Afp Business Asia

Dow surges above 50,000 for first time as US stocks regain mojo

The Dow surged above 50,000 points for the first time Friday, shrugging off worries connected to artificial intelligence companies while traders focused on the prospects for US growth and Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.The index, the oldest of the three major US equity indices, powered to the landmark level shortly before 1930 GMT, retreated a bit below 50,000 points and then pushed even higher to close the day near session highs.It ended at 50,115.67, up more than 1,200 points, or 2.5 percent.The 50,000 mark constitutes “a nice big number,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “What it really reflects is a market that’s broadening out and buying into the growth story.” The landmark in New York came on a mixed day for global stocks, while bitcoin and precious metals both won significant gains, extending a period of volatility across markets.US stocks had been under pressure this week, with the Nasdaq falling the last three sessions following big drops in software equities and some tech giants related to the AI push. On Friday, Amazon was the biggest loser on the Dow, falling 5.6 percent after announcing it planned $200 billion in capital spending in 2026 to build up AI capacities.While investors continue to worry Amazon and other AI “hyperscalers” may not see a sufficient return on massive investments, their plans will bolster infrastructure, banking and other sectors.Caterpillar, 3M, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Amgen and Nvidia all rose at least four percent Friday.The AI plans mean “massive amounts of money are going to be deployed and that filters out to other companies,” said O’Hare. Gina Bolvin, of Bolvin Wealth Management, said Friday’s gains showed “confidence is real” in terms of the outlook for earnings growth.”Equity investors are likely to be rewarded — but the path won’t be smooth,” Bovin said in a note. “Volatility should be expected. For investors, this is a reminder to stay intentional: lean into quality businesses with strong earnings power and be prepared for more rotation, not straight-line gains.”Earlier milestones for the Dow include when it hit 40,000 points in May 2024 and 30,000 points in November 2020.The index has risen fairly steadily for most of the last two and a half years with the exception of the period around Donald Trump’s April 2025 “Liberation Day” tariff proposals, which the president later walked back.”CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA,” Trump said in a social media post celebrating Friday’s benchmark. Elsewhere, both gold and silver rebounded after bruising drops on Thursday, joining bitcoin, which climbed back above $70,000 after dropping to around $60,000 the prior day.After steep losses Thursday, European markets all pushed higher, while Asian bourses were mixed.In company news, shares in Jeep maker Stellantis plunged over 24 percent in Paris after it warned of a 22-billion-euro ($26-billion) write-down due to misjudging the shift in demand to electric vehicles.Stellantis shares are now down around 80 percent over the past two years.Meanwhile, shares in British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto finished flat in Sydney after it dropped merger talks with Swiss resources firm Glencore. The deal would have created the world’s biggest mining firm, worth about $260 billion.Rio Tinto’s London-listed stock edged 0.3 percent higher on Friday, while Glencore climbed 1.5 percent, clawing back some of the previous day’s losses.Toyota jumped two percent in Tokyo after hiking profit and sales forecasts for the current fiscal year despite the impact of US tariffs.- Key figures at around 2115 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 2.5 percent at 50,115.67 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 2.0 percent at 6,932.30 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 2.2 percent at 23,031.21 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,369.75 (close) Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,273.84 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.9 percent at 24,721.46 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 54,253.68 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 26,559.95 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,065.58 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1825 from $1.1777 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3615 from $1.3531Dollar/yen: UP at 157.09 yen from 157.04 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.82 pence from 87.04 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $63.55 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $68.05 per barrelburs-jmb/nro

