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Wall Street stocks rebounded Monday from steep pre-weekend falls as US President Donald Trump softened his posture on China following earlier threats of large tariffs.European stock markets made modest gains while Asia’s leading stock markets began the week in the red as they caught up with Wall Street’s sharp losses Friday. Gold reached a fresh record high thanks to its status as a safe haven investment.”Things have calmed down almost as dramatically as the flare up on Friday when Donald Trump threatened 100 percent tariffs on China,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Trump, who on Friday announced “massive” tariffs due to Chinese curbs on rare earths exports, backed off that stance, saying in a Sunday social media post “it will all be fine,” and adding that the United States wants to “help” China.Major Wall Street indices that fell hard on Friday recovered a large chunk of their losses after Trump’s weekend pivot.”Trump came back and made it very clear that everything is going to be fine with China,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. “This looks like a relief rally.”The tech-rich Nasdaq led major US indices with a 2.2 percent gain, while the Dow piled on around 630 points to finish up 1.4 percent.”To be blunt, this is just such nonsense — the heaving to and fro on social media posts — but it is what it is, and the stock market seems to be fine playing the part of the puppet,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”Friday’s price action exposed how vulnerable market pricing is to developments that threaten the rose-colored outlook embedded in premium valuations,” he added.Chip giant Broadcom was a standout on Monday, soaring almost 10 percent after announcing a partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI that would provide 10 gigawatts in computing power, the firms said.In the past few weeks, under the leadership of CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI has signed deals involving huge investments in data centers and AI chips with US companies Nvidia, AMD, and Oracle, as well as with South Korea’s Samsung and SK Hynix.Earnings season gets underway in earnest this week, with reports from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and other financial heavyweights on Tuesday.The IMF and World Bank’s semi-annual gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors also began in Washington on Monday.- Key figures at around 2010 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 1.3 percent at 46,067.58 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 1.5 percent at 6,654.72 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 2.0 percent at 22,694.61 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,442.87 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,934.26 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 24,387.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 25,889.48 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,889.50 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1568 from $1.1619 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3332 from $1.3360Dollar/yen: UP at 152.31 yen from 151.59 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.77 pence from 86.98 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $63.32 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $59.49 per barrelburs-jmb/ksb

Wall Street stocks rebounded Monday after heavy pre-weekend falls as US President Donald Trump reignited his trade war with China. European stock markets made modest gains while Asia’s leading stock markets began the week in the red as they caught up with Wall Street’s sharp losses Friday. Gold reached a fresh record high thanks to its status as a safe haven investment.”Things have calmed down almost as dramatically as the flare up on Friday when Donald Trump threatened 100 percent tariffs on China,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Trump wrote Friday on social media that he would impose an additional 100-percent tariff on China and threatened to cancel a meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.The US president had been to meet Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this month, which was to be their first encounter since Trump returned to power in January.The US president cited Beijing’s export curbs on rare earth minerals used in a range of goods including smartphones, electric vehicles and military hardware.Wall Street’s Nasdaq index plunged 3.6 percent following Trump’s comments, with investors also on edge over worries about a tech stock bubble following a recent surge on massive AI investments.Beijing accused Washington of acting unfairly, and the Ministry of Commerce said Sunday: “Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China.”But Trump took a more conciliatory tone Sunday.”Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!,” the US president said in a post on his Truth Social account. Trump’s comments helped shift sentiment, with the dollar perking up and US stocks futures rebounding.”To be blunt, this is just such nonsense — the heaving to and fro on social media posts — but it is what it is, and the stock market seems to be fine playing the part of the puppet,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”Friday’s price action exposed how vulnerable market pricing is to developments that threaten the rose-coloEurred outlook embedded in premium valuations,” he added.The latest spat follows months of fragile peace between the economic superpowers as they looked to reach a full trade deal after Trump’s tariff bombshell in April that saw both sides ramp up tit-for-tat levies to eye-watering levels.Meanwhile, shares in chip giant Broadcom jumped 10 percent after OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced it is teaming up with the firm to design and build its own specialised computer processors for artificial intelligence.”Broadcom has been talked about as a worthy member of the club of tech mega caps, and today’s deal with OpenAI cements its position as one of the real movers in the sector,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at trading platform IG.”The news comes at just the right time after the knock to sentiment on Friday, reminding investors that the race for computing power is still on, and if anything is intensifying,” he added.In the past few weeks, under the leadership of CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI has signed huge investments in data centres and AI chips with US companies Nvidia and AMD, as well as with South Korea’s Samsung and SK hynix.The deals have boosted the prices of tech stocks and help push the Nasdaq to record highs.- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 1.3 percent at 46,083.63 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 1.5 percent at 6,650.90New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 2.0 percent at 22,640.68London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,442.87 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,934.26 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 24,387.93 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 25,889.48 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,889.50 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1569 from $1.1615 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3328 from $1.3352Dollar/yen: UP at 152.32 yen from 151.57 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.80 pence from 86.98 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $63.67 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.7 percent at $59.90 per barrelburs-rl/cw

European stock markets rebounded slightly Monday after heavy pre-weekend falls as US President Donald Trump reignited his trade war with China. Asia’s leading stock markets, catching up with sharp losses Friday on Wall Street, began the week in the red, while gold reached a fresh record high thanks to its status as a safe haven investment.Trump wrote on social media that he would impose an additional 100-percent tariff on China and threatened to cancel a summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.The US president cited Beijing’s export curbs on rare earth minerals used in a range of goods including smartphones, electric vehicles and military hardware.Trump presented a more conciliatory tone Sunday when he described Xi as “respected”, helping to lift the dollar.”European equities are trading higher… (in) a relief rally after the violent swings seen on Friday,” noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at traders Scope Markets.”The breakdown in US-China relations simply adds to the ongoing narrative around US instability, with the government shutdown rolling on towards its third week,” he added.Wall Street’s Nasdaq index plunged 3.6 percent Friday, with investors on edge also over a recent tech-led surge that has stoked fears of a stock bubble.However, investors took a little heart from a post Sunday in which Trump said “The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!”, adding that “respected President Xi… doesn’t want Depression for his country”.Beijing accused Washington of acting unfairly, and the Ministry of Commerce said Sunday: “Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China.”It follows months of fragile peace between the economic superpowers as they looked to reach a full trade deal after Trump’s tariff bombshell in April that saw both sides ramp up tit-for-tat levies to eye-watering levels.One of the winners of this year’s Nobel economics prize, France’s Philippe Aghion, warned Europe that it must not let the United States and China dominate technological innovation.”I think European countries have to realise that we should no longer let the US and China become technological leaders and lose to them,” Aghion told reporters Monday.The prize was awarded also to American-Israeli Joel Mokyr and Canada’s Peter Howitt for work on technology’s impact on sustained economic growth.The week kicked off with price recoveries for bitcoin and oil.The cryptocurrency tumbled over the weekend following Trump’s tough talk on China, while crude futures reversed big losses caused by the Israel-Hamas peace deal.- Key figures at around 1045 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,431.77 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,948.52Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 24,342.12Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 25,889.48 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,889.50 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.9 percent at 45,479.60 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1587 from $1.1615 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3337 from $1.3352Dollar/yen: UP at 152.13 yen from 151.57 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.88 pence from 86.98 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.6 percent at $63.71 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.8 percent at $59.93 per barrel

Asian markets slipped Monday after US President Donald Trump reignited his trade war with Beijing by threatening last week to impose 100 percent tariffs on goods from China.However, the losses were tempered slightly by a more conciliatory tone on Sunday when Trump described Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as “respected”.Trump wrote on social media Friday that he would impose an additional 100 percent tariff on China and threatened to cancel a summit with Xi, citing Beijing’s export curbs on rare earth minerals used in a range of goods including smartphones, electric vehicles and military hardware.The extra US levies, plus export controls on “any and all critical software” would come into effect from November 1 in retaliation for what he called Beijing’s “extraordinarily aggressive” moves.”There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World ‘captive’,” he said.Chinese products currently face US tariffs of 30 percent, while Beijing’s retaliatory tolls are currently at 10 percent.The outburst sent Wall Street into a spiral, with the Nasdaq losing more than three percent, and came as investors were already on edge over a recent tech-led surge that has stoked fears of a stock bubble.However, investors took a little heart from a post Sunday in which Trump said “The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” and added that “respected President Xi (Jinping)… doesn’t want Depression for his country.”Beijing, in turn, accused Washington of acting unfairly, and the Ministry of Commerce on Sunday called the threat a “typical example of ‘double standards'”.”Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China,” it said in an online statement.The announcement came after months of fragile peace between the economic superpowers as they looked to reach a full trade deal after Trump’s tariff bombshell in April that saw the two sides ramp up tit-for-tat levies to eye-watering levels.”The question now is what comes next. That is, of course, impossible to say with any certainty,” said Michael Brown at Pepperstone.”However, it essentially comes down to whether this is the start of a return to the ‘bad old days’ of early April, and an end to the US-China trade truce; or, whether this is yet another negotiating gambit.”Markets across Asia sank into the red, with Hong Kong shedding more than one percent, while Sydney, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei and Mumbai were also well down.Shanghai was also down but pared earlier losses following data showing Chinese imports and exports surged more than expected last month, providing a much-needed boost to the economy.Still, Trump’s comments Sunday provided a little support, with US futures soaring more than one percent.And London, Paris and Frankfurt clawed back some of Friday’s losses.Gold, a safe-haven asset in times of turmoil and uncertainty, continued its rise, touching another record of $4,060.Bitcoin also edged back up after being battered over the weekend in a Trump-fuelled sell-off that saw the cryptocurrency fall below $105,000 from around $122,000. It was sitting just below $115,000 in Asian trade.There was also a healthy bounce for oil, which tanked Friday on Trump’s remarks, which compounded selling of the commodity owing to the Israel-Hamas peace deal that soothed worries about supplies from the Middle East.”Despite the possibility of a replay on how the markets reacted back in April, we believe the looming threat may be short-lived,” said Morningstar’s Kai Wang.”Both sides appeared to be posturing ahead of their November 1 meeting when the tariff truce is set to expire,” he added.He also pointed out that the US government shutdown was “increasingly dampening consumer sentiment in the US, and we do not believe Trump wants to re-escalate foreign policy issues without solving the domestic shutdown first”.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5 percent at 25,889.48 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,889.50 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 9,457.56 Tokyo – Nikkei 225: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1601 from $1.1615 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3334 from $1.3352Dollar/yen: UP at 152.41 yen from 151.57 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.01 pence from 86.98 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $59.84 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.6 percent at $63.70 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.9 percent at 45,479.60 (close)

China’s trade grew faster than expected last month, official data showed Monday, though fresh fears are rising of a major escalation in the tariff war between Beijing and Washington.The world’s second-largest economy has in recent years been mired in a persistent domestic spending slump just as pressure on its export-reliant manufacturing sector intensifies.Clouding the outlook, concerns spiked over the weekend that the trade war between the world’s top two economies will worsen after US President Donald Trump announced additional 100 percent tariffs on all Chinese goods.The move, he said, was in response to Beijing’s announcement last week of sweeping new export controls in the strategic field of rare earths — currently dominated by China.Exports jumped 8.3 percent year on year in September, the General Administration of Customs said, beating a Bloomberg forecast of 6.6 percent.The expansion was the largest since March and much faster than the 4.4 percent increase recorded in August.Imports rose 7.4 percent, the data showed, significantly outpacing a Bloomberg forecast of 1.9 percent.Shipments to the United States — the world’s largest consumer market — picked up to reach $34.3 billion, the data showed.The figure marked an 8.6 percent rise from the $31.6 billion recorded in August.”While this resilience underscores the ability of Chinese exporters to cope with US tariffs, the latest re-escalation in tensions with the US still poses some downside risks,” wrote Zichun Huang, China Economist at Capital Economics.”Direct shipments to the US now make up just 10 percent of China’s total exports and a sizeable portion of these US-bound goods could be diverted to other countries,” wrote Huang.Trump’s announcement Friday rattled markets and called into question a potential upcoming meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea.His statement also said the United States would impose export controls “on any and all critical software” from November 1.Beijing, in turn, accused Washington of acting unfairly, with its Ministry of Commerce on Sunday calling the threat a “typical example of ‘double standards'”.By Sunday the mercurial US president’s rhetoric had cooled.”Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!” he wrote in a social media post, apparently referring to the recent export controls as a “just… a bad moment” for counterpart Xi.”The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” he wrote.Chinese goods currently face US tariffs of 30 percent under levies that Trump imposed while accusing Beijing of aiding in the fentanyl trade as well as unfair trade practices.China’s retaliatory tariffs are currently at 10 percent.

