President-elect Donald Trump implements his threats to impose 25-percent tariffs on Mexican imports.Trump on Monday fired the warning shot in a looming trade war with the top three US trading partners by threatening to impose huge tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China if they failed to stop illegal migration and drug smuggling into the United States.He said he would charge 25 percent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports and 10 percent on Chinese goods “above any additional tariffs” on the world’s second-biggest economy.Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard warned that the cost to US companies of the tariffs on Mexico would be “huge.””Around 400,000 jobs will be lost” in the United States, he said, citing a study based on figures from US carmakers that manufacture in Mexico.He added the tariffs would also hit US consumers hard.Ebrard cited the US market for pickup trucks, most of which are manufactured in Mexico, as an example, claiming the tariffs would add $3,000 to the cost of a new vehicle.”The impact of this measure will chiefly be felt by consumers in the United States… That is why we say that it would be a shot in the foot,” he said, speaking alongside President Claudia Sheinbaum during her regular morning conference.Mexico and China have been particularly vociferous in their opposition to Trump’s threats of a trade war from day one of his second presidential term, which begins on January 20.Sheinbaum has declared the threats “unacceptable” and pointed out that Mexico’s drug cartels exist mainly to serve drug use in the United States.She has written to Trump to propose a meeting, which she says would happen “ideally” before he takes office.China has warned that “no one will win a trade war.”During his first term as president, Trump launched full-blown trade hostilities with Beijing, imposing significant tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods. China responded with retaliatory tariffs on American products, particularly affecting US farmers.The United States, Mexico and Canada are tied to a three-decade-old largely duty-free trade agreement, called the USMCA, that was renegotiated under Trump after he complained that US businesses, especially automakers, were losing out.

France does not get to decide whether a free trade deal between the EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc goes ahead — only Brussels does, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday.Lula added firmly: “I intend to sign this agreement this year.”Brazil’s position, stressed by Lula in a speech on Brazilian industry, crosses swords with that of France, which is determined to block the trade pact.The blockbuster deal between the 27-country European Union and Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — has been 25 years in the making and would create the world’s biggest free trade zone.The contours of the agreement with the Mercosur bloc — which Brazil dominates — were agreed in 2019, but progress on completing the pact has stalled since. On Tuesday, France’s parliament overwhelmingly backed President Emmanuel Macron in rejecting the EU-Mercosur deal, which has prompted protests by French farmers fearing it would bring unfair competition.Trade policy for the whole European Union, however, is determined by the European Commission, run by Ursula von der Leyen, on the basis of what most EU member states agree.”If the French don’t want the agreement, they don’t get to blow the final whistle — the European Commission will blow that whistle,” Lula said.”Ursula von der Leyen has the power to make the agreement happen,” he said.France needs three other EU countries to join it to form a blocking minority against the deal. So far Poland has publicly rallied to its side. But Germany and Spain have both said they want the trade deal completed swiftly.At a G20 summit in Rio last week, Macron reiterated his opposition to the Mercosur deal and said France was working with Poland, Austria, Italy and other EU countries “that have the same concerns.”Von der Leyen, who also participated in the G20 summit, admitted on arrival that her commission had a “big task” in getting EU member countries behind the trade deal, adding: “The devil is always in the details.”The EU’s outgoing foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, this week backed the deal being done by the end of the year.”This is about much more than just trade; it is above all a geopolitical issue,” he said in his online blog.That reflects European concerns that China is making trade inroads into Latin America — and that the world could be heading into a period of trade wars triggered under Donald Trump’s protectionist “America First” policies.