EU tells TikTok to change ‘addictive’ design

The EU said Friday that TikTok needs to change its “addictive design” or risk heavy fines under the bloc’s digital content rules, drawing a sharp pushback from the Chinese-owned platform.In preliminary conclusions of a probe opened two years ago, the European Commission said it found TikTok was not taking effective steps to address the app’s negative impacts, especially on minors and vulnerable adults.”TikTok’s addictive design is in breach of the Digital Services Act,” said commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier, citing concerns with features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and a highly personalised recommender system.”These features lead to the compulsive use of the app, especially for our kids, and this poses major risks to their mental health and wellbeing,” Regnier said, adding: “The measures that TikTok has in place are simply not enough.”TikTok rejected the commission’s findings, with a spokesperson saying it presented “a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform”.”We will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us,” they added in a statement.Allies of US President Donald Trump in the US Congress said the European Commission’s “punitive actions” were a pretext for curbing political speech and pressuring companies.The DSA is part of a bolstered legal armoury adopted by the EU in recent years to curb Big Tech’s excesses, and officials had until now said TikTok was cooperating with the bloc’s digital regulators.TikTok will now have access to the EU’s findings in order to defend itself against the claims.EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told reporters that “TikTok has to take actions, they have to change the design of their service in Europe to protect our minors and their wellbeing”.The commission gave examples of what the platform could alter, such as: — the platform’s “infinite scroll” offering users an uninterrupted feed– implementing effective “screen time breaks”, including during the night– adapting its recommender system, the algorithms used by platforms to feed users more personalised content.- ‘Compulsive use’ of TikTok -The February 2024 investigation was the first opened into TikTok under the DSA, the bloc’s powerful content moderation law that has faced the wrath of the US administration under President Donald Trump.In presenting the probe findings, Regnier cited what he called “extremely alarming” statistics on the app’s use in the EU.TikTok was “by far” the most-used platform after midnight by children between 13 and 18, he said, with seven percent of children aged 12 to 15 spending four to five hours daily on it. Brussels accused TikTok of disregarding “important indicators of compulsive use of the app” such as the time minors spent on the platform at night.It also said TikTok had not implemented effective measures to mitigate risks, taking particular aim at screen time management and parental control tools.Its time management tools were “easy to dismiss” including for young users, the commission found, while parental controls required “additional time and skills from parents to introduce” them.- ‘Safe by design’ -The findings come as several European countries move to curb access to social media for younger teenagers, with officials weighing whether it is time to follow suit at EU level.Briefing reporters Friday, Virkkunen said her priority was to make platforms safe for all users, children included.”Social media should be so safe by design that we shouldn’t have that kind of very high age restriction,” she said.If the regulator’s views on TikTok are confirmed, the commission can impose a fine of up to six percent of the company’s total worldwide annual turnover.The EU began a separate probe into TikTok in December 2024 on alleged foreign interference during the Romanian presidential elections.EU spokesman Regnier said earlier this week that TikTok was “extremely cooperative” during that investigation and was taking measures to address the commission’s concerns.He added that while the probe remained open, regulators could monitor how TikTok behaves during other elections.

Why bitcoin is losing its luster after stratospheric rise

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, sank this week, wiping out gains sparked by Donald Trump’s presidential election victory in November 2024. The digital currency slumped to $60,033.01 on Friday before trimming losses, and is down around half from its October peak above $120,000. AFP explains why prices have fallen.- End of Trump rally -Digital currencies soared after Trump’s election victory as he was widely viewed as a strong supporter of the technology.  He publicly celebrated bitcoin crossing $100,000 for the first time in December 2024.But the rally suffered a sharp setback in April after Trump announced sweeping US tariffs, rattling markets worldwide. Bitcoin later resumed its march higher along with stocks and other markets, and hit a record of $126,251.31 six months later.But enthusiasm has faded as investors grow impatient over regulatory uncertainty.While the US Congress passed a law in July to regulate stablecoins — a form of cryptocurrency backed by traditional assets — a broader crypto bill, the Clarity Act, has stalled in the Senate.”A key test for Bitcoin’s ability to sustainably recover will be the passage of the Clarity Act,” said Deutsche Bank analysts Marion Laboure and Camilla Siazon. – Domino effect -The recent slide in precious metals like gold and silver — as investors locked in profits after their meteoric rise — was one of the main triggers for bitcoin’s slump.That pullback sent many investors rushing to sell cryptocurrencies and other risky assets to help raise cash.”This break is not happening in a vacuum, but in a context of widespread mistrust,” said John Plassard, head of investment strategy at Cite Gestion Private Bank.”Volatility in technology and precious metals is fuelling a global movement to reduce risk.”The sell-off has been intensified by forced deleveraging, as investors who borrowed money to bet on bitcoin’s rise are forced to sell when losses mount, pushing prices lower.- Tech contagion -Cryptocurrency declines gathered pace this week as investors sold tech stocks on renewed concerns over an artificial intelligence bubble.Analysts noted that bitcoin and AI-related stocks often move in the same direction.  “In recent years, liquidity has flowed across digital assets and advanced tech stocks at the same time,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.”This means that both asset classes share a tight financial link.”Michael Burry, the entrepreneur who gained fame for spotting the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, fanned fears on Monday as he flagged a possible “death spiral” for bitcoin.- Crypto firms in focus -The downturn has raised questions about the viability of digital asset treasury firms, which stockpile cryptocurrencies in a bet that prices will keep rising. Many of these firms are “sitting on significant unrealised losses,” said Charlie Sherry, head of finance at BTC Markets.If these firms are forced to sell their bitcoin holdings to stay afloat, it could flood the market and amplify a downward spiral in prices.Shares in Strategy, which holds more than 713,000 bitcoins, plunged more than 17 percent on Friday after it reported a $12.4 billion net loss linked to crypto declines.And US cryptocurrency exchange Gemini announced Thursday that it would slash roughly a quarter of its workforce and withdraw from several international markets amid the downturn in digital assets.