An escalating trade war between China and the United States faces another flashpoint Tuesday when Chinese ships will be required to start paying a special fee to dock at US ports.The move announced by the US Trade Representative (USTR) in April triggered reciprocal measures from Beijing, which will impose similar costs on US ships starting the same day.The tit-for-tat levies are just the latest in a series of disputes between the world’s two largest economic powers that have roiled financial markets and heightened fears of major disruption to the global economy.President Donald Trump massively upped the ante last week when he announced an additional 100 percent tariff on China and threatened to cancel a summit with Xi Jinping in retaliation for Chinese export curbs on rare earth minerals.The stated purpose of the US port fees is to address Chinese dominance of the global shipping sector and provide an incentive for building more ships in the United States.The non-partisan Alliance for American Manufacturing has called for the funds raised through the fees to be used in building up a new Maritime Security Fund.”The unfair economic practices of China present a sizeable obstacle to revitalizing shipbuilding in the United States,” the alliance said in a petition supporting proposed legislation aimed at developing the sector.  – A fading industry -According to the USTR, the port fee will be charged for each visit to the United States, a maximum of five times per ship per year.Chinese-made ships will pay $18 per net ton — or $120 per container — with an increase of $5 per year for the following three years.Vessels owned or operated by Chinese citizens, but not manufactured in China, will be charged $50 per net ton, with an annual increase of an additional $30 for the next three years.The United States is trying to boost a domestic industry that now represents only 0.1 percent of global shipbuilding.The Trump administration also sees US shipbuilding as tied to national security, given that China leads the world in ship manufacturing. In 2024, former president Joe Biden had tasked the USTR with an investigation to identify “China’s unfair practices in the shipbuilding, shipping, and logistics sectors.”His successor has kept up that focus. In March, Trump announced the creation of a White House Office of Shipbuilding with the aim of reviving that sector of US manufacturing. – Blow for blow -On Friday, Beijing fired back. As of Tuesday, the Chinese government announced, all ships manufactured in the United States or linked to an American company would have to pay “special” duties to dock at ports in China.They would be required to pay 400 yuan (56 dollars) per net ton, then 640 yuan (90 dollars) in April 2026, before further annual increases.”That’s a problem when you’re beholden to a global supply chain that you have no control over, that’s a national security risk,” Matt Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), which represents more than 150 US shipbuilding companies, told AFP.”We don’t want to be wholly dependent on communist-controlled state enterprises,” Paxton said, alluding to China.Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been working to recreate a thriving industrial base in the United States, notably by imposing sometimes prohibitive tariffs.As a result, many foreign and American companies have announced astronomical investments — worth trillions, according to the White House — in their factories and other sites on American soil.Paxton mentioned “a strong interest” in US-built ships, citing contacts from South Korea, China, Japan, Canada, and others.Many US shipyards are not operating at full capacity and have disabled dry docks, he said.In addition to increased foreign demand, the shipbuilding industry is also happy about the Trump administration’s goal of building 250 ships for the commercial fleet and the $50 billion budget for the Coast Guard and the Navy.”It’s very encouraging,” said Paxton. “It’s a historical moment.”