European stock markets mostly retreated Wednesday on concerns Europe could be the next tariffs target for US president-elect Donald Trump, who has announced a tough-negotiating hawk as his trade envoy.Trump plans to hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs from January.”Investors are growing increasingly concerned that Donald Trump’s next tariff target is continental Europe,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.For Europe, this would create “another potential headwind on top of the existing one in the form of lacklustre economic activity”, he added.While there were losses for Paris and Frankfurt stock markets approaching the half-way stage Wednesday, London managed to nudge higher.After another record-breaking lead from Wall Street on Tuesday, Chinese markets rallied as data showed that China’s industrial sector narrowed losses in October.Trump has announced Jamieson Greer as his trade envoy, saying he played a “key role” in imposing tariffs on China during his previous term in office.The dollar dropped against main rivals awaiting the release Wednesday of the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, as well as figures on jobless claims and economic growth.The Fed has indicated support for a gradual approach to future interest-rate cuts as the jobs market remains solid, according to minutes from their November policy meeting.Elsewhere, oil prices edged up having slid on news that Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon had agreed a ceasefire. Crude won support from the prospect that key OPEC+ nations will delay a pick-up in production, which was due to begin in January, when they meet Sunday.Bitcoin sat around $93,500, having hit a record Friday and come within a whisker of the $100,000 mark on hopes that Trump will move to ease restrictions on the crypto market.London stocks bucked the downward trend across most European stock markets, rising 0.1 percent. Shares in EasyJet rose one percent in late morning deals after the UK airline posted a 40-percent rise in annual profits on strong demand for its package holidays.The Paris stock market slid more than one percent as a French political standoff over a belt-tightening draft budget for 2025 threatens to topple the government. Tokyo fell with Hello Kitty owner Sanrio tumbling more than 14 percent after major shareholders said they would reduce their stake in the firm.- Key figures around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,267.52Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.2 percent at 7,106.02Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 19,186.60Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 38,134.97 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.3 percent at 19,603.13 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.5 percent at 3,309.78 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 44,860.31 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0529 from $1.0482 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2615 from $1.2567Dollar/yen: DOWN at 151.39 yen from 153.06 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.47 pence from 83.41 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $72.52 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $68.96 per barrel

German car giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it would sell its operations in China’s Xinjiang region, where Beijing has been accused of widespread human rights abuses including forced labour.The firm will sell its factory in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi as well as a test track in Turpan to a Chinese company, a spokesperson said, citing “economic reasons” for the decision.VW has lost ground in China — its most important market, where it makes around a third of its sales — with business in the country in 2023 growing modestly but at a slower rate than the previous year.The German manufacturer has fallen behind domestic competitors in China, losing its title as the best-selling auto brand to BYD.The move also comes as Volkswagen is seeking to push through a major cost-cutting drive, and is weighing up closing factories in Germany for the first time.Rights campaigners have for years accused Beijing of a crackdown against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, including through forced labour and detention camps.Beijing denies allegations of abuse and insists its actions in Xinjiang have helped to combat extremism and enhance development.The northwestern region is home to several factories that supply multinational companies, including big-name Western brands.VW has long come under scrutiny over its factory in the city of Urumqi, which opened in 2013 and in which it has a stake via its partner SAIC.This year, Germany’s Handelsblatt financial daily reported that forced labour may have been used to build VW’s test track in Turpan in 2019.VW said previously it had seen no evidence of human rights violations in connection with the project but vowed to investigate any new information that came to light.Its operations will be sold to Chinese firm Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (SMVIC), the car giant said Wednesday.- ‘Difficult decision’ -Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center Automotive Research institute in Germany, said that VW had “bowed to public sentiment” in deciding to end its operations in Xinjiang.”It was a difficult decision for VW, because China and its image in China are very important for the company,” the auto industry expert told AFP. Some in China would be unhappy with the move and at a time “German carmakers are already losing market share, this is of course tricky”, he added. In a commentary, top-selling German tabloid Bild noted that VW had faced pressure from the government in Berlin and the capital markets to pull out of Xinjiang. “For too long, the company turned a blind eye to the human rights situation,” it said. Beijing stands accused of incarcerating over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities across Xinjiang.Campaigners and Uyghurs overseas have said an array of abuses take place inside the facilities, including torture, forced labour, forced sterilisation and political indoctrination.A UN report in 2022 detailed “credible” evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violence — as well as forced labour — in the region.But it stopped short of labelling Beijing’s actions a “genocide”, as the United States and some Western lawmakers have done.Calls had grown louder for VW to reconsider its business activities in Xinjiang after German chemicals giant BASF announced this year that it would accelerate its exit from two joint ventures there.An external audit commissioned by VW last year found no evidence of forced labour among the plant’s 197 employees.But the consultancy that wrote the report acknowledged “the challenges in collecting data” for audits in China. The Turpan test track was not part of the audit.In response to the VW forced labour report, China urged companies not to be “blinded by lies” about its rights record in Xinjiang.