German exports to US plunge as tariffs exact heavy cost

German exports to the United States plunged in 2025 amid President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, driving down the trade surplus of Europe’s top economy with the crucial US market to a four-year low, data showed Friday.Exports to China also fell, but total exports rebounded by around one percent following two years of contraction, as stronger trade with Europe offset falling shipments to the world’s two biggest economies, statistics agency Destatis said.The overall picture for Germany’s foreign trade remains bleak, experts warn, at a time the traditional export power is struggling after a long decline driven by a manufacturing slump, high energy costs and weak demand at home and abroad.German exports to the United States fell 9.3 percent last year compared to 2024, and totalled around 147 billion euros ($173 billion), while US imports to Germany rose slightly. The trade surplus with the United States was 52.2 billion euros, its lowest level since 2021, after a record surplus the previous year of nearly 70 billion euros. “Higher US tariffs are making German goods less competitive on the US market,” Commerzbank economist Ralph Solveen told AFP.As a result, China returned as Germany’s biggest trading partner last year, overtaking the US, according to the preliminary data.Europe was in Trump’s crosshairs when he launched his tariff onslaught as it runs a hefty trade surplus with the United States, much of it due to German exports. Under a deal struck in July, EU exports to the United States face a baseline levy of 15 percent — far higher than before Trump’s return to office.It was a heavy blow for Germany, whose firms, from well-known automakers and machinery giants to smaller, family-owned companies, have long relied on robust trade with the United States. According to data released previously by Destatis, exports of German cars and car parts to the United States dropped 17.5 percent between January and November from a year earlier. Exports of machinery were down nine percent and shipments of chemical products fell over 14 percent in the same period. – China challenge – German businesses have struggled in the Chinese market due to the emergence of homegrown rivals and weak consumer demand — German exports to China were down 9.3 percent last year.But Chinese exports to Germany jumped nine percent, as firms are increasingly redirecting goods to European markets due to Trump hiking tariffs on Chinese imports.German exports to other EU countries rose around four percent last year, driving the slight improvement in the overall figure.Germany’s trade surplus narrowed to 200.4 billion euros in 2025, a reduction of around 40 billion euros from a year earlier.In other news Friday, German factory output dropped 1.9 percent in December from the previous month, according to Destatis, sharper than forecasts and a disappointment after three months of gains.But ING economist Carsten Brzeski said the drop was “only a temporary halt and not a new downward trend”.”In fact, German industry is at the start of a clear cyclical upswing,” he said.The German government expects the economy will grow one percent this year after several bleak years, and other recent data — from industrial orders to quarterly growth — have painted a rosier picture.  Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is pushing a major fiscal stimulus and reform drive, struck an optimistic tone Friday.Recent signs of a turnaround “encourage and embolden me to continue on this path of reforms and of changing the conditions for investment and for jobs in Germany” Merz said during a visit to Abu Dhabi.”We are still far from where we want to be, but we are on the right path.”