The US soybean harvest is underway and in rural Maryland, farmer Travis Hutchison cracks open a pod to show how a field is nearly dry enough for reaping.But a decent yield is not enough to secure his income this year — with China, once the biggest buyer of US soybean exports, halting orders in a trade row triggered by President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs.Soybean prices “are really depressed because of the trade war,” Hutchison told AFP. His family tills 3,400 acres of soybeans, corn and other crops.”I wasn’t against the president trying it, because I think we needed better trade deals,” added the 54-year-old of Trump’s policies.But he expressed disappointment at how things played out: “I was hoping it would get resolved sooner.”Hutchison is among American farmers — a key support base for Trump — reeling from the trade impasse.The world’s second biggest economy in 2024 bought more than half the $24.5 billion in US soybean exports.But exports to China have fallen by over 50 percent in value this year, and Chinese buyers have held off on new soybean orders from the US autumn harvest.With lower demand, soybean prices are down about 40 percent from three years ago.This comes as American soybeans have become pricier for Chinese buyers.As Trump slapped tariffs on Chinese products in his second presidency, Beijing’s counter-duties on US soybeans rose to 20 percent.This makes them “prohibitively more expensive” than exports from South America, where US farmers face growing competition, said the American Soybean Association (ASA).Last month, Argentina suspended its export tax on key crops like soybeans, making them more attractive to Chinese buyers too.Trump vowed to tap tariff revenues to help US farmers but has not provided details, while prospects of a longer-term deal appear more distant than ever.On Friday, Trump promised additional 100-percent tariffs targeting China and threatened to scrap talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping over Beijing’s rare earth industry export curbs.ASA president Caleb Ragland said the group had hoped top-level talks would restore soybean exports to China.”These latest developments are deeply disappointing at a moment when soybean farmers are facing an ever-growing financial crisis,” he said.- ‘Band-aid’ -Hutchison, whose family has been farming in Cordova for generations, acknowledges that farmers are easy targets in trade spats.But a government bailout is a “band-aid” rather than a long-term solution, he said.”I’m glad that he’s thinking of us,” Hutchison added, referring to Trump.But securing a reliable trading partner is more important: “We’re in the farming game for the long term.”Time is limited, as China’s soybean purchasing window from the United States usually runs from October through January, said farmer David Burrier, based in Union Bridge, Maryland.”This year’s going to be a very, very tough year,” he told AFP. “40 percent of our acres are probably going to be breakeven or under breakeven.”Burrier said it would be a “four-alarm fire” if China stopped soybean purchases for good.ASA chief economist Scott Gerlt warned the situation is especially harsh in Midwestern states like North and South Dakota.There, the soybean industry is built up around exporting to the Pacific Northwest and subsequently to China.They are hard-hit if they run out of storage and cannot ship their harvests out.- Worse than 2018 -Gerlt said farmers have it harder than in 2018, when they were also caught in Washington and Beijing’s tariffs war.From 2018 to 2019, retaliatory tariffs caused over $27 billion in US agriculture export losses. The government provided $23 billion to help farmers hit by trade disputes.But they enter this trade war under greater financial stress, Gerlt said.Crop revenues are lower, yet costs for everything from fertilizers to equipment have ballooned as Trump’s new tariffs bite.”Getting parts to fix your combines and your planters and everything is costing more because of the tariffs,” Hutchison said. “It’s going to affect our bottom line.”US farm bankruptcies this year have surged about 50 percent from 2024, said professor Chad Hart of Iowa State University.Asked if economic conditions have changed his feelings about supporting Trump, Hutchison paused: “It makes me think a little bit more.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States wants to help China, not hurt it, striking a conciliatory tone days after threatening an additional 100 percent tariff on the world’s second-largest economy.Trump’s statements on Friday as well as his threat to cancel a meeting with Xi later this month sent Wall Street stocks tumbling into negative territory as traders worried the trade war between Washington and Beijing could reignite.”The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” Trump said in Sunday’s post on Truth Social, adding that “respected President Xi (Jinping)… doesn’t want Depression for his country.”Trump on Friday said that he would impose the extra levies from November 1 in response to what he called “extraordinarily aggressive” new Chinese export curbs on the rare-earths industry.Beijing, in turn, accused Washington of acting unfairly, with its Ministry of Commerce on Sunday calling Trump’s tariff threat a “typical example of ‘double standards.'”The ministry said Washington had ratcheted up economic measures against Beijing since September.”Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China,” it said in an online statement.Chinese goods currently face US tariffs of 30 percent under levies that Trump imposed while accusing Beijing of aiding in the fentanyl trade as well as unfair trade practices.China’s retaliatory tariffs are currently at 10 percent.Rare earths have been a major sticking point in recent trade negotiations between the two superpowers.They are critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to military hardware and renewable energy technology but produced and processed almost exclusively by China.