German car giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it would sell its operations in China’s Xinjiang region, where Beijing has been accused of widespread human rights abuses including forced labour.The firm will sell its factory in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi as well as a test track in Turpan to a Chinese company, a spokesperson said in a press release.”For economic reasons, the site has been sold by the joint venture as part of its strategic realignment,” the spokesperson said.VW has lost ground in China, its most important market, with sales in the country in 2023 growing modestly but at a slower rate than the previous year.It has fallen behind domestic competitors in China, losing its title as the best-selling auto brand to BYD.And rights campaigners have for years accused Beijing of a crackdown against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, including through forced labour and detention camps.The northwestern region is home to several factories that supply multinational companies, including big-name Western brands.VW has long come under scrutiny over its factory in the city of Urumqi, which opened in 2013 and in which it has a stake via its partner SAIC.And this year, Germany’s Handelsblatt financial daily reported that forced labour may have been used to build VW’s test track in Turpan in 2019.VW said it had seen no evidence of human rights violations in connection with the project but vowed to investigate any new information that came to light.Its operations will be sold to Chinese firm Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (SMVIC), the car giant said Wednesday.- Forced labour allegations -Beijing stands accused of incarcerating over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities across Xinjiang.Campaigners and Uyghurs overseas have said an array of abuses take place inside the facilities, including torture, forced labour, forced sterilisation and political indoctrination.A UN report in 2022 detailed “credible” evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violence — as well as forced labour — in the region.But it stopped short of labelling Beijing’s actions a “genocide”, as the United States and some Western lawmakers have done.Calls had grown louder for VW to reconsider its business activities in Xinjiang after German chemicals giant BASF announced this year that it would accelerate its exit from two joint ventures there.An external audit commissioned by VW last year found no evidence of forced labour among the plant’s 197 employees.But the consultancy that wrote the report acknowledged “the challenges in collecting data” for audits in China. The Turpan test track was not part of the audit.In response to the VW forced labour report, China urged companies not to be “blinded by lies” about its rights record in Xinjiang.Beijing denies allegations of abuse and insists its actions in Xinjiang have helped to combat extremism and enhance development.

A Malaysian court on Wednesday allowed corruption charges in one of several cases linked to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund against jailed ex-prime minister Najib Razak to be dropped, his lawyer said.Najib is currently in jail after being convicted in one of five cases related to 1MDB from which billions of dollars had been allegedly pilfered. He will face another trial from December 2.Charges dropped Wednesday relates to payments of 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.48 billion) allegedly made to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company.”The court correctly exercised its jurisdiction to discharge our client of the charges,” his lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told AFP.”The decision today was based on the non-disclosure of critical documents, six years from the initial charges being read, that are relevant to our client’s preparation of his defence,” Farhan said.Similarly, Farhan said the Kuala Lumpur High Court also dropped charges against  Najib’s ally and former treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah.However, prosecutors can seek renewed charges if they were to disclose the crucial documents that had been withheld from Najib’s defence, as the court’s decision on Wednesday did not amount to a full acquittal.Najib, in October, issued an apology that the 1MDB scandal happened during his tenure, but maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.Allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from investment vehicle 1MDB and used to buy everything from a super-yacht to artwork played a major role in prompting voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation party in 2018 elections.The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered.– Litany of cases -Najib began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offences linked to the misuse of public money from former 1MDB unit SRC International. The sentence was later halved by Malaysia’s pardons board.  His 1MDB audit tampering trial ended with an acquittal at the High Court in 2023.In October, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that 71-year-old will have to defend himself against four counts of abuse of power linked to 2.27 billion ringgit in alleged bribes and 21 counts of money laundering, involving Tanore Finance Corp. The trial is slated to get underway on December 2.  Another money laundering trial over 27 million ringgit in funds is set to commence in April 2025.The US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates.    Najib, the UK-educated son of one of Malaysia’s founding fathers, had been groomed for the prime minister’s post from a young age.He set up 1MDB after coming to power in 2009 to bolster economic development, but the fund amassed billions of dollars in debt.But Najib’s reputation has been battered not just by 1MDB but other graft controversies.Najib was linked to allegations of huge kickbacks in a 2002 purchase of French submarines while defence minister, a case later connected to the 2006 murder of a Mongolian woman — Altantuya Shaariibuu — involved in the deal.He steadfastly denied wrongdoing.