Toyota names new CEO, hikes profit forecasts

Toyota has named a new CEO to “accelerate” decision-making, the Japanese auto giant said Friday as it hiked its profit and sales forecasts for the current fiscal year despite the impact of US tariffs.Current finance chief Kenta Kon will take over from chief executive Koji Sato on April 1 after three years in charge, the firm said.”This change in roles is intended to accelerate management decision-making in response to changes in the internal and external environment,” Toyota said.The move would also help “establish a structure that will enable Toyota to fully carry out its mission of contributing to society through industry”, it added.The announcement came as the firm expects to see net profit of 3.57 trillion yen ($22.8 billion) for the year ending in March, down 25.1 percent year-on-year but up from the 2.93 trillion yen previously anticipated.Despite the “negative impact of US tariffs that newly arose this fiscal year, we have reduced the extent of the profit decline by implementing cost reductions and marketing efforts”, Toyota said in a statement.Sales are expected to climb 4.1 percent year-on-year to 50 trillion yen, a slight upwards revision.Operating profit is forecast to hit 3.8 trillion yen, up from the previous projection of 3.4 trillion yen.However, Toyota said the September-December quarter saw net and operating profit fall despite a rise in sales, largely because of a “tariff impact” that increased expenses.- Record sales -The firm announced last month that global sales hit a new record in 2025, helping it retain its title as the world’s top automaker and widen the gap with German rival Volkswagen.The overall increase came despite flat sales in China, a crucial market where Toyota faces intensifying competition from local automakers including electric-car champion BYD.US sales climbed eight percent despite the 25-percent tariff on Japanese auto exports imposed by Washington between April and mid-September on top an existing 2.5-percent toll.The United States is a key market where Toyota generates almost a quarter of its sales. But of the 2.52 million vehicles it sold there in 2025, only 1.39 million were produced in the country.Even so, Toyota increased output last year by 10 percent at its factories in the United States, where it produces increasingly popular hybrid vehicles.To keep exporting to the United States on competitive terms, Japanese automakers have had to slash export prices.In exchange for lowering tariffs from 27.5 percent to 15 percent, Tokyo agreed in July to invest $550 billion in the US economy.Japanese automakers have also been pressured by the Trump administration to export vehicles made in their US plants to Japan.kh-jug-stu-aph/ami