Australian airline Qantas said Sunday that data from 5.7 million customers stolen in a major cyberattack this year had been shared online, part of a leak affecting dozens of firms.Disney, Google, IKEA, Toyota, McDonald’s and fellow airlines Air France and KLM are also reported to have had data stolen in a cyberattack targeting software firm Salesforce, with the information now being held to ransom.Salesforce said this month it was “aware of recent extortion attempts by threat actors”.Qantas confirmed in July that hackers had targeted one of its customer contact centres, breaching a computer system used by a third party now known to have been Salesforce.They secured access to sensitive information such as customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and birthdays, the blue-chip Australian company said.No further breaches have taken place since and the company is cooperating with Australian security services.”Qantas is one of a number of companies globally that has had data released by cyber criminals following the airline’s cyber incident in early July, where customer data was stolen via a third party platform,” the company said in a statement.Most of the data leaked was names, email addresses and frequent flyer details, the firm said.But some of the data included customers’ “business or home address, date of birth, phone number, gender and meal preferences”.”No credit card details, personal financial information or passport details were impacted,” Qantas said.It also said it had obtained a legal injunction with the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where the firm is headquartered, to prevent the stolen data being “accessed, viewed, released, used, transmitted or published”.Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt told AFP that would do little to prevent the spread of the data.”It’s frankly ridiculous,” he said.”It obviously doesn’t stop criminals at all anywhere, and it also really doesn’t have any effect on people outside of Australia.”- Hackers ‘laying siege’ -In response to questions about the leak, tech giant Google pointed AFP to an August statement in which it said one of its corporate Salesforce servers had been targeted. It did not confirm if the data had been leaked.”Google responded to the activity, performed an impact analysis and has completed email notifications to the potentially affected businesses,” Melanie Lombardi, head of Google Cloud Security Communications, said.Cybersecurity analysts have linked the hack to individuals with ties to an alliance of cybercriminals called Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters.Research group Unit 42 said in a note the group had “asserted responsibility for laying siege to customer Salesforce tenants as part of a coordinated effort to steal data and hold it for ransom”.The hackers had reportedly set an October 10 deadline for ransom payment.- ‘Oldest tricks in the book’ -The hackers stole the sensitive data using a social engineering technique, referring to a tactic of manipulating victims by pretending to be a company representative or other trusted person, experts said.The FBI last month issued a warning about such attacks targeting Salesforce.The agency said hackers posing as IT workers had tricked customer support employees into granting them access to sensitive data.”They have been very effective,” expert Hunt said.”And it hasn’t been using any sophisticated technical exploits… they have exploited really the oldest tricks in the books.”The hack of data from Australia’s biggest airline comes as a string of major cyberattacks in the country has raised concerns about the protection of personal data.Qantas apologised last year after a glitch with its mobile app exposed some passengers’ names and travel details.And major ports handling 40 percent of Australia’s freight trade ground to a halt in 2023 after hackers infiltrated computers belonging to operator DP World.

China accused the United States of “double standards” on Sunday, after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on the world’s second-largest economy.Trump reignited his trade war with China on Friday, accusing Beijing of imposing “extraordinarily aggressive” new export curbs relating to rare earths.He announced extra levies — plus export controls on “critical software” — due to take effect from November 1, and threatened to cancel a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Commerce called Trump’s tariff threat a “typical example of ‘double standards'”.The ministry said Washington had ratcheted up economic measures against Beijing since September.”Threatening high tariffs at every turn is not the right approach to engaging with China,” it said in an online statement.Chinese goods currently face US tariffs of 30 percent under levies that Trump brought in while accusing Beijing of aiding in the fentanyl trade, and over alleged unfair practices.China’s retaliatory tariffs are currently at 10 percent.Rare earths have been a major sticking point in recent trade negotiations between the two superpowers.They are critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to military hardware and renewable energy technology.China dominates global production and processing of these materials, and on Thurday announced new controls on the export of technologies used for the mining and processing of critical minerals.In response, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that China had taken a “very hostile” stance and should not be “allowed to hold the World ‘captive'”.The US leader also threatened to pull out of a mooted meeting with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea later this month.It would have been the first face-to-face encounter between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies since Trump returned to power in January.- Tensions flare again -A few months ago, Beijing and Washington agreed an uneasy truce in their tit-for-tat trade war that started earlier this year and threw bilateral trade into serious jeopardy.But tensions have boiled up again in recent days.China said on Friday that it would impose “special port fees” on ships operated by and built in the US, calling it a “defensive action”.It took aim at the US’s own port fees charged on Chinese ships, claiming they “severely harmed China’s interests”.Washington announced those fees in April as part of an effort to revive American shipbuilding after a decades-long decline that has seen China and other Asian nations come to dominate the industry.