Asian markets were mixed Wednesday as traders tried to gauge the economic outlook after Donald Trump picked a tough-negotiating hawk as his trade envoy the day after saying he would hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs.The stuttering performance followed a broadly negative day on Tuesday and came despite another record-breaking lead from Wall Street.While he still has just under two months to go before taking office, Trump signalled Monday that he was ready to reopen his hardball playbook with America’s key trading partners if they do not stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling.The threat to impose the levies on his first day reignited trade war fears at a time when central bankers are fighting to bring inflation under control, with several observers warning prices could begin to spike again.Investors were also trying to ascertain the ramifications of the decision to name as trade envoy Jamieson Greer, who served as chief of staff to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during the first Trump administration.”Jamieson played a key role during my First Term in imposing Tariffs on China and others to combat unfair Trade practices,” the president-elect said, noting Greer’s experience pushing through a trade deal with Mexico and Canada.National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril said: “President Trump is serious about using tariffs as a form of leverage.”Monday’s announcements “were linked to drugs and illegal immigration, but we must assume there is another layer of tariffs that should be coming on countries running trade surpluses with the US”, he said. He added that Trump was aiming for a “trade decoupling” and that “the question is whether he wants a mild decoupling or a severe one. Another observation is that we should expect retaliation, implying a negative impact on global trade”.All three main indexes on Wall Street ended on a positive note, with the S&P 500 and Dow hitting record highs.In Asia, Tokyo fell with Hello Kitty owner Sanrio tumbling more than 14 percent after major shareholders said they would reduce their stake in the firm. It had shed around 17 percent at one point.There were also losses in Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Manila and Bangkok, but Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Wellington rose.Mumbai was also up, with Adani Enterprises soaring more than 10 percent after it said in statement Wednesday that tycoon founder Gautam Adani and other top officials are “only charged” with securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud. It denies all the charges.It said it was “incorrect” to say that either Gautam or his nephew Sagar Adani had been charged with bribery or corruption.Its subsidiaries including Adani Green and Adani Power also rocketed.The gains came after the company said earlier in the day that it had lost almost $55 billion in a market rout since the accusations.London was flat at the open, while Paris and Frankfurt fell. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s November policy meeting, where it cut interest rates, showed officials would take a gradual approach when considering future reductions as the job market remained solid.If data comes in about as expected, “it would likely be appropriate to move gradually toward a more neutral stance of policy over time”, the minutes said.While economists had been expecting another cut in December, bets on that have been scaled back in light of Trump’s election amid worries his pledges to cut tax and impose tariffs would lead to another spike in prices.Traders are keenly awaiting the release later Wednesday of the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation as well as figures on jobless claims and economic growth.That comes as US markets wind down for Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.Oil prices edged up slightly. The commodity had fallen around three percent on news that Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon were close to a ceasefire, cooling geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The agreement went into effect Wednesday.Crude was getting support from the prospect of key OPEC+ nations delaying a pick-up in production that was due to begin in January.Bitcoin was sitting around $93,500, having hit a record Friday and come within a whisker of the $100,000 mark on hopes that Trump will move to ease restrictions on the crypto market.- Key figures around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 38,134.97 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.3 percent at 19,603.13 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.5 percent at 3,309.78 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,261.87Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0500 from $1.0482 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2593 from $1.2567Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.00 yen from 153.06 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.38 pence from 83.41 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $69.06 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $73.12 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 44,860.31 (close)