Mired in economic trouble, Bangladesh pins hopes on election boost

Textile worker Sabina Khatun is in limbo after losing her job during sweeping factory closures, caught up like millions in Bangladesh in the fallout from a 2024 uprising that toppled years of autocratic rule.In the 18 months since the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government, Bangladesh has endured political turmoil but also biting economic pain — with many hoping for a rebound under new leadership after elections on February 12.”I’ve gone to a dozen factories looking for work,” said Khatun, 30, who lost her job last year in garment hub Narayanganj.”There are no openings.”Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest producer of garments, has seen 240 factories shut since the August 2024 uprising, many of them textile industries, according to government data.That has dealt a blow to a major sector that forms 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export economy.Some of the factories were owned by Hasina’s cronies, who have since fled.Many workers like Khatunhave been laid off, with the closures rippling through the wider labour market.”Small markets, stores and low-cost cosmetics shops catering to female garment workers have all disappeared,” said Iqbal Hossain, a trade union leader.- ‘Law and order’ -The economy has improved since the chaotic aftermath of Hasina’s ouster, but there are wider issues in the country of 170 million people.Salehuddin Ahmed, who holds the finance portfolio in the interim government, said the economy had shifted from the “intensive care unit to the high dependency unit”.Bangladesh’s economy is expected to grow 4.7 percent this year, up from 3.7 percent in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund.Fahmida Khatun, head of the Dhaka-based Centre for Policy Dialogue, said foreign reserves have risen and the banking sector is showing signs of repair.”But unemployment is rising, merchandise exports have declined, imports of heavy machinery and raw materials remain weak, and private-sector credit has hit a historic low,” she told AFP.”The gradual deterioration of law and order has emerged as the biggest threat.”In August, Bangladesh struck a trade deal with the United States — a key market for ready-made garment exports — scaling back President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs to 20 percent.But US orders “remained static”, said Mohiuddin Rubel, former head of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, noting that some new factories had opened.They, however, have had little impact on the labour market, as the unemployment rate remains high.Merchandise exports still fell for a fifth consecutive month in December 2025, and while inflation slightly eased, it continues to erode what people can afford.”We don’t buy fish or meat anymore,” said unemployed textile worker Khatun, who continues her search for a job. “Everyone tells me to come back after the election”.Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, head of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said the interim government had done little to help the bruised textile sector.”Some of these were big factories employing thousands of workers,” he said.”In some cases, the government sold factory land and assets to clear workers’ dues — but there was no initiative to restart viable factories.”Unemployment is at 4.63 percent, according to the latest government figures released in May, up from 3.95 percent recorded during the same period the previous year.- ‘No quick fix’ -Once juggling multiple odd jobs, Helal Uddin now ekes out a living running a food cart.”It’s hard to pay the house rent with the meagre amount I earn now,” the 33-year-old told AFP, gloomy about the “sharp rise” in the price of rice he serves.”The economy is not moving,” Uddin said. “It’s stuck. We are all waiting for the election.”Hasina, 78, was once praised for overseeing Bangladesh’s rapid economic rise, with growth topping seven percent annually and per capita GDP more than quadrupling since 2000.But she also presided over an autocratic government that crushed dissent, and now faces court cases alleging the looting of national wealth.She is a convicted fugitive in hiding in India, sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.Economist Fahmida Khatun warned that the new administration will face many challenges.”People hope things will improve after the election, but many of the problems are structural,” she said. “There is no quick fix.”

Chinese cash in jewellery at automated gold recyclers as prices soar

Dozens of people crowded around an automated gold recycling machine at a Shanghai mall, hoping to melt down family heirlooms for cash as prices of the precious metal hit record highs.China is the world’s largest consumer of gold, which is traditionally purchased by families to mark special occasions like births and weddings.But as prices soared to a fresh high near $5,600 on Thursday, customers surrounding the bright yellow machine installed by gold trading firm Kinghood Group were looking to sell.”I never thought prices would rise so dramatically,” said 54-year-old Wu, who told AFP she wanted to sell panda-themed gold coins she had purchased after the birth of her daughter in 2002.She said she had previously sold the machine a ring inherited from her late father, which fetched around 10,000 yuan ($1,400) — a huge increase from the original 1,000 yuan her mother had paid for the ring decades ago.”Gold prices hold steady at a historic high, it’s the right time to sell gold,” an ad on the machine advised customers.An embedded screen displayed the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s fluctuating prices, while a live video feed showed a robotic arm moving gold scraps onto a scale and under a device that used light waves to measure its purity.Some people told AFP they had waited over an hour for their turn.An attendant kept track of each seller’s position in the queue, and helped to deposit ornate pendants, hammered rings and commemorative coins into an opening in the device.Wu said her elderly mother was especially excited about soaring gold prices, and saw the recycling machine as a chance to supplement her modest pension.”Everyone is suddenly talking about (gold), and it has sparked this emotion in her,” Wu told AFP.- Old gold -Zhao, a woman sporting an intricately carved gold medallion on a necklace of jade beads and shimmering bangles on her wrist, brought her late grandfather’s ring to the recycling machine.The ring’s surface was adorned with the Chinese character for “luck” and tiny images of traditional gold ingots.She said she believed her grandfather had purchased the ring sometime between the 1950s and the 1980s, and that her mother had handed it down to her this year.”If the price is good, I will sell it,” she told AFP as she waited for her turn.Minutes after Zhao deposited the ring into the machine, a message popped up on its screen that said Kinghood would buy the chunk of high-karat gold for over 12,000 yuan.Satisfied, Zhao clicked “agree” on the terms displayed onscreen and keyed in her full name, ID number and bank account details, while her grandfather’s ring was melted down into a smooth puddle on the live video feed.The attendant promised she would receive the full amount via bank transfer by the end of the day.”Other places test the gold by burning it slightly, but here they test it directly and it’s open and transparent,” Zhao said, explaining that she trusted the automated recycler over a traditional human buyer.In addition to a steady stream of sellers, the machine also drew the attention of bystanders who gawked at the large sums of money changing hands at the unassuming corner of the mall.”Damn!” said a passerby when she saw that one person was selling their old jewellery for more than 75,000 yuan.And onlookers crowded around an elderly couple as the machine calculated that their finger-sized gold bar could fetch over 122,000 yuan.

Nvidia boss insists ‘huge’ investment in OpenAI on track

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has insisted the US tech giant will make a “huge” investment in OpenAI and dismissed as “nonsense” reports that he is unhappy with the generative AI star.Huang made the remarks late Saturday in Taipei after the Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s plan to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI had been put on ice. Nvidia announced the plan in September to invest $100 billion in OpenAI, building infrastructure for next-generation artificial intelligence.The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, said some people inside Nvidia had expressed doubts about the deal and that the two sides were rethinking the partnership.”That’s complete nonsense. We are going to make a huge investment in OpenAI,” Huang told journalists, when asked about reports that he was unhappy with OpenAI.Huang insisted that Nvidia was going ahead with its investment in OpenAI, describing it as “one of the most consequential companies of our time”.”Sam is closing the round, and we will absolutely be involved in the round,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.”We will invest a great deal of money, probably the largest investment we’ve ever made.”Nvidia has come to dominate spending on the processors needed for training and operating the large language models (LLM) behind chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google Gemini.Sales of its graphics processing units (GPUs) — originally developed for 3D gaming — powered the company’s market cap to over $5 trillion in October, although the figure has since fallen back by more than $600 billion.LLM developers like OpenAI are directing much of the mammoth investment they have received into Nvidia’s products, rushing to build GPU-stuffed data centres to serve an anticipated flood of demand for AI services.

How Lego got swept up in US-Mexico trade frictions

Manufacturing a Barbie or a Lego brick requires large quantities of plastic, much of which comes from China, the world’s largest producer of the material.So when Mexico hiked tariffs on the Asian giant at the start of 2026, its toy manufacturers, including local factories of Lego and Barbie-maker Mattel, had mixed emotions.On the one hand, they cheered the clampdown on cheaper Asian imports but on the other were left wincing at the rising costs of their inputs. The toy sector is one of a raft of industries impacted by a year of simmering trade tensions between US President Donald Trump’s administration and Mexico, as well as China.Mexico’s car assembly industry, one of the biggest in the world, is also holding its breath, given its reliance on Chinese-produced car parts.President Claudia Sheinbaum argues that the tariffs on China, India and other countries with which Mexico has no trade deal, aim to protect Mexican industry from cut-price competition.Analysts see the levies, however, as an attempt to appease Trump in the run-up to a high-stakes review of Mexico’s three-decade-old trilateral free trade deal with the United States and Canada, USMCA.Trump accuses China of using Mexico as a tariff-free backdoor into the United States and complains that the USMCA, which his first administration negotiated, is weighted against Washington.Saving the treaty is crucial for Mexico, which sends over 80 percent of its exports north of the border.Some Mexican manufacturers say they are prepared to accept the pain of higher input costs if it leads to a positive outcome in the USMCA talks.- Plastic and chips -Polyethylene, the plastic used to make toys, is produced locally by the state-owned oil company Pemex. But according to the toy industry, the company only manufactures 20 percent of what is needed, meaning the rest must be imported. Many toys now also contain electronic chips, which also come primarily from Asia.”If you, as a manufacturer, don’t have the supply (of inputs) in the country, what do you do? You go out and find them,” Miguel Angel Martin, president of the Mexican Toy Industry Association, told AFP. He noted that the Lego sets purchased in the United States and Canada are all made in Mexico and said he hoped that the USMCA review would “be fair and benefit to all three countries.”- ‘Playing both sides’ -China is the elephant in the room in the USMCA negotiations.Canada has been working to diversify its trade relations after being walloped by Trump’s tariffs offensive. In mid-January, it signed a preliminary trade agreement with Beijing.The agreement sparked a furious reaction from Trump, who threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canada if it becomes a “drop off port” for Chinese products destined for the United States.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney downplayed Trump’s broadside as part of the hurly burly of the USMCA negotiations.Juan Francisco Torres Landa, a partner at the international law firm Hogan Lovells who focuses on deal making, said Sheinbaum was under pressure to stop “playing both sides” between the United States and China.At the same time, he said, “given our economic dependence (on the United States and China), there is no other option” to working with both.- Survival mode -Some Mexican industries clearly stand to benefit from Sheinbaum’s tariffs blitz, such as the textile and footwear sectors.”In recent years, we have been hit hard by… unfair competition in international trade,” Juan Carlos Cashat, president of a footwear manufacturers’ association in central Guanajuato state, told AFP.“We hope this can have a positive effect in the medium or long term,” he said.Toy manufacturers, by contrast, are in “survival” mode, according to the toy industry association’s Martin.He added that while the USMCA is being renegotiated, the industry will try to absorb most of the costs of its higher inputs.But if the review, due to be completed by July 1, “does not produce a reasonably good outcome for the industry,” he said, “then the consumer will be the one to pay the costs.”