India’s Adani Group conglomerate said Wednesday it had lost almost $55 billion in a stock market rout since US prosecutors last week accused its founder and other officials of fraud.The November 20 bombshell indictment in New York accused billionaire industrialist founder Gautam Adani and multiple subordinates of deliberately misleading international investors as part of a bribery scheme.It said they had “devised a scheme to offer, authorise, make and promise to make bribes payments to Indian government officials”.The firm, which denies the charges, said in a statement on Wednesday: “Since the intimation of the US DoJ (Department of Justice) indictment, the group has suffered a loss of near $55 billion in its market capitalisation across its 11 listed companies.”Gautam Adani, 62, is suspected of having participated in the $250 million scheme in bribes to secure lucrative government contracts.Adani Group issued a stiff denial, describing the charges as “baseless”, but it triggered a heavy sell-off of Adani stocks in Mumbai last week, with multiple trading halts.A statement on Wednesday said Adani officials are “only charged” with securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and securities fraud. It denies all the charges.It said it was “incorrect” to say that either Gautam Adani or his nephew Sagar Adani had been charged with bribery or corruption.Stocks in Adani Enterprises surged after the statement, piling on more than 10 percent in Mumbai, as did Adani Green, its renewable energy arm.Adani is a close ally of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was at one point the world’s second-richest man, and critics have long accused him of improperly benefitting from their relationship.- ‘Significant repercussions’ -The group said the action had led to “significant repercussions”, including “international project cancellations, financial market impact and sudden examination from strategic partners, investors and the public”.That included in Kenya, where President William Ruto said the Adani Group would no longer be involved in plans to expand the East African country’s electricity network and its main airport. The Adani Group was to invest $1.85 billion in Jomo Kenyatta airport and $736 million in state-owned utility KETRACO.Sri Lanka has opened an investigation into the local investments of the group, including a $442 million wind power deal and an Adani-led deep-sea port terminal in Colombo, which is estimated to cost more than $700 million.With a business empire spanning coal, airports, cement and media, Adani Group has weathered previous corporate fraud allegations and suffered a similar stock rout last year.The conglomerate saw $150 billion wiped from its market value in 2023 after a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research accused it of “brazen” corporate fraud.Adani denied Hindenburg’s allegations and called its report a “deliberate attempt” to damage its image for the benefit of short-sellers.Adani Group’s rapid expansion into capital-intensive businesses has raised alarms in the past, with Fitch subsidiary and market researcher CreditSights in 2022 warning it was “deeply over-leveraged”.Adani, who was born to a middle-class family in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, dropped out of school at 16 and moved to Mumbai to find work in the financial capital’s lucrative gem trade.After a short stint in his brother’s plastics business, he launched the flagship family conglomerate that bears his name in 1988 by branching out into the export trade. 

Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast reported a net loss of $550 million for the third quarter, less than the same period last year as the firm recorded an uptick in sales.The communist state’s first homegrown car manufacturer is aiming to compete with global EV giants such as Tesla.VinFast shares have fluctuated wildly since debuting on the Nasdaq in August 2023, at one point soaring to a market value bigger than Ford and General Motors before lurching downward.Late Tuesday, VinFast said its third-quarter net loss was down 14.8 percent compared with last year’s July-September period, according to its unaudited financial results.The company said it delivered almost 22,000 vehicles in the quarter, an on-year increase of 115 percent.Revenue for the quarter stood at $511 million, an on-year jump of 49 percent.”We expect to finish 2024 on a strong note and meet our 80,000 vehicle delivery target,” VinFast chairwoman Thuy Le said in a statement. VinFast last year reported a net loss of $2.39 billion, up 14.7 percent from 2022.With 173 showrooms globally, the company is trying to crack markets in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Canada. The company is scheduled to open factories in Subang, Indonesia and in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu next year.Earlier this month, CEO Pham Nhat Vuong and parent group Vingroup said they would inject $3.5 billion in new funding into the company. The goal is to achieve the break-even point by the end of 2026.Vuong, Vietnam’s richest person, was appointed CEO of VinFast earlier this year. He is also chairman of parent firm Vingroup.

Shares in the Japanese entertainment giant behind the popular Hello Kitty brand plunged on Wednesday after major shareholders said they would reduce their stakes.A statement issued Tuesday by Sanrio said shareholders including major bank Mitsubishi UFJ will let go of as many as 25.9 million shares, sold at a price to be determined later. The move is intended to “expand and diversify the shareholders’ base”, Sanrio said. Shares in the firm dived as much as 17 percent on Wednesday morning before paring the losses to around 14.6 percent.The mastermind behind Hello Kitty had seen its value more than double this year, driven in part by strong profits linked to the feline-like character whose cute, enigmatic face has adored fans worldwide for decades.Since CEO Tomokuni Tsuji took over from his grandfather in 2020, its share price has soared more than seven-fold, pushing its market capitalisation to more than one trillion yen ($6.8 billion). Even as Hello Kitty turned 50 this year, the cultural phenomenon shows no sign of slowing, with a Warner Bros movie in the pipeline and a new theme park due to open next year on China’s Hainan island.