France tightens infant formula rules after toxin scare

France has said it will impose stricter limits on the acceptable level of a toxin called cereulide in infant formula after potentially contaminated products were recalled in over 60 countries.The infant formula industry has been rocked by several firms recalling batches that could be contaminated with cereulide, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. French authorities launched an investigation into the deaths in December and January of two babies who were thought to have drunk possibly contaminated powdered milk.At this stage investigators have not established a direct link between the symptoms and the milk consumed.The recalls have raised fresh questions about food safety challenges in the global supply chain.There is no established safety limit for cereulide in infant formula.”Protecting the health of infants is the top priority for health authorities,” the French agriculture ministry said late Friday.The new threshold will be 0.014 micrograms of cereulide per kilogram of body weight, compared to 0.03 micrograms currently, it said.This is the second lowering of a threshold in France in less than two weeks.The recall of potentially contaminated infant formula has heaped scrutiny on Chinese firm Cabio Biotech, the supplier of an ingredient used in infant formula which is suspected of being tainted. Headquartered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Cabio Biotech is one of the world’s largest producers of ARA, a fatty acid used primarily in baby formula and food products.The French authorities have referred to a single “Chinese supplier” without naming it.This week the European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to establish a standard for cereulide in children’s products. It will issue an opinion on February 2.The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said it had received reports of diarrhoea cases in infants following consumption of the products in question, but “no severe cases have been reported”.- Lawsuit -Several manufacturers, including European giants like Nestle, Danone, and Lactalis, have issued recalls of infant formula in France and dozens of countries since December. The toxin is rare and difficult to detect, and some recalls have been carried out as a precaution, some manufacturers said.On Thursday, Nestle provided a detailed timeline of its recalls, acknowledging that around 10 days had passed between the first detection of cereulide in late November and the first recalls on December 10.The Swiss food conglomerate argued that, in the absence of “European regulations on the presence of cereulide in food”, it had followed standard procedures.The detection led to the precautionary recall of all products in contact with the production line where cereulide had been detected.The group stressed that it was the first company to detect the problem.Foodwatch, a European consumer association, has filed a lawsuit accusing manufacturers and the government of acting too slowly.Eight French families, who said their babies suffered severe digestive problems after drinking formula named in the recall, have joined the lawsuit.On Friday, Nestle refuted the accusations made by the watchdog, saying it reserved the right to respond in court “if Foodwatch continues to disseminate misleading information”.”Testing for bacteria of the Bacillus cereus family is routinely offered,” Francois Vigneau of lab testing firm Eurofins said last week. He added however that tests for cereulide were “not part of standard checks”.”In the current context of milk recalls, this test is currently being requested because all stakeholders in dairy products in general, and infant formula in particular, are concerned about the situation,” added Vigneau.According to World Health Organisation estimates from 2019, 23 million people in Europe fall sick from eating contaminated food every year, and an estimated 4,700 people die.